One of the popular collections at the Bucks County Free Library branches is the Book Club in a Bag collection. We have 38 titles to choose from, including the following fantastic new fiction and nonfiction titles we’ve added in 2023:
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder.
Let’s Make Ramen! By Hugh Amano
Playful and instructive, this hybrid cookbook/graphic novel introduces the history of ramen and provides more than 40 recipes for everything you need to make the perfect bowl at home including tares, broths, noodles, and toppings. Authors Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan present colorful, humorous, and easy-to-follow comics that fully illustrate the necessary steps and ingredients for delicious homemade ramen.
The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick
Landing her personal hero and mega-best-selling author Essie Starling as a client, housecleaner Liv Green forms an unlikely friendship with this infamous recluse, but when Essie suddenly dies, leaving her an astonishing last wish, Liv discovers a connection between them that changes Liv’s own life story forever.
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara
Chicago, 1944: Twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her parents have just been released from Manzanar, where they have been detained by the US government since the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, together with thousands of other Japanese Americans. The life in California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled two thousand miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets. But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train. Aki, who worshipped her sister, is stunned. Officials are ruling Rose’s death a suicide. Aki cannot believe her perfect, polished, and optimistic sister would end her life. Her instinct tells her there is much more to the story, and she knows she is the only person who could ever learn the truth.
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
Down a narrow alley in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina, lies a stunning cobblestone building comprised of five apartments. It’s called the Dellawisp and it is named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside the human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy. When Zoey Hennessey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment at the Dellawisp, she meets her quirky, enigmatic neighbors, including a girl on the run, a grieving chef whose comfort food does not comfort him, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn’t yet written.
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Each book club in a bag consists of a tote bag, 8-10 books, a folder containing: (1) tips on how to lead a book club; and (2) a book info package with the summary of the book, the author’s bio, and discussion questions.
An easy way to search for these titles in the library’s catalog, besides typing in the title, is by typing “book discussion kit” to get a listing of all the titles available for check-out. Book Club bags may be reserved and sent to any branch and can be checked out for four weeks.
