book discussion


  • On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

    Join us for a discussion of this book on Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room.

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  • Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist-books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

    The Book Thief is the 2012 Centre County Reads Book.

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  • On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. To her horror, she finds that her cheerful mother tastes of despair. Soon, she's privy to the secret knowledge that most families keep hidden: her father's detachment, her mother's transgression, her brother's increasing retreat from the world.
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  • Just Like Us takes readers on a compelling journey with four young Mexican-American women who have lived in the U.S. since childhood. Exploring not only the women's personal life stories, this book also delves deep into an American subculture and the complex and controversial politics that surround the issue of immigration.

    Helen Thorpe will speak in the Community Room, April 5 at 7 p.m. 

    Join us for a discussion of this book on Tuesday, April 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the Community Room.

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  • Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist-books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

    The Book Thief is the 2012 Centre County Reads Book.

    more info

  • A million-plus-copy best seller in Korea-a magnificent English-language debut poised to become an international sensation-this is the stunning, deeply moving story of a family's search for their mother, who goes missing one afternoon amid the crowds of the Seoul Station subway.

    Join us for a discussion of this book on Tuesday, May 22 at 2:30 p.m. in the Sun Room.

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  • Armand Gamache has come not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. But violent death is inescapable, even in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society--where an obsessive historian's quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder.

    Tuesday, January 17, 6:30 p.m. Sun Room  

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  • The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio introduces Evelyn Ryan, an enterprising woman who kept poverty at bay with wit, poetry, and perfect prose during the "contest era" of the 1950s and 1960s. Evelyn's winning ways defied the church, her alcoholic husband, and antiquated views of housewives. To her, flouting convention was a small price to pay when it came to raising her six sons and four daughters.

    Join us for a discussion of this book on Tuesday, January 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the Community Room.

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  • Announcing the 2012 Centre County Reads selection: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This award-winning book has captured the hearts and imaginations of people around the world. We hope you'll read it and discuss it with your Centre County neighbors. Centre County Reads has many exciting events planned for this year including an Indoor Sports Day at the YMCA, a Grim Reaper Writing Contest, and a Skype appearance by author Markus Zusak! Copies of the book are available for checkout at Schlow Library. For more information please visit the Centre County Reads website.

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  • Are you wondering what the 2012 Centre County Reads book is all about? Check out this book trailer created by Dotty Delafield, Mt. Nittany Middle School's Librarian. For more information about Centre County Reads and the upcoming programs, please visit Centre County Reads' website.
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