Book Discussion Groups


Share your love of cooking and trying new recipes. Every month, the group selects a cookbook and each participant chooses a recipe from it to prepare for sharing. The group then meets to sample the dishes made and discuss the recipes. Stop by the Circulation Desk to choose a recipe from this month’s cookbook.

Next meeting dates:
January 9, 2023 | Southern Living Soups, Stews, and Chilis
February 6 | The World in a Skillet by Chris Kimball
March 6 | Black Food: Stories, Art & Recipes From Across the African Diaspora by Bryant Terry
April 3 | Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen
May 1 | Cook’s Illustrated All-Time Best Appetizers
June 5 | America’s Test Kitchen Five Ingredient Dinners
July 10 | Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day by Leanne Brown
August 7 | The Ultimate Outdoor Cookbook by Linda Ly
September 11 | Milk Street Tuesday Nights Mediterranean by Christopher Kimball
October 2 | Food on Tap: Cooking with Craft Beer by Lori Rice
November 6 | Thanksgiving Dinner Edition: we are celebrating Thanksgiving early. Please bring a favorite dish to share.
December 4 | Delicious Gatherings: Recipes to Celebrate Together by Tara Teaspoon

January 8 | My Portugal by George Mendes.

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Join us in the library or online to discuss nature-themed books.

Next meeting dates:
January 4, 2023 | no meeting
February 1 | The Delaware Naturalist Handbook by McKay Jenkins
March 1 | The Serengeti Rules: the quest to discover how life works and why it matters by Sean B. Carroll
April 5 | Vesper Flights: new and collected essays by Helen Macdonald
May 3 | Gathering Moss: a natural and cultural history of mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer
June 7 | Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
July 5 | no meeting
August 2 | There’s a hair in my dirt!: a worm’s story by Gary Larson and The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
September 6 | Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Iconic Poet by Marta McDowell
October 4 | Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay by William Warner
November 1 | Finding the Mother Tree: discovering the wisdom of the forest by Suzanne Simard
December 6 | A Life on Our Planet: my witness statement and my vision for the future by David Attenborough

2024 meeting dates:
January 3 | The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Bailey
February 7 | Patterns in Nature: why the natural world looks the way it does by Philip Ball
March 6 | The Song of the Cell: an exploration of medicine and the new human by Siddhartha Mukherjee
April 3 | To Speak for the Trees: my life’s journey from ancient Celtic wisdom to the healing vision of the forest by Diana Beresford-Kroger
May 1 | An Immense World: how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us by Ed Yong, Chapters 1 – 6
June 5 | An Immense World: how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us by Ed Yong, Chapters 7 – 13
July 3 | No meeting
August 7 | Climate-wise Landscaping: practical actions for a sustainable future by Sue Reed
September 4 | Old Growth: The Best Writing about Trees from Orion Magazine by Robin Wall Kimmerer
October 2 | Beloved Beasts: fighting for life in an age of extinction by Michelle Nijhuis
November 6 | Silent Earth: averting the insect apocalypse by Dave Goulson
December 4 | The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson

2021 Book List | 2022 Book List

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The American Association of University Women sponsors a Notable Books discussion that meets on the first Thursday of the month.

Next meeting dates:
January 5, 2023 | The Hospital: Life, Death and Dollars in a Small American Town by Brian Alexander
February 2 | The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade
March 2 | The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
April 6 | Matrix by Lauren Groff
May 4 | When we Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
June 1 | Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal
July 6 | The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
August 3 | Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey by James Rebanks
September 7 | Share a book – each member is invited to bring a favorite book to share with the group
October 5 | TBA
November 2 | TBA
December 7 | No meeting

2024 meeting dates:
January 4 | Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
February 1 | Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana
March 7 | Trust by Herman Diaz
April 4 | The Vortex: A True Story of History’s Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation by Scott Carney and Jason Miklian
May 2 | Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
June 6 | Bitch: On the Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke
July 11* | Horse by Geraldine Brooks
August 1 | The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
September 5 | Share a book – each member is invited to bring a favorite book to share with the group
October 3 | TBA
November 7 | TBA
December 5 | No meeting
* Note change in meeting day due to the holiday.

AAUW 2021 Book List | AAUW 2022 Book List

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A partnership with the SDARJ, the Alliance Book and Film Group, celebrating its 5th year, meets in the library and online to discuss classic and contemporary works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and cinematic art.

Next meeting dates:
January 24, 2023 | The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jessmyn Ward et al.
February 28 | A Most Beautiful Thing (film)
March 28 | The Trees by Percival Everett
April 25 | United Skates (film)
May 23 | Kindred by Octavia Butler
June 27 | Diary of a Mad Black Woman (film)
July 25 | Nightcrawling by Leilah Mottley et al.
August 22 | Ernie Freeman: The Man in His Time by Mr. Agin A. Shaheed
September 26 | Finding Me by Viola Davis
October 24 | The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
November 28 | The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (film)
December | no meeting

2024 meeting dates:
January 23 | Twice as Hard: Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians by Jasmine Brown
February 27 | The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
March 26 | But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of the ‘60s Girl Groups by Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz
April 23 | Origin (film) / Supplemental reading: Caste by Isabelle Wilkerson
May 28 | I Saw Death Coming by Kidada Williams
June 25 | Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders / Supplemental viewing: Six Triple Eight (film)
July 23 | Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
August 27 | I Am Not Your Negro (film) / Supplemental reading: Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
September 24 | Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether
October 22 | Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (film) / Supplemental reading: Make Me Rain: Poems and Prose by Nikki Giovanni
November 26 | Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
December | no meeting

2021 Title List

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A monthly book discussion group sponsored by Dewey Beer Co. New, seasonal brews will be sampled at discussion. Copies of the books are available to borrow at the Circulation Desk.
Book selections will be made for the rest of the 2023 year at the first discussion.

Next meeting dates:
August 22, 2023 | Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
September 26 | Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
October 24 | Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
November 28 | Educated by Tara Westover
December | No Book Club

2024 meeting dates:
January 23 | The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
February 27 | Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
March 26 | Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan
April 23 | Circe by Madeline Miller
May 28 | The Humans by Matt Haig

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A monthly book discussion group. Copies of the books are available to borrow at the Circulation Desk.

Next meeting dates:
January 26, 2023 | The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
February 23 | Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
March 23 | Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
April 27 | The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
May 25 | Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
June 22 | Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon
July 27 | The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
August 24 | The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
September 28 | Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
October 26 | The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
November | no meeting *
December 7 | Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline *
* the November and December meetings are combined and meet on December 7.

2024 meeting dates:
January 25 | The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
February 22 | All Adults Here by Emma Straub
March 28 | A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella
April 25 | The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
May 23 | The Maid by Nita Prose
June 27 | The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
July 25 | Chances Are by Richard Russo
August 22 | Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
September 26 | When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain
October 24 | Horse by Geraldine Brooks
November | no meeting*
December 5 | Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
* the November and December meetings are combined and meet on December 5

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