An image of books laying page side down on a metal shelf

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