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​The Riverton Area Book Club will gather Saturday, June 20, from 10-11 am. The book to be discussed is Gone Before Goodbye, by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben.  (Please note: the previously listed book for this month has been replaced.) 

This is the first collaboration between Witherspoon, an award-winning actress, producer, and founder of Reese's Book Club, and Coben who writes best-selling thriller/mystery novels and produces television shows and movie adaptations.

Gone Before Goodbye is about Dr. Maggie McCabe, a reconstructive surgeon who accepts a dangerous assignment after the grief of losing her husband and a botched surgery leave her struggling with life. One of the themes is the influence of technology, in particular, AI.

Books/audio are available through the Riverton Library. For further information and questions please call 217-629-6353, Meetings are held at the Library (1200 Riverton Road) and are open to the public.










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The November meeting of the Riverton Area Book Club is the third Saturday, Nov. 18th, held 10-11am, at the Riverton Library. The feature novel is: Oona Out of Order, by Margarita Montimore, published in 2020. Montimore, born in Russian Ukraine, worked in publishing and social media before becoming a writer.
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This story involves some time travel: Oona, the main character, is celebrating her 19th birthday on New Year's Eve (1982), but at midnight she passes out and wakes up as herself at 51 years of age. That continues each January 1--waking up as herself in a different age (and body) of her life. The reader is presented with a magical, inventive story which has been discussed at numerous book clubs and given numerous book awards. The book club does not meet in December. The January 20, 2024, book selection is Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus; a miniseries adaptation began streaming on Apple+ this month. Garmus's story exposes in a sometimes humorous, sometimes sad manner the anti-female bias in the field of science.

The Riverton Area Book Club will gather on Saturday, October 21, to discuss Celeste Ng's debut novel, Everything You Never Told Me. Meetings take place from 10-11 am at the Riverton Village Library.
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Ng's novel, published in 2014, is a story about a mixed race Chinese American middle class family living in Ohio in the 1970s. After Lydia, their middle child, is found dead, Marilyn and James must confront the lives they have led and how decisions they made affected their children. Painful memories are revisited and family dynamics exposed.Readers are encouraged to find reviews, either in print or on YouTube videos, that provide critiques and background information on authors and the stories they have created. This helps to enhance the reading experience.Books/audio are available through the Riverton Library.  For more information please contact the librarians at 217-629-6353.

The Riverton Area Book Club will meet Saturday, September 16, from 10-11am at the Riverton Village Library. The novel, which takes place in India in the 1950s, is The Henna Artist, by Alka Joshi. Lakshmi, who has left her family to live in Jaipur, makes a living drawing henna "tattoos" for wealthy women and hopes eventually to get her own house. However, her plan is threatened by the arrival of Radha, a younger sister she did not know she had, and an abusive ex-husband Hari who meddles in Lakshmi's life. Selected as a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and the first volume of a trilogy, the story has been picked up for TV miniseries adaptation.

Those interested in discussing this novel--or just finding some fellow readers--are welcome to attend.  Both audio and print editions are available through your local library. For further information please contact the Riverton Library at 217-629-6353.Riverton Library now has a mobile app for managing accounts: browsing new books, placing holds, renewing items. Go to the App Store (or Play Store) and search for: Share Mobile App.  Another library service for Patrons is access to Share’s Cloud Library. Its eBooks and eAudiobooks are included in the online catalog, along with print books, books on CD, DVDs, and music CDs. Browse and checkout Cloud library titles just as you do with all items in the catalog. You need to log into your library account to access Cloud Library. Library assistance can be reached at 217-629-6353. 

The Riverton Area Book Club is meeting Saturday, July 15, from 10-11 am, to discuss the 2022 novel Horse by Geraldine Brooks.   With a famous racehorse as its focus, the book covers three time periods: in 1850 Jarret, an enslaved groom, has the opportunity to be the guardian of the real-life horse named Lexington. In 1954 Martha Jackson takes an interest in an equestrian oil painting from the last century; and in 2019 Jess, an Aussie scientist, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, share notes of a scientific nature about the horse in question. Many themes converge in this story which make it an exciting read.
Meetings are held at the Riverton Library and librarians are available to assist in finding book copies. If you have questions please contact the Library at 217-629-6353.The book selection for August 19 is Alka Joshi's book The Henna Artist, a Reese Witherspoon book club selection which has been picked up by Netflix. Lakshmi, a poor young woman who does henna tattoos for rich clients in 1950s India, is struggling to make a better life for herself.

On Saturday, May 20, the Riverton Area Book Club will meet to discuss The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, by Robert Dugoni, published in 2018. This novel introduces the reader to the condition called ocular albinism, or red eyes, which the character Sam Hill is born with in 1957. And because of the grief Sam goes through in his life he gave himself the name Sam Hell. Dugoni felt compelled to write this story because he had a brother with Down syndrome who experienced discrimination growing up.
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Meetings are held at the Riverton Village Library from 10-11 am on the third Saturday of every month (excluding December) and you do not have to be a member to attend. Books and audio are available through the Library.  For further information please call 217-629-6353 during Library hours.The June 17 book selection is The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin and published in 2022. This novel is divided into 26 chapters each which relates bee terminology to three characters living in Hood River, Oregon.

​The Riverton Area Book Club will be discussing One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle on Saturday,  April 15, 10-11am, at the Riverton Library.  Published about a year ago, this novel is a love story between a daughter and her mother and as the title suggests, it happens in Italy. Serle's descriptions of Positano on the Amalfi coast make the reader feel that they are right there with the characters. But one character is missing: the mother, Carol Silver. Her daughter, Katy, is almost paralyzed with grief but a transformative experience allows her to regain her footing in life. Paramount Pictures has recently bought the film rights for this story.
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May's book selection is The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, by Robert Dugoni. This is an inspirational story of a young man overcoming the obstacles of having a condition called ocular albinism, or red [pupils in his eyes.

The public is welcome to attend meetings; books/audio are available through the Library. For more information please call the Library staff at 217-629-6353 during normal business hours.

​On Saturday, March 18, from 10-11 am, the Riverton Area Book Club will read the historical fiction titled Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict. As the wife of British prime minister Winston Churchill, Lady Clementine (pronounced Clemen -teen) narrates her own strong opinions, her ardent support of her husband, and her social and political activities during pre- and post- world wars. Through her we also learn more about the Churchills' family and personal lives.  Marie Benedict, an experienced lawyer, specializes in telling the untold stories of women in history.
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Upcoming book selections for the book club are: April 15:  One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle. Katy and her mother plan a trip to Italy, but after her mother's death she takes the trip alone. May 20: The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, by Robert Dugoni. Sam learns to navigate life with red pupils, an unusual eye condition called ocular albinism.He is helped by his mother's faith, his father's wisdom, and two misfit friends.The book club meets the third Saturday of every month (excluding December) at the Riverton Village Library located in the Municipal Building on 1200 Riverton Road. The librarians can pre-order print copies and/or audio for readers. For further information please call the library at 217-629-6353.

​On Saturday, February 18, the Riverton Area Book Club will be discussing The Book Woman's Daughter, by Kim Michele Richardson, a sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.  This new book, published in 2022, covers Honey Marie-Angeline Lovett--and mule Junie--as they navigate dangers in the hollers of Kentucky where racism and violence is rampant. She takes on the role of her mother, Cussy Mary, the blue-skinned packhorse librarian. Blue skin, or methemoglobinemia, is a rare genetic mutation in the body's hemoglobin. Honey must be smart and resourceful as she tries to avoid being committed to the Kentucky House of Reform for being orphaned while her parents are jailed for miscegenation. This novel is also a stand-alone story if you have not read the first book.
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Meetings are held from 10-11 am at the Riverton Village Municipal Building on Riverton Road. For further information please call the library at 217-629-6353. Books have been selected for future months: in March--Lady Clementine, by Marie Benedict, about Churchill's wife; in April, One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle, about a young woman's trip she must take alone after her mother's death.

​On Saturday, January 21, the Riverton Area Book Club's book selection highlights the horrific practice of committing women to an insane asylum when they prove too "troublesome."  Kate Moore, author of "The Radium Girls," tells the story of Elizabeth Packard in the book "The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear."  This story hits close to home.  Moore's investigation into this issue centers on the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane in Jacksonville under the direction of Dr. Andrew McFarland in 1860 and it is a blend of personal, historical, and scientific details. For those who want to learn more on this topic, Moore's book, published in 2021, provides an extensive list of references in the selected bibliography. 
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The book club will meet from 10-11 am in the community room of the Riverton Municipal Building. For questions or further information, please contact the Riverton Village Library at 217-629-6353. The library arranges for copies of the book through interlibrary loan.