Book Beats
Summer Reads for Adults 2011
Joining is easy with your free Chicago Public Library card! All you have to do is follow these four simple steps:
- READ: Read ANY two books between June 1 and July 31. You can find some great recommendations in this resource guide.
- REPORT: After reading your two selections, fill out the report form (PDF).
- RETURN: When you’ve finished filling in the report form, return it to a librarian at any of our 77 locations.
- ENTER TO WIN! When you submit your report form, you will be entered into a drawing for the beautiful book Sounds of Chicago’s Lakefront: A Celebration of the Grant Park Music Festival by Tony Macaluso, Julia S. Bachrach and Neal Samors. Several copies will be awarded by random drawing in September, after all forms have been collected.
Note: Participants are encouraged to read as many books as they wish from the recommended lists, but only one form is allowed per person.
Book Club in a Bag
Calling all book clubs! Have you heard about Book Club in a Bag?
Want to spice up your book club this summer? Read sensational titles? Make it easy—let the Chicago Public Library do the work! The Library’s Book Club in a Bag program provides everything your group needs for a great book discussion—a bag filled with 10 books of the same title and tips for your book club. All you need is your Chicago Public Library card to check out a Book Club in a Bag! Please call (312) 747-4056 to reserve a bag and have it sent to your local branch.
This summer, Book Club in a Bag will offer the following titles from the Book Beats program:
American Music
By Jane Mendelsohn
The Cellist of Sarajevo
By Steven Galloway
Handel’s Bestiary: In Search of Animals in Handel’s Operas
By Donna Leon
Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance
By Lloyd Jones
Life
By Keith Richards
The Piano Teacher
By Janice Lee
The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Redemptive Power of Music
By Steve Lopez
To Everything There is a Season: Pete Seeger and the Power of Song
By Allan Winkler
Join Our Adult Book Discussion Groups!
Don’t have a book club? Don’t worry! If you wish to discuss your thoughts and reactions to some of these thought-provoking books with other readers, the Chicago Public Library offers ongoing adult book discussion groups at many of its locations.
This summer, CPL branches throughout the city will be reading and discussing selections from Book Beats: Summer Reads for Adults. Check with your neighborhood library or the events calendar for more information.