By Anthony Stanford –
Janet Stephens, Bonnie Bogden, and Becky Clark are leaders for the classic film and book discussion groups at the Aurora Public Library (APL) West Branch.
Stephens, who leads the West Branch non-fiction group, 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month, has a love of books that’s apparent. Stephens talked about the experience of participating in a book club, and said, “Reading alone is enjoyable, but being part of an ongoing conversation helps us discover more about the book, and leads us to new interpretations from others.”
Stephens said that she tries to find interesting non-fiction narrative material that tells a story. For example in September her group will read The Rise of The Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon to Mars, by Nathalia Holt. In October, the group will read The Guynd: A Scottish Journal by Belinda Rathbone, and in November, Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt.
Becky Clark leads the West Branch Fiction Book Club, which meets on the last Thursday of each month. Started in 1999, it’s one of APL’s longest-running book clubs. In September the group will read, which it occasionally does, a non-fiction work: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore. In October the group will read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.
Bonnie Bogden’s Classic Film Discussion group meets on the third Saturday of each month. After almost 17 years of leading the group, Bogden knows the power of film. “Films are magical,” she said. “They take you out of yourself and plop you down in another world, good, bad, delightful, scary, plum awful, horrible, but different from your world and life, for just a couple hours.”
Bogden said that she sometimes screens foreign and animated classic films and the occasional controversial film. In September the group will view Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 film Rope and the 1954 classic Rear Window. October will feature Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1954, directed by Jack Arnold, and King Kong, 1933, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack. The November pick is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939, directed by Frank Capra, and in December, the club will enjoy White Christmas, 1959, directed by Michael Curtiz.
Drop-ins and new members are welcome any time. For additional information about the clubs, contact West Branch at 630-264-3610 or visit the online events calendar at aurora.libnet.info/events.
Anthony Stanford is an author and Aurora Public Library media consultant.