Aurora library offers book, movie clubs for all

Janet Stephens, Bonnie Bogden, and Becky Clark are leaders for the Classic Film and Book Discussion groups at the Aurora Public Library West Branch, 233 S. Constitution Drive.

Stephens, who leads the West Branch non-fiction group has a love of books that's apparent. Stephens talked about the experience of participating in a book club, saying, "Reading alone is enjoyable, but being part of an ongoing conversation helps us discover more about the book, and leads us to new interpretations from others."

Stephens says that she tries to find interesting non-fiction narrative material that tells a story. For example, this September her group will read "The Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon to Mars" by Nathalia Holt.

In October, the group will read "The Guynd: A Scottish Journal by Belinda Rathbone," and in November, "Mozart's Starling" by Lyanda Lynn Haupt.

The nonfiction book group meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month.

Becky Clark leads the West Branch Fiction Book Club, which meets on the last Thursday of each month.

Started in 1999, it's one of the library district's longest-running book clubs. In September, the group will read, as it occasionally does, a non-fiction work: "The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women" by Kate Moore. In October, the group has chosen to read "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles.

Bonnie Bogden's Classic Film Discussion group meets on the third Saturday of each month. After almost 17 years of leading the group, Bogden knows the power of film. "Films are magical," she said. "They take you out of yourself and plop you down in another world - good, bad, delightful, scary, plum awful, horrible, but different from your world and life - for just a couple hours."

Bogden says that she sometimes screens foreign and animated classic films and the occasional controversial film. In September, the group will view Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film "Rope" and the 1954 classic "Rear Window."

October will feature "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), directed by Jack Arnold, and "King Kong" (1933), directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack. The November pick is "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), directed by Frank Capra, and in December, the club will enjoy "White Christmas" (1959), directed by Michael Curtiz.

Drop-ins and new members are welcome any time. For additional information about the clubs, contact West Branch at (630) 264-3610 or visit the online events calendar at aurora.libnet.info/events.