Friday, September 20, 2013

Saturday Samplers book Group to Meet


Bernardsville Public Library’s book discussion group, Saturday Samplers, will meet on Saturday, October 5 at 3:30 pm to discuss “The Circus in Winter” (2004) by award-winning author Cathy Day.  [The author will not be present.]

The book, a fictional history of her hometown, describes how, from 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus makes the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima.  Over three generations, the circus transforms this small town, providing a magical backdrop to daily life.  The connected tales of "The Circus in Winter" display the rise and fall of an American circus as the author follows the performers and their progeny into history, vividly bringing the everyday lives of circus people to the page.

Cathy Day was born and raised in Peru, Indiana and is the author of two books.  The first, "The Circus in Winter" was a finalist for the GLCA New Writers Award, the Great Lakes Book Award, and the Story Prize, and is being adapted into a musical.  It was a Barnes & Noble “Discover” selection, an “Original Voices” pick at Borders, and a Best Book of 2004 on Amazon.com. 

Her stories and essays have appeared most recently in Pank, Sports Illustrated, The Millions, North American Review, Ninth Letter and elsewhere.  Her fiction and nonfiction have been broadcast on NPR’s "Selected Shorts” and “Studio 360.”  Her most recent work is "Comeback Season: How I Learned to Play the Game of Love" (Free Press), part memoir about life as a single woman and part sports story about the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl season.  She teaches creative writing at Ball State University and is currently working on a novel.  She maintains blogs about her novel-writing class, her linked stories class, and literary citizenship.

Led by Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction.  Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books.  Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com.  No sign-up is needed to join the discussion.  Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

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