Join us as we read the classic Russian novel, Anna Karenina, this summer.  At our first meeting, Monday, June 4, 2012, at 6:30 pm, we will discuss Parts One and Two of this famous work by Leo Tolstoy.  We will also talk about several film versions of the book as we move through the story over the summer.  Summary from library catalog:  Regarded by many as the greatest novel ever written in any language, Anna Karenina relates the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer Count Vronsky.  Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, Anna's tragedy unfolds with relentless force as she rejects her passionless marriage to the aging official Karenin and must endure the hypocrisies of society. 

Are you a poet?  April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, we are having a poetry contest at Baldwin Boettcher.  The talented winner of each category (children, teens, and adults) will win a $25 gift certificate to a bookstore, so even if you never thought you could write a really good poem, it might be worthwhile to take an hour or more, find a quiet spot, and think on something that inspires you to put pen to paper.  All styles are welcome, but please limit your submission to one page.  If you can, come to the library on Thursday, April 26, at 2 pm, for a discussion of the contest guidelines and other details.

Goldengrove, by Francine Prose, explores family relationships and how death can change roles and identities abruptly.  Twelve-year-old Nico loves and admires Margaret, her talented and charismatic older sister, and is satisfied hanging back and playing a secondary role while Margaret shines.  This is Nico’s place in their family and around everyone they know.  But when Margaret drowns in a lake near their New England home, Nico is suddenly plunged into a depth of grief along with her mother and father.  The parents function, sort of, but cannot in any way manage to be the kind of parents Nico needs.  Complicating the situation is the enigmatic Aaron, Margaret’s artist boyfriend, who finds some degree of solace in sharing his memories with Nico, but who is deeply troubled and self-centered.  As Nico realizes she is emotionally on her own, she begins to value herself and find a new way to be, in a world forever changed by loss.  

Title to be discussed:  The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Time of meeting:  Monday, May 7, at 6:30 PM.  Summary:  The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans.  On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family.  When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world.  Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name.  

Title to be discussed: Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Time of meeting: Monday, April 2, 2012, at 6:30pm. Summary:  With this novel, Richard Russo cements his reputation as one of America's most compelling and compassionate storytellers. Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for twenty years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter, Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school. 

Have you ever given up on an audio book because you didn’t like the voice of the reader?  Or have you listened to one of an author’s books in audio format and loved it, but then found when you tried to read another book by that author, that you just couldn’t get into it?  The quality of the reader’s voice is comparable to a writer’s style –- hard to define, very personal in its ability to draw you in (or not), and one of the things that makes recommending a book to another person less than the pure science we’d like it to be.

Title to be discussed: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (and any other Fitzgerald stories you want to read!) Time of meeting: Monday, March 5, at 6:30 pm. Summary: In his short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fitzgerald provides a humorous and touching journey that reveals what it's like to be born old and age in reverse. First published in Collier's magazine in 1922, this classic story affirms Fitzgerald's place in American literature as the most enduring chronicler of the Jazz Age and of the excesses of his generation.

Calling chess players of all ages!  Chess Club is starting up again at the Baldwin Boettcher Library.  Whether you're just learning or you're a master at the game, join us on the 2nd Monday of every month, starting in February for an evening of strategy and fun!  Questions?  Contact Ms. Leanne at the Baldwin Boettcher Library.

Ever love a book, but can’t stand the movie?  Or maybe it’s the other way around?  Then come to the Baldwin Boettcher Library for a new type of book club for teens and tweens!  Starting in February, we will host a new type of book club for teens and tweens, where we will watch a movie, and discuss the movie and the book that inspired it.  Is one better than the other?  Why?  Come to the Baldwin Boettcher Library to find out!

Join us for this Black History Month book club reading.  Title to be discussed:  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass.  Time of meeting:  Monday, February 6, 2012, at 6:30 PM.  Summary:  "I was born in Tuckahoe.  I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.  By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant."  So begins the now-classic personal account of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), who was born into slavery in Maryland and who became, after his escape to Massachusetts in 1838, an ardent abolitionist and campaigner for women's rights.