Norman Book Club

Join us to discuss the 2008-2010 dystopian trilogy "The Hunger Games", "Catching Fire", and "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins!

We'll be talking about the books and whatever subjects that discussion leads into. You don't have to finish the books to attend. You can also talk about one of our previous books if you missed an event. Hope to see you there!

Note that our upcoming events in November and December will be moved to the first and third Wednesdays to avoid the holidays.

Almost all of the books chosen for this group should be available in either the Pioneer or Metropolitan library system. Get a library card if you don't have one! You can also access eBooks and audiobooks from the library with the Libby or Hoopla apps.
https://pioneerlibrarysystem.org
https://www.metrolibrary.org

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In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.
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Join us to discuss the 2023 inspirational book "How We Learn to Be Brave" by Mariann Edgar Budde!

We'll be talking about the book and whatever subjects that discussion leads into. You don't have to finish the book to attend. You can also talk about one of our previous books if you missed an event. Hope to see you there!

Note that our upcoming events in November and December will be moved to the first and third Wednesdays to avoid the holidays.

Almost all of the books chosen for this group should be available in either the Pioneer or Metropolitan library system. Get a library card if you don't have one! You can also access eBooks and audiobooks from the library with the Libby or Hoopla apps.
https://pioneerlibrarysystem.org
https://www.metrolibrary.org

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An inspirational guide to the key junctures in life that, if navigated with faith and discernment, pave the way for us to become our most courageous selves, by the bishop of the famed Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C.

The decisive moments in life are those pivot points when we’re called on to push past our fears and act with strength. With How We Learn to Be Brave , Bishop Mariann Budde teaches us to respond with clarity and grace even in the toughest times. Being brave is not a singular occurrence; it’s a journey that we can choose to undertake every day.

Here, Bishop Budde explores the full range of decisive moments, from the most visible and dramatic (the decision to go), to the internal and personal (the decision to stay), to brave choices made with an eye toward the future (the decision to start), those born of suffering (the decision to accept that which we did not choose), and those that come unexpectedly (the decision to step up to the plate). Drawing on examples ranging from Harry Potter to the Gospel According to Luke, she seamlessly weaves together personal experiences with stories from scripture, history, and pop culture to underscore both the universality of these moments and the particular call each one of us must heed when they arrive.

With Bishop Budde’s wisdom, readers will learn to live and to respond according to their true beliefs and in ways that align with their best selves. How We Learn to Be Brave will provide much-needed fortitude and insight to anyone searching for answers in uncertain times.
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Join us to discuss the 2023 novel "Starter Villain" by John Scalzi!

We'll be talking about the book and whatever subjects that discussion leads into. You don't have to finish the book to attend. You can also talk about one of our previous books if you missed an event. Hope to see you there!

Note that our upcoming events in November and December will be moved to the first and third Wednesdays to avoid the holidays.

Almost all of the books chosen for this group should be available in either the Pioneer or Metropolitan library system. Get a library card if you don't have one! You can also access eBooks and audiobooks from the library with the Libby or Hoopla apps.
https://pioneerlibrarysystem.org
https://www.metrolibrary.org

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Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place.

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world... be a cat.
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Join us to discuss the 2020 humorous movie review collection "Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema" by Lindy West!

We'll be talking about the book and whatever subjects that discussion leads into. You don't have to finish the book to attend. You can also talk about one of our previous books if you missed an event. Hope to see you there!

Note that our upcoming events in November and December will be moved to the first and third Wednesdays to avoid the holidays.

Almost all of the books chosen for this group should be available in either the Pioneer or Metropolitan library system. Get a library card if you don't have one! You can also access eBooks and audiobooks from the library with the Libby or Hoopla apps.
https://pioneerlibrarysystem.org
https://www.metrolibrary.org

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New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Lindy West was once the in-house movie critic for Seattle's alternative newsweekly The Stranger, where she covered film with brutal honesty and giddy irreverence. In Shit, Actually, Lindy returns to those roots, re-examining beloved and iconic movies from the past 40 years with an eye toward the big questions of our time: Is Twilight the horniest movie in history? Why do the zebras in The Lion King trust Mufasa—WHO IS A LION—to look out for their best interests? Why did anyone bother making any more movies after The Fugitive achieved perfection? And, my god, why don't any of the women in Love, Actually ever fucking talk?!?!

From Forrest Gump, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Bad Boys II, to Face/Off, Top Gun, and The Notebook, Lindy combines her razor-sharp wit and trademark humor with a genuine adoration for nostalgic trash to shed new critical light on some of our defining cultural touchstones-the stories we've long been telling ourselves about who we are. At once outrageously funny and piercingly incisive, Shit, Actually reminds us to pause and ask, "How does this movie hold up?", all while teaching us how to laugh at the things we love without ever letting them or ourselves off the hook.

Shit, Actually is a love letter and a break-up note all in one: to the films that shaped us and the ones that ruined us. More often than not, Lindy finds, they're one and the same.
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