Back to School Reads for Adults

Whether you dread back to school time or can't wait for it to arrive...it's here! Below are a few Adult Fiction titles about school to get you in the mood for studying, secret societies, and...ghosts??? Call (317) 852-3167 option 2 for more info, or message us at askus@brownsburg.lib.in.us. What other school-themed titles would you suggest for Adults? Comment below!

"Do you know what it took for Socrates' enemies to make him stop pursuing the truth?" "Hemlock." Storied, fiercely competitive Mariana Academy was founded with a serious honor code; its reputation has been unsullied for decades. Now a long-dormant secret society, Prisom's Party, threatens its placid halls with vigilante justice, exposing students and teachers alike for even the most minor infraction. Iris Dupont, a budding journalist whose only confidant is the chain-smoking specter of Edward R. Murrow, feels sure she can break into the ranks of The Devil's Advocate , the Party's underground newspaper, and there uncover the source of its blackmail schemes and vilifying rumors. Some involve the school's new science teacher, who also seems to be investigating the Party. Others point to an albino student who left school abruptly ten years before, never to return. And everything connects to a rare book called Marvelous Species . But the truth comes with its own dangers, and Iris is torn between her allegiances, her reporter's instinct, and her own troubled past. The Year of the Gadfly is an exhilarating journey of double-crosses, deeply buried secrets, and the lifelong reverberations of losing someone you love. Following in the tradition of classic school novels such as A Separate Peace , Prep , and The Secret History , it reminds us how these years haunt our lives forever. Request this item

A warm June evening, a local tradition: the students of Nantucket High have gathered for a bonfire on the beach. But what begins as a graduation night celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver of the car, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny's boyfriend Jake and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt - but the emotional damage is overwhelming, and questions linger about what happened before Penny took the wheel. As summer unfolds, startling truths are revealed about the survivors and their parents - secrets kept, promises broken, hearts betrayed. Elin Hilderbrand explores the power of community, family, and honesty, and proves that even from the ashes of sorrow, new love can still take flight. Request this item

Set in a four-hundred-year-old boys' boarding school in London, a chilling gothic thriller by the author of the critically acclaimed A Good and Happy Child . . . A fierce and jealous ghost . . . A young man's fight for his life . . . The Harrow School is home to privileged adolescents known as much for their distinctive dress and traditions as for their arrogance and schoolboy cruelty. Seventeen-year-old American Andrew Taylor is enrolled in the esteemed British institution by his father, who hopes that the school's discipline will put some distance between his son and his troubled past in the States. But trouble danger seem to follow Andrew. When one of his schoolmates and friends dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and is soon an outcast, spurned by nearly all his peers. And there is the pale, strange boy who begins to visit him at night. Either Andrew is losing his mind, or the house legend about his dormitory being haunted is true. When the school's poet-in-residence, Piers Fawkes, is commissioned to write a play about Byron, one of Harrow's most famous alumni, he casts Andrew in the title role. Andrew begins to discover uncanny links between himself and the renowned poet. In his loneliness and isolation, Andrew becomes obsessed with Lord Byron's story and the poet's status not only as a literary genius and infamous seducer but as a student at the very different Harrow of two centuries prior'a place rife with violence, squalor, incurable diseases, and tormented love affairs. When frightening and tragic events from that long-ago past start to recur in Harrow's present, and when the dark and deadly specter by whom Andrew's been haunted seems to be all too real, Andrew is forced to solve a two-hundred-year-old literary mystery that threatens the lives of his friends and his teachers'and, most terrifyingly, his own. Request this item

Adult Summer Reading Program

Yes, you read that right...there is an Adult Summer Reading Program-it's not just for kids! Friday, June 1st, from 6-8 pm is our big Summer Reading Kickoff, an event for the whole family. You can register for Summer Reading, get your picture taken in our "photobooth," listen to live music, and eat free ice cream!

 For those of you who are not familiar with our Adult Summer Reading Program, here's how it works:
    1. Register for the Summer Reading Program, either a the Kickoff on June 1st or here at the library anytime thereafter.
    2. Pick up a Goal Sheet either at the Kickoff or at the library (these can be picked up anytime during the Summer Reading Program, which starts June 1st and ends July 27th).
    3. Set yourself weekly reading and library activity related goals. These can be anything you want (examples are provided on the back of the goal sheet). So, maybe your goal will be to read 360 minutes that week? And to try a new author? And to attend a library program?
    4. Once you've met those weekly goals, come on in to the library and get a raffle ticket for each goal you meet. That means, the more goals you set and meet, the more raffle tickets you get! These raffle tickets will enter you to win a prize or prizes of your choosing. And what's up for grabs?

           *Kindle Touch

           *Nook Simple Touch

           *Garmin nuvi 1450 (GPS navigator for your car)

           *iPod nano

           *$50 gift certificate to Hurricane Grill and $25 So Italian gift certificate

So, there is your motivation to get to the library, get registered for Summer Reading, and well...get reading!!! We hope to see you at the kickoff, and at the library throughout the Summer. Check out our events calendar for a listing of all of the great Adult programs we have to go along with our Summer Reading Program (all but 1 are FREE). Call (317) 852-3167 option 2 with any questions, or e-mail us at askus@brownsburg.lib.in.us.

We're Crazy for Cookies!

It's true, here at the library we love cookies! You can tell because we have all kinds of cookie-themed programs coming up for lots of different age groups. We hope you share our love of tasty treats! Read on to see what's coming up for your age group. Registration is required for all programs unless otherwise noted.


Preschoolers ages 3 1/2 - 6 can sign up to participate in Gingerbread Fun on Wednesday, November 30th from 10:00 - 11:00 am or 1:00 - 2:00 pm (registration begins Friday, November 18th); or Gingerbread Christmas on Tuesday, December 6th from 10:00 - 11:00 am or 1:00 -2:00 pm (registration begins Friday, November 25th). Children will hear gingerbread stories, make a craft, and decorate a gingerbread cookie. Click here to see our calendar of events.


Elementary kids between the ages of 6-10 can sign up to participate in a Cookie Decorating Workshop for Kids on Saturday, December 10th from 2:00 -3:00 pm (registration is now open). There will be enough cookies to eat a few and still have several to bag up and give as gifts - get creative! Click here to see our calendar of events.



Teens ages 11 - 19 can sign up to participate in a Holiday Cookie Decorating party on Thursday, December 15th from 6:00 - 7:00 pm (registration is now open). Kick back and relax with friends as you enjoy punch and cookies while trying your hand at decorating. Click here to see our calendar of events.


And of course we have cookies for grown-ups too! Adults can sign up to participate in Handmade Holidays: Cookie Exchange on Monday, December 5th from 6:00 - 7:00 pm (registration is now open). Get some new holiday cookie recipes by exchanging cookies with friends! What you do: Register (space is limited), give your recipe to Patti (or e-mail to pkovach@brownsburg.lib.in.us), bake 4 dozen cookies (you'll go home with 4 dozen), then bring the cookies, recipe and containers to take home your goodies. Please bring a food donation for the Hendricks County Food Pantry. Refreshments will be provided. Click here to see our calendar of events.

We hope to see you at one of our delicious cookie programs coming up soon! If you have any questions or wish to register by phone, please contact the library at (317)852-3167.