Scheduled Books
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April 10
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe’s iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
There are currently no other scheduled books. Please check back at a later date.
Future Suggested Books
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On What Grounds
Clare Cosi used to manage the historic Village Blend coffeehouse…until she opted for quieter pastures and a more suburban life. But after ten years and a little friendly cajoling from the owner (a fresh pot of Jamaican Blue Mountain was all it took), she's back to the grind. With a sprawling rent-free apartment directly above the Village Blend, her cat Java by her side, and plenty of coffeehouse redecorating ideas, Clare is thrilled to return to work. Until she discovers the assistant manager unconscious in the back of the store, coffee grounds strewn everywhere. Police arrive on the scene to investigate. But when they find no sign of forced entry or foul play, they deem it an accident. Case closed. But Clare is not convinced. And after the police leave, there are a few things she just can't get out of her mind… Why was the trash bin in the wrong place? If this wasn't an accident, is Clare in danger? And… are all detectives this handsome?
Printed Book: 275 pages
Audio Book: 7 hours, 59 minutes
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Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The customers are few, and they never seem to buy anything - instead, they "check out" large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Suspicious, Clay engineers an analysis of the clientele's behavior, seeking help from his variously talented friends. But when they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the bookstore's secrets extend far beyond its walls. Rendered with irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave. The New York Times Bestseller, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction, named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle.
Printed Book: 288 pages
Audio Book: 7 hours, 41 minutes
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Never Lie
Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams. But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end. In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance. Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.
Printed Book: 304 pages
Audio Book: 7 hours, 20 minutes
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What Lies in the Woods
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. 22 years ago she and her friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the goddess game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. She survived her 17 stab wounds, and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls testimony put the serial killer away, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes, and they were liars.. For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi has set out to find out what really happened in the woods-no matter how dangerous the truth is out to be.
Printed Book: 336 pages
Audio Book: 11 hours, 29 minutes
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Red White and Royal Blue
What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius?his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn't always diplomatic.
Printed Book: 448 pages
Audio Book: 12 hours, 15 minutes
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Grave Talk
The last thing Alice expects to see at her husband’s graveside on his birthday is a giant, talking frog. On closer inspection, it’s a grown man dressed as Kermit. Turns out Alice’s husband is buried next to Ben’s older brother Harry, who - as a parting practical joke in his will - insisted that Ben visit his grave each year, on this specific day, dressed in an as-yet-undisclosed pageant of embarrassing fancy dress. With little but their grief and this one day in common, Alice and Ben form a very special, very strange friendship, meeting just once a year: same day, same time, same place - different silly costume. As the years pass and grief alters, can their unique bond help them cope with the hardest part of death: life?
Printed Book: 319 pages
Audio Book: 9 hours, 48 minutes
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The Silent Patient
The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband — and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations — a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....
Printed Book: 368 pages
Audio Book: 8 hours, 33 minutes
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A Dirty Job: A Novel
Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death. It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.
Printed Book: 405 pages
Audio Book: 11 hours, 50 minutes
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We Solve Murders
From the #1 bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club Series A brand new mystery. An iconic new detective duo. And a thrilling new murder to solve . . . Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him at home. His days of adventure are over. Adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s job now. Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. Working in private security, every day is dangerous. She’s currently on a remote island protecting mega-bestselling author Rosie D’Antonio, until a dead body and a bag of money mean trouble in paradise. So she sends an SOS to the only person she trusts . . . As a thrilling race around the world begins, can Amy and Steve outrun and outsmart a killer? Solving murders. It’s a family business.
Printed Book: 400 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 30 minutes
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The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife: A Novel
Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up. Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again. As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition.
Printed Book: 336 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 49 minutes
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The Guest List
ONE OF "THE NEW YORK TIMES" BEST THRILLERS OF THE YEAR. The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner – The bridesmaid – The body. On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
Printed Book: 336 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 22 minutes
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Anatomy of a Scandal
Sophie Whitehouse has a lovely home, 2 adorable children and a handsome, successful husband. In other words her life is perfect. But everything changes when her husband confesses an indiscretion. As it turns out, James's revelation is just the tip of the iceberg. He stands accused of a terrible crime. The truth is more shocking than anyone ever could have thought. Is James the guilty perpetrator or an innocent victim of a Toxic agenda? This is a riveting story of love, revenge and deception. No one's motives are pure, but some people's secrets are much darker than others.
Printed Book: 400 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 56 minutes
A.S. Book Club Ratings
(1 to 5 stars, with 5 being great!)
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Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
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The Day of the Jackal
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The Rosie Project: A Novel
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The Little Prince
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Holly
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Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
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On Earth as It Is on Television
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The Housemaid
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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First Lie Wins
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Remarkably Bright Creatures
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The Road
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The Authenticity Project
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Lessons in Chemistry
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Crime and Punishment
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The Cruelest Month
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Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead: A Novel
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1984
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
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The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Past Events
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Readers Become Writers 2
A.S. Book Club members share their short story, poem, prose, fairy tale, fiction, non-fiction...
VIEW MEMBERS' WORKS -
Readers Become Writers
In August 2023 it was suggest that club members become writers. At our December 13 meeting, four club members shared stories they had written. Each one was very well received by the group. The readers who became writers were highly praised for their creativity and passion.
VIEW MEMBERS' WORKS