A dynamic, liberal arts education, for free at the public library!  Huntington Public Library's Great Books Reading and Discussion Group meets once a month to discuss works from a curriculum designed and published by the Great Books Foundation, an independent, nonprofit educational organization established in 1947 by University of Chicago educators Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler. Its mission is “to empower readers of all ages to become more reflective and responsible thinkers.”  To register, please use the program code HMA302.  For more information, contact Tom Cohn at .

Monday, February 25, 2019 · 7:00pm to 9:00pm · Auditorium

Register using code HMA302
“A Still Moment,” by Eudora Welty (1909-2001). Welty, one of our great American Southern writers of the twentieth century, first published this short story in 1952. It incorporates three reallife historical figures: the Methodist Minister Lorenzo Dow, the bandit James Murrell, and the great naturalist and artist J. J. Audubon, whose lives intersect during their travels on the historic Natchez Trace Trail between Mississippi and Tennessee.

Monday, March 25, 2019 · 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm · Auditorium

Register using code HMA302
“To Room Nineteen,” by Doris Lessing (1919–2013) . Matthew and Susan Rawlings appear happy. Matthew works as an editor at a major London newspaper, while Susan oversees their four children, housekeeper, nanny, and home and garden in the suburbs. For some mysterious reason, Susan has decided to let a room in the seedy Fred’s Hotel near Victoria Station. When author Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007, the Nobel committee cited her as “an epicist of the female experience.” To Room Nineteen challenges an attentive reader to search for clues as to what hasundermined the well-oiled apparatus of the Rawlingses’ marriage.”

Monday, April 29, 2019 · 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm · Auditorium

Register using code HMA302
Walt Whitman Read Out Loud!  To celebrate the bicentennial of Whitman’s birth, bring a favorite Whitman poem or other piece to read aloud. Share your personal commentary about the what the piece means or how it works. Audience feedback will be welcomed.  Please note: You do not have to be a participant in the Great Books Reading and Discussion Group in order to attend. This is a fun, educational, community-building event for the benefit of all!

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Main Meeting Room

Register using code HMA165
The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz.  A re-imagining of the classic whodunit (à la Agatha Christie), editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel and is convinced there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of jealousy, greed, ambition & murder.  Registration required. Open to all.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Main Meeting Room

Register using code HMA165
Confessions by Kanae Minato.  "After calling off her engagement in wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old Manami. Now, following an accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation. But first she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that upends everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge. Narrated in alternating voices, with twists you'll never see coming, Confessions explores the limits of punishment, despair, and tragic love, culminating in a harrowing confrontation between teacher and student that will place the occupants of an entire school in danger."  Registration required. Open to all.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Main Meeting Room

Register using code HMA165
Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane.  From Books to Film:  We will be reading the novel Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane and then watching the film adaptation directed by Ben Affleck. A short discussion will follow the film.  Boston PIs Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro have been hired to find a six-year-old girl who vanished from her home without a trace. Despite enormous public attention, extensive news coverage, and dogged police work, the investigation has gone nowhere. But it's a case rife with sinister circumstances: a strangely indifferent mother, a pedophile couple, a bizarre subculture of homeless parents, and a shadowy police unit with a covert agenda and no qualms about enforcing it.  Registration required. Open to all.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Main Meeting Room

Register using code HMA917
Flight of the Fox by Gray Basnight.  Author Gray Basnight discusses his third and latest novel Flight of the Fox, described by Foreward Reviews as “something of a love letter to the classic espionage thrillers of the Cold War. Part chase story, part political thriller, the perfect read for anyone worried about the machinations of the U.S. government.” Prior to immersing himself in fiction writing, the author spent three decades in broadcast news, preceded by a few years pursuing an acting career. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Registration required. Open to all.

Sunday, December 2, 2018 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Auditorium

Register using code HMA918
Life Detonated, The True Story of a Widow and a Hijacker by Kathleen Murray Moran.  This is the gripping true story of Kathleen Murray, a young mother whose life was changed when her husband, an NYPD bomb disposal expert, was killed by a terrorist’s bomb left in a Grand Central Station locker. It details the hijacking of TWA Flight 355, her correspondence with the wife of the hijacker, Murray’s appeal for the woman’s release from prison, and the final face-to-face meeting where the truth of who the hijacker was and what she wanted ripped away her ability to trust. An excerpt from Kathleen’s memoir went viral on Salon.com. A podcast recorded for NPR’s Snap Judgment earned Atlantic Monthly’s Top-Fifty spot. Kathleen, co-founder of Survivors of the Shield (SOS), was recently approached by 20/20 to participate in a feature on forgiveness. Books will be available for purchase and signing!  Registration required. Open to all.

Monday, February 25, 2019 · 6:00 pm · Station Meeting Room 1, First Floor

Register using code HSA274
Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr.  On the eve of the Spanish-American war with tensions between the two countries at their peak, the daughter of a Spanish diplomat is kidnapped in Central Park while on an outing with her mother. Upon being presented with the case at her newly opened private investigation firm, former police secretary Miss Sara Howard is aware of the potentially volatile political implications of the case and enlists the help of her former colleagues in the sensitive investigation.  In the days that follow, the investigative team, led one again by eminent psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, discover that the heart of this case lies far from politics and instead rests with a mysterious woman whose dark past draws them away from Manhattan to the small town of Ballston Spa in upstate New York. With legendary attorney Clarence Darrow cast to defend the suspect’s case, The Angel of Darkness is part mystery, part courtroom drama, and part psychological thriller–and pits the team against their most frightening and cunning adversary yet..  Registration required.  Open to All.

Monday, March 25, 2019 · 6:00 pm · Station Meeting Room 1, First Floor

Register using code HSA274
Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Something is out there . . . Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, Malorie has long dreamed of fleeing to a place where her family might be safe. But the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat 'blindfolded' with nothing to rely on but Malorie's wits and the children's trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster?  Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey' a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motley group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside'and confront the ultimate question: in a world gone mad, who can really be trusted? Interweaving past and present, Josh Malerman's breathtaking debut is a horrific and gripping snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.   Registration required.  Open to All.

Monday, April 29, 2019 · 6:00 pm · Station Meeting Room 1, First Floor

Register using code HSA274
Pet Sematary by Stephen King. Louis Creed, his wife Rachel and their two children Gage and Ellie move to a rural home where they are welcomed and enlightened about the eerie 'Pet Sematary' located near their home. After the tragedy of their cat being killed by a truck, Louis resorts to burying it in the mysterious pet cemetery, which is definitely not as it seems, as it proves to the Creeds that sometimes, dead is better.    Registration required.  Open to All.