Join a Book Club at MCLS

Book clubs are the ideal combination of solitary pursuit and social activity! First read the book on your own—at your own pace, in your favorite places, and in your preferred format (print, ebook, or audiobook). Then attend the book discussion to share your viewpoints and to hear others’ perspectives. Usually, a moderator leads the discussion, keeping the participants on track and making sure everyone has an opportunity to speak. At Mercer County Library System, we offer a variety of staff-led book discussion groups to pique your interest. 

NONFICTION

If you enjoy reading nonfiction, you’ll find a good fit at Ewing, Hickory Corner, or Twin Rivers Branch. At my branch (Hickory Corner), the nonfiction titles that we read are typically selected by the group members. We recently discussed The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander. Originally written in 2010, the book was updated in 2020 with a Preface to the Tenth Anniversary Edition. The book club participants agreed it was an important book, and it led to an engaging discussion. However, after reading The New Jim Crow, the group requested that we steer away from politics for a while. Sometimes we need an escape hatch!

I’ve had a book on the back burner for a couple of years now, waiting for an opportunity where no one had a suggestion. Here was my chance. I proposed Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, by Leila Philip. Described as a popular science read, it is an award-winning book and a New York Times bestseller. By the time this post goes live, we will have had a very absorbing discussion, I’m sure.*

Here are some books we’ve read that proved to be beautiful, exhilarating, or hopeful:

• All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art & Me, by Patrick Bringley. Bringley describes works of art in such a loving, respectful, and detailed manner that you feel as though you’re viewing them in the Met! 
• Owls of the Eastern Ice, by conservation biologist Jonathan Slaght. This book of popular science is as much an adventure as an education!
• Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery, by Scott Kelly. In my opinion, this memoir nicely blends the science involved in space travel with the practical requirements of an astronaut living in space for a year, as well as his concerns about his family who are missing him from Earth.

Hopewell Branch offers a chance for sports fanatics to talk about their love of the game. The sports book club has read books about many sports, including soccer, boxing, swimming, basketball, cross country, and more. In Big Fan, Michael Schur discusses sports not usually covered in books, such as darts and Indigenous North American stickball. 

Lawrence Headquarters Branch runs a true crime book club. Recent picks include A Gentleman and a Thief, by Dean Jobb; and Newtown, by Matthew Lysiak. There’s so much to suss out in a well written book of true crime.

FICTION

If you like reading fiction, we have many options for you. The Ewing, Hickory Corner, Hopewell,

Lawrence Headquarters, Twin Rivers, and West Windsor Branches have book clubs that regularly meet to discuss a wide range of fiction titles. 

Are you intrigued by a good mystery? Then try the Mystery Book Club at Hickory Corner Branch. October’s selection, The Botanist’s Assistant, by Peggy Townsend, is described as an “entertaining and uplifting mystery.” Looks like quite a romp!

Both West Windsor and Lawrence Branches offer science-fiction book clubs. And the Robbinsville Branch has taken on a related type of book club: imaginary universe. According to our website, “This book club is for newbies and fans of speculative fiction, a ‘super genre’ that encompasses any story from sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian, fairy tales, and all of the possible ‘what-ifs.’ For something out of the ordinary, read about the fascinating world created by Julie Leong in The Teller of Small Fortunes! 

SPECIAL BOOK GROUPS

Some of our book groups are special interest; for example, a gardening book club at the Hopewell Branch. Titles include fiction—for example, The Garden of Small Beginnings, by Abbi Waxman—as well as nonfiction, such as The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, by John Seabrook.

Other book clubs are special in other ways. Get Lit, at Lawrence Headquarters Branch, is intended for emerging adults: 18 to 29 years old. Titles are selected to appeal to readers of that age range. 

The best-kept secret in book discussions is silent book clubs. Gather at the Ewing or Robbinsville Branch to share with others the title of the book you’re reading and to have some refreshments, then read silently in the company of other dedicated silent readers. 

BOOK CLUB IN A BAG

If your schedule doesn’t align with the schedule of the librarian-led book clubs, or you have your own book club, we can help provide you with multiple copies of a title. Go to the MCLS catalog and enter “book club in a bag” to browse titles in the collection.

Be sure to peruse our Book Clubs webpage. There you’ll find helpful information about all our groups, such location, schedule, and upcoming book titles.

*Update: we had a great discussion about Beaverland! We agreed that we learned fascinating information about the behaviors of the beaver, as well as its importance in the history of America. The book illustrates one of my favorite aspects of a book club: members are motivated to read books they would not otherwise have chosen themselves.

- Mary, Hickory Corner Branch