Top Ten Books I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Books I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks. A good choice for a book club is not just a good book. It needs to be one that sparks discussion and leaves you with some questions. If people come away from the book with varying reactions, that’s even better. I decided to list books my book club has actually read and had great discussions about.

1) The Bell Jar – Nothing gets book clubs talking like depression, women’s role in past decades and attempted suicide.

2) Middlesex – I read this years ago, but my book club is discussing it in a few months. The book is so funny, but it’s also epic. I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks.

3) Loving Frank – Reading a book that blends fiction and history leads to good talks about what is and isn’t factually in the story.

4) Blame – This is a strange book. It’s about a woman who wakes up after a night of drinking to find out she killed someone while driving drunk. I didn’t love it, but it dealt with so many issues, the discussion was great.

5) April 1865: The Month That Saved America – Civil War details at their best. Everyone in my club loved this one and we had fun talking about the aspects of the war we didn’t know before reading this.

6) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – I like it when book club encourages me to pick up something I might not have read. This nonfiction book about cells and science doesn’t sound appealing at first, but it was wonderful.

7) Still Alice – If you’ve ever had a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s this isn’t an easy book to read, but it’s a powerful one.

8) A Classic – We’ve read All the President’s Men, Pride and Prejudice and others. I’ve found that I always gain new insights into these books when I discuss them with a group. Book clubs don’t have to pick the latest hit to have a good club.

9) We Need to Talk About Kevin – This book gets a strong reaction (good or bad) from everyone who reads it. I didn’t read this one with my book club, but I think it would be a great choice to add to our list in the future.

10) Books you aren’t emotionally attached to. My final choices isn’t a book, it’s just a general idea. I think it’s a bad idea to have your book club read and discuss a book you’re devoted to. Mine read The History of Love at my recommendation and they hated it. I love that book, so it was probably a bad idea to suggest it.

Image from here.

My book club is awesome

You guys, I love my book club. For years I tried to find a good book club, but every time I joined a new one I would once again be disappointed. Each time I quickly discovered that “book club” was mom code for “get out of the house and hang out with people.” Which is great except, I didn’t know those people well enough to want to talk about their kids for 30 minutes, I wanted to talk about the book! We rarely even got around it, which is just not cool.

So time and time again, I realized that every book club made up of 20 and 30-somethings was not for me. Believe me, I have nothing against sitting around and drinking wine or coffee and chatting. It’s just I’d just rather do that with my friends than with a group of people I don’t know well.

After years of this, one of the women in my United We Read program invited me to her book club. This was about two years ago and I have been a member ever since. During my first meeting they showed me a list of books they’d read and rated over the past decade and the vast majority were ones that I either loved or had on my TBR list.

I’m the youngest member in the group by 30 years and it’s perfect. It’s a small group, but one that’s very committed to reading the book and showing up for the meetings. Our difference in age and personalities allows for a diverse reaction to books and great discussions. Each year we try to read at least one mystery, nonfiction and classic in addition to various fiction.

Here’s the list of books we’ve picked for 2012:
January: The Paris Wife
February: The Forgotten Garden
March: Case Histories
April: Cold Comfort Farm
May: Unbroken
June: Life is so Good
July: The Liar’s Club
August: Middlesex
September: The Madonnas of Leningrad
October: Clara and Mr. Tiffany
December: Cutting for Stone

Of the books we chose, I’ve only read Middlesex and The Forgotten Garden, both of which I loved.

So how about you all, are you in a book club? If so, do you love it or what would you change?

Image from here.

Real Simple No-Obligation Book Club

Do any of you participate in the Real Simple’s No-Obligation Book Club? I’m a huge fan of Real Simple (the magazine) and was excited when they began hosting an online book club.

I have been participating for the past couple years (it started in Sept. 2008) and thought I’d spread the word in case there’s someone who hasn’t heard of it.

I love it for a couple reason, number one being the “no-obligation” part. I’m in other book clubs and I love being able to dip into this one without having to stress about it. I always participate if I’ve already read the book. If I haven’t read the chosen book, I read it if I have time or I skip that month’s discussion.

I also love the fact that they frequently get authors to answer questions after everyone is done reading the book. I’ve love getting some behind the scenes info on books, including the most recent pick, One Day.

My final reason is the choice of books. Each month they send out a survey containing four choices for the next month’s club. They can be a brand new book or one that is 100 years old. I appreciate the variety and the fact that they let the members of the club vote to pick it; one month it was “I Capture the Castle” and another “My Life in France.” The current book is Half Broke Horses.

So if you’re having a hard time finding a book club or just want to join another great discussion of some good books, may I recommend Real Simple’s book club.