The book club has picked books! I love this part of book club... choosing the line up for the next year. Since our book club uses library book club sets, we have to choose well in advance (a whole year) so we can reserve the books. This way we are pretty much guaranteed our first choices.
So here's what we've decided on:
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman
About a Boy by Nick Hornby
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
1984 by George Orwell
Alternates:
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
What do you think? Has your book club read any of these books? Did they go over well? Are there any of them you think we shouldn't do... ones that won't work? Or any of them we should be especially excited about?
I'm impressed with that list; three dystopian novels, classics, and a Nick Hornby?? (We'd never get my IRL book group to read a Nick Hornby. We did read The Scarlet Pimpernel, and actually most of us quite liked it.) I hope you have many good discussions.
ReplyDeleteShould I be worried about the Nick Hornby. I have NO idea what to expect with that one!
DeleteI've been wanting to read many of these, so I'm really excited! :)
ReplyDeleteYay! Fun ones, huh?
DeleteI love Ender's Game, but when we chose it for a book club once, everyone else hated it. I was the only one there under the age of 60, so I think that was a factor. I hope you have better luck and more open-minded readers, lol!
ReplyDeleteRe. Ender's Game, I agree that people either love it or hate it. So this will be interesting for sue!
DeleteBetween my two book clubs, we've read and discussed Ender's Game, About a Boy, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Unwind. All of these were successes (most people liked them and we had good discussions), and I hope your club enjoys them as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great selection of books, widely varied so there should be something for everyone, and introduce everyone to something new.
Awesome! Thanks for the encouraging words!
DeleteSounds like a lot of good books. I hope you have fun!
ReplyDeleteOh, we will have fun! Always.
DeleteFeeling wistful looking over your list. But, it looks like some fabulous reads! Looking forward to your book club recaps.
ReplyDeleteI will keep trying to do those recaps... last week's was pretty dismal.
DeleteI really want to read The Bone Collector this year. Some of the others I have heard are great book discussion choices.
ReplyDeleteThat is one that I'd never heard of, but we picked it for a particular member that loves that sort of book and is always such a good sport about the other books we pick, even though they are way out of her comfort zone. But I can't wait!
DeleteI guess we didn't have The Actor and the House Wife after all. I'm excited in most of our choices.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't, but I will use it if one of the others doesn't work out.
DeleteI've read and loved Mrs. Mike, 1984, and Ender. I must get to The Handmaid's Tale. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteI just finished "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" for a future book group meeting. It should definitely provide an interesting discussion. My group read "The Scarlet Pimpernel" a couple of years ago, but I don't remember how the discussion went.
ReplyDeleteI adore a new year's worth of reading!! My IRL Book Groups have 8 of these so I have a little bit of an opinion!! (As usual, I guess!)
ReplyDeleteEnder's Game - overall our Book Group loved it. It was a stretch for a few but the discussion was terrific and that's what counts.
Mrs. Mike - old fashioned but sweet and we liked it. Discussion was tame, not too much to discuss.
Bone Collector - NOT for the squeamish. I love it, but I love Jeffrey Deaver. My IRL Book Group wouldn't care for it I'm sure, but my mystery loving bloggers do!!
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - this books is on BOTH of my IRL book group's lists this year. I think we're on to something!
Scarlet Pimpernel - we truly enjoyed this one and there was a lot to talk about and history to learn. We topped it off by watching the movie - 2 different versions! We had French Pastries to munch on and it was a fun experience.
1984 - A real favorite for discussion and a fantastic life book to have read. Not to be missed.
Unwind - it's on our docket for this year as well.
The Actor and the Housewife - we had a TON of discussion on what was at first considered fluff by some. It brought a lot of feelings to the front and we ended up feeling that there was so much more to this book than most people ever expected. What a nice surprise.
I know this was wordy...but that's opinions for ya. I'm off to finish a Book Group book - The Color of Water. Hope the discussion brings out some deep thoughts. Enjoy!
I'm so excited by this line up! I can't wait to get started. :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a good list! Ender's Game, The Handmaid's Tale and The History of Love are some of my favorites! I really like Hornby too. I can't wait to hear how every one likes (or dislikes) the books.
ReplyDelete