Bagging a Great Read

By Julie Duffin
December 2022 View more Books

The next time it’s your turn to host book club, consider this convenient option: book club in a bag. This service at Naperville Public Library bundles 12 copies of a title with thought-provoking discussion questions, all in one convenient bag available to check out. It’s everything you need for a lively literary gathering—except the snacks and drinks.

At the library website (naperville-lib.org) or app, search for “book club in a bag” and choose from more than 55 book-club-worthy titles. Bags are loaned out for six weeks and can be renewed if there aren’t any holds. Take note, though: Whoever checks out the bag is responsible for returning it and all its contents.

The Downers Grove, Geneva, Hinsdale, Lisle, Oswego, and St. Charles public libraries offer similar opportunities to make planning your next club a breeze.

A sampling of titles bagged and ready to go at the Naperville library:

• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
• This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
• The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham
• The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
• There There by Tommy Orange
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Photo by Julie Duffin