For today's Broke and Bookish Top Ten list, I've gone to my master list of book club books that we've read and have listed below what I feel have been favorites of ours over the years. This doesn't necessary mean that everyone LOVED and adored the book, but that it created a lot of fun discussion. Actually, it's best if there are differing opinions of a book, or if a book is a little off the grid for the particular group, so it gets everyone talking. Sometimes if everyone likes a book and it's just a "good" book then the discussion amounts to "yep, I liked it, it was good." And there's nothing more to say, right? So with that said, here's my list:
Top Ten Book Club Favorites
1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (this one was totally different from what most people had read)
2. Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel (a fascinating look at Galileo's life which got us talking)
3. Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons (I just remember this one as a favorite)
4. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (we laughed a lot during this discussion)
5. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (we STILL talk about this one, every single gathering!)
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (some people didn't really like this one.. GASP!)
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (the discussion for this one blew me away.. I was speechless)
8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (always a book club favorite everywhere I think)
9. These Is My Words by Nancy Turner (lots of emotional talk for this one too)
10. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (many mixed feelings)
And a few failures, just for fun:
The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1776 by David McCullough
Middlemarch by George Eliot
What have been some of your book club's favorites?
Those are great choices. I remember liking A Girl Named Zippy because it's one of the few books set in Indiana (my state), plus it was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteOne of our book club members said she couldn't totally relate to this upbringing, and her stories too had has all laughing like crazy.
DeleteIt sounds like you have a lot of fun at book club!
ReplyDeleteAlways!
DeleteI love Elizabeth Gaskell. I'm going to have to suggest that one to my book club. nice list today. kaye—the road goes ever ever on
ReplyDeleteWe had a lot of fun with Wives and Daughters, but there were some that had issues too!
DeleteOoh, Wives and Daughters is a great addition to the list. Great picks.
ReplyDelete-FABR Steph@FiveAlarmBookReviews
My Top Ten...
It is an awesome book!
DeleteGreat choices! I've read and loved several of these and think they would be woooonderful book club picks.
ReplyDeleteI could have listed a whole other ten that we've especially loved too.
DeleteI've only finished two of the books on your list--Rebecca and These is My Words. These is My Words made my honorable mentions. :)
ReplyDeleteThink of all the books you have to look forward to!
DeleteHow is it that I missed all but Middlemarch on the "failure list"? How depressing.
ReplyDeleteDepressing that you read that one? Or depressing that you didn't read the others? You do think Middlemarch was a fail, right? Just because no one really read it, or even tried to really. Except a couple of us.
DeleteI'm ashamed to say that I haven't read any of those (good or bad), although I've read various other things by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (thank you Spanish minor) I'm surprised 1776 was a flop. So many people rave about David McCullough.
ReplyDeleteI think we were just not in the mood for 1776 and no one read it. I'm sure it's a great book. I do love that author! And I must say GGM is one of the strangest authors I've ever read! Wow.
DeleteNew follower! I totally agree with Book Thief!! Here is my list if you'd like to follow back: http://theonceandfuturelibrarian.blogspot.com/2012/01/top-ten-tuesday-book-club-selections.html
ReplyDeleteYou agree that Book Thief is a good book club pick? Or that it's the best book ever? Or that GASP some people actually don't like it?
DeleteSome where I remember having a great discussion : "1776", "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, "Rebecca", "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave," "Dracula" (I read an adapted children's version), and "The Help". There are a couple there that I haven't finished yet, but at book group I choose not to worry about spoilers.
ReplyDelete