Four book clubs offer literary conversation
Several novels are up for discussion at the November meetings of local book clubs.
Montana History Book Club
The Montana History Book Club will discuss “The Old Lonesome” by Carol Benson at its Nov. 8 meeting.
The novel describes a plague of rattlesnakes, a raging blizzard and piles of tumbleweeds that bring adventures to three sisters living in a small town on the northeastern Montana prairie. The book paints a picture of the area’s past, including the rough days of rustlers and cowboys, the homesteaders’ influx and the Communist influence of the early 1930s.
The club meets in the basement conference room at the Museum at Central School, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell, at 6:30 p.m. Books are available from the museum’s gift shop.
For more information, call 756-8381.
Bad Rock Book Discussion Group
Jonathan Saffan Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is the book up for analysis at the Nov. 8 meeting of the Bad Rock Book Discussion Group.
The novel follows 9-year-old Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist and correspondent with Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr. He is on an urgent, secret search to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
All are welcome to attend the meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at Bad Rock Books in Columbia Falls. Treats are provided.
For more information, call Carol Rocks at 892-0515.
Flathead County Library Book Club
The Flathead County Library Book Club meets Nov. 13 to discuss “The Cat’s Table” by Michael Ondaatje.
The novel opens in the early 1950s, when an 11-year-old boy boards a ship bound for England. As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship, the book tells of the forbidden discoveries of childhood.
The club meets at 5 p.m. in the conference room of the main library in Kalispell.
For more information, contact Marylane Pannell at kuhlpan@cyberport.net or 257-5793.
FVCC
Reading Group
The Flathead Valley Community College Reading Group will discuss “The Kitchen House” by Kathleen Grissom at its next meeting.
The book tells the story of Lavinia, a white servant girl who violates the order of plantation society — and unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14. The group is open to the public.
The only cost involved is the purchase of the books.
For additional information or to sign up, call Sharon Randolph, 756-3981.