Whether you’re an avid reader or struggle to find the time to complete just one book, we welcome you to attend Shelf Conscious! Join us the fourth Tuesday of every month at our Maxville Branch Library book club where we explore various fiction and nonfiction titles and chat about our selection of the month. We’d love to see you!
10/28/2025: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.
11/25/2025: The Umbrella Academy, Volume 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá
In an inexplicable worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born by women who had previously shown no signs of pregnancy. Millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven of the children; when asked why, his only explanation was, "To save the world." These seven children form The Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional family of superheroes with bizarre powers. Their first adventure pits them against an erratic and deadly Eiffel Tower, piloted by the fearsome zombie-robot Gustave Eiffel. Nearly a decade later, the team disbands, but when Hargreeves unexpectedly dies, these disgruntled siblings reunite just in time to save the world once again.
12/23/2025: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
What causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups? The answer, Montell believes, has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. She argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day. Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities "cultish." In doing so, she reveals how they even pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds.
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Registration is required for this event, and must be completed two hours prior to the start time. A library card and PIN is required for registration. If you do not have a card, click HERE to obtain one.
Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request. Please allow 1–2 business days to process. Last-minute requests will be accepted but may not be possible to fulfill. Please ask for Learning Services at 255-2665 or email JPLprograms@coj.net.
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Authors, Books, and Writing |
TAGS: | book club | adult programs |
