The Clear Lake City - County Freeman Branch Library looks forward to its May Programs*.  This includes _under50^over, book clubs (mystery, great books, and two science fiction/fantasy clubs), Adult Crafts-to-Go, and Freeman Needlecrafters. Also, we look forward to various celebrations of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. All programming is supported by the Friends of Freeman Library.

For more information on any of our programs in May, please contact the library at (281) 488-1906 or visit us at the upstairs Information Desk. The Clear Lake City - County Freeman Branch Library is located on 16616 Diana Lane, just off of Bay Area Boulevard.

Title to be discussed: Circle of Grace by, Penelope J. Strokes.  Date of meeting: Tuesday, May 8, 6:30pm. Summary: "A novel about four women, friends since college. According to the "circle journal" they've used to keep in touch, they seem to have the lives they dreamed of. And then there is Grace. She never planned on deceiving anyone; but afraid of telling the truth, she presented a life that was anything but hers. Now, she is fighting for her life, and she finds she is not the only one who is forced to disclose and face the truth."

Title to be discussed:  The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Time of meeting:  Monday, May 7, at 6:30 PM.  Summary:  The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans.  On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family.  When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world.  Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name.  

On Tuesday, April 10, at 1:30pm the Pen and Paintbrush Book Club will meet at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts next door to the Barbara Bush Library to discuss two unusual books of local photographs: 

One is Houston Deco, by Jim Parsons & David Bush, which includes more than 100 color photographs showcasing the fine detailing on Houston's surviving Art Deco and Art Moderne structures. Author Jim Parsons will be present to talk about this book.

The second is Houston Then & Now, by William Dylan Powell, with black and white images from the Bayou City’s adventurous past alongside striking contemporary photography of its impressive present.

The themes in these books complement the current landscape exhibits at the Pearl Fincher Museum. To learn more about them, go to http://www.pearlmfa.org/  The Museum's Education Director Rosemary Hickman will provide a tour at the museum to highlight issues raised in the discussion.