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Book Club Kits

bookclub kit bags

We know how difficult it is to choose a book for your next book group meeting, and to find enough copies for all the members of your group. We've made it easier for you by collecting donated and withdrawn copies of discussible books and putting all the copies in a canvas bag. We've included discussion questions and information about each author in a folder for each collection.

There are at least 8 copies of the book in each kit. At this time we have over 320 kits for you to choose from.

Printable lists of titles are also available, without cover art, sorted by title and by author.

How can we get a kit?

Call us at 266-6300 or visit the Central Library and we will help you check out a kit. The kit will be checked out on the library card of the person picking them up. The person checking out the kit may choose a due date for the kit, up to 3 months from the day they pick it up. Due to high demand, please take only one or two kits at a time. Kits can be shipped to any library in Madison as well as any public library in the South Central Library System.

What if a book is lost?

If your group happens to lose a book, we ask that you replace it with another copy of the book, new or second hand, that is clean and readable.

Search our collection of kits

The Handmaid's Tale

Cover of The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood

This 1986 classic has found a new audience through a popular adaptation on Hulu. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate "Handmaids" under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred's persistent memories of life in the "time before" and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. 

A Head Full of Ghosts

Cover of A Head Full of Ghosts
Paul Tremblay

A chilling domestic drama that blends psychological suspense with a touch of modern horror. The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. When doctors are unable to help, the Barretts turn to a local Catholic priest, who suggests an exorcism and connects the family with a reality TV production company that is eager to document the family’s situation. 
 

Holding the Net: Caring for My Mother on the Tightrope of Aging

Cover of Holding the Net: Caring fo
Melanie P. Merriman

Written for anyone who has or anticipates caring for an aging loved one, Holding the Net, the author’s story of caring for her own mother as a hospice consultant, offers practical details about caregiving and challenges the notion that anyone can be an expert when it comes to caring for an aging parent; all we can do is our best.
 

The House of Broken Angels

Cover of The House of Broken Angels
Luis Alberto Urrea

In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred, dies herself, leading to a farewell doubleheader in a single weekend. This indelible portrait of a complex family reminds us of what it means to be the first generation and to live two lives across one border.
 

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Cover of I Am Malala:  The Girl Who
Malala Yousafzai

Shot in the head on her way home from her Pakistan school, Malala was targeted by the Taliban because she publicly advocated for girls education and attended school herself. In her book, Malala blends the politics and the personal into a story not just of what happened to her, but also the difficulties-- both politically and otherwise-- in Pakistan today. Chosen as UW-Madison's 2014 Go Big Read selection.

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