Book Club Recommendations

[Cehrabehra]

I am not much of a reader... I occasionally get lost in books - moreso when I was young. I am ADD and if a book doesn''t grab me it''s just about hopeless. Although one of my favorite books of all time I had to pick up 7 times before it clicked and I could read through it. When that happens its magic to me... but I don''t often come across books that grab me like that. I tend to like murder mysteries but I doubt that''s a popular genre.

Okay so I joined a book club and our first meeting is this sunday and we''re going to choose a list of books that we will be coming together on once a month for 9-10 months. We won''t be starting up until aug or sept, but this gives people a chance to purchase them in the states when we go home for vacations etc.

I''m afraid that the most popular genre is the one that bores me the most - realistic fiction that''s just about... stuff.

But I''m willing to give it a really good hard try and I''d like to start by showing up with some contemporary (or maybe not contemporary?) choices. I''m pretty sure I''m in over my head because I know at least 3 of the women are extremely well read and aren''t likely to want to analyze a pd james hahaha

Suggestions? Ideas? Support?

 

[zoebartlett]

The first author I thought of is Jodi Picoult. Her stories (fiction) are about families and the struggles they go through. There''s usually one specific tragic event that happens in her stories, and each chapter is told from the point of view of each character. I love her books because of the way Picoult writes and also because her stories make you think. Although the subject matter is fairly heavy, her books are pretty easy to read.

http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Here are some of my favorites:

House Rules (This one''s about a high school boy who has Asperger''s.)
The Pact (This was the first book I read and I was hooked.)
Vanishing Acts
My Sister''s Keeper (This one is now often on high school reading lists.)
Nineteen Minutes (This one''s about a high school shooting.)

 

[dragonfly411]

In terms of realistic fiction, I find myself better able to read it when it is based on an area of reality that I''m not familiar with. This past weekend I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in a day. It has a follow up about one of the referenced characters as well. Others I would suggest are:

The Yearling
Memoirs of a Geisha
Life of Pi
The World According to Garp
A Beautiful Mind
The Secret Life of Bees

I also always think that book clubs shouldn''t remain in the shallow end of the reading pool. So I''ll suggest some classics and contemporary writers who I think will be classics such as:
Roots
100 Years of Solitude
A Farewell to Arms
The Once and Future King
The Three Musketeers
Les Miserables.


Some that are not fiction based that are good are :

The Secret Life of Lobsters
The Quantum Mind
Dance of the Dissident Daughter
Secretariat
A Pirate of Exquisite Mind - this book really is phenomenal
The Discovery of Poetry - Frances Mayes, the Author of Under the Tuscan Sun

And Hey lol Under the Tuscan Sun!!! She has several books released after that as well.

 

[Haven]

I'm in a book club with a very diverse (in age, background, and interests) group of women. Our most loved fiction books of this year were:
- This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (hilarious)
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (touching)
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (amazing in too many ways list)
- Replay by Ken Grimwood. (really thought-provoking)

I really enjoyed reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See outside of book club this year, as well.

Will you be reading nonfiction together? Our July book is Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner. It looks fascinating.

You're going to love being in a book club! I look forward to our book club meetings every month!

 

[princesss]

The two books I'm in love with right now are Atonement by Ian McEwan and Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. I'm halfway through each, so I can't really say what they're about at this point in terms of overarching theme, but they're wonderfully written and I've found them very compelling. A really interesting one you could suggest is Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski - it's about an anthropologist in Thailand that murders a missionary, and solving the "why" of the murder. I couldn't put it down, and it might be enough to capture your interest since it has a bit of mystery to it..

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I just finished the book Sarah''s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and it was fantastic. It''s a fictional story about the persecution of Jews by the French government during 1942. It was poignant, horrifying, and a can''t put down kind of book.

 

[monarch64]

Date: 6/10/2010 10:57:10 AM
Author: Haven
I''m in a book club with a very diverse (in age, background, and interests) group of women. Our most loved fiction books of this year were:
- This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (hilarious)
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (touching)
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (amazing in too many ways list)
- Replay by Ken Grimwood. (really thought-provoking)

I really enjoyed reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See outside of book club this year, as well.

Will you be reading nonfiction together? Our July book is Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner. It looks fascinating.

You''re going to love being in a book club! I look forward to our book club meetings every month!

Haven, we have similar taste in reading material. This summer I''ll have to check out the books you listed that I have not yet read.

I really liked The Memory Keeper''s Daughter a few years ago, and it brings up several great "what would you have done?" questions that would provide ample opportunity for discussion in a book club setting.

 

[KimberlyH]

the book thief (a juvenile novel, but absolutely brilliant)
by zusac


a heartbreaking work of staggering genius by eggers (it's long, though) this author also has a new book out that is supposed to be brilliant about the lost boys.

i second water for elephants and middlesex.

if i'm off on titles/authors forgive me. i couldn't remember the model of car i drive when responding to a thread in fhh earlier today, the june gloom has fogged up my head i guess.

eta: john irving's latest would be great too. anything by him, actually. but he's my favorite author.

 

[Cehrabehra]

What a great list I''m getting together! Thanks guys!

One of my fav books of all time is The Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent but it is out of print now.

 

[dragonfly411]

Cehra - you might look for that book on abebooks. They have a ton of out of print books.

I''ve not read Middlesex, Water for Elephants or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius but have heard great things about them.

I found Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel Garcia Marquez''s autobiography to be really good.

Watership Down is another that really has to be read by everyone

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 6/10/2010 10:57:10 AM
Author: Haven
I''m in a book club with a very diverse (in age, background, and interests) group of women. Our most loved fiction books of this year were:
- This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (hilarious)
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (touching)
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (amazing in too many ways list)
- Replay by Ken Grimwood. (really thought-provoking)

I really enjoyed reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See outside of book club this year, as well.

Will you be reading nonfiction together? Our July book is Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner. It looks fascinating.

You''re going to love being in a book club! I look forward to our book club meetings every month!

Ooooh those are all great ones, Haven. The only ones I haven''t read are Replay and Time, Love, Memory. I''ll have to check those out!

 

[appletini]

ditto anything by Jodi Piccoult and Sarah''s Key. Also check out The Help...excellent book! And the Wednesday Sisters.

 

[iheartscience]

Can I go against the crowd and veto Jodi Picoult? All her books are the same and they all seem to involve molestation or some other tragedy. I read several in a row after my older sister recommended them and I was NOT a fan after the first couple ones. Too similar!

I really love the book Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Taft, The Patron Saint of Liars, and The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett are also good. I wasn't as much of a fan of Run.

 

[Lula]

Date: 6/10/2010 1:36:08 AM
Author:Cehrabehra
I am not much of a reader... I occasionally get lost in books - moreso when I was young. I am ADD and if a book doesn't grab me it's just about hopeless. Although one of my favorite books of all time I had to pick up 7 times before it clicked and I could read through it. When that happens its magic to me... but I don't often come across books that grab me like that. I tend to like murder mysteries but I doubt that's a popular genre.


Okay so I joined a book club and our first meeting is this sunday and we're going to choose a list of books that we will be coming together on once a month for 9-10 months. We won't be starting up until aug or sept, but this gives people a chance to purchase them in the states when we go home for vacations etc.


I'm afraid that the most popular genre is the one that bores me the most - realistic fiction that's just about... stuff.


But I'm willing to give it a really good hard try and I'd like to start by showing up with some contemporary (or maybe not contemporary?) choices. I'm pretty sure I'm in over my head because I know at least 3 of the women are extremely well read and aren't likely to want to analyze a pd james hahaha


Suggestions? Ideas? Support?

Oh, I love mysteries! PD James is one of my favorite authors. So I'm just here for support - I dislike most realistic fiction. I have to read a lot for work, so when I read for fun, I don't want anything moving or thought-provoking; I want escapism, pure and simple!

 

[Haven]

Date: 6/11/2010 5:44:13 PM
Author: thing2of2
Can I go against the crowd and veto Jodi Picoult? All her books are the same and they all seem to involve molestation or some other tragedy. I read several in a row after my older sister recommended them and I was NOT a fan after the first couple ones. Too similar!

I agree. I am not a Jodi Picoult fan at all. They''re so formulaic, there''s no joy in reading them for me. HOWEVER, I know many people who love her books, so maybe Thing and I are just the weird ones.

 

[KimberlyH]

add me to the group who doesn''t enjoy piccoult. my sister is a prolific reader and we typically share the same taste in books, except she loves her and i just don''t get it.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 6/11/2010 5:57:40 PM
Author: Haven

Date: 6/11/2010 5:44:13 PM

Author: thing2of2

Can I go against the crowd and veto Jodi Picoult? All her books are the same and they all seem to involve molestation or some other tragedy. I read several in a row after my older sister recommended them and I was NOT a fan after the first couple ones. Too similar!

I agree. I am not a Jodi Picoult fan at all. They're so formulaic, there's no joy in reading them for me. HOWEVER, I know many people who love her books, so maybe Thing and I are just the weird ones.

Ha, good, it's not just me. We totally are the weird ones because everyone loves her!

ETA another one! I've unleashed the floodgates of Picoult-haters!

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

I wanted to add some you might like that I suspect your group would be ok with too. Margaret Atwood has two you might like. Handmaid''s tale is an amazing distopia book that scared me more than 1984 but was so amazing. The other is the the Blind Assassin, which is really geared towards women, but is in many ways a mystery.

 

[Haven]

Date: 6/11/2010 7:59:32 PM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy
I wanted to add some you might like that I suspect your group would be ok with too. Margaret Atwood has two you might like. Handmaid''s tale is an amazing distopia book that scared me more than 1984 but was so amazing. The other is the the Blind Assassin, which is really geared towards women, but is in many ways a mystery.

I love The Handmaid''s Tale.

 

[doodle]

I remember reading this book by Anna Quindlen years ago that had a bunch of book lists in the back of it, and I''ve been making my way through those lists for a while now. There are some really good books on the list (as well as a few that I wasn''t so crazy about, but hey, that happens). I''m saving this thread just for some of the other suggestions--can''t wait to hit up the library!

 

[Lynn B]

I don't love Picoult either. I was given The Pact by a friend and it was all I had to read on a long plane ride, and so I finished it... but I was so mad at those stupid parents (in the book) that I could hardly get past that!!!

Then I ended up somewhere else and the only reading material handy was Nineteen Minutes... and while it was definitely thought-provoking, it made me realize that I am just NOT a Picoult fan!!! LOTS of people love her, though.

ETA: One of my favorite books of all time is Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. IMO, a remarkable book! Loved Sarah's Key, and Water for Elephants, too.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Okay - for some reason despite the fact that I am the newest and most novice member of this book club, I find myself leading it and organizing it at least for the near future until someone more qualified stands up to take the reigns! Oh boy! lol

I think that we should read a piccult book - partly because she seems hot or cold so it might be interesting to have debates about it.... but having not read anything of hers, if there was just ONE book - which one would you recommend? How about a 2nd choice in case that one is overread already...

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 6/11/2010 5:50:17 PM
Author: sarap333

Date: 6/10/2010 1:36:08 AM

Author:Cehrabehra

I am not much of a reader... I occasionally get lost in books - moreso when I was young. I am ADD and if a book doesn''t grab me it''s just about hopeless. Although one of my favorite books of all time I had to pick up 7 times before it clicked and I could read through it. When that happens its magic to me... but I don''t often come across books that grab me like that. I tend to like murder mysteries but I doubt that''s a popular genre.



Okay so I joined a book club and our first meeting is this sunday and we''re going to choose a list of books that we will be coming together on once a month for 9-10 months. We won''t be starting up until aug or sept, but this gives people a chance to purchase them in the states when we go home for vacations etc.



I''m afraid that the most popular genre is the one that bores me the most - realistic fiction that''s just about... stuff.



But I''m willing to give it a really good hard try and I''d like to start by showing up with some contemporary (or maybe not contemporary?) choices. I''m pretty sure I''m in over my head because I know at least 3 of the women are extremely well read and aren''t likely to want to analyze a pd james hahaha



Suggestions? Ideas? Support?

Oh, I love mysteries! PD James is one of my favorite authors. So I''m just here for support - I dislike most realistic fiction. I have to read a lot for work, so when I read for fun, I don''t want anything moving or thought-provoking; I want escapism, pure and simple!

oh man - I love your avatar!! My dad took me to see that in the castro when I was like 8 years old and two more times after that... then I saw it a 4th time at 18 and again in my 20''s and once in my 30''s. I still don''t get it haha But looking back, being exposed to that at such an early age could have contributed to my weirdness

 

[Lula]

Date: 6/12/2010 1:06:46 AM
Author: Cehrabehra

Date: 6/11/2010 5:50:17 PM

Author: sarap333

Date: 6/10/2010 1:36:08 AM


Author:Cehrabehra


I am not much of a reader... I occasionally get lost in books - moreso when I was young. I am ADD and if a book doesn't grab me it's just about hopeless. Although one of my favorite books of all time I had to pick up 7 times before it clicked and I could read through it. When that happens its magic to me... but I don't often come across books that grab me like that. I tend to like murder mysteries but I doubt that's a popular genre.




Okay so I joined a book club and our first meeting is this sunday and we're going to choose a list of books that we will be coming together on once a month for 9-10 months. We won't be starting up until aug or sept, but this gives people a chance to purchase them in the states when we go home for vacations etc.




I'm afraid that the most popular genre is the one that bores me the most - realistic fiction that's just about... stuff.




But I'm willing to give it a really good hard try and I'd like to start by showing up with some contemporary (or maybe not contemporary?) choices. I'm pretty sure I'm in over my head because I know at least 3 of the women are extremely well read and aren't likely to want to analyze a pd james hahaha




Suggestions? Ideas? Support?

Oh, I love mysteries! PD James is one of my favorite authors. So I'm just here for support - I dislike most realistic fiction. I have to read a lot for work, so when I read for fun, I don't want anything moving or thought-provoking; I want escapism, pure and simple!

oh man - I love your avatar!! My dad took me to see that in the castro when I was like 8 years old and two more times after that... then I saw it a 4th time at 18 and again in my 20's and once in my 30's. I still don't get it haha But looking back, being exposed to that at such an early age could have contributed to my weirdness

Haha -- thanks, Sara! The movie was "formative" experience for me as well, and I feel it enhanced my weirdness, too. What's funny is I've never met anyone who claims to have understood it, but it sure makes for great discussion. Maybe you should encourage your book club to have a movie night...

 

[atroop711]

Date: 6/10/2010 11:17:46 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I just finished the book Sarah''s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and it was fantastic. It''s a fictional story about the persecution of Jews by the French government during 1942. It was poignant, horrifying, and a can''t put down kind of book.

I can second SARAH''S KEY! I loved this book.

 

[atroop711]

Currently I'm reading NOT ME by Michael Lavigne (can't put it down) and this week I finsihed up THE ALIENIST. If you don't mind a spiritual book (NOT AT ALL PREACHY) then I would look into THE SHACK by WM Paul Young.

 

[Cehrabehra]

SaraP - what is your favorite part or the part that stands out the most to you? I always get a chuckle when he hands him the big knife and fork to cut the tiny little hen. That''s my biggest laugh moment... but the exploding cottage cheese ET thing might be the most memorable lol

 

[Lula]

Sara -- the family dinner is my favorite part of the movie (and the part I remember the best) because it is so absurd. It *seems* like a normal family dinner, but, oh, it is not at all a normal family dinner! The look on Henry's (Jack Nance) face throughout the dinner -- and, really, throughout the whole time he spends with the "baby" is also one of my favorite parts of the movie. Nance portrays that character perfectly -- the confusion, the revulsion, the guy just going through life in a daze, wanting only to escape to nothingness and his dreamworld. The soundtrack of the movie made it very difficult for me to know whether to laugh or cry -- it's an eery tension-filled soundtrack, and I still remember the sound of the "baby" wailing, even though it's been many years since I've last seen that movie. Wow, this discussion is a making me want to order the DVD of the movie and watch it again! Jack Nance died several years ago -- 2005? -- I think was under-appreciated as an actor. David Lynch could not have made this movie without him.

-- End of threadjack ---

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 6/12/2010 5:09:48 PM
Author: sarap333
Sara -- the family dinner is my favorite part of the movie (and the part I remember the best) because it is so absurd. It *seems* like a normal family dinner, but, oh, it is not at all a normal family dinner! The look on Henry''s (Jack Nance) face throughout the dinner -- and, really, throughout the whole time he spends with the ''baby'' is also one of my favorite parts of the movie. Nance portrays that character perfectly -- the confusion, the revulsion, the guy just going through life in a daze, wanting only to escape to nothingness and his dreamworld. The soundtrack of the movie made it very difficult for me to know whether to laugh or cry -- it''s an eery tension-filled soundtrack, and I still remember the sound of the ''baby'' wailing, even though it''s been many years since I''ve last seen that movie. Wow, this discussion is a making me want to order the DVD of the movie and watch it again! Jack Nance died several years ago -- 2005? -- I think was under-appreciated as an actor. David Lynch could not have made this movie without him.


-- End of threadjack ---

I''m the op - I give official approval of an eraserhead threadjack lol

The beginning scene was the only scene that really ever made sense to me, even when I was a child. I was always curiously haunted by the woman in the radiator... I figure I just never took the right kind of drugs while watching it to have it make sense lol

 

[KimberlyH]

how could i have forgtten olive kittenridge! one of the best books i''ve ever read.