Books may be available to borrow at the Checkout Desk. Some titles may be available to download. Audiobooks and eAudiobooks may also be available to borrow. Join a book club any time. Previous book club participation is not required. The following book clubs are intended for adults ages 18+. No registration is required.
Just a Taste
First Thursdays | 7 PM
Explore different genres every month.
December 4: A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck (Novella, Sci-Fi)
January 15 (special date): The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (Self Help)
February 5: Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker (Short Stories)
March 5: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Bildungsroman)
April 2: Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (Memoir)
May 7: Kent State by Derf Backderf (Graphic Novel)
June 11: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Classic, Literary Fiction)
July 2: Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Mystery)
August 6: Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Historical Fiction)
September 3: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (Science Fiction)
October 1: Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (Classic, Horror)
November 5: Red Paint: Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha La Pointe (Autobiography)
December 3: Thistlefoot by Genarose Nethercott (Fantasy)
No Shelf Control
First Mondays | 11 AM
For readers who love Monday mornings, can’t get enough books, and have eclectic reading habits.
December 1: The Matrix by Lauren Groff
January 5: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
February 2: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
March 2: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
April 6: The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
May 4: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
June 1: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
July 6: Kindred by Octavia Butler
August 3: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
September 14: Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
October 5: Show, Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld
November 2: Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
December 7: Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams
Thursday Morning
Second Thursdays | 11 AM
For popular fiction lovers.
December 11: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
January 8: : Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
February 12: Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
March 12: Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
April 9: Go as a River by Shelley Read
May 14: Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi
June 11: Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray
July 9: Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Eskstrom Courage
August 13: The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
September 10: Let’s Call Her Barbie by Renee Rosen
October 8: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
November 9: Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini
December 10: The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson
Read the Classics
Third Tuesdays | 7 PM
Read and share classical and award-winning literature.
November 18: King Lear by William Shakespeare
December 16: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
January 20: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
February 17: The Ambassadors by Henry James
March 17: I Sing the Body Electric and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
April 21: All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
May 19: The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
June 16: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
July 21: It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
August 18: The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton
September 15: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
October 20: Foundation by Isaac Asimov
November 17: The Annotated [Ralph Waldo] Emerson edited by David Mikics
December 15: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Kent Silent Book Club
Meets at The Cleveland Bagel Café, 436 E. Main St in Kent
Third Thursdays | 2 PM
Silent Book Club, or book club for introverts, brings people together. There’s no required reading or homework – just bring a good book and read in silence. After an hour of quiet reading, stay and socialize, get and share reading recommendations, or be on your way. Registration is requested, but drop-ins are always welcome.
Fiction to Film
Fourth Mondays | 7 PM
Read books that have led to or were adapted for the screen.
November 24: Mary Poppins by Pamela Lyndon Travers
December 22: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
January 26: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
February 23: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
March 23: Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie
April 27: Jaws by Peter Benchley
May 18: Johnny Tremain: a Story of Boston in Revolt by Esther Forbes
June 22: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry