Tag: Adult Fiction

BTL Reads This Is How It Always Is

Posted on by Olivia

BTL Reads This is How It Always Is

If you like to read a variety of books, and if you like to discuss the books you read, you should join one of the Aurora Public Library District’s book groups. There will be afternoon groups that meet at the Aurora Public Library on September 28 @ 1:00 pm and the Dillsboro Public Library on September 29 @ 10:00 am. There will also be an evening meeting at the Local History Library on October 3 @ 6:30 pm. We will be discussing This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel.

This is Claude. He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess.
When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.
Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. They’re just not sure they’re ready to share that with the world. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude’s secret. Until one day it explodes.
This Is How It Always Is is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it’s about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again, parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts, children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don’t get to keep them forever.

Pick up a book today to join our club and get reading!

NYM Book Club Reads “Silent Patient”

Posted on by Olivia

Not Your Mother's Book Club Meets August 31st at HankeringWant some excitement in your book club? Check out “Not Your Mother’s Book Club” from the Aurora Public Library District, where you’ll get to read today’s hottest books from Booktok and beyond and discuss them with readers just like you! Olivia, our resident “edgy” book lover, will be there to lead the discussion and take recommendations from attendees. Remember, this is your book club, and your reading opinions matter!

This month, we will be reading “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides.The Silent Patient Book Cover

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening, her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations: a search for the truth that threatens to consume him…

We will be meeting at Hankering Southern Kitchen at 6 pm on August 31st. You can pick up your book TODAY at the Aurora Public Library. We’ll see you there!

BTL Reads Dava Shastri’s Last Day

Posted on by Olivia

BTL reads Dava Shsatri's Last Day in August.

If you like to read a variety of books, and if you like to discuss the books you read, you should join one of the Aurora Public Library District’s book groups. There will be afternoon groups that meet at the Aurora Public Library on August 24 @ 1:00 pm and the Dillsboro Public Library on August 25 @ 1:00 pm. There will also be an evening meeting at the Local History Library on August 29 @ 6:30 pm. We will be discussing Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti.

Dava Shastri's Last Day Book Cover

Dava Shastri, one of the world’s wealthiest women, has always lived with her sterling reputation in mind. A brain cancer diagnosis at the age of seventy, however, changes everything, and Dava decides to take her death–like all matters of her life–into her own hands.

Summoning her four adult children to her private island, she discloses shocking news: in addition to having a terminal illness, she has arranged for the news of her death to break early, so she can read her obituaries.

As someone who dedicated her life to the arts and the empowerment of women, Dava expects to read articles lauding her philanthropic work. Instead, her “death” reveals two devastating secrets, truths she thought she had buried forever.

And now the whole world knows, including her children.

In the time she has left, Dava must come to terms with the decisions that have led to this moment–and make peace with those closest to her before it’s too late.

Pick up a book today to join our club and get reading!

Between the Lines Reads Booth

Posted on by Olivia

Do you LOVE to read? Do you love trying new books and discussing them with friends? Pick up your book for the next Between the Lines Book Club today!

This June, BTL is reading Booth by Karen Joy Fowler, a family drama that focuses on an unlikely subject: the family of President Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

In 1822, a secret family moves into a secret cabin some thirty miles northeast of Baltimore, to farm, hide, and bear ten children over the course of the next sixteen years. Junius Booth—breadwinner, celebrated Shakespearean actor, and master of the house in more ways than one—is at once a mesmerizing talent and a man of terrifying instability. One by one the children arrive, as year by year, the country draws frighteningly closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war.

As the tenor of the world shifts, the Booths emerge from their hidden lives to cement their place as one of the country’s leading theatrical families. But behind the curtains of the many stages they have graced, multiple scandals, family triumphs, and criminal disasters begin to take their toll, and the solemn siblings of John Wilkes Booth are left to reckon with the truth behind the destructively specious promise of an early prophecy.

We have added a new meeting to our schedule to better suit your life! In addition to our regular daytime meetings, we will also be meeting on June 27th at 6:30 pm at the newly renovated Local History Library @ The Depot! As always, we will be meeting at the Aurora Public Library on June 22nd at 1 pm and at the Dillsboro Public Library on June 23rd at 1 pm. Please feel welcome to attend any meeting that you wish, and keep an eye out for some delicious themed treats coming to your meetings this year!

We cannot wait to see you there! You can check out a BTL book at the Aurora or Dillsboro Public Libraries with a library card today to sign up.

Between the Lines Reads The Imperfects

Posted on by Olivia

If you like to read a variety of books, and if you like to discuss the books you read, you should join the Between the Lines Book Club, led by Ron Nicholson! There will be afternoon groups that meet at the Aurora Public Library on July 27 @ 1:00 pm, Dillsboro Public Library on July 28 @ 1:00 pm, and an evening group at the Local History Library on August 1 @ 6:30 pm.  This month’s title is The Imperfects by Amy Meyerson.

The Millers are far from perfect. Estranged siblings Beck, Ashley, and Jake find themselves under one roof for the first time in years, forced to confront old resentments and betrayals, when their mysterious, eccentric matriarch, Helen, passes away. But their lives are about to change when they find a secret inheritance hidden among her possessions—the Florentine Diamond, a 137-carat yellow gemstone that went missing from the Austrian Empire a century ago.

Desperate to learn how one of the world’s most elusive diamonds ended up in Helen’s bedroom, they begin investigating her past only to realize how little they know about their brave, resilient grandmother. As the Millers race to determine whether they are the rightful heirs to the diamond and the fortune it promises, they uncover a past more tragic and powerful than they ever could have imagined, forever changing their connection to their heritage and each other.

Pick up a book today at the Aurora or Dillsboro Public Library to join our club and get reading!

Not Your Mother’s Book Club: A New Reading Experience

Posted on by Olivia

Want some excitement in your book club? Check out “Not Your Mother’s Book Club” from the Aurora Public Library District, where you’ll get to read today’s hottest books from Booktok and beyond and discuss them with readers just like you! Olivia, our resident “edgy” book lover, will be there to lead the discussion and take recommendations from attendees. Remember, this is your book club, and your reading opinions matter!

This month, we will be reading “Verity” by Colleen Hoover.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, the husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

This book includes themes of child abuse. Please read at your discretion.

We will be meeting at Great Crescent Brewery at 6 pm on June 15th. You can pick up your book TODAY at the Aurora or Dillsboro Public Library. We’ll see you there!

BTL Reads “Theatre of Marvels” by Lianne Dillsworth

Posted on by Olivia

If you like to read a variety of books, and if you like to discuss the books you read, you should join one of the Aurora Public Library District’s book groups. There will be afternoon groups that meet at the Aurora Public Library on May 25 @ 1:00 pm, Dillsboro Public Library on May 26 @ 1:00 pm, and an evening group at the Local History Library on May 30 @ 6:30 pm.  This month’s title is Theatre of Marvels by Lianne Dillsworth.

Crowds gather at Crillick’s Variety Theatre, where curiosity is satisfied with displays of intrigue and fear. They’re here for the star of the show – the Great Amazonia warrior. They needn’t know this warrior is in fact Zillah, a mixed-race actress from the East End fooling them each night with her thrilling performance.

But something is amiss, and when Crillick’s new act goes missing Zillah feels compelled to investigate, knowing the fates that can befall women in Victorian London.

From the bustle of the West India Docks to the coffee houses of Fleet Street to the parlours of Mayfair, Zillah’s journey for answers will find her caught between both sides of her own identity, and between two men: her wealthy white admirer, and an African merchant appalled by her act.

Will Zillah be forced to confront the price of her own performance? And in risking everything can she also save herself?

Pick up a book today at the Aurora or Dillsboro Public Library to join our club and get reading!

Between the Lines Reads French Braid

Posted on by Olivia

Do you LOVE to read? Do you love trying new books and discussing them with friends? Pick up your book for the next Between the Lines Book Club today!

This April, BTL is reading French Braid by Anne Tyler, a family drama about the ties that bind, for better or worse.

The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever leave home, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family’s orbit, for reasons none of them understand. Yet, as these lives advance across decades, the Garretts’ influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation.

Follow this family’s foibles along with your fellow readers this April.

We have added a new meeting to our schedule to better suit your life! In addition to our April 27th meeting at 1:00 pm at the Aurora Public Library, we will also be meeting on May 2nd at 6:30 pm at the Aurora Public Library! As always, we will be meeting at the Dillsboro Public Library on April 28th at 1:00 pm. Please feel welcome to attend any meeting that you wish, and keep an eye out for some delicious themed treats coming to your meeting this year!

We cannot wait to see you there! You can check out a BTL book at the Aurora or Dillsboro Public Libraries with a library card.

Between the Lines Reads The Tobacco Wives

Posted on by Olivia

Do you LOVE to read? Do you love trying new books and discussing them with friends? Pick up your book for the next Between the Lines Book Club today!

This March, BTL is reading The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers, a historical drama about the cost of friendship and secrets.

Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who’s just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives.

When a series of unexpected events thrusts Maddie into the role of lead dressmaker for the town’s most influential women, she scrambles to produce their ornate gowns for the biggest party of the season. But she soon learns that Bright Leaf isn’t quite the carefree paradise that it seems: A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems. Although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise.

Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn’t know who she can trust—and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she has forged strong bonds.

Follow this riveting tale of the power of truth along with your fellow readers this March.

We have added a new meeting to our schedule to better suit your life! In addition to our March 30th meeting at 1:00 pm at the Aurora Public Library, we will also be meeting on April 4th at 6:30 pm at the Aurora Public Library! As always, we will be meeting at the Dillsboro Public Library on March 31st at 1:00 pm. Please feel welcome to attend any meeting that you wish, and keep an eye out for some delicious themed treats coming to your meeting this year!

We cannot wait to see you there! You can check out a BTL book at the Aurora or Dillsboro Public Libraries with a library card.

Between the Lines Returns!

Posted on by Olivia

Do you LOVE to read? Do you love trying new books and discussing them with friends? Pick up your book for the next Between the Lines Book Club today!

This January, BTL is reading Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak, perfect for reading in this cozy holiday season.

It’s Christmas, and for the first time in years, the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she’s been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family.

For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other’s orbits. In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who’s about to arrive…

See how the Birch Family’s holiday plays out in this delightful domestic family drama.

We have added a new meeting to our schedule to better suit your life! In addition to our January 26th meeting at 1:00 pm at the Aurora Public Library, we will also be meeting on January 31st at 6:30 pm at the Aurora Public Library! As always, we will be meeting at the Dillsboro Public Library on January 27th at 1:00 pm. Please feel welcome to attend any meeting that you wish, and keep an eye out for some delicious themed treats coming to your meeting this year!

We cannot wait to see you there! You can check out a BTL book now at the Aurora or Dillsboro Public Libraries with a library card.