January 4, 2005

Readings from Murder Goes South 2005 Authors

We will discuss books by these mystery writers: Carolyn Haines, Beverly Connor, E. Joan Sims, Brandon Massey, Steve Brown, Cheryl Ritzel, and Cathy Pickens.
   

February 1, 2005

Drowning Ruth
by Christina Schwarz

Troubled, overwhelmed and reeling from a failed romance, Amanda Starkey retreats to her family's farm on Nagawaukee Lake in Wisconsin seeking comfort and solace with her sister, Matilde and young niece Ruth. While there, a tragic accident claims the life of her beloved sister.
   

March 1, 2005

The Five People You Meet in Heaven
by Mitch Albom

Eddie has spent most of his life as a maintenance man at the Ruby Pier Amusement Park. He feels he has accomplished nothing in his 80 years on earth. When a ride at the park malfunctions, Eddie is killed trying to save the life of a young girl. Eddie then wakes up in heaven and meets the most surprising array of people who help him understand the meaning of his life.
   

April 5, 2005

National Poetry Month

In recognition of National Poetry Month, we will be reading our favorite poets.
   

May 3, 2005

Devil in the White City
by Erik Larson

The time is 1893. The place-Chicago's World's Fair. It was called the Gilded Age, a decadent period of glamour and beauty that served as a backdrop for a terrible event. During the weeks after its opening, Henry H. Holmes, a cunning serial killer who used the Fair to lure his victims to their untimely deaths.
   

June 7, 2005

The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown

Famed symbologist, Robert Langdon, teams up with noted French Cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, (the granddaughter of a murdered museum curator) to untangle the cryptic clues left behind at the murder scene. In the course of their investigation, the duo learns of a secret society that has existed since the days of Christ. But more, they find a long list of famous people of the art, science and literary world who were once members of this secret set-names like Sir Isaac Newton, Leonardo DA Vinci, and Victor Hugo.
   

July 5, 2006

Parable of the Sower
by Octavia E. Butler

Butler's bleak, but hopeful tale of a futuristic America, where violence, drug abuse, and blatant disregard for life has driven most people into armed, walled, communities for their own protection. For teenager, Lauren Olamina, the world is an even more cruel place. Lauren has a condition know as "hyperempathy" which enables her to feel the physical pain of others. Despite the consequences, Lauren finds she must kill to defend her family and herself as she and her community come face-to face with the ugly world just outside the safety of their walls.
   

August 2, 2005

Daughter of Fortune
by Isabel Allende

Sixteen-year-old Eliza Sommers, and orphan of unknown heritage, has been raised in the household of a wealthy spinster Rose Sommers and her brother Jeremy. But Eliza's feelings for the young penniless revolutionary, Joaquin, leads her far from home when she follows Joaquin on a voyage from Valparaso, Chile to the gold rush of California.
   

September 6, 2005

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
by Alexander McCall Smith

Precious Ramotswe is unconventional, outspoken and not at all what you would expect from an unmarried woman living in Botswana. Precious inherited her beloved father's cattle, but she sold them and used the money to set up The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. When clients start showing up on her doorstep, Precious finds herself at the center of a very successful business.
   

October 4, 2005

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain

This irresistible tale of the adventures of two friends growing up in nineteenth century America became one of Twain's most unforgettable tales. Funny and sometimes poignant, Tom and his friends weave an unbridled path straight to the heart.
   

November 1, 2005

Gods in Alabama
by Joshilyn Jackson

We all have to face our demons-and for Alabama native, Arlene Fleet, that time has come. Read the book and then Meet the Author! Writer Joshilyn Jackson will be our guest on Thursday November 17, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. in the downstairs conference room at the Smyrna Library. Come and find out if there really are gods in Alabama!
   

Macbeth
by William Shakespeare

"By the prickling of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes…"

Blind ambition leads a Scottish thane down a path of destruction and ruin. Following the prophecies of three witches, one of Shakespeare's most memorable characters, Macbeth, resorts to the murder.