New Book Club in a Bag - The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

Our newest Book Club in a Bag is The Rent Collector by Camron Wright. The book, based on actual accounts, follows a Cambodian family as they struggle to lead a meaningful life. It is a wonderfully complex book which has many themes to discuss. Please call Janine Walsh at 794-2570 x262 to reserve a six week slot for your book group. The bag comes complete with 10 copies of the book, historical context, questions, author biography and a DVD of the documentary the book is based on, River of Victory. With all this, your book discussion is sure to be a success!

November 15th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

Join us on November 15 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain. In The Silent Sister, Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and while she is cleaning out his house, she finds evidence to the contrary. Lisa is alive . . . alive and living under a new identity. But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now? As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought she knew about her family.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

Silent Sister Discussion Questions

November 14th at 1:00 p.m. - Lunch 'N Books: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Join us on November 14 at 1:00 p.m. as we discuss The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened. Twenty one years later he reads the letter. What follows is simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming. Nina George’s impressionistic prose takes the reader on a journey not just through the glories of France and the wonders of books, but through the whole range of human emotions.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236

October 26th at 12:30 p.m. - Lunch 'N Books: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Join us on October 26 at 12:30 p.m. as we discuss The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  Bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France. This is a bestselling, heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. 

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236

October 6th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Join us on October 6 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman. In this stunning novel, the acclaimed author of The Plum Tree merges the past and present into a haunting story about the nature of love and loyalty--and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most.

Ten years ago, Izzy Stone’s mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother’s apparent insanity, Izzy, now seventeen, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy’s help in cataloging items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

September 13th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: The Sisters Weiss by Naomi Ragen

Join us on September 13 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss The Sisters Weiss by Naomi Ragen. When she discovers the truth about her Aunt Rose, who, in the 1950s, committed an unforgivable act, Rivka, growing up in a strict ultra-Orthodox family, sets off on a dangerous adventure to find her, which sets in motion a chain of events that stirs up the ghosts of the past and alters the future. Powerful, page-turning and deeply moving, this novel is an unforgettable examination of loyalty and betrayal; the differences that can tear a family apart and the invisible bonds that tie them together. For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

August 2nd at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: The Garden of Letters by Alyson Richman

Join us on August 2 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss Alyson Richman’s (author of The Lost Wife) The Garden of Letters. Loss and hope pervade this graceful narrative, which is set in Italy during WWII. In 1942, when music prodigy and Resistance member Elodie flees to Portofino, she is taken in by a doctor with a tragic past. Together they come to terms with loss and the terrible cost of war. For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

July 22nd from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Passport Van

The Town of Hempstead Passport Van will be at the Library for your convenience. You can apply for a passport or renew one in one visit. The Van has the equipment to take your picture. Please bring checks for payments. For further information on obtaining your passport, call the Hempstead Town Clerk’s Passport Office at 516-812-3100.

July 13th at 6:00 p.m. - The Rent Collector by Camron Wright - Film, Book Discussion, and Skype

Join us as we screen the documentary (which inspired the novel The Rent Collector) at 6:00 p.m., to be followed by the book discussion at 7:15 p.m. At 8:30 p.m., there will be a skype with filmmaker Trevor Wright and author Camron Wright.

The documentary, River of Victory, is an unsettling account of the harsh life of a Cambodian family as they struggle with financial woes and often disturbing medical treatments for their child.  This glimpse into their lives was captured when three young filmmakers, including Trevor Wright, struck up a conversation with a young mother, Sang Li, who lived at the dump.  The filmmakers discovered a story of resilience and strength too compelling to ignore.

After watching footage of his son's documentary, River of Victory, novelist Camron Wright decided to write a fiction book (The Rent Collector) based on Sang Li and her family.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

July 12th at 7:30 p.m. - Travel Trivia Night

Test your knowledge of travel and travel literature at our library quiz on July 12 at 7:30 p.m.  Bring your friends, bring your teammates (up to 4), or just bring yourself. Sign up at the Reference Desk or online at http://tinyurl.com/jk698m9. Registration is limited.

June 21 at 7:30 p.m. - Evening Book Discussion: At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen - Skype with Author!

Join us on June 21st at 7:30 p.m. as we skype with Sara Gruen, author of At the Water's Edge, a gripping and poignant love story about a privileged young woman's awakening as she experiences the devastation of World War II in a tiny village in the Scottish Highlands.

June 6th at 11:00 a.m. - 8:45 p.m. - Adult Summer Reading Club "Novel Destinations" Kickoff With Featured Author Camille Perri

Join us for the kickoff of our 5th annual Adult Summer Reading Club as we host author Camille Perri's Long Island book launch of her lauded debut novel, The Assistants.  The book talk and signing will start at 7:30 P.M.  Sign up for the club in the lobby.  Can't make it?  Sign up online at http://tinyurl.com/jk698m9 or at the Reference Desk starting June 6th.

May 25th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: Orphan #8 by Kim van Alkemade

Join us on May 25 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss Orphan #8 by Kim van Alkemade.  In this stunning new historical novel inspired by true events, the author tells the fascinating story of a woman who must choose between revenge and mercy when she encounters the doctor who subjected her to dangerous medical experiments in a New York City Jewish orphanage years before.  For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

May 19th at 12:30 p.m. - Lunch 'N Books: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown

Join us on May 19 at 12:30 p.m. as we discuss The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown.  Out of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the desperation of the times--the improbable account of how nine working-class American boys showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.  For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

April 27th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

Join us on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner.  Two women living one hundred years apart who experience similar tragic losses of love-Clara's in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and Taryn's in the collapse of the Twin Towers-are connected through time by a scarf. For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

March 29th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian

Join us on March 29 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian.  When Orhan’s brilliant and eccentric grandfather, Kemal, who built a dynasty out of making kilim rugs, is found dead in a vat of dye, Orhan inherits the decades old business.  Yet, Kemal has left the family estate to a stranger, an aging woman in Los Angeles.  Her existence and secrecy about her past only deepen the mystery.  For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

March 24th at 12:30 p.m. - Lunch 'N Books: The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

Join us on March 24 at 12:30 p.m. as we discuss The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman, the New York Times bestselling author of The Museum of Extraordinary Things.  This spellbinding tale is a forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas, centering on the amazing woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro - the Father of Impressionism.  For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

March 9 at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Join us on March 9th at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.  A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Fredrik Backman's novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 236.

January 20 at 7:00 p.m. - Evening Book Discussion: The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure - Skype with Author!

Join us on January 20th at 7:00 p.m. as we skype with Charles Belfoure, author of The Paris Architect, his thrilling novel set in Paris during World War II.