South Down Home & Garden Club welcomed Laconia Library’s Natalie Moser to discuss book clubs and current fiction

LACONIA — Natalie Moser, cataloger and adult programming coordinator at the Laconia Public Library, came to speak to the members of the South Down Home & Garden Club at the club’s September meeting. Addressing a group of avid readers, Moser was an animated speaker, filled with knowledge to share and an obvious passion for books and reading.

Some of the points made by Moser were:

• If you are thinking about starting a book club, stick to about an hour time frame, 14 to 16 people is the perfect size, and steer clear of brand-new titles (difficult to obtain multiple copies).

• In order to get the most out of the book you are reading, learn about the identity of the author in order to know what perspective they bring to the story. Understand the historical context of the setting, and search for a theme or motifs.

• Authors don’t do much without purpose. The choices they make are meant to enhance or enrich characters, the plot or theme.

• Trends that she sees now in literature are modernized historical fiction, social horror (a sub-genre of horror, it is not graphic, but incorporates anxiety and/or emotional stress into the plot), urban fiction (highlighting inclusion of the LGBTQ community and Artificial Intelligence).

• The Laconia Library is a conduit to READS-To-Go for book clubs. It provides multiple copies of the same book, including one large print and one audio copy, along with sample discussion questions. She provided a list of the titles included in this program — five impressive pages, single-spaced — for anyone interested in starting a club in order to eliminate two of the biggest challenges: securing enough copies of a single title, and coming up with questions for the group.

Speaking on behalf of the Laconia Public Library, Moser received a sincere round of applause, along with the comments from some that they were not aware that our local library has so many resources to offer. With one of the questions from the group being, “How do I join?” the evening proved to be a beneficial experience from both sides of the table.