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.
July 19th at 4 p.m. The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.
Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.
Filled with wonder and wild adventure, thisis a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.
2025 Book Club Selections
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., led by Henrietta Shannon.
July 21 @ 2:00 p.m.
The Fire Witness
by Lars Kepler - Sweden
Flora Hansen calls herself a medium and makes a living by pretending to commune with the dead. But after a gruesome murder at a rural home for wayward girls, Hansen begins to suffer visions that are all too real. She calls the police, claiming to have seen a ghost, but only one detective puts aside his skepticism long enough to listen: Joona Linna. Linna has spent more time at the scene of the crime than any other detective would. The case seems obvious on the face of it: One of the girls at the home escaped in the middle of the night, leaving behind a bloody bed with a hammer under the pillow. But why does Hansen insist that the murder instrument was a stone, not a hammer? And what's the story behind the dark red grain of sand, almost like a splinter from a ruby, stuck beneath the dead girl's fingernail? As Linna refuses to accept easy answers, his search leads him into darker, more violent territory, and finally to a shocking confrontation with a figure from his past.
2025 Book Club Selections
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
Defending Democracy Book Club
In-person book club meeting the first Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., led by author David Corbett.
July 1: Autocracy Inc by Anne Applebaum
We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents. But in the 21st century, there is so much more to it. Nowadays, autocracies work together, from China to Russia to Iran. Corrupt companies and kleptocrats in one country do business with corrupt companies and kleptocrats in another.
July 1: Autocracy Inc. by Anne Applebaum
August 5: The Undertow by Jeff Sharlet
September 8: Dark Money by Jane Mayer