Thinking of starting a book group? Does your established book group need a little help? If so, Book Group Take-Out was designed with you in mind. Each Book Group Take-Out kit contains 10-12 copies of the book and a discussion guide that includes:

• tips for running a book discussion
• background information on the author
• a summary of the book
• discussion questions

Book Group Take-Out kits can be checked out for a period of eight weeks. Renewals are not allowed and you are limited to two kits checked-out at one time. There is no charge to check out Book Group Take-Out kits, but if they are returned late, incomplete or damaged, fines and fees will apply.

Book Group Take-Out is sponsored by the Friends of the Library groups.

The following titles are available as Book Group Take-Out kits:

• A piece of cake
  

  The bestselling memoir of Cupcake Brown's harrowing and inspiring life from the streets to one of the nation's largest law firms Rdazzles you with the amazing change that is possible in one lifetimeS ("Washington Post Book World").

  
  
  
• A prayer for Owen Meany
  Owen Meany, the only child of a New Hampshire granite quarrier, believes he is God's instrument. He is. This is John Irving's most comic novel; yet Owen Meany is Mr. Irving's most heartbreaking character.
  
  
• Anna Karenina
  

  A famous legend surrounding the creation of "Anna Karenina" tells us that Tolstoy began writing a cautionary tale about adultery and ended up falling in love with his magnificent heroine. It is rare to find a reader of the book who doesn't experience the same kind of emotional upheaval. Anna Karenina is filled with major and minor characters who exist in their own right and fully embody their  read more >>
  
  

  A famous legend surrounding the creation of "Anna Karenina" tells us that Tolstoy began writing a cautionary tale about adultery and ended up falling in love with his magnificent heroine. It is rare to find a reader of the book who doesn't experience the same kind of emotional upheaval. Anna Karenina is filled with major and minor characters who exist in their own right and fully embody their mid-nineteenth-century Russian milieu, but it still belongs entirely to the woman whose name it bears, whose portrait is one of the truest ever made by a writer. Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude

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• Bastard out of Carolina
  
  
  
  
• Beowulf: a new verse translation
  

  Composed toward the end of the first millennium, "Beowulf" is the classic Northern epic of a hero's triumphs as a young warrior and his fated death as a defender of his people. In his new translation--a national bestseller that is the winner of the Whitbread Award--Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has produced a work that is both true, line by line, to the original poem and a fundamental expression read more >>
  
  

  Composed toward the end of the first millennium, "Beowulf" is the classic Northern epic of a hero's triumphs as a young warrior and his fated death as a defender of his people. In his new translation--a national bestseller that is the winner of the Whitbread Award--Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has produced a work that is both true, line by line, to the original poem and a fundamental expression of his own creative gift. (Poetry)

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• Darkly dreaming Dexter: a novel
  

  Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep's clothing. He's handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He's a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likable: he only kills bad people.

  
  
  
• Eat, pray, love
  

  A celebrated writer pens an irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, and what she really wanted out of life.

  
  
  
• Ecology of a cracker childhood
  

  Janisse Ray tells how a childhood spent in rural isolation along U.S. Highway 1 grew into a passion to save the almost vanished longleaf pine ecosystem.

  
  
  
• Fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
  

  Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is thenow-classic novel of two women in the 1980s; of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story toEvelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women--of theirrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth--who back in the thirties ran a little place i read more >>
  
  

  Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is thenow-classic novel of two women in the 1980s; of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story toEvelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women--of theirrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth--who back in the thirties ran a little place inWhistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder. And as the past unfolds, the present--for Evelyn and for us--will never be quite the same again... "Airplanes and television have removed the Threadgoodes from the Southern scene. Happily for us, Fannie Flagg has preserved a whole community of them in a richly comic, poignant narrative that records the exuberance of their lives, the sadness of their departure. Idgie Threadgoode is a true original: Huckleberry Finn would have tried to marry her!" --Harper Lee, Author of To Kill a Mockingbird "A real novel and a good one... [from] the busy brain of a born storyteller." --"The New York Times "It's very good, in fact, just wonderful." --"Los Angeles Times "Funny and macabre." --"The Washington Post "Courageous and wise." --"Houston Chronicle

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• Hissy fit
  

  Welcome to the world of Mary Kay Andrews, where manners are polished, reputations are tarnished... and revenge is sweet. Keeley Murdock's wedding to A. J. Jernigan was to be the social event of the season - until she caught him with her maid of honor at their rehearsal dinner. When Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century and calls the wedding off, A.J.'s banking family brings financial pre read more >>
  
  

  Welcome to the world of Mary Kay Andrews, where manners are polished, reputations are tarnished... and revenge is sweet. Keeley Murdock's wedding to A. J. Jernigan was to be the social event of the season - until she caught him with her maid of honor at their rehearsal dinner. When Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century and calls the wedding off, A.J.'s banking family brings financial pressure to bear on her design business. It takes a designing woman like Keeley to find a way to give her cheating varmint of an ex-fianci his comeuppance.

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• In cold blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
  

  With the publication of this book, Capote permanently ripped through the barrier separating crime reportage from serious literature. As he reconstructs the 1959 murder of a Kansas farm family and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, Capote generates suspense and empathy.

  
  
  
• Middlesex
  

  Calliope's friendship with a classmate and her sense of identity are compromised by the adolescent discovery that she is a hermaphrodite, a situation with roots in her grandparents' desperate struggle for survival in the 1920s.

  
  
  
• Monster
  

  Winner of the Printz Award Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award National Book Award Finalist Steve Harmon's black. He's in jail, maybe forever. He's on trial for murder. And he's sixteen years old. Steve: "Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call i read more >>
  
  

  Winner of the Printz Award Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award National Book Award Finalist Steve Harmon's black. He's in jail, maybe forever. He's on trial for murder. And he's sixteen years old. Steve: "Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady prosecutor called me . . . MONSTER.

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• One hundred years of solitude
  

  One of the most influential literary works of our time, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a dazzling and original achievement by the masterful Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic read more >>
  
  

  One of the most influential literary works of our time, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a dazzling and original achievement by the masterful Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.

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• The Alchemist
  

  Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world, and this tenth anniversary edition, with a new introduction from the author, will only increase that following. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a tre read more >>
  
  

  Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world, and this tenth anniversary edition, with a new introduction from the author, will only increase that following. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.

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• The bluest eye
  

  It is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove--a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others--who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning and the tragedy of its fulfillment.

  
  
  
• The color purple
  

  Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her read more >>
  
  

  Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self.

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• The Eyre affair: a novel
  

  Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. Al read more >>
  
  

  Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping charactersfrom works of literature. When Jane Eyre is plucked from the pages of Bronte's novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter the novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide. Book jacket.

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• The human stain
  
  
  
  
• The kite runner
  

  "Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds; Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's fath read more >>
  
  

  "Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds; Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him." "The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of fathers over sons - their love, their sacrifices, and their lies. Written against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before. The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption."--BOOK JACKET.

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• The knitting circle
  

  "An intelligent, moving read" ("Pages") and "a testament to women's friendship and to Ann Hood's talent" (Hilma Wolitzer) After the sudden loss of her only child, Mary Baxter joins a knitting circle in Providence, Rhode Island, as a way to fill the empty hours and lonely days. The women welcome her, each teaching Mary a new knitting technique and, as they do, revealing their own personal stori read more >>
  
  

  "An intelligent, moving read" ("Pages") and "a testament to women's friendship and to Ann Hood's talent" (Hilma Wolitzer) After the sudden loss of her only child, Mary Baxter joins a knitting circle in Providence, Rhode Island, as a way to fill the empty hours and lonely days. The women welcome her, each teaching Mary a new knitting technique and, as they do, revealing their own personal stories of loss, love, and hope. Eventually Mary is able to tell her own story of grief and in so doing reclaims her love for her husband, faces the hard truths about her relationship with her mother, and finds the spark of life again. Reading group guide included.

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• The memory keeper's daughter
  

  This riveting family drama from the author of the short story collection "The Secrets of a Fire King" explores every mother's silent fears--losing a child and that the child grows up without her.

  
  
  
• The old man and the sea
  

  In language of great simplicity and power, Hemingway tells the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck--he hasn't caught a fish in 84 days--who goes out in his small skiff one more time. This time he hooks a huge marlin. During his relentless ordeal, a long and agonizing battle with the marlin far out in the Gulf Stream, the old man faces long days of hunger and exhaustion, his courag read more >>
  
  

  In language of great simplicity and power, Hemingway tells the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck--he hasn't caught a fish in 84 days--who goes out in his small skiff one more time. This time he hooks a huge marlin. During his relentless ordeal, a long and agonizing battle with the marlin far out in the Gulf Stream, the old man faces long days of hunger and exhaustion, his courage and his respect for his adversary never flagging. The man is old and tired and at the end of his life, but he remains the archetypical Hemingway hero who refuses to accept defeat.

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• The pillars of the earth
  

  A story of passion and idealism, which describes a group of men and women in the Middle Ages whose destinies are fatefully linked with the building of a cathedral.

  
  
  
• The red tent
  

  The red tent is the place where women gather during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insiders look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers, wives, and daughters.

  
  
  
• The secret life of bees
  
  
  
  
• The stranger
  

  Story of a man who commits a pointless murder, in which the author asks if there is a God or just a cold indifferent universe.

  
  
  
• Things fall apart
  

  Recreates African tribal life before Christianity and shows how the coming of the white man led to the breaking up of the old ways.

  
  
  
• Three cups of tea
  

  The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Talibans backyard

  Anyone who despairs of the individuals power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistans treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished m read more >>
  
  

  The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Talibans backyard

  Anyone who despairs of the individuals power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistans treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schoolsespecially for girlsthat offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortensons quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, "Three Cups of Tea" combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.

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• What looks like crazy on an ordinary day
  
  After a decade of elegant pleasures and luxe living among the Atlanta brothers and sisters with the best clothes and biggest dreams, Ava Johnson has temporarily returned home to Idlewild -- her fabulous career and power plans smashed to bits by cold reality. But what she imagines is the end is, instead, a beginning. Because, in the ten-plus years since Ava left, all the read more >>
  
  
  After a decade of elegant pleasures and luxe living among the Atlanta brothers and sisters with the best clothes and biggest dreams, Ava Johnson has temporarily returned home to Idlewild -- her fabulous career and power plans smashed to bits by cold reality. But what she imagines is the end is, instead, a beginning. Because, in the ten-plus years since Ava left, all the problems of the big city have come to roost in the sleepy North Michigan community whose ordinariness once drove her away; and she cannot turn her back on friends and family who sorely need her in the face of impending trouble and tragedy. Besides which, that one unthinkable, unmistakable thing is now happening to her: Ava Johnson is falling in love.Acclaimed playwright, essayist and columnist Pearl Cleage has created a world rich in character, human drama, and deep, compassionate understanding, in a remarkable debut novel that sizzles with sensuality, hums with gritty truth, and sings and crackles with life-affirming energy asit moves the reader to laughter and tears. (show less )