Books & Brews
Join us on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 5:30pm for our Books & Brews book club, held at Labyrinth Press Co. Each month, attendees can socialize and participate in a book discussion led by our librarians!
Labyrinth is located at 12 E 4th Street in Jamestown.Ā
Please note: Attendees can purchase food and drink if desired. The library will not provide food and drink.
Questions? Call us at (716) 484-7135 Ext. 226.
How to Participate
- Check out the month’s book at Prendergast Library or your preferred library. Links to the library catalog and e-editions can be found below. (Or purchase the book at your local bookstore!)
- Read the book.
- Join us at Labyrinth on the 2nd Wednesday of the month to discuss and socialize. You’re welcome to attend even if you didn’t finish the book – just be prepared for spoilers!
More eBook and eAudiobook copies may be available through our partner, The Mid-York Public Library System. To access this collection, select “Add Library” in Libby or “partner libraries” on desktop. Call (716) 484-7135 ext. 226 with any questions.
The Martian by Andy Weir (pub. 2011)
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, heās sure heāll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that heās aliveāand even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he wonāt have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old āhuman errorā are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isnāt ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills ā and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit ā he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
More eBook and eAudiobook copies may be available through our partner, The Mid-York Public Library System. To access this collection, select “Add Library” in Libby or “partner libraries” on desktop. Call (716) 484-7135 ext. 226 with any questions.
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (pub. 2019)
Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix up their own marriage. There’s a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.
Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of themāthe bank robber includedādesperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hopeāthe things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.