Book Club
Book Club – Johnston County Library
Engage in a book discussion with the Johnston County Library at 6:30 PM, Thursday, February 6th. Conversation, fellowship, and refreshments will be centered on popular book titles for adults to discuss. Participants will share views on “The Mysterious Island” by Jules Verne.
“The Mysterious Island” by Jules Verne, with an introduction by Alex Dolby, follows a group of men who escape imprisonment during the American Civil War by stealing a balloon. After being blown off course and wrecked on a remote desert island, they use their scientific knowledge and skills to harness the island’s resources, creating a miniature society. The story also presents an intriguing mystery, as the island holds a secret. Verne’s adventure tales significantly contributed to the rise of modern science fiction.
For more information, or to pick up your copy today, contact the Johnston County Library at (580) 371-3006 or visit us at 116 West Main in Tishomingo. The Johnston County Library is a branch of the Southern Oklahoma Library System. The Southern Oklahoma Library System was named Oklahoma Library of the Year in 2024!
Let’s Talk About It – Champion Public Library
Champion Public Library continues its Let’s Talk About It series featuring “Travel: New Ways of Seeing” with “Daisy Miller: A Study” by Henry James/“A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid on Thursday, February 6th at 5:30 PM. Scholar Dr. Ken Hada will serve as the evening’s scholar.
With “Daisy Miller: A Study”, Daisy Miller is a beautiful young American traveling in Europe with her family. She poses a dilemma for her fellow-countryman Winterbourne: is she deliberately defying social conventions or simply unaware of them? Her friendship with a charming Italian and her refusal to follow respectable behavior leave her vulnerable. In this story, James portrays the enigmatic and independent American woman, a theme that recurs in his later works.
With “A Small Place”, if you visit Antigua, you’ll arrive at V. C. Bird International Airport, named after Vere Cornwall Bird, the island’s Prime Minister. You might question why an airport is named after a politician instead of a school or hospital. This sets the stage for Jamaica Kincaid’s essay, “A Small Place,” which reveals the deeper stories of this ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies where she grew up. With a mix of lyrical and sardonic tones, Kincaid broadens our perspective on this small island and its significance.
This program will be presented by scholar Ken Hada. Dr. Hada graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bartlesville Wesleyan College and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Hada has received several honors including finalist in the Oklahoma Book Award for Poetry in 2010 and 2011.
Books, services, and other materials for this series are provided by Let’s Talk About It, a program of Oklahoma Humanities. Generous funding and support for this series was provided by Kirkpatrick Family Fund, McCasland Foundation, and Oklahoma City University. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of Oklahoma Humanities.
This program is free and open to the public. Copies of the books are available at the library. For more information, call the Champion Public Library at (580) 223-3164 or visit us at 601 Railway Express in Ardmore. The Champion Public Library is a branch of the Southern Oklahoma Library System. The Southern Oklahoma Library System was named Oklahoma Library of the Year in 2024.