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Reading can be many things. It’s a private enterprise. It can drastically lower stress-levels and help sharpen the mind. Above all, it can help us discover more about ourselves and the world around us by allowing us to process ideas and information through the filter of our very existence. However, it can also be a social pursuit. Discovering how others react to something that we’ve read and hearing their perspectives based on their own life experiences can go a long way in gaining a deeper understanding of it. Reading the same book can also lead to meeting fellow readers and developing a broader network of book recommendations.

If you’d like to share your thoughts on what you’ve read and/or gain insight from others, DPPL offers a great deal for you. We have a variety of book clubs, including two that meet every month: a morning group on the first Tuesday of the month and an evening one that meets the second Thursday. We also have a Books to Film club every few months that examines story not only in print format, but also on-screen as well. For those especially interested in non-fiction, the library aids the Des Plaines History Center in their History Book Club that meets every month on the 3rd Wednesday at the History Center. You can view our events calendar for upcoming events.

For those of you who are already part of a book group, DPPL has something to offer you as well. We have a book group section with multiple copies of the titles that we’ve used for book groups that are available for an extended checkout for your own book group! Stop by the 3rd floor Readers’ Services desk, call us at (847)376.2840, or click here for more information.

We are each writing our own story every day even as we read others. Come share your story with us! These are some books that have contributed greatly to my own story, and are ones I would heartily recommend to anyone:

Fieldwork

by Mischa Berlinski

Pursuing a story of an anthropologist killing a missionary in Thailand, a freelance journalist discovers the plight of the native Dyalo tribe.  Living in the wilderness of Northern Thailand, they have become the battleground of an epic struggle between anthropology and religion.

Moloka’i

by Alan Brennert

In 1890s' Hawaii, seven-year old Rachel Kalama is diagnosed with leprosy and is quarantined away from everyone she ever knew. She is sent to live at a leper colony on an isolated peninsula on the island of Moloka'i: it is here where Rachel's life truly begins. In an epic story filled with love and grief, tragedy and peace, Brennert reveals a woman conquering overwhelming adversity with humor and compassion.

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

In a Barcelona still recovering from the Spanish Civil War, a boy named Daniel becomes entranced by a book named The Shadow of the Wind written by an obscure author named Julian Carax. However, as he searches for more of his books, Daniel realizes that the identity of this mysterious author lies at the heart of a tale filled with such intrigue, murder, heartbreak, and madness that someone is willing to go to any lengths to keep it hidden.

The Light between Oceans

by M.L. Stedman

A lighthouse keeper and his wife discover a beached boat containing a dead man and a living baby. Their decision to claim the baby as their own brings about dramatic consequences.