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Book Club Hub

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Whether you are charged with picking your book club’s next read or you are thinking of starting a book group in your neighborhood, we can help:

Would you like to help support the Book Club in a Bag service?

  • We happily accept donations of books that your book group has read. If you don’t have ten copies, we’ll gladly take as many as you have as a start for a new bag and add the rest.
  • If you’d like to donate funds directly to this program, we have an “Adopt a Bag” option. A contribution of $100 covers the cost of ten copies of a selected book and the tote bag.

The Book Club in a Bag service is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Lawrence Public Library and the Lawrence Public Library Foundation.

Use KitKeeper below to find your book club’s next read! 

 


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!New! Speculative Book Club | 7 PM

Second Tuesday each month downstairs at The Burger Stand (803 MASS)!

Like world-building fantasy? Eerie dystopias? Far-out sci fi? This club is for you! Have no idea what we’re talking about, but want to discuss weird books with cool people? This club is also for you!

Speculative Fiction, “an umbrella term for science fiction, fantasy, and several other subgenres of improbably what-ifs” (Karen Lord, 2016), is the basis for this brand new book club. This monthly club will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month downstairs at The Burger Stand (803 Massachusetts St.) to discuss a different book and the genre as a whole

  • ept 12th: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
  • Oct 10th: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Nov 14th: The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
  • Dec 12th: Kindred by Octavia Butler
  • Jan: Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
  • Feb: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
  • Mar: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
  • Apr: The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison
  • May: Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  • June: The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
  • July: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Email Eli for more information: ehoelscher@lplks.org


2017 Social Justice Book Club book club hub image!New! Social Justice Book Club | 4 PM

Second Sunday each month in Meeting Room A

This book club get us thinking and talking about inequality and injustice in the U.S.

Nonfiction, novels, memoirs and more–we seek multiple perspectives, with multiple points of entry, and we work to center the voices of marginalized communities and people through our exploration.

Please contact Polli Kenn (pkenn@lplks.org) for more information.

  • Oct 8: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
  • Nov 12: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
  • Dec 10: Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
  • Jan 14: Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
  • Feb: No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts
  • Mar: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
  • Apr: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
  • May: Evicted by Matthew Desmond

wakarusa-wetlands 2!New! Nature Book Club | 6:30-8 PM

Third Friday every other month at the East Lawrence Recreation Center *

Join us to talk about books connected to the natural world (fiction and nonfiction). Share your recent reads and hear recommendations from book club members as well as co-leaders Jake Vail (co-author of A Kansas Bestiary and Information Services Assistant @ LPL) & Shirley Braunlich (Readers’ Services Assistant @ LPL and Kansas Native Plant Society Board Member).

  • October 20, 2017
  • December 15, 2017
  • February 16, 2018
  • April 20
  • June 15
  • August 17
  • October 19
  • December 21

RSVP is helpful, but not required.  Contact Shirley: sbraunlich@lplks.org
* East Lawrence Recreation Center Located on E. 15th St., 2 blocks east of Haskell Ave & south of the intersection at E. 15th St. & Brook St


YA for GrownUps (1)YA for Grownups Book Club | 7 PM

First Thursday every month at the Library – contact Kimberly for location

This group is for adults who enjoy young adult fiction or anyone interested in exploring the category. We’ll meet and discuss YA from a variety of genres. Anyone who has read the selection is welcome to come and participate. 12 copies are available from one of our book club in a bag sets. Contact Kimberly at klopez@lplks.org if you have questions or to reserve a book.

  • Oct 5: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
  • Nov 2: Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson
  • Dec 7: We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
  • Jan 4: Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • Feb 1: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Mar 1: American Street by Ibi Zoboi
  • Apr 5: The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak
  • May 3: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Last Wednesday Book ClubLast Wednesday Book Club | 7 PM 

Dive into the latest, hottest book club picks with the Last Wednesday Book Club! Selections range from beloved classics to modern book club favorites. Anyone who’s read the book for the current month is invited to participate.

We will meet downstairs in Meeting Room A. Contact Kate for more information: kgramlich@lplks.org.

  • Sept 27: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  • Oct 25: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
  • Nov 29: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
    [NOTE: No December meeting]
  • Jan 31: Dunkirk by Joshua Levine
  • Feb 28: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
  • Mar 28: Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson
  • Apr 25: Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
  • May 30: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Jun 27: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
  • July 25: Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
  • Aug 29: LaRose by Louise Erdrich

Third Thursday & Second Thursday Book Clubs | 7 PM

Read and discuss a new title each month over food and cocktails.

NOTE: Because Third Thursday Book Club was SO ENORMOUS, we’re splitting the group starting in January 2018. The two clubs will both read the same list of books, but on different months. Please contact Kate with questions about either club: kgramlich@lplks.org

Third Thursday:

  • Sept 21: All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
  • Oct 19: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • Nov 16: The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison
    [NOTE: No December meeting]
  • Jan 18: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
  • Feb 15: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
  • Mar 15: Wonder by RJ Palacio
  • Apr 19: Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwabb
  • May 17: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • Jun 21: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
  • July 19: Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
  • Aug 16: Orleans by Sherri L Smith

Second Thursday:

  • Jan 11: Orleans by Sherri L Smith
  • Feb 8: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • Mar 8: Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
  • Apr 12: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
  • May 10: Wonder by RJ Palacio
  • June 14: Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwabb
  • July 12: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
  • Aug 9: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

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Lit Lounge Book Club | 7 PM

Fourth Thursday every month at Decade Coffee!

If you like to get lit—erary, join this new book club for adults that takes place at Decade Coffee & Bar (920 Delaware Street in East Lawrence).

You can raise a pint and your bookish IQ at the same time! We will chat monthly about what we are reading and get new recommendations each time!

  • Lit Lounge will return in January, 2018! Contact Kate for more details: kgramlich@lplks.org.


international mysteries (1)

Mystery Book Club | 4 PM

Third Sundays every other month in Meeting Room A

A Brand New Book Club that looks at a different mystery subgenre at each meeting. Reserve your spot at this discussion (limited number available) and choose a book from our list of recommended titles. We’ll put the book on hold for you. Pick up the book, read it, then join us. We’ll enjoy a lively discussion in which each person will have read a different book. This is a fun opportunity to learn about the diverse authors and characters representative of a mystery subgenre.

Explore a different subgenre of mysteries every other month, upcoming Mystery Book Club dates:

Contact Shirley for more info! sbraunlich@lplks.org
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