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Book Discussions
Plumb Memorial Library
We meet at 7:00 p.m. in the
Connecticut Room, usually the first Monday of each month. All are welcome to
join us. Multiple copies of the book are usually available one month prior
at Plumb Memorial Library.
October 6:
Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer
Admitting an interest that borders on obsession, Krakauer investigates what propelled
24-year-old Chris McCandless to leave civilization behind and head into the
remote Alaskan wilderness. Four months later, McCandless's corpse was found at
his campsite by a hunter. Mesmerizing and heartbreaking, Krakauer's luminous
storytelling blazes through every page.
November 3:
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Stalin's Soviet Union strives to be a paradise for its workers, providing for
all of their needs. One of its fundamental pillars is that its citizens live
free from the fear of ordinary crime and criminals. But in this society,
millions do live in fear ... of the State. Death is a whisper away. The mere
suspicion of ideological disloyalty - owning a book from the decadent West, the
wrong word at the wrong time sends millions of innocents into the Gulags or to
their executions. Defending the system from its citizens is the MGB, the State
Security Force. And no MGB officer is more courageous, conscientious, or
idealistic than Leo Demidov. A war hero with a beautiful wife, Leo lives in
relative luxury in Moscow, even providing a decent apartment for his parents.
His only ambition has been to serve his country. For this greater good, he has
arrested and interrogated." "Then the impossible happens. A different kind of
criminal - a murderer - is on the loose, killing at will. At the same time, Leo
finds himself demoted and denounced by his enemies, his world turned upside
down, and every belief he's ever held shattered. The only way to save his life
and the lives of his family is to uncover the criminal. But in a society that is
officially paradise, its a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer -
much less a serial killer - is in their midst. Exiled from his home, with only
his wife remaining at his side, Leo must find and stop a criminal that the State
won't admit even exists.--Book Jacket
December 1:
Cloudsplitter
by
Russell Banks
Cloudsplitter is narrated by the enigmatic Owen Brown, last surviving son of
America's most famous and still controversial political terrorist and martyr,
John Brown. The novel vividly re-creates the antislavery movement of the 1840s
and traces it through the brutal guerrilla warfare of Bloody Kansas, culminating
in a powerful re-creation of Brown's insurrectionary raid on Harpers Ferry.
January 5:
Voyage by Philip Caputo
On a June morning in the century's infancy, Cyrus Braithwaite –without
explanation—orders his three teenage sons to sail from their Maine home and not
return until September. A storm abruptly ends their passage, leaving them
stranded in Cuba, but when they telegraph their father for help, he does not
respond. After their ordeal is over, no one in the family ever again mentions
the voyage. Now, almost a century later, Cyrus's great-granddaughter Sybil is
determined to know the hidden heart of the story. Sybil's discoveries will
change the way she thinks about herself, her family, and the America whose
ideals the Braithwaites once embodied.
Discussions at Huntington Branch Library
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