Takoma Park
Neighborhood Library

Adult Book Club

'The Finkler Question'

The Finkler Question is a scorching story of exclusion and belonging, justice and love, ageing, wisdom and humanity. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best. A staggeringly brilliant novel from bestselling and award-winning giant of literature, Howard Jacobson, shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize.

Bookcover of Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Family Crafternoon

Make Your Own Cabinet of Wonder

In Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, 12-year old Ben keeps a collection of things that are important to him in a wooden box. After finding out about early museum collections and Cabinets of Wonder, Ben wonders whether he is a curator and whether his own Cabinet of Wonder is a museum box.

Awesome Animal Stories

To read alone or share with children

Are you an animal lover? Here are some great animal reads with something for the youngest to the oldest, or both to share with each other.

"Spirit Hovering: poems" by Nancy Arbuthnot

Nancy Arbuthnot Reading

A Poetry Month celebration

As part of National Poetry Month, the Takoma Park Neighborhood Library is hosting a poetry reading on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. with local poet Nancy Arbuthnot.

"Wild Washington: animal sculptures A to Z/ poems" by Nancy Arbuthnot

Wild Washington! With Nancy Arbuthnot

A poetic tour of Washington, D.C.

To celebrate National Poetry Month, the Takoma Park Neighborhood Library is hosting local poet Nancy Arbuthnot, on hand to read from her book, Wild Washington: Animal Sculptures A to Z/ Poems.

"A girl is a half-formed thing" by Eimear McBride

What Did We Just Read?! Book Club

May's Meeting

Do you like to be left scratching your head after finishing a book? Do you enjoy asking yourself, “What, exactly, did I just read?” What Did I Just Read?! Book Club may be just what you’re looking for! Once a month, we’ll meet to discuss an innovative work of literature that avoids taking the straight path from A to B. These books sometimes start at B, or they skip B, or they never really leave A. Perhaps they just circle around point C.

Modern Tragic Heroes

Is redemption possible?

Protagonists in modern novels are often deeply flawed. Similar to the Greek tragic heroes of old, these modern heroes are undone by aspects of their personality, such as a propensity to live in the past or a desire for immortality. All of the main characters in this list have failed. The questions are whether and how they can redeem themselves.

Teen Movie Night

'Divergent'

We're hosting a screening party for Divergent in honor of the recent theatrical release of Insurgent, with snacks and Insurgent-themed giveways!

"Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine

A Contemporary Celebration of National Poetry Month

Six books that show contemporary poetry's range

To celebrate National Poetry Month, I've compiled a brief list of six (roughly) contemporary books of poetry that help display the range of styles, content, and ambitions that poetry offers readers today. With more poets writing now than perhaps any preceding age, it's literally impossible to read and enjoy all that the last couple of years have produced, let alone the last few decades. But never fear! There are poems to satisfy just about any reading appetite, and the DC Public Library has an excellent collection to choose from.

'My Boyfriend's Wife Part 1' with Author Mychea

Urban Fiction Book Club

Do you enjoy the rise and fall of powerful crime families in your fiction? How about salacious, sinful love interests and unabashedly immoral protagonists? Or women characters who take what they want when they want it and men who turn their tears into vengeful bullets? Then you may be an urban fiction fan!

Takoma Park Neighborhood Library