CMLE Libraries’s Comments (group member since Aug 30, 2016)

CMLE Libraries’s comments from the CMLE Librarians Enjoying Books group.

An exciting mystery is ahead when we read Homicide in Hardcover

Join us this month as we solve the mystery of The Body in the Library

While this book may not focus on a library or librarian, we thought a historical mystery that centers on a dangerous book would still be appropriate!
Join us this month as we read The Shadow of the Wind

"The international literary sensation, about a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona for a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.  An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller’s art."

Let's start the new year reading a fantasy book about a mysterious library that potentially holds the secret to all of creation!

We are trying something a little different this month as we read a picture book! Read about Tomas, who moves from Texas to Iowa with his family for fruit picking season. He discovers the joy of his local library through the help of the librarian and reading.

Learn about the mysterious myths surrounding Vlad the Impaler as we read The Historian

And here are some questions to consider as you read! Feel free to answer them or leave your own thoughts in the comments!

1. Near the end of Chapter 4, Rossi says, "Human history's full of evil deeds, and maybe we ought to think of them with tears, not fascination." Does he follow his own advice? How does his attitude toward history evolve in the course of his own story?

2. In Chapter 5, Paul's friend Massimo asserts that in history, there are no small questions. What does he mean by this and how does this idea inform the book? Do you agree with his statement?

3. Helen's history is deeply intertwined with that of Dracula. In what ways are the two characters connected? Does she triumph over his legacy, or not?

Journey to Ireland for a mystery with our book pick this month: The Case of the Missing Books

We hope you're enjoying reading along with us this September! Our book pick for this month is The Book of Speculation

Here are some questions to think about as you go through the book, feel free to answer or just share your general thoughts about the story!

1. How are the dual narratives—the present-day story and the one from the 1790s—set apart? In what ways are they connected? How do the characters and events in one narrative play off of those in the other?

2. What part do various languages play in both narratives? Why do you think the author chose to make Amos mute?

3. Simon has vivid memories of his childhood, whereas Amos has little recollection of his. What part does the fragile nature of memory play in each of their lives?

4. Different types of magic are woven throughout the story and individual characters are drawn to specific kinds—water magic, tarot cards, book magic, etc. Which characters resonate with which kinds of magic? Are you drawn to a particular type of magic? Do you have to believe in magic to appreciate this novel?

5. How does Simon’s concept of home change over the course of the story? How does it compare with other characters’ ideas about home? What does home mean to you?

6. “Haven’t you ever felt connected to a book?” Churchwarry asks Simon. What do books mean to him and to Simon? Do you have a book that you feel is uniquely yours?

Discover a book about books and reading! This month we will explore the book The Thirteenth Tale

Kathy wrote: "Great book! I envy those of you reading it for the first time. I recommend Geraldine Brooks' other novels as well..."

Thanks, Kathy! My copy just came from the library and I'm looking forward to diving in!

Read with us in July as we read People of the Book
"Called "a tour de force"by the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain. When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding-an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair-only begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics."

We are so excited to read The Invisible Library this month! The book sounds exciting: magic, spies, and dangerous books, perfect for your summer reading!

Here are some discussion questions to answer as we approach the end of the month! We hope you are enjoying reading The Camel Bookmobile

1. Talk about the resentment toward the bookmobile on the part of some of the villagers. What prompted it and are those fears/resentments justified.

2. What about Scar Boy, perhaps the story's most complex character? In an interview with the American Library Association, Hamilton says Scar Boy almost wrote himself. What motivates him?

3. Can literacy and literature truly be destructive to a tribal culture? How might both traditional ways and modernity be blended to the benefit of all? Is that possible?

Read along with CMLE this month as we enjoy another librarian's adventure in The Camel Bookmobile
“Fiona Sweeney wants to do something that matters, and she chooses to make her mark in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya. By helping to start a traveling library, she hopes to bring the words of Homer, Hemingway, and Dr. Seuss to far-flung tiny communities where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease. Her intentions are honorable, and her rules are firm: due to the limited number of donated books, if any one of them is not returned, the bookmobile will not return.”

Here are some discussion questions as you finish up this month's book The Time Traveler's Wife. We hope you enjoyed it!

1. How has Henry's personality been shaped by his bouts of chronodisplacement? How does his time traveling affect Clare? In addition, how is Clare affected by meeting her future husband when she is six and seeing him repeatedly throughout her childhood and adolescence? How does the author manage to make their relationship seem eccentric - even enchanted - rather than sinister?

2. What is the particular significance of Henry's job as a librarian? What connection do you see between his choice of career and his childhood fascination with the Field Museum?

3. Would you call "The Time Traveler's Wife" a comedy or a tragedy, or are such classifications relevant to a work that plays havoc with time and allows one character to appear periodically after his death?

4. How does the author use time travel as a metaphor: for love, for loss and absence, for fate, for aging, for death? To what extent are Clare and Henry a "normal" couple?

Join us this April for a romantic read about a librarian that travels through time! The Time Traveler's Wife
"A most untraditional love story, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who inadvertently travels through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare’s passionate affair endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love."

March is almost over, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on our fun book pick Love Overdue

1. Who were your favorite characters, and why?

2. What did you think of the Dewey Decimal numbers at the beginning of each chapter?

3. Could you relate to some of the challenges that D.J. faced while working at her library?

Join us in our fun librarian-themed fiction group as we read Love Overdue and find out about a librarian's adventures in her new small town!

For our February fun read, we've chosen Books Can Be Deceiving a library mystery! Stay warm this month with a murder mystery about libraries, books, and authors.

Here are some discussion questions to ponder after reading The Ice Queen
Tell us what you thought of the book, and the librarian's journey!

1. The book begins with the warning "Be careful what you wish for...Wishes are brutal, unforgiving things." Considering the power of wishes as depicted in the novel, do you agree with the narrator's advice?

2. The lines between life and death are unmistakably blurred in "The Ice Queen." Some characters cheat death while others have difficulty embracing life. How do you think the narrator views her own mortality? In her own opinion, has she cheated death?

3. Discuss the roles of fairy tales in "The Ice Queen." What kinds of tales does the narrator express a preference for, and why?

4. The physical effects of a lightening strike are unique to each victim in the novel - the narrator's ability to see red, Lazarus's boiling breath, Renny's hands, the Dragon's fire, etc. Discuss the significance of some of these physical changes.

5. The narrator's two romantic interests, Lazarus and Jack, are very different from each other. What does each of these men offer her, and do you agree with the narrator's choice in the end?

6. Why do you think the author chose not to reveal the name of the narrator in "The Ice Queen?"