New Favorite Book Group Reads

Is your book club looking for its next great read, something with wide appeal and plenty of meaty conversation points? Check out this list of popular new choices for book discussions...with a few local favorites thrown in.

Visit our Great Reads page to see what we'll be talking about next.

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  Beautiful Ruins
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  The Sandcastle Girls
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  Sweet Tooth
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  The Shoemaker's Wife
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  The Chaperone
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  Home
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  The Orchardist
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  The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
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  Defending Jacob
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  The Headmaster's Wager
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  The Dinner
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  The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
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  The round House
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  The Light between Oceans
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  Gone Girl

Tim Gautreaux Isn't Famous, But He Should Be

Short story writer extraordinaire, Tim Gautreaux

It's easy to exaggerate when talking about a favorite writer. Back in 2008, I wrote: "Tim Gautreaux, in my not so humble opinion, is perhaps our greatest living short story writer."

A lot can change in five years. I've read many more stories since then.

But I still think Tim Gautreaux is America's greatest living short story writer. I still believe that his stories, which often address moral questions, are as close to perfection as it gets, devoid of navel-gazing and the meandering non-plots favored by some of his peers. More importantly, to me anyway, they are stories that  linger in the mind as well as the heart. (Think Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and Flannery O'Connor's "Everything That Rises Must Converge.)

If you don't believe me, trust the editors of the prestigious Best American Short Stories anthology, who selected five of his stories for inclusion between 1992 and 2000, including my favorite, "Welding with Children." In that story, the title story in his collection of the same name, a welder whose daughters keep dropping off his grandchildren so that they can go out carousing is torn between resentment towards his daughters, whom he admits he didn’t always do right by when they were young, and his desire to better the lives of his grandchildren, who desperately need a responsible adult in their lives. Here's the opening:

“Tuesday was about typical. My four daughters, not a one of them married, you understand, brought over the kids, one each, and explained to my wife how much fun she was going to have looking after them again. But Tuesday was her day to go out to the casino, so guess who got to tend the four babies? My oldest daughter also brought over a bed rail that the end broke off of. She wanted me to weld it. Now, what the hell you can do in a bed that'll cause the end of a iron rail to break off is beyond me, but she can't afford another one on her burger-flipping salary, she said, so I got to fix it with four little kids hanging on my coveralls."

Did I neglect to mention that Gautreaux's stories are also laugh-out loud funny? Other stories in Welding with Children feature a priest with a drinking problem who is conned into returning a stolen car; an 85-year-old woman who attempts to foil a thief called "Big Blade" with her chicken stew; and a minister who attends a writing conference where he discovers he does indeed have talent only to . . . well, let's just say that the ending is a surprise and the story a cautionary tale about vocation that lingers in the heart and mind.

Because I'm a book geek, I dream not of a favorite sports team winning its season but of the day Tim Gautreaux wins the Nobel Prize in Literature. In the meantime, I'll be hosting a discussion of the book Welding with Children. You can sign up for the discussion at the 3rd floor Readers' Services desk. To read the rest of the story "Welding with Children," first published in The Atlantic Monthly, click here.

Soñar en Cubano

Tradition is one of the most powerful forces of human nature--the desire to assimilate can be equally powerful under the right circumstances; this is one of many themes set forth by our November Thursday evening book discussion pick. Set in both Cuba and New York, Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina García’s debut novel, tells the stories of the lives of three generations of Cuban women. It is a novel full of beautifully evoked images which tells a story of the strength of family and the strong influence of politics and superstition. García capitalizes on the profound internal struggle between where we’ve come from and where we’re going when the traditions of our ancestors come into contrast with the realities of modern life.

Please join us on Thursday, November 8th at 7:30 in the evning as we discuss this acclaimed title; we will have the unprecedented opportunity to Skype with the author during the discussion. Special guest Esther Santana, associate professor of Spanish from Northeastern Illinois University, will be in attendance, and authentic Cuban desserts will be served as we discuss the book, and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Cuba.

You can register online, or at the Readers' Services Desk on the third floor of the library. Copies of the book are also available at the third floor desk--hurry, though, they're going fast!

The Book That Haunts Me

You just finished THE most compelling book. Maybe you even stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish it. You long to discuss it with others, but no one you know has read it. You're curious to learn what others thought of a certain character: sometimes you liked him, and sometimes you didn't know WHAT to make of him. You wonder why the hero made the choices he did. You can't get the ending out of your head--it haunts you.

Does this sound like you? Then you should definitely register to attend one or more of our book discussions! The Tuesday morning group meets the first Tuesday of every month at 10 am. The Thursday evening group meets the second Thursday of every month at 7:30 p.m. And this year, between now and May, the library is hosting a special series of book discussions on "Love and Forgiveness," featuring literary works from Shakespeare to Ian McEwan that "explore how time and experience can lead to forgiveness in the presence of wisdom--and how wisdom can emerge."

A book rich in wisdom and depth that has haunted me for years is Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, and I'm very pleased to lead the Tuesday morning group in a discussion on February 3rd at 10 am. I was introduced to the play by my favorite high school English teacher, Ms. Judith Jahant, in whose class I first read it and listened to excerpts of Lee J. Cobb's explosive performance as Willy Loman. Willy Loman and Arthur Miller's other characters were unlike any I'd encountered in a book: their emotional lives and feelings for one another were as rich and complicated as life itself. Until then, I didn't know that could be captured on the page.

At the center of the story is Willy Loman, a man who worked over forty years as a salesman only to find himself tossed aside by his longtime employer at the age of 63. The play is a portrait of a flawed and misguided but ultimately sympathetic man. It's also a play that shines a harsh light on the American dream.

There is still time to sign up for the discussion and pick up a copy of the book at the Readers' Services desk on the third floor.

I'll leave you with the words of one of the characters in Death of a Salesman:

"I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person."

With Malice Toward None

There was an election approaching. Many thought the nation was at a crossroads, and that this presidential race might change the direction of the country. There were many well known candidates, but the one who took his party's nomination was a previously unknown politician from Illinois. He rose quickly to prominence in the party, due largely to his eloquence and his debate skills.

Does this sound familiar?

I am not referring to Barack Obama, but to Abraham Lincoln and the election campaign of 1860. I was struck by the similarities between that election campaign and the current one. I also noted that we are approaching several Lincoln-related anniversaries; the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth and the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. I recently traveled to Springfield to experience the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. If anyone is interested in Lincoln or in museums in general, I highly recommend a visit. The facilities are state of the art, and the exhibits are captivating. I left the museum having learned more about Lincoln than I ever had in school, and I was inspired to learn more.

When I returned I checked out several books about Lincoln. I suggested the library lead a book discussion of a Lincoln biography and I later learned that the Des Plaines Public Library has a number of programs coming up to commemorate those anniversaries.

The book I chose for discussion is With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen B. Oates, a very thorough and well-written book. The discussion will take place on Tuesday, September 2nd at 10AM. Registration is required and books are available at the Readers' Services Desk one month prior.

I also strongly considered choosing the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin because it was also well-written and well-reviewed and dealt more directly with the election campaign. And though I highly recommend the book, I thought it a little too vast for our discussion.

On October 5th, the Des Plaines Public Library is hosting the Lincoln-Douglas Debate: An abridged version of the fifth debate that was held on October 7, 1858 in Galesburg, Illinois. It will be presented by Michael Krebs and Larry Diemer. On November 23rd, nationally-acclaimed folksinger and songwriter Chris Vallillo will bring Abraham Lincoln to life from his birth in Kentucky in 1809 through his tragic death in 1865 in a program called Abraham Lincoln in Song. Registration for both programs is required.