The Noon Book Group meets on the second Friday of each month at noon, September through June in person. Contact Joanne Lee (jlee@minlib.net) for more details!
Meeting dates are in bold italics.
September 12
In 1972, a skeleton is found in a well in Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, unraveling long-buried secrets. Decades earlier, Jewish theater owner Moshe Ludlow and his wife Chona, who runs the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, help hide a deaf Black boy from institutionalization. Their fight for justice exposes deep racial and social tensions.
More information about this book.
October 10
Hailsham appears to be an idyllic boarding school, nurturing students in art and literature. But Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy slowly uncover its unsettling purpose. As they step beyond its walls, they confront their fate, a haunting reflection on humanity’s treatment of the vulnerable and the power of memory.
More information about this book.
November 14
Nikki takes a job teaching writing to Sikh widows in London’s Punjabi community. They secretly begin sharing personal stories and fantasies behind the back of the local moral enforcers. When some of the class erotica is shared, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.
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December 12
Hamnet is a portrait of a marriage, scarred by loss of a beloved child in Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes settles with her husband in Henley Street, Stratford, and has three children. The only boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, her husband writes a play called Hamnet.
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January 9
Steve Martin’s memoir explores his rise as a stand-up icon, his early days performing magic at Disneyland, and his decision to leave comedy at his peak. Reflecting on sacrifice, creativity, and loneliness, he offers a candid look at his journey, his connections with family, and capturing the cultural shifts of the ’60s and ’70s.
More information about this book.
February 13
Identical twins take diverging paths after running away at age 16 – one passing for white, the other eventually returning to their Southern Black community. What happens when their daughters’ lives intersect? The Vanishing Half explores race, family, and the lasting impact of choices across generations.
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March 13
In a quiet Maine town, widowed Evvie Drake isolates herself after her husband’s fatal car crash, letting others assume it’s grief that keeps her inside. Ex-MLB pitcher Dean Tenney, struggling with the “yip,” moves into her guest apartment. Their deal to avoid past trauma falters as their friendship deepens, forcing them to face their secrets.
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April 10
A teenager with an accelerated-aging disorder finds solace in the stories of his parents, his elderly best friend, and books that transport him. As he moves into a long-term hospital ward, he faces new friendships, hidden truths, and the uncertainty pf his future – yet through it all, he discovers the enduring joy of family, friends, and love.
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May 8
On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses the flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives – together with her precocious literary gifts – brings about a crime that will change all their lives.
More information about this book.
June 12
From his porch, Charles Lamosway watches his neighbor Elizabeth’s life unfold across Maine’s Penobscot Reservation, hiding the secret that she is his daughter. When she disappears, his worry grows and he faces his past while grappling with the question: should he reveal the truth, even if it upends Elizabeth’s world?
More information about this book.