Fall Book Discussion Series

The library's fall 2011 book discussion series will feature Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Virginia Woolf. Discussions will be held on the second Monday of October, November, and December at the library, beginning at 7:00 PM. We will read and discuss:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Monday, October 10

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Monday November 14

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Monday, December 12

Discussions are free and open to the public, and copies of the books will be available to borrow from the library in advance.

We hope you'll join us!

Book Sale!

The Haverhill Corner Library will hold its annual book sale on Saturday, September 10 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. As usual, the sale will be held on the lawn in front of the library, and all sales will be "by donation."

Our patrons have been very generous with book donations this year, so we will have a large selection of fiction, non-fiction, children's books, videos, and other materials. We will also have light refreshments available.

Please join us on Saturday the 10th!

Book Club for Writers: Jackson and Le Guin

The library will hold its next Book Club for Writers event on Thursday, July 28 at 7:00 PM, when we will discuss "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin. The program is free and open to the public, and copies of the stories are available at the library.

"The Lottery" and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" are both relatively short stories that nevertheless have a powerful effect on readers, and our discussion will consider how they achieve such a concentrated impact. "The Lottery" is one of the best-known stories in American fiction, one that caused a sensation when published in The New Yorker in 1948; some readers cancelled their subscriptions to the magazine and sent hate mail to the author after it appeared. Le Guin says that "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" was inspired by a passage from the works of the philosopher William James; it won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story of 1973.

Book Club for Writers is a fiction discussion program that meets four times a year; the conversation particularly focuses on issues of craft and technique that will appeal to writers and aspiring writers, but the program is open to anyone who wishes to participate. The fall edition will be held on Thursday, October 27, when we will discuss "Some Other, Better Otto" by Deborah Eisenberg and "People Like That Are the Only People Here" by Lorrie Moore.

Shakespeare Book Discussion

Join us Wednesday, June 29 at 7:00 PM for a discussion of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt. This discussion will be free and open to the public, and will be the perfect introduction to the series of Shakespeare performances that Alumni Hall will host beginning the following week. On Wednesdays during July and early August, the Theatre Under the Stars troupe will perform on the lawn between Alumni Hall and the library.

Will in the World is a lively combination of biography, cultural history, and criticism by one of the foremost living scholars of Shakespeare. Greenblatt brilliantly fleshes out the known facts of Shakespeare's life with his encyclopedic knowledge of Elizabethan England and of the Bard's own works. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Will in the World was named the best non-fiction book of the year by Time magazine.

Copies of the book are available to borrow from the library in advance of the discussion.

Author Luncheon with John Walters

The library will hold an author luncheon featuring writer and broadcaster John Walters on Saturday, May 21 from noon to 2:00 at Alumni Hall.

Walters is the author of Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New England Lives, published last year by Plaidswede Press. Roads Less Traveled is a collection of portraits of extraordinary New Englanders, from artists, actors, and musicians to scientists, crafters, and activists. One of those profiled is Haverhill's own Betty Johnson.

Walters is also well known as the former host of "The Front Porch" on New Hampshire Public Radio.

The luncheon will feature asparagus and spring mix salad with vinaigrette, cold poached salmon with fresh herb aioli, marinated mushrooms, and new potato salad, and for dessert, orange crepe with strawberries and rhubarb, and vanilla ice cream.

The luncheon is a fund-raiser for the library. Tickets are $35 apiece or $60 for a pair. Call the library to reserve your ticket.