Book Groups at the Library
Virtual, International Murder Mystery—we have something for everyone. Interested in starting a new book group? Let us know!
Virtual Book Club
This online book club meets on the third Saturday of the month at 4:00 p.m.
March 15 at 4 p.m.
Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie
Kyoto, Japan, 1948. “Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist.”
Such is eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin.
The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—a battle that just might cost her everything.
2025 Book Club Selections
March 15: Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie
April 19: The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
May 17: Backyard bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
June 21: The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza
July 19: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
August 16: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawson
September 20: The Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones
October 18: Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T Matthews
November 15: Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
December 20: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
You can request a book, or ebook from the Mid-Hudson library system. Please call the library with any questions: 845-657-2482
International Murder Mystery Book Club
This book club meets in person at the library on the 3rd Monday of each month at 2 p.m.
February 24 at 2 p.m.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman - England
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.
2025 Book Club Selections
February 24: We Solve Murders by Richard Osman - England
March 17: Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Spain
April 21: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall - Botswana
May 19: The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camillieri - Italy
June 16: The Pure of Heart by Susan Hill - England
July 21: The Fire Witness by Lars Kepler - Sweden
August 18: Bryant and May: The Lonely Hour by Christopher Fowler - England
September 15: The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez - Brazil
October 20: Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent - England
November 17: Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill - Laos
December 15: Hold Your Breath China by Qiu Xialong - China