Hoover Public Library starts Sunday NovelTea fiction book group on weekends
The Hoover Public Library has started a new Sunday NovelTea book group for people to discuss novels they read.
The library has had two fiction book groups for adults for years, but they both meet on weekday mornings, and there was a void for book group options for working people, said Nancy Klasterka, a library specialist in the fiction department.
Librarian Amy Deering stepped up to fill that void with the Sunday NovelTea group, which usually meets the first Sunday of each month at 3 p.m. in the Linda Andrews Reading Room in the Library Plaza. The next meeting is this Sunday, July 3.
The Sunday NovelTea group started in February and has about eight steady members and would love to add a few more, Deering said. If there’s enough demand, she could start a second group on a different Sunday, she said.
The group votes on books it wants to read but typically stays on light topics and doesn’t delve into deep subject matter, Deering said.
The last book they discussed was “Flight Patterns” by Karen White, and they were able to Skype with the author. That book talks about Tupelo honey and World War II era china sets, so Deering was able to bring some examples of china from that era and get some Tupelo honey sent to them by the beekeeper whom White consulted for the book.
The book they will discuss this Sunday is “Leave Me” by Gayle Forman, which talks about what it would be like to walk away from your life and start over, Deering said.
The Sunday NovelTea group usually has tea and cookies served by the East 59 Vintage and Café in the Plaza, but they had pineapple smoothies recently, she said.
The group also participates in a private GoodReads online discussion forum that allows group members to discuss the book as they read it if they wish.
The First Thursday Fiction Book Group meets — you guessed it — on the first Thursday of each month at 10 a.m., while the Second Thursday Fiction Book Group meets on the second Thursday of each month, also at 10 a.m. Those two groups usually meet in one of the downstairs meeting rooms at the library but in July are meeting in the adult programming room on the main floor.
There also are three library-sponsored nonfiction book groups at the Hoover Public Library:
- Insatiable Readers meets one Saturday a month at 10:30 a.m., with the next meeting on July 15 in the Linda Andrews Reading Room. The purpose is to introduce people to 10-15 new nonfiction books on different topics each month. The topic for July is “Favorite Sports: Sweat or Strategy?” No reading or preparation required.
- Nighttime Nonfiction Book Group meets the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in the adult programming room. The next meeting is July 27.
- No Reading Required Book Group alternates monthly between 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month and noon on the third Wednesday of the month. The next meeting is 6:30 p.m. on July 11 in the adult programming room. The topic for July is “Celebrities and Brand Entrepreneurship.”
For more information about the Sunday NovelTea group, email Deering at amyd@bham.lib.al.us. For more information about other fiction book groups, call 444-7820. For more information about nonfiction book groups, call 444-7840.