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Image for event: Betterment Through Books

Betterment Through Books

Be Ready When the Luck Happens

2026-10-14 13:30:00 2026-10-14 15:00:00 America/Los_Angeles Betterment Through Books Glendale Central Library - ReflectSpace Annex

Wednesday, October 14
1:30pm - 3:00pm

Glendale Central Library

ReflectSpace Annex

Join us for a monthly book discussion group centered around self discovery and connection through themed book discussions.

Life is as much about who we are as about what we do. Books celebrate, enhance, and influence us to understand ourselves and the world around us.

Each book selected for this discussion group will explore a different complex theme of humanity from self discovery and personal relationships to grief and resilience. Each month participants will ask themselves, "What do I know to be true about...." and refer back to the selected fiction or nonfiction work to frame their discussion, and relate the themes to their own lives. 

To participate in the book club, pick up your copy from the front desk of the Glendale, Central Library, or provide your own. Books will be due back at each book club meeting, which will take place the second Wednesday of each month from 1:30 PM -3:00 PM. 


Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten Cover

This month's Theme: What Do I know to be True About Taking Risks?

This month we will be exploring the theme of taking risks through the memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten. 

Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

 


This book club will be led by Malinda Muller. Malinda is a career librarian, following that path for more than 40 years.  At the height of her book engagement, Malinda has participated in upwards of 6 book discussion groups simultaneously, often as the lead facilitator.  She doesn't expect she will find herself lowering her hand at the opportunity to talk about stories as lessons for life anytime in the near future.


PARKING

Visitors to the Glendale Central Library receive 3-hour FREE parking across Harvard Street at the Marketplace parking structure with validation at the service desk. Accessible parking is available on any metered space for free with the use of an ADA placard when displayed. This includes parking in Lot 10 (parallel to Brand Blvd behind BevMo). ADA parking spots on the South side of Adult Recreation Center are also available for library patrons.

For additional information about this event, please contact Central Library at (818) 548-2021 or send us an email at LibraryInfo@GlendaleCA.gov.   

AGE GROUP: | Adults |

EVENT TYPE: | Book Club |

TAGS: | Central Library | BookClub | Book Talks | book club | Book Club | Adults |

Glendale Central Library

Phone: 818-548-2021
Fax: 818-548-7225

Hours
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We're closed Wednesday November 11 due to Veteran's Day Holiday
Mon, Nov 09 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Tue, Nov 10 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Wed, Nov 11 Closed
(Veteran's Day Holiday)
Thu, Nov 12 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Fri, Nov 13 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Sat, Nov 14 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Sun, Nov 15 Closed

About the library

Established in 1906.

Library services in Glendale were first provided in 1906. The women of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, a social and philanthropic organization, raised money through a series of lectures to fund a library collection. The library opened in a renovated pool room at Third and E (Wilson and Everett) Streets with seventy books, soon supplemented by a State Traveling Library of fifty more, and served a population of 1,186.

In 1907, the City Trustees passed Ordinance 53 which established and supported a library which "...shall be forever free to the inhabitants and nonresident taxpayers of the City of Glendale..." The first year the library had 251 books, 165 registered patrons, and a budget of $248.88.

In 1913, a Carnegie grant of $12,500 made possible the construction of the main library at Kenwood and Fifth (Harvard Street). The building was completed and dedicated November 13, 1914.

Upcoming events

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