Adult Book Groups   |   Youth Book Groups   |   Start Your Own Group

Adult Book Groups

The library sponsors several adult book discussion groups:

Suzanne's group meets on the first Tuesday of the month, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Lisa's group meets on the third Thursday of the month, 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.
Phyllis's group meets on the first Thursday of every other month, 11:00 a.m. to noon.

Preregistration is required for these groups. Group members are asked to attend the majority of the meetings for their group.

The Coffee and Chick Lit group meets on the third Tuesday of the month, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., at various locations in the community. This group is an open book discussion and does not require preregistration. Books can be picked up at the Circulation Desk.

Please call the Reader's Services Desk at 798-0121 ext. 232 to verify the dates, times, and titles selected.

Adult Book Discussion Group Calendar

Suzanne's 1st Tuesday Book Discussion group meets monthly at 7:30 p.m.

June 3: The Group by Mary McCarthy.
July: No Discussion

Phyllis' 1st Thursday Book Discussion group meets every other month at 11:00 a.m.

June 5: The Kindred by Octavia Butler
July 31: Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx

Lisa's 3rd Thursday Book Discussion group meets monthly at 7:00 p.m.

June 19: What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
July 17: Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke

Chick Lit Book Discussion group meets monthly on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.

June 17: After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
July 15: Wedding Cake in the Middle of the Road: 23 Variations on a Theme


Open Book Discussion group meets at 7:00 p.m. No preregistration is required.

July 10: Bleachers by John Grisham


For a list of past books discussed in Homewood Library Book Groups, see this comprehensive list.

Start Your Own Book Group

The following list of books serve as a introduction to help you with starting your own book group. Be sure to check out our other great resources on reading and reading clubs in the Reader's Services reference collection upstairs, and our selection of book guides in the 020's in the non-fiction collection. For more information, call the Reader's Services desk at (708) 798-0121 ext. 232.

A year of reading : a month-by-month guide to classics and crowd-pleasers for you and your book group
by H. Elisabeth Ellington   028.8 ELL PB

The Book group book : a thoughtful guide to forming and enjoying a stimulating book discussion group
by Ellen Slezak   028.8 SLE PB

The readers' choice : 200 book club favorites
by Victoria Golden McMains   REF 028.1 MCM READ.ADV

The reading group book : the complete guide to starting and sustaining a reading group, with annotated lists of 250 titles for provocative discussion
by David Laskin   028.8 LAS PB

Book Discussion Guides Online

Book Club leaders generally prepare a list of questions or "talking points" to get a group started in its discussion. Here are a few Web sites offering sample discussion guides:

Amazon.com Reading Group Guides
Amazon provides this concise do-it-yourself guide to starting a book group, with discussion guides organized by book topic and links to books with reading club guides included.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/292203/104-3412561-9398301

Random House Reading Group Corner
Do you want to enhance your understanding of a book? This site offers a database of book discussion resources such as book summaries, sample questions, author biographies and interviews, and information about book tours.
http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/read/

Random House Reading Group Guides
Discussion guides for various titles from the following publishing groups: Anchor, Ballentine, Bantam, Dell, Doubleday, Knopf, Pantheon, Random House, Schocken, and Vintage.
http://www.randomhouse.com/reader_resources/browsetitle/

Reading Group Choices
This site offers suggested titles for book clubs, a searchable database of discussion guides, and advice for starting and leading your own reading group.
http://www.readinggroupchoices.com

ReadingGroupGuides
An excellent resource for readers offering synopses, book discussion questions, and author biographies.
http://www.ReadingGroupGuides.com

St. Martin's Press Reading Guides
Reading group guides for titles published by St. Martin's and Picador USA.
http://www.stmartins.com/smp/rgg.html

W.W. Norton Reading Guides
Discussion guides for various W.W. Norton titles.
http://www.wwnorton.com/trade/rgg.htm

Youth Book Groups

Stay tuned for updates on our full roster of resources on reading and reading clubs for children and teens. For more information, call the Youth Services desk at (708) 798-0121 ext. 222.