Welcome to the Monrovia Book Club!
a reading program of the Monrovia Public Library
321 S. Myrtle Avenue
Monrovia, California
open to adult and teenage patrons of the Monrovia Public Library year-round
How it works
Every month, the library will present a reading theme--sometimes a single author, other months something more general. We’ll include suggestions, but you’re always free to choose your own books from the library collection that fit your vision of the theme--new books, old books, short books, long books, fiction, non-fiction. The “comment” portion of the Book Club blog will serve as our virtual meeting room.
How to join
Click on “Sign in” in the upper right corner. If you already have a Google account, sign in using your e-mail and password. If you don’t, click on “Sign in” again and then click on “Create an account now” on the next screen. Follow the instructions for creating a Google account. Please use your real first name for your display name. Then return to
www.monroviabookclub.blogspot.com and sign in.
How to discuss books
Click on the “comments” line at the bottom of the post that presents this month’s theme. Tell us what book you’re reading and how it fits the theme. If no one has posted a comment yet, get the discussion going. If the virtual meeting is already underway, add to it: ask questions, make observations, criticize, analyze, chat. You may find librarians joining the discussion too. (Library staff will screen comments before they're posted, but only to keep out spam, not to edit your opinions.)
Reading theme for December 2009
Values, ethics,
decisions, and success
What's most important in life? What defines your best behavior? What choices will take you where you want to be? How do you balance your needs with the needs of others? Of course there is no single answer. But many authors have tackled the questions.
See if any of these books have advice you can use. See if any of these authors have values that match yours. See if reading them will confirm what you already know, or point you in a new direction.
Or, if you have a favorite book on values, share it with us.
Jon M. Huntsman 174 HUNTSMAN
Winners never cheat : everyday values we learned as children (but may have forgotten)
David Foster Wallace 370.112 WALLACE
This is water : some thoughts, delivered on a significant occasion, about living a compassionate life
Joe Massengale and David Clow 650.1089 MAS
Six lessons for six sons : an extraordinary father, a simple formula for success
Martha Beck 158.1 BECK
Finding your own North Star : claiming the life you were meant to live
Rafe Esquith 370.1 ESQUITH
Teach like your hair's on fire : the methods and madness inside room 56
Cal Ripken, Jr 796.357 RIPKEN
Get in the game : 8 elements of perseverance that make the difference
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams 973.4 JEF
"Ye will say I am no Christian" : the Thomas Jefferson/John Adams correspondence on religion, morals, and values
John C. Maxwell 158 MAXWELL
Today matters : 12 daily practices to guarantee tomorrow's success
Mick Ukleja and Robert L. Lorber 158.1 UKLEJA
Who are you and what do you want? : a journey for the best of your life
Peter S. Temes 158.1 TEMES
The power of purpose : living well by doing good
Rushworth M. Kidder 179 KIDDER
Moral courage
Jamie C. Miller 649.1 MILLER
10-minute life lessons for kids : 52 fun and simple games and activities to teach your child trust, honesty, love, and other important values
Jan Goldstein 296.7 GOLDSTEIN
Sacred wounds : succeeding because of life's pain
Dwight Currie 170.44 CURRIE
How we behave at the feast : reflections on an age of plenty
Jimmy Carter 306 CARTER
Our endangered values : America's moral crisis
Norma J. Livo PARENT & TEACHER COLLECTION 398.2 LIVO
Bringing out their best : values education and character development through traditional tales
Jim Taylor 306.874 TAYLOR
Your children are under attack : how popular culture is destroying your kids' values and how you can protect them
Jim Wallis 261.7 WALLIS
God's politics : why the right gets it wrong and the left doesn't get it
Laura Schlessinger 158 SCHLESSINGER
Stop whining, start living
Harold S. Kushner 296.3 KUSHNER
Overcoming life's disappointments
John G. Miller 158.1 MILLER
QBQ! : the question behind the question
Joy Browne 158 BROWNE
The nine fantasies that will ruin your life (and the eight realities that will save you)
M. Scott Peck 174 PECK
A world waiting to be born : rediscovering civility
Reading theme for November 2009
VAMPIRES
Suggested reading...but feel free to choose your own
Novels by:
Nancy Baker - The Night Inside
L.A. Banks - The Awakening, The Hunted
Patricia Briggs - Bone Crossed
P.C. Cast - Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed
MaryJanice Davidson - Undead and Unwed
Melissa de la Cruz - Blue Bloods, Masquerade, Revelations
P.N. Elrod - I, Strahd
Christine Feehan - Conspiracy Game, Dark Curse
Andrew Fox - Fat White Vampire Blues
Heather Graham - Kiss of Darkness, Blood Red
Claudia Gray - Evernight
Laurell K. Hamilton - Skin Trade, Obsidian Butterfly
Charlaine Harris - Club Dead, Dead Until Dark
Kim Harrison - White Witch, Black Curse
Tom Holland - Lord of the Dead
A.M. Jenkins - Night Road
Jeanne Kalogridis - Covenant with the Vampire
Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian
Brian Lumley - Blood Brothers, The Last Aerie
Amanda Marrone - Uninvited
A. Lee Martinez - Gil's All Fright Diner
Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy, Shadow Kiss, Frostbite
Brian Meehl - Suck It Up
Stephenie Meyer - Twilight, New Moon, Breaking Dawn
Christopher Moore - Practical Demonkeeping
C.E. Murphy - Heart of Stone
Kim Newman - Anno Dracula
Kimberly Pauley - Sucks to Be Me
Anne Rice - The Vampire Lestat, Memnoch the Devil
Fred Saberhagen - A Sharpness on the Neck
Ellen Schreiber - Vampire Kisses, Vampireville
L.J. Smith - Night World, Vampire Diaries
Justin Somper - Blood Captain
Vivian Vande Velde - Companions of the Night
Guillermo del Toro - The Strain
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Darker Jewels, Writ in Blood
Non-fiction:
In search of Dracula
by Raymond T. McNally
Slayers and their vampires
by Bruce A. McClelland
Vlad the impaler
by Enid A. Goldberg
and of course the original:
DRACULA
by Bram Stoker
Monrovia Book Clubreading theme for October 2009
the books of
Alexander McCall SmithThe No.
1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series (featuring Precious Ramotswe)
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Morality for Beautiful Girls
Tears of the Giraffe
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
The Sunday Philosophy Club series (featuring Isabel Dalhousie)
The Sunday Philosophy Club
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
The Right Attitude to Rain
The Careful Use of Compliments
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
The 44 Scotland Street series
44 Scotland Street
Espresso Tales
The World According to Bertie
The Portuguese Irregular Verbs series (featuring Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld)
Portuguese Irregular Verbs
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
and other books
The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa
Dream Angus : the Celtic God of Dreams
and don’t forget his children’s books
Akimbo and the Lions
Akimbo and the Elephants
Akimbo and the Snakes
Akimbo and the Crocodile Man
The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean
The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean
Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats
Max & Maddy & the Chocolate Money Mystery
Max & Maddy & the Bursting Balloons Mystery
