Monday, March 1, 2010

Neighborhood book club

We have a listserv for the folks in my neighborhood, and one woman has sent out a call for anyone interested in starting a book club in the 'hood, as she put it.  I've never thought of myself as living in a 'hood, but I do live in books.  So I wrote back expressing my interest, asking what she likes to read, and naming some of the books I have enjoyed.  I had in mind the kinds of books that would, in my opinion, probably be good for discussing in a group.  Have you read -- and maybe discussed -- any of these?  Which books would you suggest for a new book club?  I've led many, many discussions, but I'm also open to new ideas.  Here's the list I sent to the woman in my neighborhood (F = fiction, NF = nonfiction, and links are to the books I have reviewed or written about):

Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible (F) and Prodigal Summer (F);

Gail Godwin's The Good Husband (F) and Evensong (F);

Masha Hamilton's The Camel Bookmobile (F);

Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper (F);

Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures (F) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (F);

Jennifer Donnelly's The Tea Rose (F);

Elizabeth Berg's The Pull of the Moon (F) and Talk Before Sleep (F);

Anne Tyler's Ladder of Years (F) and Digging to America (F);

Gail Tsukiyama's The Samurai's Garden (F);

Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells (F);

Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book (F), Year of Wonders (F), and Nine Parts of Desire (NF);

Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake (F);

Valerie Martin's Property (F);

Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees (F) and The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (NF);

Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (F);

Dee Dee Myers's Why Women Should Rule the World (NF);

Kris Radish's Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral (F);

Gail Collins's When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present (NF).

4 comments:

Marg said...

There are some pretty good choices there Bonnie.

I loved reading The Poisonwood Bible with a group, and The Camel Bookmobile would be good too. My Sister's Keeper gives you the opportunity to discuss both the book and the movie (particularly the different endings!). Loved The Tea Rose, and think that you could have a fun discussion with Garden Spells.

I am also a big Lisa See fan

Helen's Book Blog said...

Great list! My book group also enjoyed talking about Lisa See's Shanghai Girls

Bobbie said...

I think Garden Spells would be a great book for your club. It was a wonderful book and I think you could have some very fun discussions with it:)

Beth said...

Those are great choices for a book club, Bonnie. Of course, I haven't read all of them, but Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Berg are two of my favorite authors. I especially love Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg. Such a moving book...