August 21st at 7:30 p.m. - Evening Book Discussion: Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Join us on August 21 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. With richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and race, this novel is the stunning page-turner from Jodi Picoult.

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

Click here for the discussion guide.

Register For The Adult Summer Reading Club Before It's Too Late!

Build a Better World, the Adult Summer Reading Club is in full swing, join the fun before it's too late! We have wonderful programs coming up, if you haven't registered there's still time. Read and review books, attend programs, and earn raffle tickets for our great party on August 15th!

Last day to register is August 1st. Last day to submit reviews, event tickets and tic-tac-toe cards is August 9th.

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

July 18th at 6:30 p.m. – Meet the Author/Evening Book Discussion: The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

Join us on July 18 at 6:30 p.m. as we discuss Fiona Davis’s The Dollhouse. This stunning debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City’s glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where a present-day journalist becomes consumed with uncovering a dark secret buried deep within the Barbizon’s glitzy past. Ms. Davis will discuss The Dollhouse and debut her new book The Address to be published on August 1st. She will then raffle copies of her new book to a few lucky winners!

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

Please click here for the reading group guide for The Dollhouse.

July 11th at 12:30 p.m. – Lunch 'N Books: The Hours Count by Jillian Cantor

Join us on July 11 at 12:30 p.m. as we discuss The Hours Count by Jillian Cantor. This spellbinding historical novel is about a woman who befriends Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, and is drawn into their world of intrigue. The Rosenbergs are a seemingly ordinary couple who are the only Americans ever put to death for spying during the cold war.

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

Please click here for the reading group guide for The Hours Count.

June 27th at 7:30 p.m. - Evening Book Discussion: Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

Join us on June 27 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove returns with this heartwarming story about a woman rediscovering herself after a personal crisis. Insightful and touching, this is a sweet and inspiring story, about truth and transformation.

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

Click here for the discussion guide.

June 6th - 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Adult Summer Reading Club "Build a Better World" Registration

The East Meadow Public Library Reader Services Department is excited to announce our sixth annual Adult Summer Reading Club. It is a great way to learn about new titles to read during the lazy days of summer and a chance to participate in fun book programs! Just sign up and then submit any titles you have read during the summer months.

Sign up June 6 in the library lobby from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (after 5 p.m. sign up at the Reference Desk). Also, starting June 6, you may sign up online at https://tinyurl.com/keogynt . Can't make it? After this date, you can register anytime at the Reference Desk or online. Please choose to either enroll and review online or to enroll and submit reviews at the Reference Desk. Registration ends August 1st.

June 2 at 6:30 p.m. - Adult Summer Reading Club "Build a Better World" Kickoff With Featured Author Benjamin Ludwig

The Reader Services Department of the East Meadow Public Library is thrilled to announce the kickoff of our sixth annual Adult Summer Reading Club on Friday, June 2 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Register for our reading club and meet Benjamin Ludwig, author of Ginny Moon, who will be joining us for a book talk at 7:00 p.m. Ginny Moon is one of this summer’s most anticipated new books. This extraordinary debut novel is about an autistic teenager who desperately wishes to be reunited with her troubled birth mother in spite of having found the perfect foster home. It’s a story of an outsider trying to find a place to belong and about making sense of a world that just doesn’t seem to add up. Benjamin Ludwig will be signing copies of his book which will be for sale after the program.

Can’t make this event but would still like to join our summer reading club? On June 6 between 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., sign up in the lobby (after 5 p.m. sign up at the Reference Desk). Also, starting June 6, you may sign up online at https://ny.evanced.info/eastmeadow/sr/homepage.asp?ProgramID=19.

Our reading club will provide members the opportunity to attend exciting book events along with a delightful party at the end of the program. Our reading club is open to Nassau County library cardholders 21 and older.

May 4th at 7:30 p.m - Meet the Author - Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Join us on May 4 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss this New York Times bestseller inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine. This remarkable debut novel reveals the power of unsung women to change history in their quest for love, freedom, and second chances. Martha Hall Kelly will be signing copies of her book which will be for sale after the program.

April 21st at 1:00 p.m. - Lunch 'N Books: Dead Wake by Erik Larson

Join us on April 21 at 1:00 p.m. as we discuss Dead Wake by Erik Larson. On May 1, 1915, with World War I entering its tenth month, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. This is the true story of the submarine attack on the Lusitania, the lives and deaths of some of its passengers, and the sinking of the largest and fastest ocean liner of its time.

Discussion Guide for Dead Wake

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

Starting April 1st - Online Book Club – Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

We are thrilled to announce we will be beginning our first online Book club with Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly starting April 1st. We are also very excited that the author will be joining us on Thursday, May 4th at 7:30 p.m. to talk about her book!

To join our online book group, please follow these simple steps:

1. If you are not a member of Goodreads you must create an account at goodreads.com

(After joining you will receive an e-mail asking you to verify your e-mail address – please do so in order to participate in the discussion by clicking the link provided.)

2. Log into Goodreads and click on Community on top and Choose Groups.

3. In the search box type: EMPL Online Book Discussion.

4. Click Join and type in your library barcode when requested. Once we approve your membership please read the rules of the group.

5. Starting April 1st questions will be posted to promote discussion. At least two questions will be posted a week until the author visit.

Copies of the book are available at the Reference Desk. Please read the book and join us.

If you have any questions, please contact Janine Walsh at jwalsh@eastmeadow.info or at 794-2570 ext 262.

March 30th at 12:30 p.m. - Lunch 'N Books: 1984 by George Orwell

Join us on March 30 at 12:30 p.m. as we discuss 1984 by George Orwell. The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell’s prophetic, nightmarish vision, written in 1948, of the world we were becoming, is more timely than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of “negative utopia”- a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words.

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

March 21st at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne

Join us on March 21 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne, a terrifying psychological thriller with a twisting plot. Moving to a tiny Scottish island a year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah are shattered when their surviving daughter claims they have mistaken her identity and that she is actually the twin they believed dead.

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

February 15th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion/Author Visit: Forgiving Maximo Rothman by A.J. Sidransky

Join us on February 15 at 7:30 p.m. as author A.J. Sidransky discusses his powerful work, Forgiving Maximo Rothman. Sidransky gives us a captivating story, transporting us from a seemingly straightforward murder in present-day Washington Heights, to the plight of World War II Jewish refugees in the Dominican Republic and life in the Soviet Union. The story effortlessly entwines these different periods and places.

Reserve your copy today!

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

Forgiving Maximo Rothman Discussion Questions

January 17th at 7:30 p.m. – Evening Book Discussion: The Good House by Ann Leary

Join us on January 17 at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss The Good House by Ann Leary. Hildy Good lives on the rocky coast of Boston. Her nights have become lonely ever since her daughters, convinced their mother was drinking too much, sent her off to rehab. Now she's in recovery more or less. Hildy finds a friend in Rebecca McAllister. but ends up trying to protect her friend from a potential scandal. Soon, Hildy is forced to protect her own reputation as well.

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

The Good House Discussion Questions

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.