Anyone ages 13+ is invited to join Teen Services Librarian Kendall and Circulation Coordinator Olivia Zubrowski for a special intergenerational book club, Book Club for the Ages, on the second Wednesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. in the Pearson Room by the fireplace. In Book Club for the Ages, we will read a wide variety of fiction including young adult, short stories, and more. For our next meeting on Wednesday, August 13th at 6 p.m., we will be reading two short stories: "Peking Duck" by Ling Ma, and "Marie" by Edward P. Jones. Unfortunately, "Marie" is behind a paywall at the Paris Review: however, both stories are also available to pick up as printouts at the library at the reference desk counter. 

Both stories are rich meditations on memory and storytelling, tracing their characters' movements with a quiet and compassionate gaze. Ma and Jones alike offer inventive approaches to their craft as authors, resulting in a remarkable capaciousness in just a few pages. Ma "details how she attempted to complicate and 'implode' the immigrant narrative through her unique approach to this mother-daughter story," as discussed in this PBS American Masters interview from June 15, 2023. Edward P. Jones similarly offers an unconventional approach to his writing process, which you can read in this interview with The Rumpus from May 2nd, 2011. 

This program is free and sponsored by the library thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Library. Printouts of the stories are available at the library's reference desk, and also available to read online through the links above. If you have questions contact Olivia at oliviaz@bhpl.net or kendall.chapman@bhpl.net or call us at 374-5515.