ARE YOU IN A BOOK CLUB? WHAT IS THE BEST BOOK YOU HAVE READ RECENTLY?
Indeed, I am in a book club and write about it often. We are in our 24th year. Actually, as I write this, I really should be reading this month’s book instead of writing as I have over half of it to read for our discussion this evening. Ooops!
We have a standing rule in our group that we will discuss the book and its ending, even if someone hasn’t finished it. It works well for us. Everyone knows what book we will read far in advance. Besides, we never run out of words for discussion.
Tonight’s book is Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. It is a long but interesting read and I’m captivated by it, the characters, Ethiopia. Have you read it?
My most recent favorite book is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I wrote about it here. I loved it and wished I had read it sooner.
My most favorite book discussion book of all time would have to be Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. It has been about ten years since we read it. It was such a wonderfully crafted book and it stays with me still. For my midwestern friends, I understand that the Lyric Opera of Chicago has commissioned an opera to be written of Bel Canto. It is scheduled for 2015/16.
One of my favorite book blogs is Work in Progress, where Danielle shares thoughtful reviews of books that are well known and some that are not. Danielle has a regular feature she calls Lost in the Stacks. I’ve grown to eagerly look forward to these postings, which are about books she finds in the library stacks that have not been read it a long, long time. These books, you see, are in mortal danger of being discarded. By checking them out, the books stay in circulation. Danielle is a heroine of books if ever there was one and her posts have led me to checking out a book or two when I visit the library in hopes of saving a few as well. You can visit here most recent Lost in the Stacks here.
This is what I found in the library last week? I loved the movie but never gave a thought to whether or not The Lilies of the Field was adapted from a book. I’m looking forward to reading it and I am admiring the illustrations. It looks like one reader checked it out for a school assignment as there are several pages with passages underlined in, horror, ink. No matter. It is now still a circulating book.
Do you discuss the books you read? Are you in a book group? How do you select your book and discuss it? Where do you meet?
Do you have a favorite book blog?
I love to hear about your book club, Penny! I really think someday that would be for me, but although I’ve been invited, I haven’t been able to make the time. I am going to pay attention to your other replies today, though, and see if others follow some good book blogs! That would be a nice thing for me. I just finished reading, again, Pearl Buck’s “A Good Earth.” Another friend was talking about it and I decided to read it again…I’m sure the first time was 30 years ago. It also made me realize that I have never read another of Buck’s books, and she was a prolific writer. I would love to go back and read Du Maurier again, too. HOw to do it all!! I think Bel Canto was indeed one of my favorite books, and I own other Patchett books, but haven’t yet read them, either. A friend and I went to see Ann speak and I can’t believe I haven’t read more…I like her! For those of us who like to read, we just need more time! I’m sure if I were in a book club I’d always be behind! And I don’t like to know the endings, but I think that is a necessary rule for a gathering. I’m going to check back throughout the day to see what others suggest. I need to start writing down titles 🙂 Debra
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You will know when the time is right, Debra, and what the right group is. In the meantime, there are some very good book blogs out there and some of them have online book discussions.
I loved reading The Good Earth in high school. I haven’t read it since and should. A friend of mine visited China not too long ago and read all of Pearl Buck when she returned. I have other Patchett books as well, yet haven’t read them either. We are reading Run in September. Bel Canto was just wonderful. How exciting that you got to hear Ann Patchett speak. It is always enjoyable to meet an author, isn’t it? We really needed to make it a rule as the ending is often so integral in the discussion. One think I’ve observed is that when someone starts saying they didn’t like the ending, I know it will be a good discussion.
I keep a notebook where I write down books that are recommended to me. I usually indicate who recommends them as well. I enjoy having someone come back and say they read something I recommended, so I like to do the same when I can.
Hope there are comments to give you ideas, Debra. How was your birthday?
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I did have a very nice birthday. Thank you, Penny! I see a book blog listed here, so I need to write it down and look into it, too! I just love discovering what others are reading! 🙂
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I do not belong to a book club. There is one in my area, but they tend to focus on best sellers only. I don’t think that is my cup of tea. Besides, they tend to form for a while and then break up during their children’s busy sports schedule so they are a young group.
As for bloggers, I read you and Book Snob. I have let both of you lead me to others that I check into from time to time.
Recently, I have read Willa Cather’s Saphira and the Slave Girl. I loved it. I have read My Antonia and O’ Pioneer and thought of her mostly as a pioneer/prairie writer. I love those, but Saphira was a surprise for me and deals with the issues of slavery. I felt like the time period was the main character even though the characters were very strong. It is interesting to see a slave owner who struggles with the right or wrong of slavery by reading his Bible and other religious works. It is mostly pre-Civil War but shows life 25 years later for the slave girl as she returns to the former plantation. It is an interesting perspective.
A children’s book that I picked up in a 4th grade classroom was P.S. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger. I enjoyed it and told the kids about it when I returned. Yesterday, two girls told me they had read it and one more was currently reading it. They were discussing the book without being made to. I love it!!!
Lilies of the Field looks wonderful! I loved the movie as well. I am going to look for it.
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I think your book club is all the students you have ever had, Janet. How exciting to hear 4th graders having their own spontaneous book discussion. That’s what good teachers and good books do. Yea! You actually recommended P.S. . . . to me and now I need to get it. It is on the shelf in most of the libraries in my system, so, I’ll make that happen soon. I don’t mind best sellers, but they are not always well written, are they?
Book Snob is the best and she has so many others on her sidebar that are interesting as well. You can’t go wrong with Rachel. Actually, I think she did a review way back on Saphira and the Slave Girl. I need to read that. O Pioneer remains my favorite of Cather’s, probably because it was the first one I read.
Lilies of the Field is a short book, and I can’t wait to dig into it. Of course, I was also drawn to the illustrations and the cover. This is a 1962 edition. Only problem is that I’ll have trouble not imagining the main character as any one but Sidney Poitier.
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I did post a thank-you on Facebook a couple of days ago (forgetting that you are not active there), to those who suggested I read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” As I said then, it was sad, uplifting, and a bit terrifying all at once! Not being of a “scientific” mindset, I probably would never have chosen this book without specific recommendation, so a special thanks to you, too.
I’m now reading “The Forgotten Garden” by Kate Morton; something that caught my eye simply for the premise (and the artwork on the cover, if truth be told)–as it’s far afield from the types of books I normally would choose–from the jacket blurb: “A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book–a beautiful volume of fairy tales . . . A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery . . .” I am intrigued enough to be reading when I ought to be doing more productive things. 🙂
No book clubs for me, either….knowing an ending in advance would definitely spoil the read for me, but I truly enjoy hearing about your group!
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I’d forgotten we recently read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’, Karen. Thank you for reminding me here. I know. It is not the sort of book I would ordinarily pick up either. It was all of those things, I agree. There is another I have my the library in a similar vein, “Asleep”. It is written by another young woman and the very little bit I’ve read so far is an equally compelling read. Who knew you could get a masters in non-fiction creative writing?
“The Forgotten Garden” is sitting, gathering dust on my nightstand and it was a choice for me as well of judging a book by its cover. I do hope to read it soon. Please let me know how it goes for you. Oh, I wish there was more time to read all I want to.
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I am not in a book club but my favorite book blog is The Captive Reader by Claire. These questions and answers are interesting and giving me lots of books to look forward to reading.
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The Captive Reader is just like being in a book club, Marilyn, and it is a favorite of mine as well. I am always amazed at Claire’s “Library Loot” and that she reads so many of the books she brings home. Enjoy your reading.
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I’m not in a book group but it sounds like a good idea. Then I would be able to answer this question. Right now, I’m too busy writing! but I look forward to some good reads before too long.
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It is, Juliet, but then so is writing a book (or two or three). You have been busy and will most certainly have time for more pleasurable reading soon. I love to read of your time at the bach and or your darling fairy of a granddaughter.
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I’ve never been in a book club, Penny: it would be lovely to be part of one, come to think of it. I am a Daphne Du Maurier nut, adore all her stuff: she makes me feel perfectly at home. Have you read Jamaica Inn? Just the best read. A dark, swarthy, lawless read. Very Cornish.
And now I have another book to add to my list: Cutting For Stone sounds very good. Thanks for the recommendation!
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I so enjoyed Rebecca. Now I really must read more of her, including Jamaica Inn. Now you’ve described it so well I must.
Cutting for Stone is, Kate. A little slow going, but the characters are so interesting and I know so little about Ethiopia. I’m not even to the part yet when the main characters come to the US, then go back. I think you would enjoy it.
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No book club for me but sometimes some of us at work have read the same book and discuss it a bit. I have penpals who tell me what books they are reading and whether they liked them or not, but we don’t normally go into any discussion. I haven’t read Cutting for Stone yet, maybe will wait till I retire and have more time. ha? Some of the blogs I read mention good books. I go to our library site and save them to a list titled Blog suggest. Keep other lists there as well. At Amazon have several lists including one for books I can’t find at the library and might want to buy someday. I loved the book The Shell Seekers – that’s a favorite that popped into my head today. Tomorrow would be a different one. We may have to watch Lilies of the Field tonight. Have seen it quite a few times – our library has the book so I will read it sometime – it’s on my “blog suggest” list.
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It is good to have those recommendations, isn’t it Joyce? I had many years of that, in fact, still do even though I’m in a group. “Cutting for Stone” is very good, but save it for when you have more time. Only a few of our group finished it. Our library site has a list that sounds something like Blog suggest. I should check that out. Thank you for mentioning it. I do keep suggestions in a notebook, but it would be easy to have one online with the library, much like an Amazon wishlist. The Shell Seekers is going in my notebook now.
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Blog Suggest is one of the lists I created through our library. I have several lists there as well for movies I want to check out, another book list for fiction and one for non-fiction. Very handy,
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Dear Penny, . . . no, I don’t belong to a book club. I did for several months–until bad health intervened–and what I discovered was that the club led me to books I wouldn’t normally read. And so that was a great gift. It was through the book club that I encountered the novel “Maisie Dobbs” by Jacqueline Winspear. It is the first in a series that takes place before and during and after WWI. Maisie is a nurse who becomes a detective. It is one of my favorite series.
As to what I’m reading now, it’s the Vienna series of novels by Frank Tallis. From them I’m learning so much about the anti-Semitic milieu in Vienna around 1900. That led ultimately to the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party. I just never realized how perversive anti-Semticism was at that time. Peace.
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Dee, you have hit upon one of the key reasons I enjoy my book club. We have truly become friends, which is a bonus, but it has forced me to read books I never would have picked up otherwise. I do have “Maisie Dobbs” on my list at your earlier suggestion and look forward to reading Winspear. My mind is going blank at the moment, but someone else just recently suggested Maisie Dobbs as well.
The Vienna series sounds like a compelling read. So much evil led up to Hitler and the Nazi party over a period of years, didn’t it? I’ll keep this series in mind, Dee.
I think you would appreciate “Cutting for Stone”, which I am still reading, being about a third of the way through. I can’t put it down, but it is a methodical read as there is so much in it. I am learning so much about a country I know so little about, Ethiopia. We had a spirited discussion last night.
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Dee, it was Marilyn Ritter in the comments two posts ago that mentioned Maisie Dobbs.
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I too am a Daphne du Maurier nut and will second Kate’s rec on Jamaica Inn.
I tried to start a book group but it quickly fizzled because of different reading styles. I would love to try it again someday. I do have a close friend who is a reader, and we talk about the books we read. At the moment, I am writing so much that reading suffers.
I am reading The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville but am not crazy about it. I really liked The Winter Sea, though it was somewhat predictable.
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I don’t do tags and awards, so I wasn’t going to comment on any of your posts on this tag, but just had to drop in to say that I always have loved your book group posts. And I agree that Bel Canto was an amazing book — and, as you say, it is still with me!
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Fear not, Sallie. I did it this way so I wouldn’t tag anyone, just share the fun of the questions. I am so glad to hear you say that. I sometimes worry that I blog too much about books, then promptly blog about another one. Bel Canto is one of those amazing ones indeed. Though I love opera, I don’t go frequent them. I may have to, however, when Bel Canto opens as an opera at Chicago’s Lyric in a few years.
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I’ve never belonged to a book club, Penny as I’ve always been awkward about being ‘required’ to read something other than for my studies. 🙂
The best book I’ve read recently is About Face, by Donna Leon. a beautifully-written and very atmospheric detective story set in Venice. Wonderful writing.
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It is a different feeling to have a reading assignment without being graded, Perpetua. I still feel just a tiny bit guilty when I don’t finish a book.
Donna Leon’s name keeps coming up. I will put About Face on my lengthening list as I respect your opinion, Perpetua, especially when it is to recommend wonderful writing. Thank you.
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