You know that feeling. The one that surfaces as you’re reading a new find or an old favorite. The one that stirs your heart, engages your imagination, and prompts a whole host of fresh ideas. The feeling that makes you blurt out loud (even though you are sitting alone on the couch at home), “I want to talk about this with someone”.
You can.
Here at Heights Libraries we offer a whole set of book discussion groups that will get you out of the house and into the company of other book lovers to debate, converse, commune, and schmooze.
Original Voices Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month at Lee Road at 7:30 pm. This is a mix of classic and contemporary fiction (including some sci-fi/fantasy) and non-fiction. As the name implies, the selections focus on the quirky, the unusual, and the obscure (and also introduce debut works). There is an emphasis on women writers, debut works, authors of color, and those from the LGBTQ community.
The First Thursday Senior Center discussion group is sponsored by Cleveland Heights Office on Aging (https://chparks.com/203/About-Us), and meets at 11:00 am at the Community Center. This group – an example of the Library’s outreach to the larger community – is always ready to read things out of their comfort zone. While it is composed of dedicated core members, it is also open to new attendees that are Cleveland Heights residents age 60 and over.
Third Tuesday Book Club meets at 7:00 pm on – well, you know. This group gathers at the Tavern Company on Lee Road, so folks can nosh while they talk (please note – each attendee is responsible for their own purchases). Fiction and non-fiction of all types (heavy on the literary aspect) provide lively discussions for this classic book club experience.
The Usual Suspects Mystery Book Club meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at the University Heights Branch at 7:00 pm. A descendent of the popular Mystery Club led by Joanne Vicarel at the Noble Branch, this group is now hosted again by the library due to customer request. The members themselves choose the books on a month-to-month basis. Call University Heights Branch at 216-321-4700 for the current selection.
Great Books takes place at the Noble branch at 7:30 pm, generally meeting on first and third Tuesdays in the spring and fall. This vibrant, long-running community-based book discussion focuses on history’s most important literary works. For upcoming selections and dates contact L.P. at lcoladan@heightslibrary.org.
The newest offering is a discussion entitled This Much is True, which begins in June. This group will meet on the first Monday of the month at Lee Road at 7:00 pm, and focuses on non-fiction best-sellers. Look for the summer selections in the upcoming Check Us Out program guide.
Added bonus – on second Wednesdays, the library also hosts the Short Story Reading Club at 7:00 (right before Original Voices at 7:30). A short story, often by the same author, or on a theme related to the book under discussion for OV, is read aloud. Occasionally poetry, essays, or flash fiction are included.
If you have no access to a private book club that meets in someone’s living room (or even if you do), there are lots of options at Heights Libraries. No matter where your reading leads, no matter what sparks your interest, no matter if you loved the book or hated it, you can discuss it, dissect it, digest it, delight in it.
Come join us.
Tell me more about the third Tuesday bookclub