I love my book club. After refusing to join one for most of my life, Book Club is now the highlight of my social life. All the ladies are fun, interesting, and make a point of reading the books. We get into some great discussions -- as well as eat wonderful meals and laugh a lot. We even have a name for the club now, but it is top secret.
Unlike many book clubs, we do not have a theme and we do not create a list of books for the year. We meet every other month and rotate hosting duties. Sometimes the hostess cooks (or at least serves) a dinner that is related to the book somehow, so we have eaten Afghan food (A Thousand Splendid Suns), African food (Infidel), and had a picnic (I Capture the Castle), among other themed dinners. The hostess picks the book for the next gathering.
This is the list of books I've read since I joined in 2008, starting with the most recent and moving backwards:
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed here)
Tinkers by Paul Harding (Pulitzer winner; reviewed here)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (reviewed here)
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
Honolulu by Alan Brennert
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (reviewed here)
Small Island by Andrea Levy (reviewed here)
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosna
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Davita's Harp by Chiam Potok
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Keysey
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Bone People by Keri Hulme (reviewed here)
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
Leap of Faith by Queen Noor
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
NOTES
Updated on December 28, 2012. I do not usually review the books we read for book club. Apparently talking about them satisfies my analytic urge.
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I don't think it's easy to find a book club you love and want to keep forever. Congratulations! I love the books on your list. I've read maybe three. Great books.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I love my book club, too! Don't tell anybody, but I actually wrote a "review" of "Davita's Harp" months ago but never posted it. "My editor" encouraged me to improve some parts of it, and of course he was right, but I never retinkered and let it languish. Portland Center Stage is doing Potok's "The Chosen" this season, so I picked it up and will have to revisit Davita again.
ReplyDeleteI agree .. I love our book club and the memory of creating the secret name. We're a lucky group o' gals.
ReplyDeleteHow do you find a good book club? There are plenty of social networking sites...Is it better to form one with friends or with people you don't yet know? I wonder where you get the better conversation...Or maybe it's just luck of the draw and timing! Thanks for this encouraging post.
ReplyDeleteMichele Emrath
http://southerncitymysteries.blogspot.com/
I'm so glad your book club has worked out for you...it can be tough finding the right one! Have read 8 of your selections and enjoyed them all. Would love to read about your groups reaction to the books, or what the discussion seemed to focus on.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't easy to find or keep a book club. I think a big part of the success of ours is meeting only every other month, instead of every month. We have plenty of time to read the books, no one has to host more than once every 18 months or so, and we don't have that crazy-making sense of scheduling our lives around the third Wednesday (or whatever) of every month.
ReplyDeleteI didn't go looking for a book club, so, Michele, I can't really answer your questions (which won't stop me from trying). The group was around for several years when I joined, by invitation of Tracey. Everyone in the group was brought in by someone else -- we have a general open door policy that anyone with a friend who is is interested can invite that friend. If it sticks, we have a new member.
For example, I invited Laura last Spring, and she seems to like it well enough, so she's come to the last three meetings. Although I don't know if we've told her the secret name yet. :)
That organic process seems to have worked just fine, as we incorporate new members gradually. I think there are usually 8 or 9 of us, but we had 12 or so at the last meeting. We've never had too many people to have a good discussion.
Reading about your book club makes me envious--never have had enough time to pursue, but it sounds v. enjoyable. Nice list of books too--I've read some, heard of others, and am intrigued by the rest.
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