LIHUE — Carolyn Larson said Mixed Review is a book club unlike other book clubs.
“This will not be your ‘drink wine, eat pupu, and do a little book talkin’g sort of club,” said the Lihue Public Library branch manager. “Although Mixed Review is geared for adults, we invite young adults who have interests in the topics, other people who belong to book clubs, and generally, anyone who has an interest in learning by reading.”
Larson said her goal is to identify book clubs around the island and get to know their needs. This way, she can work with her new releases to be more effective.
The current topic for the Mixed Review group is fictional “The Immigrant Experience.” The topic for July turns to non-fiction in “Memoir.”
“Each month, we try to alternate between fiction and non-fiction,” Larson said.”We have topics planned through December in this initial launch effort.”
Nani Larsen was halfway through the book selected from a suggested reading list for The Immigrant Experience.
“This is a very relevant topic based on events taking place right now,” she said. “I’ll wait to see what happens when I finish the book.”
The Mixed Review is a forum, led by Larson, to talk about the meaning and impact of books, to discuss the art and craft of writing, and to share the love of books and reading. By utilizing suggested reading lists which are available at the Lihue Public Library, readers focus not on a single book, but on books with unifying styles and themes.
The group meets on the last Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the Lihue Public Library conference room.
“We usually start by having people give a short summary of the books they read,” Larson said. “Then they rate it on a scale of 1 to 10.”
Forum participants use summaries as a starting point for further discussions, listen to what other participants have read, and suggest books they would want to read in the future.
The forum moderator can suggest what is available at the Lihue library that would be appropriate, and there is the possibility of more appropriate titles that are not listed on the provided reading lists.
More information on “Memoirs,” the July non-fiction topic, and suggested reading list is available at the Lihue Public
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
