One of my book clubs has been struggling for the last year or so with choosing books to read. Our system has been for each of us to bring in reviews and titles of books we'd like to read, then the group chooses one. Well. Lately this has not been working. We have too many possibilities to choose from, and we're too likely to shoot down each other's ideas, and the "next book" discussion ends up taking longer than the actual book discussion (and social chat, even!). So now we have a new plan: each month, a different person brings a few books (maybe 3-5) for consideration, and we choose one of those no matter how crabby the choices make us.
I'm up first, and I'd like to get some Hatrack suggestions.
In the past, this club has really enjoyed books like The Kite Runner, Never Let Me Go, and Water for Elephants. They're pretty willing to try new things--last summer, we read The Stolen Child, which was a fantasy novel (though not marketed as such), and I've gotten them to read some sports nonfiction.
I think I'm definitely going to propose either Kitchen Confidential or Garlic and Sapphires, because I really like books about food. I'd like to propose a classic, too; it's been a while since we read one, so I'd love to hear ideas.
Recent books we hated: Lessons in Becoming Myself (I was the only one who finished it) and For One More Day, the new book by the Tuesdays with Morrie guy. (OK, I was the one who hated that one. )
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Shantaram is a great book. Not sure it would be good for a book club because it is over 900 pages..
Posts: 1287 | Registered: Apr 2006
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is excellent and infinitely readable, but also long.
I really did enjoy The Secret Life of Bees, which is such a Wal-Mart book but well-written and interesting. Still, the whole thing gives you a sense of foreboding.
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Behold the Ellis Movie Elimination System. This isn't a book, it's our system as a large family to agree on what movie to watch at home.
Everyone chooses three movies they would like to watch that night, and lays them with the other choices on the floor. Then we go around in a circle and everyone takes turns vetoing the movie they have the least interest in. It is actually a really fun process in my house, and while only one or a few people end up watching the movie they most wanted to watch, no one has to watch a movie they absolutely did *not* want to watch.
Maybe you should try it with the books! Everyone ends up getting at least a few of their choices vetoed, so no one has to feel individually shot down.
As for books, Jane Austen is always a comfortable choice? I think Pastwatch is a good OSC book for diverse groups. It's really smart, and stirring.
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Also, for fun, The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Lowell, and JT Fields look for a serial killer.
(It is really good, and tongue-in-cheek funny)
"Lowell, as your publisher, I command you to put down the gun!"
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Thanks for the recommendations so far! (By the way, I have until Thursday, so keep 'em coming...) As you may have gathered, part of the complication is that I'm picking a book I haven't read, so it's an unknown quantity. In one of my other clubs, the woman who started it is in charge, and she reads the books before picking them, so the quality tends to be more consistent. I like both systems...it's kind of fun to take a chance, and while it's no fun to read a bad book, it's always fun to complain about it later.
I'm thinking I will definitely include something by Octavia Butler in the choices. Her books seem like science fiction that doesn't look too science-fictiony. That's important for this group.
Thanks for the links, Euripides...I just spent about an hour on What Should I Read Next. That is a dangerous site in the way Netflix is dangerous for me...I end up glued to the computer, rating movies.
And I really like the Ellis Movie Elimination System. I also like how it puts less pressure on *me* to offer the perfect book choice...if the group doesn't like it, then it's the group's fault.
Has anyone read The Remains of the Day?
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"Born On A blue" day is about that autistic guy who, unlike others diagnosed with autism, is able to communicate efficently. And if everyone hasn't read it already, I'm currently reading "Farewell to Arms", by Hemingway. A classic, and a quick read and easy read.
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"The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay is an unbelievable read, as is it's sequel Tandia. I really, really loved those two. Other than that, maybe "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. That one, too, I really enjoyed.
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I just read "Standing in the Rainbow" by Fannie Flagg which was a no brainer fun read but great with getting you to care about the characters and what happens to them.
"Miss Julia Speaks her MInd" was another fun read (I can't remember the author's name though, sorry). This is a story about a woman whose husband just died with "skeletons in his closet", one of which was in the form of a son that landed on her doorstep one day and what she does about it. Very entertaining.
Jodi Picoult writes interesting/somewhat controversial books that would lend to great discussions. I've read "My Sister's Keeper" and "Plain Truth". Both very interesting, quick to read and I would recommend either.
My sister's book group takes turns with one person choosing a book per month. Doing that might alleviate the whole decision making process in group form and lend itself to everyone reading something that is personally interesting at least once a year (depending how many you have in your book group I suppose). Have fun.
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If you're considering Octavia Butler, I'd suggest Kindred, Parable of the Sower, or maybe Wild Seed as the least "science fiction-y."
I haven't read a lot of fiction lately, but I think looking at the Booker Prize winners is a great way to find good books. Some on the list that I know are awesome: The Bone People by Keri Hulme Midnight's Children by Rushdie God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
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Even if it isn't completely factual, just the fact that the premise and the events are true is good enough for me. And it reads quite easily as well.
Posts: 1368 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I have a suggestion for a book I really loved, but I confess it is an unusual book. The book is -
"The Book of Lost Things" By John Connolly
John Connolly is most noted for writing Mystery books, however this book is more in the line of Fanstasy/Adventure, and to some extent, more in line with Harry Potter books.
I personally found the book very moving, despite the fact that, as always, the Hero triumphs, it is a sad and tragic story.
From Publisher's Weekly via Amazon.com -
"Thriller writer Connolly ('Every Dead Thing') turns from criminal fears to primal fears in this enchanting novel about a 12-year-old English boy, David, who is thrust into a realm where eternal stories and fairy tales assume an often gruesome reality. Books are the magic that speak to David, whose mother has died at the start of WWII after a long debilitating illness. ... Connolly echoes many great fairy tales and legends (Little Red Riding Hood, Roland, Hansel and Gretel), but cleverly twists them to his own purposes. Despite horrific elements, this tale is never truly frightening, but is consistently entertaining as David learns lessons of bravery, loyalty and honor that all of us should learn."
I know, it seems like a odd story, Fairytales and such, but despite the fairytale nature, this is not a book for young kids, and indeed is not a book marketed to young people at all (Teens, YA, and Adults).
All John Connolly's books have consistently FOUR to FOUR-and-HALF STAR ratings at Amazon.com. That should give you some idea of the general quality of his writing. If this book doesn't appeal to you, then perhaps some of his other Mystery/Thrillers might.
Still, to anyone who loves books and fantasy, this is an excellent choice.
Here is a quote from the book that resonated very strongly with me. It made me want to pass my love of books along to others, and made me regret that I found my love of books so late.
"Before she became ill, David's mother would often tell him that stories were alive. They weren't alive in the way that people were alive, or even dogs and cats. People were alive whether you chose to notice them or not ...
"Stories were different, though: they came alive in the telling. Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by flashlight beneath the blankets, they had no real existence in our world. They were like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth, or the notes of a song laid out on a sheet, yearning for an instrument to bring their music into being. They lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination, and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read,..."
Hope it's OK to include this quote; if not I will gladly remove it.
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All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot WildSeed - Octavia Butler In Cold Blood - Truman Capote The Color Purple - Alice Walker Heat - Bill Buford Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer Eifelheim - Michael Flynn The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman
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Oooh, please allow me to second Life of Pi and The Thirteenth Tale, both beautifully written and good for some thought-provoking discussion (especially Pi).
If you're willing to try something a little more colourful, there's House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende... and just today I finished White Teeth by Zadie Smith, which was poignant and insightful and deliciously funny.
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I think Life of Pi is almost the perfect book club book.
I'm recommending it to all my friends, hoping to get more people to read it so I can talk about it with them.
I love what it has to say about truth, about subjectivity, about courage and personal strength and growth. It's just fabulous.
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"The Necessary Beggar" by Susan Palwick. It made me cry, twice. Once I was sad, and once I was happy.
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Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin,
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I proposed the following-- Garlic and Sapphires Midnight's Children Kindred The Thirteenth Tale The Book of Lost Things The Maltese Falcon The Hound of the Baskervilles
They narrowed it down to three--Midnight's Children, Kindred, and The Book of Lost Things, then we drew from a hat and got Midnight's Children. This is very, very different from anything we've read before, and not something I'd've selected without this forum...so thanks . When my turn rolls around again in a year or so, I'll probably put the other 2 up again if I haven't read them yet.
(Life of Pi, The Time Traveller's Wife, and other highly recommended books didn't make the original list because I'd already read them. And I know it's total heresy...but I really, really, really did NOT like Life of Pi. *shrug* But I can certainly see how it would make a great discussion book.)
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Was by Geoff Ryman makes for great discussions. So does Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban. China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh is marvelous but I don't think there's as much to talk about.
Hey, Liz, when I read Midnight's Children, I thought it had an unusual number of similarities with A Prayer for Owen Meany. Would there be any chance of encouraging your book club to read both books, perhaps one after another, so you can talk about the connections? Or I suppose it could all have been my imagination.
Posts: 1785 | Registered: May 1999
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Was by Geoff Ryman makes for great discussions. So does Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban. And Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer -- but I've met people who say there's no excuse for fiction built around September 11th. China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh is marvelous but I don't think there's as much to talk about.
Hey, Liz, when I read Midnight's Children, I thought it had an unusual number of similarities with A Prayer for Owen Meany. Would there be any chance of encouraging your book club to read both books, perhaps one after another, so you can talk about the connections? Or I suppose it could all have been my imagination.
Posts: 1785 | Registered: May 1999
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Oh, agreed. I really like Jodi Picoult, and that's a great one to talk about. In fact, if it weren't for the sex scenes, I'd make it a club book for my students. Same with The Pact. Buuuuut both are a little too controversial for me to make readily available (i.e., I won't buy them & keep them in the classroom). However, if a group of mature, smart kids wanted to check out/ buy, read & discuss them, I'd let it happen. It's a fine, fine line.
martha, I can't propose a new book for a while, but I'll mention your suggestion at our next meeting. I went through an Irving phase in college, and I think I've read that one, but it's been long enough that I wouldn't mind reading it again.
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