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 24, 2020 · 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm · Auditorium

Register using code HMA302
“The Man Who Could Work Miracles” by H.G. Wells (1866-1946). George McWhirter Fotheringay is a mild-mannered clerk who asserts the impossibility of miracles until he realizes he has the ability to perform them. He can make a candle burn upside down and a walking stick blossom with roses. Finally, egged on and inspired by a vicar, Mr. Maydig, he performs a massive intervention into Earth’s physical system, with disastrous results. Critic Lela Phillips considers The Man Who Could Work Miracles to be a genuine fantasy classic. H.G. Wells is also the author of hugely popular works such as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds.

Monday, March 23, 2020 · 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm · Auditorium

Register using code HMA302
"Mario and the Magician" by Thomas Mann (1875–1955).  An unnamed narrator has spent several weeks on vacation with his wife and two children in the southern Italian resort city of Torre di Venere (the Tower of Venus). An illusionist and magician with the stage name of Cavaliere Cippola (the Onion Knight) has come to town. Our narrator takes his family to see him perform, and watch as Mario, a local resident, becomes the audience participant in Cippola’s act. Written as it was during the Mussolini regime, critics have debated for years about the political nature of Mario and the Magician.

Monday, April 27, 2020 · 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm · Auditorium

Register using code HMA302
"Daughters of the Late Colonel" by Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923).  Katherine Mansfield was a native New Zealander, who in her relatively brief life, wrote short fiction that has earned comparisons to Chekhov. Daughters of the Late Colonel is a tale written in twelve loosely connected segments. Two sisters, Constantia and Josephine, live in a semi-tropical outpost of the British Empire. They are mourning the loss of their father, a military man. Their continued deference to him is evident in lines such as, “What would father say when he found out” and “father will never forgive us for this.”

Tuesday, February 17, 2020 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Main Meeting Room

Register using code HMA165
Verity by Colleen Hoover.  Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get started. Lowen uncovers an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended anyone to read, with pages of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night their family was forever altered. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate him. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit, if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.   Registration required. Open to all.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Main Meeting Room

Register using code HMA165
The Vanished Bride by Bella Harris.  Yorkshire, 1845. A young wife has gone missing from her home, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood. A few miles away, the Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, learn of the crime and are so horrified by the mysterious disappearance that they quickly decide to investigate.  Registration required. Open to all.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020 · 2:00 - 4:00 pm · Main Meeting Room

Register using code HMA165
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.  Late one night, glamorous Alicia Berenson shoots her husband five times in the face, then refuses to speak another word. Her refusal to talk turns a domestic tragedy into a mystery that captures the public’s imagination and the attention of a criminal psychotherapist determined to get her to talk and search for the truth.  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 24, 2020 · 6:00 pm · Station Meeting Room 1, First Floor

Register using code HSA274
Stardust by Neil Gaiman. In the tranquil fields and meadows of long-ago England, there is a small hamlet that has stood on a jut of granite for 600 years. Just to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named. Here, in the hamlet of Wall, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. And here, one crisp October eve, Tristran makes his love a promise -- an impetuous vow that will send him through the only breach in the wall, across the pasture... and into the most exhilarating adventure of his life.   Registration required.  Open to All.

Monday, March 30, 2020 · 6:00 pm · Station Meeting Room 1, First Floor

Register using code HSA274
Artemis by Andy Weir.  Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself--and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.   Registration required.  Open to All.

Monday, April 27, 2020 · 6:00 pm · Station Meeting Room 1, First Floor

Register using code HSA274
Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.  A gripping and entertaining tale of terror and suspense as well as a potent Faustian allegory of hubris and science run amok, The invisible man endures as one of the signature stories in the literature of science fiction. A brilliant scientist uncovers the secret to invisibility, but his grandiose dreams and the power he unleashes cause him to spiral into intrigue, madness, and murder. The inspiration for countless imitations and film adaptations, The invisible man is as remarkable and relevant today as it was a hundred years ago. As Arthur C. Clarke points out in his Introduction, "The interest of the story ... lies not in its scientific concepts, but in the brilliantly worked out development of the theme of invisibility. If one could be invisible, then what?".  Registration required.  Open to All.