Third Thursday Book Club: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Third Thursday Book Club is back again with a new selection! This month's featured book is The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. 

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations―a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

The next meeting will be held Thursday, April 18th at 5 PM in the library's Family Room. The group meets monthly and is open to all library users. 

Please stop by the library to find out how to reserve your copy. You can also call 915-212-0440 for more information. 

Teen Hangout: Papier-mâché Art

Teens at the Dorris Van Doren Regional Library recently participated in a two-part workshop on making papier-mâché sculptures. The materials used to construct their sculptures were a flour-based glue, old newspapers, balloons, and pipe cleaners. They covered balloons with layers of glue-soaked newspaper to create their structures and then left them to dry. One teen was able to use the materials to construct a whale, using pipe cleaners to create fins.

The teens returned the following week to decorate their sculptures with paint and duct tape. While this project took more time than some of the other activities at our weekly Teen Hangout program, it was definitely worth it to see some of the amazing artwork that came out of it. 

Third Thursday Book Club: Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

The Third Thursday Book Club is back again with a new selection! This month's featured book is Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah. 

After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises.

The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. With concerns about the child’s home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay—just until she learns more about Ursa’s past.

Jo enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have. How does a young girl not only read but understand Shakespeare? Why do good things keep happening in her presence? And why aren’t Jo and Gabe checking the missing children’s website anymore?

Though the three have formed an incredible bond, they know difficult choices must be made. As the summer nears an end and Ursa gets closer to her fifth miracle, her dangerous past closes in. When it finally catches up to them, all of their painful secrets will be forced into the open, and their fates will be left to the stars.

The next meeting will be held Thursday, March 21st at 5 PM in the library's Family Room. The group meets monthly and is open to all library users. 

Please stop by the library to find out how to reserve your copy. You can also call 915-212-0440 for more information.