Traveling Tales
Book Discussions to Go

  As a service to our local area Book Discussion Groups, the Library has developed a collection of book discussion kits to be checked out. Each kit contains up to 12 copies of the book along with a Reading Guide. Kits may be checked out for 8 weeks. Kits are checked out to one member of the group, along with a sign-out sheet for the club to keep track  of the books. Kits are checked out and returned to the Reference Desk on the second floor of the Library. Kits cannot be returned through the outside book drop box. Kits must be returned containing all books - group members cannot return books individually. 

For more information or to reserve a book discussion kit, please call 423-434-4454,  visit us at the Reference Desk, or send us an email.

 

Traveling Tales Titles

 

New Titles!   The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman Featuring a pair of sisters who are polar opposites, New York Times bestselling author Goodman has written a delicious novel about appetite, temptation, and holding on to what is real in a virtual world. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay In Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay offers up a mesmerizing story in which a tragic past unfolds, the present is torn apart, and the future is irrevocably altered. The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia, a young doctor, seeks to unravel the mystery surrounding her grandfather's death. While on a perilious mission of mercy, Natalia relives the stories of her childhood, stories wavering between the truth of her grandfather's life and a strange country of superstition and fable - the country that was their home. The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee Set in Hong Kong during the outbreak of World War II and its aftermath, this story alternates between the lives of two very different women whose lives are linked by the events of the war.   The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton While on a cross-country trip, Shreve Stockton falls in love with Wyoming and decides to start a new life there.  With her honest and reflective voice, Stockton invites us to reconsider our own relationships with nature.   Twilight by Stephenie Meyer The first in the blockbuster series, this book introduces teen Bella Swan as she moves in with her Dad in Forks, Washington.  She soon attracts the attention of Edward Cullen, one of a family of vampires, and romance and drama ensue.    March by Geraldine Brooks Inspired by the characters in Little Women and drawn from the journals and letters of Louisa May Alcott’s father, a man leaves behind his family to serve in the Civil War and finds his beliefs challenged by his experiences.    The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley A retelling of the Camelot legend from Morgaine’s and Gwenhwyfar‘s (Guinevere’s) points of view.   A modern classic in which myth, magic, and spirituality come together to breath new life into Camelot.   The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri A portrait of the immigrant experience follows the Ganguli family from their traditional life in India through their arrival in Massachusetts in the late 1960’s and their melding into American life.   Non Fiction Titles   Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser   An artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning on many aspects of fast food, including the malling of our landscape, the chasm between rich and poor, and the obesity epidemic.   Kinfolks: Falling off the Family Tree  by Lisa Alther   Best-selling author of Kinflicks, Kingsport author Lisa Alther chronicles her search for the missing branches of her family tree in this dazzling, hilarious memoir.  Who are the Melungeons and is she is one herself?   Revenge by Laura Blumenfeld   Laura Blumenfeld's desire for revenge of the  attempted murder of her father finds her going undercover in Israel years afterward, looking for the terrorist who shot her father.   The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer   The Tender Bar is a classic American story of self-invention and escape, of the fierce love between a single mother and an only son, and a moving portrait of one boy's struggle to become a man, growing up without a father.         Fiction Titles   The Dive from Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer A disaster happens, out of the blue, and forces Carrie to question everything she thought she knew about herself and the meaning of home.   The Echo Maker by Richard Powers Mark Schluter survives a nearly fatal car accident only to face a devastating new perception of the world.  He, his sister, and his doctor must deal with his traumatic brain injury   The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.   The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons The unforgettable portrait of a redoubtable adolescent, Ellen Foster, strengthened by adversity and blessed with enough intelligence to design a salvation for herself.   Lying Awake by Mark Salzman A Carmelite nun experiences visions of such dazzling power and insight that she is looked  upon as a spiritual master, but the accompanying  headaches force her to make a devastating choice.   Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards A doctor, realizing that his newborn twin daughter has Down’s Syndrome, sends her to an institution, telling his wife the baby died.  Unbeknownst to him, his nurse raises the baby as her own instead.   Midwives by Chris Bohjalian A seasoned midwife makes a life-or-death decision that changes her world forever in this   exploration of human responsibility.   My Antonio by Willa Cather My Antonia is a classic tale of pioneer life in the American Midwest. Full of stirring descriptions of the prairie's beautiful yet terrifying landscape, and the rich ethnic mix of immigrants and native-born Americans who chose to restart their lives there, My Antonia mythologized a period of American history that was lost before its value could be understood.   My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki A Japanese-American documentary filmmaker accepts a job working on My American Wife!, a Japanese television show sponsored by an American national lobby organization that represents American meats of all kinds.   Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi In Graphic Novel format the great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor and the daughter of ardent Marxists describes growing up in Tehran in a country plagued by political upheaval and vast contradictions between public and private life.   Philosophy Made Simple by Robert Hellenga Rudy Harrington is ready for a new life. His daughters are grown, his wife has died, and the idea of running an avocado grove in Texas suddenly seems infinitely more appealing than staying in his rambling Midwestern house.   Pompeii by Robert Harris All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman Empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their  luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. However, powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—are bringing their world to the brink of disaster.   The Summer We Got Saved  by Pat Cunningham Devoto An unforgettable novel that masterfully interweaves the lives of three people amid the swirling winds of change that are engulfing the country and transforming the South of the 1960s.   Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg After years of shared secrets, guilty pleasures, family life and divorce, two women face a crisis that redefines the meaning of friendship and unconditional love.   Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Two women born a generation apart witness the destruction of their home and family in war torn Kabul, incurring losses over the course of thirty years that test the limits of their strength and courage.   Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Ninety-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski  remembers himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.   What’s Eating Gilbert Grape  by Peter Hedges With this wry portrait of small-town Iowa and a young man's life at the crossroads, Peter Hedges creates a classic American novel charged with wit and intelligence.
The blue Book Bags for the Traveling Tales kits are provided by the Friends of the Library in fond memory of Kay Herd.
How your Book Discussion Group can help You can help us build our collection of book discussion kits by donating multiple copies of books your group has already read.    This is a great way for your group to recycle and share books that you have enjoyed with the community.   Bring your used books to the Reference Desk at the Library, and be sure to tell us that they are for the Traveling Tales - Book Discussions to Go kits.  Any books not used for Traveling Tales will be donated to the Friends of the Library book sale.