Hannah Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Its my turn next month to buy 5 books for our shared library - what books have you read in the last year that you regard as a 'must read'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 any particular category? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 any particular category? Anything at all. There are 12 in the club and we have a variety of tastes: Mystery, Thrillers, Biographies, 'Happy books'. Anything goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Adult library? Wide variety of people and viewpoints? More literary or more general consumption? I'd say: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (pre-colonial Africa, fiction) Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by June Chang (non-fiction, biography, Chinese history) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (modern fiction, general magic and fun) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (science fiction, classic youth novel) True Grit by Charles Portis (fiction, American west, humor) or maybe The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevski (fiction, classic Russian novel) Those are mostly literary choices though. If your group reads mostly modern mysteries or Oprah books the answers would be a lot different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Adult library? Wide variety of people and viewpoints? More literary or more general consumption? Thanks for the suggestions! The choice of books is really a free for all. I'd say we go mostly for general consumption rather that literary, but one of the aims is to stretch oneself and read what you would not normally choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Let's see. Bill Bryson is fun. I love Wilkie Collins for lovely little mysteries Malcolm Gladwell for good non-fiction P.G. Wodehouse is pure fun. Jen Lancaster is very funny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Some that my books club read are: Water for Elephants The Kite Runner-an excellent book, but deals with some very serious and disturbing subjects The Book Thief (I love this book) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Let's see. Bill Bryson is fun. I love Wilkie Collins for lovely little mysteries Malcolm Gladwell for good non-fiction P.G. Wodehouse is pure fun. Jen Lancaster is very funny Thank you! We've not had Jen Lancaster before. Some that my books club read are: Water for Elephants The Kite Runner-an excellent book, but deals with some very serious and disturbing subjects The Book Thief (I love this book) We;ve enjoyed these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Some ideas from previous book clubs: 1776 by McCullough Leap of Faith (biography of Queen Noor of Jordan) All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott Let it Go by Karen Ehman Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clarkson (this is the current book the book club is doing, but I haven't participated so I can't comment) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Merle's Door, by Ted Kerasote (nonfiction; dog) http://www.amazon.com/Merles-Door-Lessons-Freethinking-Dog/dp/0156034506/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361730399&sr=1-1&keywords=merle%27s+door Trust Your Eyes, by Linwood Barclay (thriller) http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Your-Eyes-Linwood-Barclay/dp/0451237900/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361730233&sr=1-1&keywords=trust+your+eyes Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford http://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Corner-Bitter-Sweet-Jamie/dp/0345505344/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361730376&sr=1-1&keywords=hotel+on+the+corner+of+bitter+and+sweet+by+jamie+ford Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise, by Joyce Magnin http://www.amazon.com/Charlotte-Figg-Takes-Over-Paradise/dp/B008SLIWLW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361730433&sr=1-1&keywords=charlotte+figg The Cape Ann, by Faith Sullivan http://www.amazon.com/Cape-Ann-Novel-Faith-Sullivan/dp/0307716953/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361730292&sr=1-1&keywords=the+cape+ann+by+faith+sullivan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kidlets4me Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 The Night Circus Round House War Brides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocolate Rose Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 This is so wide open and there are so many great choices it's hard to come up with something. I really enjoy Lisa See's books. Right now I'm reading On Gold Mountain. I think it would make a great book club book. It's a novel based on her family history. The Passage by Justin Cronin is another one that I think would be fun for a book club. I know there were times I would have loved to talk with someone else about the book while I was reading it. Cutting for Stone by Verghese Ape House by Gruen Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns both by Khaled Hosseini A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 I third The Night Circus. It's literary, but not pretentious. It made for a great airplane book. The Housekeeper and the Professor--short but sweet, and there's math involved so you feel smarter for having read it. :-) Before I Go to Sleep--a thriller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 I thought of a few more: The Last Time I Saw Paris This Burns My Heart (excellent, excellent book!) Julie and Julia My Life in France (by Julia Child-our follow up book to J&J, but MUCH bitter IMO) The Mill River Recluse (This book will NOT leave you!) The House at Riverton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 I can't make paragraphs with Windows 8 so my books will be all smushed together. Sorry. I don't know about must reads but some book that I have enjoyed in the last little bit is: The Light Between Oceans by M.L.Stedman, State of Wonder by Anne Patchett, Coventry by Helen Humphries, Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch (it's a memoir) and anything by P.G.Wodehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 I must be hungry! These came quickly to mind: Miriam's Kitchen (about a woman's relationship with her culture and her MIL. If you choose this one, stock up on whole chickens. There are recipes!) ETA author: Elizabeth Ehrlich Garlic & Sapphires (really fun read by Ruth Reichl regarding her undercover reviews of NYC restaurants when she was the food critic for the NY Times.) Reichl has also written Tender to the Bone, which is about the food & people of her very interesting childhood. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle ( by Barbara Kingsolver. She describes how her family ate locally, and from their own garden and animals for a year. I love KIngsolver's prose. It's not a how to book.) Farm City (Novella Carpenter turns a glass strewn lot in Oakland into a small urban farm. Great sense of humor, great cast of characters) Anthony Bourdain has written several books. He's irreverent, and makes you want to get on a motorcycle & see the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell Visit Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt A couple that I've read in earlier years that have been great reads: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 The Sparrow is REALLY good. There's a sequel, _Children of God_, that is almost as good and also recommended. Sparrow will twist your thinking. Then Children of God will challenge the twists. These are on our shelves and regularly reread. Let's see. If I was putting 5 books on a book club library shelves. _Parable of the Sower_ by Octavia Butler _Sparrow_ by Mary Doria Russell _Off Armageddon Reef_ by David Weber _Salt: A World History_ by Mark Kurlansky _Christmas, Present_ by Jacqueline Mitchard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Easy: Pick 5 of the 6 Jane Austen Novels. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Thanks for the great suggestions!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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