May 2, 2024
The Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library’s First Thursday Book Club met on Thursday, May 2, 2024 from 12 NOON to 1:00 PM in the library with 5 readers in attendance.
One of our group members treated us to delicious Sorbie’s Sunshine Shortbread Cookies made with dandelion petals. We asked that she share the recipe with us, and she did!
Sorbie’s Sunshine Shortbread Cookies
1 cup butter
1 pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
½ cup sugar (our baker uses raw sugar)
2/3 cup dandelion petals
2 ½ cups flour (our baker uses King Arthur Gluten Free flour)
½ tsp. turmeric
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cream butter, salt, and sugar with the mixer on low speed. Add flower petals. Mix flour and turmeric and then slowly add to butter mixture. When a loose dough forms, gather into a ball. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll out dough. Cut into shapes and place on parchment lined baking sheets ensuring that the cookies do not touch each other. Chill the cookies on the trays for 30 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Location of the Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library’s First Thursday Book Club meeting minutes:
The Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library’s First Thursday Book Club meeting minutes are published in “files” on the Marcellus Twp Library Book Club Facebook site. If you have not already joined this site, please do!
The Monthly First Thursday Book Club Quiz and Prize!
This month, note that a literary quiz can be found at the end of these meeting minutes. Send your responses to marcellusmichiganlibrary@gmail.com. The first respondent with the correct answers will win this month’s prize—a lovely tea cup perfect for spring time. You can take a break from planting seeds from the library’s seed exchange and enjoy your tea!
New at the Library! The Library of Things
Our library now has a Library of Things that patrons can check out just like books, DVDs, and magazines. We currently have four T-Mobile Hotspots available for patrons to enjoy wireless internet at any time. Hotspot checkouts are for 1 week. These are available in the library on a trial basis so that we can determine if we should keep them in our collection. If you opt to borrow one of these, please let us know your thoughts!
Small and medium sized hearing protectors are also available for checkout on a weekly basis. Hearing protectors are designed to work in a variety of settings--sporting events, concerts, noisy shopping centers and airports. Ears stay shielded, safe and protected. They are powerful enough to block out the loudest of noises, from gardening equipment to power tools. Use of the hearing protectors may also prevent overstimulation for individuals on the autism spectrum, offering the user a quiet “time out” to regroup and undo stress.
Books discussed at the May meeting:
Title and Author: Where the Crawdads Sing: A Novel by Delia Owens
Description: For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her. But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens. In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps. The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
Genre: Adult fiction-literary
Availability:
In Library: Book; Libby audiobook & eBook
MeLCat: Book; large print book; audiobook; movie
Club member comment(s): Excellent story that starts in 1962. The main character is the youngest in her household with her family living in poverty. Her alcoholic father is responsible for the departure of family members until he too does not return home leaving Kya alone in an isolated marshy area. Her peers refer to her as “the marsh girl,” and when she does try attending school, her peers humiliate her, driving her away from school after only one day. She befriends a nearby African American family and is able to persevere and thrive living as a naturalist in her wild surroundings. She is drawn to two young men from town. One of these men leaves town for college. The other tells Kya he cares for her but then marries another woman whose background and social status matches his own. When this man is murdered, Kya becomes the prime suspect. Our reader enjoyed the book and believed the book was better than the movie.
Title and Author: A Dog’s Way Home: A Novel by W. Bruce Cameron
Description: The first book in the Dog’s Way Home Tale series. Lucas Ray is shocked when an adorable puppy jumps out of an abandoned building and into his arms. Though the apartment he shares with his mother, a disabled veteran, doesn't allow dogs, Lucas can't resist taking Bella home. Bella is inexplicably drawn to Lucas, even if she doesn't understand the necessity of games like No Barks. As it becomes more difficult to hide her from the neighbors, Lucas begins to sneak Bella into the VA where he works. There, Bella brings joy and comfort where it is needed most. After Bella is picked up by Animal Control because pit bulls are banned in Denver, Lucas has no choice but to send her to a foster home until he can figure out what to do. But Bella, distraught at the separation, doesn't plan to wait. With four hundred miles of dangerous Colorado wilderness between her and her person, Bella sets off on a seemingly impossible and completely unforgettable adventure home. A classic story of unwavering loyalty and incredible devotion, A Dog's Way Home is a beautifully told, charming tale that explores the unbreakable bond between us and our pets.
Genre: Adult fiction-general
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): This book is certainly emotionally evocative! Our reader had to put it down because she shed tears. After a while, she picked the book back up and finished it—glad that she did. Great read.
Title and Author: Heads You Win: A Novel by Jeffrey Archer
Description: Leningrad, Russia, 1968. From an early age it is clear that Alexander Karpenko is destined to lead his countrymen. But when his father is assassinated by the KGB for defying the state, Alexander and his mother will have to escape Russia if they hope to survive. At the docks, they have an irreversible choice: board a container ship bound for America or one bound for Great Britain. Alexander leaves the choice to a toss of a coin . . . In a single moment, a double twist decides Alexander’s future. During an epic tale, spanning two continents and thirty years, we follow Alexander through triumph and defeat as he sets out on parallel lives, as Alex in New York and Sasha in London. As this unique story unfolds, both come to realize that to find their destiny they must face the past they left behind as Alexander in Russia. With a final twist that will shock even his most ardent fans, this is international number one bestseller Jeffrey Archer’s most ambitious and creative work since Kane and Abel.
Genre: Adult fiction-Historical
Availability:
Library: Libby audiobook
MeLCat: Book; large print book; audiobook (including MP3 player)
Club member comment(s): Our book club member felt that this book had a strange ending which left her questioning if she had interpreted the story line correctly.
Title and Author: Blessing of the Lost Girls: A Brady and Walker Novel by J.A. Jance
Description: Driven by a compulsion that challenges his self-control, the man calling himself Charles Milton prowls the rodeo circuit, hunting young women. He chooses those he believes are the most vulnerable, wandering alone and distracted, before he strikes. For years, he has been meticulous in his methods, abducting, murdering, and disposing of his victims while leaving no evidence of his crimes—or their identities—behind. Indigenous women have become his target of choice, knowing law enforcement’s history of ignoring their disappearances. A cold case has just been assigned to Dan Pardee, a field officer with the newly formed Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force. Rosa Rios, a young woman of Apache descent and one-time rodeo star, vanished three years ago. Human remains, a homicide victim burned beyond recognition, were discovered in Cochise County around the time she went missing. They have finally been confirmed to be Rosa. With Sheriff Joanna Brady’s help, Dan is determined to reopen the case and bring long-awaited justice to Rosa’s family. As the orphaned son of a murdered indigenous woman, he feels an even greater, personal obligation to capture this killer. Joanna’s daughter Jennifer is also taking a personal interest in this case, having known Rosa from her own amateur rodeo days. Now a criminal justice major, she’s unofficially joining the investigation. And as it becomes clear that Rosa was just one victim of a serial killer, both Jennifer and Dan know they’re running out of time to catch an elusive predator who’s proven capable of getting away with murder.
Genre: Adult fiction-mystery
Availability:
In Library: Book
MeLCat: Book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): Intriguing read.
Title and Author: Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
Description: When Vera Donovan, one of the wealthiest and most ill-natured residents of Maine's Little Tall Island, dies suddenly in her home, suspicion is immediately cast on her housekeeper and caretaker, Dolores Claiborne. Dolores herself is no stranger to such mistrust, thanks to the local chatter and mysterious circumstances surrounding her abusive husband's death twenty-nine years earlier. But if this is truly to be the day of Dolores Claiborne's reckoning, she has a few things of her own that she'd like to get off her chest...and begins to confess a spirited, intimate, and harrowing tale of the darkest secrets hidden within her hardscrabble existence, revealing above all one woman's unwavering determination to weather the storm of her life with grace and protect the one she loves, no matter what the cost...
Genre: Adult fiction-thriller
Availability:
In Library: Book
MeLCat: Book; large print book; audiobook; movie related to book.
Club member comment(s): A Stephen King thriller that lives up to its “thriller” billing!
Title and Author: The Friendship Club: A Novel by Robyn Carr
Description: Four women come together at a tumultuous time in their lives, forging an unbreakable bond that will leave them all forever changed. Celebrity cooking show host Marni McGuire has seen it all. She’s been married—twice—and widowed and divorced. Now in her mid-fifties, she’s single. Happily so. She just needs to convince her pregnant daughter, Bella, of this fact. And maybe convince herself, too. Especially after Marni’s efforts to humor her determined daughter result in a series of disastrous dates that somehow prompt Marni to wonder if maybe the right man for her is still out there after all. Similarly single, Marni’s best friend and colleague is confident she’s content without a man, but both older women soon find themselves leading by example as the young intern on their show appears caught in a toxic relationship—and Bella reveals her own marriage maybe isn’t built to withstand the stresses of the baby on the way. Suddenly, all four women find themselves at a crossroads, each navigating the challenges of dating, marriage, loneliness and love. Thankfully, they have each other to lean on. The realities of modern love are far from easy, but there’s no better group to have in your corner than friends who will lift you up, no matter what, and hold fast in the face of any storm.
Genre: Adult fiction-romance
Availability:
In Library: Book
MeLCat: Book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): Cute fluff! Chick lit! Enjoyable.
Title and Author: The Echo of Old Books: A Novel by Barbara Davis
Description: A novel about the magical lure of books and summoning the courage to rewrite our stories. Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer's affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books' previous owners-an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance. With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers' tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story-and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.
Genre: Adult fiction-literary
Availability:
In Library: Book
MeLCat: Book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): A love story and a mystery. Genealogy tracing. The book focuses on the journals kept by the male and female characters. Enjoyable read. Recommended to the other members of the group.
Title and Author: Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator by Homer Hickam
Description: Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam Sr. were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields, graduating just as the Great Depression began. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen (yes, that Buddy Ebsen). But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie’s dreams of a life with him were crushed and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields, married to Homer. Unfulfilled as a miner’s wife, Elsie was reminded of her carefree days in Florida every day because of Buddy’s unusual wedding gift: an alligator named Albert who lived in the only bathroom in their little house. Eventually Homer gave Elsie an ultimatum: “Me or the alligator!” After giving it some thought, Elsie concluded there was only one thing to do—carry Albert home. Carrying Albert Home tells the sweet, funny and sometimes heartbreaking tale of a young couple and their special pet on a crazy 1,000 mile journey. Told with the warmth and down-home charm that made Rocket Boys a beloved bestseller, Homer Hickam’s rollicking novel is truly a testament to that strange and marvelous emotion we call love.
Genre: Adult fiction-general
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book; audiobook.
Club member comment(s): Funny, sweet, thoroughly enjoyable.
Title and Author: The Ghost at the Table: A Novel by Suzanne Berne
Description: Strikingly different since childhood and leading dissimilar lives now, sisters Frances and Cynthia have managed to remain "devoted"—as long as they stay on opposite coasts. When Frances arranges to host Thanksgiving at her idyllic New England farmhouse, she envisions a happy family reunion, one that will include the sisters’ long-estranged father. Cynthia, however, doesn’t understand how Frances can ignore the past their father’s presence revives, a past that includes suspicions about their mother’s death twenty-five years earlier. As Thanksgiving Day arrives, with a houseful of guests looking forward to dinner, the sisters continue to struggle with different versions of a shared past, their conflict escalating to a dramatic, suspenseful climax.
Genre: Adult fiction-literary
Availability:
In Library: Book
MeLCat: Book; large print book
Club member comment(s): Really good book that hones in on how even if people are raised in similar circumstances, their perceptions of the people and events around them can be strikingly different. Our reader found it interesting that although the differing perceptions of the characters are detailed, the author doesn’t identify the truth for readers. Readers are left to determine what the truth might be.
Title and Author: The Pieces We Keep by Kristina Morris
Description: Two years have done little to ease veterinarian Audra Hughes's grief over her husband's untimely death. Eager for a fresh start, Audra plans to leave Portland for a new job in Philadelphia. Her seven-year-old son, Jack, seems apprehensive about flying--but it's just the beginning of an anxiety that grows to consume him. As Jack's fears continue to surface in recurring and violent nightmares, Audra hardly recognizes the introverted boy he has become. Desperate, she traces snippets of information unearthed in Jack's dreams, leading her to Sean Malloy, a struggling US Army veteran wounded in Afghanistan. Together they unravel a mystery dating back to World War II, and uncover old family secrets that still have the strength to wound--and perhaps, at last, to heal. Intricate and beautifully written, The Pieces We Keep illuminates those moments when life asks us to reach beyond what we know and embrace what was once unthinkable. Deftly weaving together past and present, herein lies a story that is at once poignant and thought-provoking, and as unpredictable as the human heart.
Genre: Adult fiction-general
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book
Club member comment(s): Very good book.
Title and Author: Slow Train (The Slim Hardy Mysteries Book 4) by Jack Benton
Description: A thrilling British mystery that will leave you guessing until the last page...On the evening of Saturday, January 15th, 1977, a local commuter train is delayed at a small village station by a freak blizzard. Young nurse Jennifer Evans, keen to get back to her family, plans to walk the last couple of miles to her home in a neighboring village. She phones her daughter to confirm that she’s on her way, but she never arrives home. In the ensuing police investigation, no trace of Jennifer Evans is ever found. The only evidence is a photograph taken by a fellow passenger of footprints in the snow in front of Holdergate station. It appears someone was fleeing for their life….Contacted by Jennifer’s daughter, at first it seems private investigator John “Slim” Hardy has no chance of solving a forty-two-year-old mystery. But as the case begins to unravel, Slim finds himself caught in the center of a whirlwind which will send him spinning to a dramatic conclusion.
Genre: Mystery
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Not available.
Club member comment(s): Slim is a private detective and an alcoholic. He believes the case he agrees to work on will be an easy one to resolve. He’s wrong, of course. This book is filled with plot twists and turns.
Title and Author: The Recipe Box: A Novel (The Heirloom Novels) by Viola Shipman
Description: Growing up in northern Michigan, Samantha “Sam” Mullins felt trapped on her family’s orchard and pie shop, so she left with dreams of making her own mark in the world. But life as an overworked, undervalued sous chef at a reality star’s New York bakery is not what Sam dreamed. When the chef embarrasses Sam, she quits and returns home. Unemployed, single, and defeated, she spends a summer working on her family’s orchard cooking and baking alongside the women in her life—including her mother, Deana, and grandmother, Willo. One beloved, flour-flecked, ink-smeared recipe at a time, Sam begins to learn about and understand the women in her life, her family’s history, and her passion for food through their treasured recipe box. As Sam discovers what matters most she opens her heart to a man she left behind, but who now might be the key to her happiness.
Genre: Adult fiction-general
Availability:
In Library: Book; Libby audiobook
MeLCat: Book; large print book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): Viola Shipman is actually a pen name for the real author named Wade Rouse. This book is set in Northern Michigan, has a great plot, and includes delicious recipes! Very enjoyable.
Title and Author: Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee
Description: Have you ever wondered why we stop to watch the orange glow that arrives before sunset, or why we flock to see cherry blossoms bloom in spring? Is there a reason that people—regardless of gender, age, culture, or ethnicity—are mesmerized by baby animals, and can't help but smile when they see a burst of confetti or a cluster of colorful balloons? We are often made to feel that the physical world has little or no impact on our inner joy. Increasingly, experts urge us to find balance and calm by looking inward—through mindfulness or meditation—and muting the outside world. But what if the natural vibrancy of our surroundings is actually our most renewable and easily accessible source of joy? In Joyful, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explores how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising and powerful effects on our mood. Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she explains why one setting makes us feel anxious or competitive, while another fosters acceptance and delight—and, most importantly, she reveals how we can harness the power of our surroundings to live fuller, healthier, and truly joyful lives.
Genre: Adult non-fiction
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book
Club member comment(s): The author, who has a design degree, focuses on how little things around us can make us more joyful—we just need to identify them. Our reader told the group that she opted to pick up this book because her friend’s book club members loved it. She felt the book was “okay.” She understood the author’s intent but believed that finding joy in life became too scripted and lacked joyful spontaneity. If a reader needs more joy in his/her life, the book may be helpful.
Title and Author: The Air Raid Book Club: A Novel by Annie Lyons
Description: London, 1938: The bookstore just doesn’t feel the same to Gertie Bingham ever since the death of her beloved husband Harry. Bingham Books was a dream they shared together, and without Harry, Gertie wonders if it’s time to take her faithful old lab, Hemingway, and retire to the seaside. But fate has other plans for Gertie. In Germany, Hitler is on the rise, and Jewish families are making the heart wrenching decision to send their children away from the growing turmoil. After a nudge from her dear friend Charles, Gertie decides to take in one of these refugees, a headstrong teenage girl named Hedy. Willful and fearless, Hedy reminds Gertie of herself at the same age, and shows her that she can’t give up just yet. With the terrible threat of war on the horizon, the world needs people like Gertie Bingham and her bookshop. When the Blitz begins and bombs whistle overhead, Gertie and Hedy come up with the idea to start an air raid book club. Together with neighbors and bookstore customers, they hold lively discussions of everything from Winnie the Pooh to Wuthering Heights. After all, a good book can do wonders to bolster people’s spirits, even in the most trying times. But even the best book can only provide a temporary escape, and as the tragic reality of the war hits home, the book club faces unimaginable losses. They will need all the strength of their stories and the bonds they’ve formed to see them through to brighter days.
Genre: Adult fiction-historical
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): Superb book and would highly recommend it to others. In reading critiques after finishing the book, our reader noted that other felt the author did not focus enough on the drudgery, fear, and exhaustion that those living through the bombing blitz in England must have felt. Our reader believed that author carefully balanced these realistic aspects of life during that time period with the resilience and “carry on” attitude necessary for survival. Pleasure and joy was captured in moments and in relationships. The importance of literature to get us through tough time was prominent in this novel.
Title and Author: The Morningside: A Novel by Tea Obreht
Description: There’s the world you can see. And then there’s the one you can’t. Welcome to the Morningside. After being expelled from their ancestral home, Silvia and her mother finally settle at the Morningside, a crumbling luxury tower in Island City where Silvia’s aunt Ena serves as the superintendent. Silvia feels unmoored in her new life because her mother has been so diligently secretive about their family's past. Silvia knows almost nothing about the place where she was born and spent her early years, nor does she know why she and her mother had to leave. But in Ena there is an a person willing to give the young girl glimpses into the folktales of her demolished homeland, a place of natural beauty and communal spirit that is lacking in Silvia's lonely and impoverished reality. Enchanted by Ena’s stories, Silvia begins seeing the world with magical possibilities and becomes obsessed with the mysterious older woman who lives in the penthouse of the Morningside. Bezi Duras is an enigma to everyone in the building. She has her own elevator entrance and leaves only to go out at night and walk her three massive hounds, often not returning until the early morning. Silvia’s mission to unravel the truth about this woman’s life, and her own haunted past, may end up costing her everything. Startling, inventive, and profoundly moving, The Morningside is a novel about the stories we tell—and the stories we refuse to tell—to make sense of where we came from and who we hope we might become.
Genre: Adult fiction-science fiction
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): This is a story set in the not so distant future (exact time unknown) when the world is old and tired, and communities everywhere have been disrupted by political and weather changes. A young girl tries to find meaning and a home among the people she encounters and the strange adventures she undertakes. The book is intriguing, thought provoking, and easy to read.
Title and Author: Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles
Description: The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise which operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles’s novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September, 1938, with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others— in the midst of Hollywood’s golden age. Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next. Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction.
Genre: Adult fiction-literary
Availability:
In Library: Book; Libby audiobook and eBook.
MeLCat: Book; audiobook
Club member comment(s): This books is made up of nine short novels, all of them fascinating and different.
Upcoming Events at the Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library Wednesdays
Support Group for Parents of Challenging Kids, the 2nd Wednesday of every month— June 12th, July 10th, August 14th at 9:00 A.M. this month. If you are feeling overwhelmed, join others to gain valuable support coping strategies and information about community resources.
Preschool Story Hour, Wednesdays 10:15 AM through May 2024. Stories, music, movement & crafts for ages 0-5 and their parents/caregivers.
Sourdough for Beginners. Learn the art of sourdough from expert Lindsey Morehouse of The Dough and More! Wednesday, May 29th at 6PM. Paid registration of $10 is required, and space is limited. This workshop will cover the essentials and you will leave with a starter of your own.
Game Night AND Movies & Popcorn, May 29th and the last Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM. We’ll have fresh popcorn and a movie during game night! All ages are welcome.
Wednesday Summer Crafts in June. (Crafts were inspired by the books that are written in parentheses). June 12th: Decorating Picture Frames (The Family Book); June 19th: Elastic Beaded Bracelets (The Invisible String); June 26th: Feelings Layered Hearts (In My Heart).
Thursdays:
First Thursday Book Club 2024, June 6, 2024, 12 NOON-1 PM. Join others to chat about what you have been reading or to get suggestions from others.
Fridays:
Lego at the Library, Fridays 3:00-4:30 PM. Build & create with our Lego & Duplo collections! All ages are welcome!
Health Q & A, June 7th, 5-7:00 P.M. Do you have health & nutrition questions? Stop in during First Friday to ask the experts: Debbie Jackson, MS, RD and Dr. Larry Jackson, MD can share insights on heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, and more! We’ll also be serving fresh popcorn & hosting fitness contests for all ages (with prizes that are sure to make a splash!)
Saturdays:
Tech Time @ the Library, Saturday from 10 AM-1PM, May 18th. Are you struggling with your phone? Do you have trouble navigating the internet? Do you need help with mel.org, the Libby App or the Marcellus Library Catalog? Drop in the library to ask Justin your IT related questions and learn to navigate your device or our computers!
Throughout the Year:
Smokey the Bear Reading Challenge. January 1st-November 28th, 2024.
Help Smokey by learning how to prevent wildfires and help the environment.
Read 3 books and earn 4 badges to complete the challenge and earn your prize. Badges are earned by completing at least one activity per section. Bring your
completed sheet into the Library for your prize. One prize per person.
2024 Reading Challenge. Let’s read 2024 books as a community this year! When you finish a book, come and fill out a leaf. The leaf will be put on the tree in the children’s area. When we reach our goal, we will have a surprise celebration for all of our readers!
Additional noteworthy literary events in the area:
From the Three Rivers Public Library’s Facebook site:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/author-talk-with-wade-rouse-viola-shipman-tickets 875552409827?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
From the Three Rivers Public Library’s Facebook site: Save the date! Sign up and reserve your seat! http://www.eventbrite.com/e/894421347327?aff=oddtdtcreator
The next meeting of the Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library’s First Thursday Book Club will be held on Thursday, June 6, 2024, at 12 NOON in the library. We look forward to seeing you here!
As a reminder, we had discussed possibly selecting one book that book club members would read and then discuss. I’ll be bringing a potential list of books to consider to the June meeting. Club member were asked to think about books that they may like to read together and bring options to the June meeting as well.
Tammy Terpstra
Interlibrary Loan Specialist/Library Assistant
Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library
MAY 2024 QUIZ!
Instructions: Each of the multiple choice questions below has one correct answer. Circle the correct response to each of the ten questions. Share your responses with us by e-mailing them to : marcellusmichiganlibrary@gmail.com. You can document your responses in your e-mail by listing the numbers 1-10 and placing the letter before the correct response after the number (e.g., 1-a, 2-b, 3-c, etc.). You can also call the library and read off your responses. We’ll tell you if you’re right! The first respondent with all of the correct answers will win this month’s prize—a lovely spring time tea cup.
- Jay is the party-hardy billionaire character from which F. Scott Fitzgerald novel? a. Tender is the Night
- The Great Gatsby
- The Last Tycoon
- This Side of Paradise
- A strong female character who challenged cultural stereotypes of her era is Elizabeth Bennet. In which novel did she appear?
- Mansfield Park
- Northanger Abbey
- Pride and Prejudice
- Sense and Sensibility
- While roaming around New York, teenager Holden Caulfield likes to think and swear a lot. Which novel did he come from?
- Down at the Dinghy
- For Esme’—with Love and Squalor
- The Laughing Man
- The Catcher in the Rye
- One of the Bronte literary sisters wrote of a lead character named Jane. Which novel did she come from:
- Shirley
- Villette
- Jane Eyre
- The Professor
- Sherlock Holmes, the beloved detective, is the lead character in which British mystery novel? a. Murder on the Orient Express
- Busman’s Honeymoon
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
- The Secret of Father Brown
- The American Civil War and Scarlett O’Hara didn’t see eye to speak, in which classic novel? a. Gods and Generals
- The Red Badge of Courage
- Gone with the Wind
- Cold Mountain
- Atticus Finch is the lawyer who’s also the dad of Scout and jem in this classic novel. What’s the title? a. The Firm
- Anatomy of a Murder
- Presumed Innocent
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Cigarette-smoking party girl Holly Golightly can be found cavorting with New York’s high society people in which literary work?
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- In Cold Blood
- The Grass Harp
- Other Voices, Other Rooms
- Hester Prynne’s story became a cautionary tale about adultery and hypocrisy. What novel narrates her hardships?
- The Marble Faun: Or, the Romance of Monte Beni
- The Scarlet Letter
- Fanshawe
- The House of Seven Gables
- The ivory trader in Congo named Kurtz is one of the central characters in which moody novel? a. Heart of Darkness
- Lord Jim
- The Secret Agent
- The Nature of a Crime
