Book Club Suggestions
I started a book club with the women’s group at my church, and I need suggestions for books to read. The women in the group are mostly older, sweet ladies who like to read mysteries.
It can be tricky suggesting a book for a church group.
The first book we read, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, I chose because I thought of it as a light hearted-mystery (or series of small mysteries). It was also a book I’d just done in a book club I was part of before moving to California, and it generated a lot of good discussion–had all kinds of great themes to talk about. It’s not something I would normally read for my own enjoyment, but it’s a good book to discuss. However, it wasn’t as light-hearted as I thought it was–I forgot the main character is raped and abused by her husband, and later her child dies. I like to read pretty dark stuff (I’m currently reading an Elie Wiesel book, phew), and to me the bad stuff was treated rather lightly in the book, so I didn’t think of the book as having anything really bad in it.
The night before our book club meeting, as I was falling asleep, I suddenly sat bolt upright in bed. Wait a minute, that book has a rape in it…and her husband’s a jerk…and her child dies! Uh oh…I told everyone it was a light read.
We have one non-church member who joins us every month, and she suggested a great book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I think she mentioned there was some swearing in the book. But there wasn’t just some–there was a lot. And in fact, there was one word I’m pretty sure is x-rated. I winced my way through the book, thinking of all these sweet old ladies reading it! We had a great discussion, the book is about an autistic boy who sets out to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor’s dog, and it’s written from his point of view. I have an autistic nephew, and I brought in a bunch of information about autism. And we discussed the swearing and how it’s used in the book–it’s not gratuitous, it’s a device the author used to illustrate something. But I think from now on we need to steer well clear of anything with such graphic language! (It’s also a British author, and there are certain swear words that are more commonly used in Britian than they are here.)
So…can you think of any books that will make for a good discussion? Interesting themes? But not too long, and nothing explicit in it? Genre is something we’re open on–fiction or non-fiction, etc. I’d like to do a sci fi novel because I never read any (except Orson Scott Card) and I don’t think anyone else in the group does either.
Here’s what we’ve already done (we meet once a month):
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Christmas With the Kranks by John Grisham (everyone pretty much thought it sucked, but it can be fun picking apart a book you don’t like)
A poetry night (everyone brought a couple poems to share)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (met last week, going to watch the movie this week)
How about Life of Pi, by Yann Martel? It won the Booker Prize, contains no foul language to speak of, has a great story and is a great allegory of faith?
Comment by Steve Evans — January 25, 2005 @ 7:27 pm
I haven’t read it, but someone else has in our group and she didn’t like it.
See, this is harder than it looks!
Comment by Susan Malmrose — January 25, 2005 @ 7:41 pm
Unfortunately, I’m a real cynic on book clubs. I have done one book club (for almost two years) and I didn’t like it. Picking the books was a pain, because they couldn’t be too highbrow, or too lowbrow, or too long, or too white, or too “diverse”, or too new, or too old. Even when we read a really engaging book (which was rare), everyone was so worried about offending anyone else that all the comments were milquetoast.
Having said that, a book we did that would interesting for your group would be “The Color of Water: a black man’s tribute to his white mother.” I think the author’s name is McBride.
Comment by Greg — January 25, 2005 @ 8:06 pm
Oh, yeah I wanted to read that. Thanks. I’ll proabbly read the Life of Pi, too, and if I think it’d go over well, we’ll do it.
What other books has your club done, Greg?
Comment by Susan Malmrose — January 25, 2005 @ 8:36 pm
OK, this isn’t a mystery but it’s a great book. Read “The Color of Water” by James McBride.
Comment by danithew — January 25, 2005 @ 9:42 pm
Susan:
I don’t remember a lot of them, and many were law books (since there were a lot of lawyers in the group), but we also did The God of Small Things, Year of Wonders, A Trial by Jury, and something by Elie Wiesel.
I think The Reader, by Bernard Schlink, would be great, though it does have some sex.
Comment by Greg — January 25, 2005 @ 10:20 pm
God of Small Things does as well, as I recall. Hmm. Maybe Nectar in a Sieve? A sad, sad story of poverty in India.
Comment by Steve Evans — January 25, 2005 @ 10:31 pm
I think “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger would be a great fit for your group. Nothing very offensive, but a very beautifully told story with lots to discuss.
For what it’s worth, “Life of Pi” turned out to bring about the death of our book club. Nobody finished it, so we decided to try it again the next month, when nobody finished it again, and then we just sort of fizzled out. . .
I don’t read a ton of non-fiction, but before we fizzled, we read “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich and really enjoyed it.
Comment by Shannon Keeley — January 26, 2005 @ 12:02 am
If you are looking for something that is lighter and that will appeal to a wide range of tastes, how about Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair?
Part biblio-mystery, part thriller, part sci-fi (alternate history to be precies) and chock full of literary allusions.
Comment by William Morris — January 26, 2005 @ 1:34 am
I suggest a great book from the 50s, Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, which is a stupid title for an incredibly engrossing history-mystery. I don’t want to reveal anything about it, except that Tey uses her normal fictional detective, Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard, laid up in hospital with a broken leg, to analyze one of the great crimes in British history.
Comment by D. Fletcher — January 26, 2005 @ 11:39 am
Thanks! And keep ‘em coming. I’m going to try to find all these recs at the library and read them. One thing to consider is the availability of the book–new releases are easier to find copies of.
Someone in our group suggested the Secret Life of Bees, has anyone read it?
Comment by Susan Malmrose — January 26, 2005 @ 12:04 pm
The Eyre Affair would be a good one - I’ve recommended it to a few women at church and have gotten positive responses.
I’d also suggest The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett. It’s the story of an arctic expedition in the 1800s and might not sound like it, but it’s a real page-turner. Or a fun book I read recently that might be good is Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn although it might be harder to find. The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong might work too - it’s about an ex-nun who finds her way back to God.
Comment by Becky — January 26, 2005 @ 12:46 pm
I just remembered one more book our club read, and it was probably the best one: Native Speaker, by Chang Rae Lee. It’s about a Korean-American family in New York City. Here’s a link to a review: http://www.wnbc.com/bookreview/1285672/detail.html
Comment by Greg — January 26, 2005 @ 1:06 pm
Susan,
I just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, an interesting novel about magicians in early nineteenth century England. I really enjoyed it, although I didn’t love it. But it’s clean and fresh and fun. Don’t be deterred by the magic– many critics have mentioned that the writing is more Jane Austen than fantasy or Tolkein.
I also want to recommend Gilead, a book I’ve never read but have heard many great things about. Supposedly a very faith-affirming read, about a minister and his life, but can’t vouch for its cleanliness.
Also, the most exciting non-fiction read I’ve had in a long time is Over the Edge of the World, a history of Magellan’s trip around the globe. This is just as fascinating a book as you can come across. There is definitely some sex with natives, etc., even descriptions of their exotic sexual practices, but it’s all in the spirit of retelling history, so I didn’t find it offensive at all.
Comment by Ryan Bell — January 26, 2005 @ 1:36 pm
Greg –
what kind of membership does (did) your book club have? All of the one’s I’ve seen have been exclusively for women (or at had no male members, by design or not).
Comment by Bryce I — January 26, 2005 @ 1:50 pm
Bryce,
I was working at a court at the time and all of the employees were invited to the book club. It was mostly law clerks, a few secretaries, and a judge or two.
Comment by Greg — January 26, 2005 @ 2:07 pm
I love my book club, in fact I have book club tomorrow night. Whoever hosts book club gets to decide what we read. As a result we have had a wide variety of books over the course of last year. Some of the highlights include Motley Crue: The Dirt (can’t imagine your church ladies are going to enjoy this - but it was a great time watching the video’s and all agreeing that Tommy was the only dreamy guy in the group), Lolita, Perfume, The Other Bolin Girl, Life of Pi, The Kite Runner, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and then a handful of books I didn’t enjoy at all.
Good luck.
Comment by Rebecca — January 26, 2005 @ 8:21 pm
I’d highly recommend Glen David Gold’s “Carter Beats the Devil.” Set in San Francisco in 1923, it follows real-life magician Charles Carter and his possible complicity in the death of President Warren G. Harding. The novel unfolds in a similar way to one of Umberto Ecco’s, but without being quite so heavily intellectual. Highly readable, engrossing and with numerous plot twists. One drawback for a book club is that it’s about 500 pages in length.
Comment by Paul — January 28, 2005 @ 10:12 am
I’ve heard about that book, Paul, and it sounds good. I don’t think we can do something so long, though.
I just found out the group decided to do Peace Like a River by Leif Enger at our last meeting (which I missed). I went to the library and checked out everything else I could find that’s been recommended so far.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — January 28, 2005 @ 11:42 am
In my last ward our bookgroup was banned from announcing or promoting in RS because some sisters complained that our book selection was “satanic”: by complete coincidence, our program for three consecutive months was “Harry Potter” (the occult), “Siddhartha” (paganism and idol worship), and “Screwtape Letters” (all about devils, you see).
Comment by Rosalynde — January 31, 2005 @ 12:35 pm
We ended up not announcing the book with all the swearing in it and just letting people know by word-of-mouth. It is tricky having a book club with a church group.
And we’re staying well away from the DaVinci Code.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — January 31, 2005 @ 1:30 pm
I’m not in a book club now, but a friend’s (somewhat church related) book club read “The Killer Angels” and everyone really loved it. Always good to throw a good history book in the mix.
Comment by Karen — January 31, 2005 @ 3:08 pm
I have assumed an alias since someone from our book club might read this and guess who wrote it.
I was given a book for my birthday, Miriam Toews, a Complicated Kindness. I read the sleeve to the book club, and everyone thought it seemed an interesting read… my my, all “hell” broke lose over the content of this book, which, by the way I truly enjoyed! Anyhow, the person who was the most critical later said she would read Lady Chatterly’s Lover if it was chosen… my apologies to M. Toews! I feel one must have thick skin to be in a book club!
Comment by alias smith and jones — April 15, 2005 @ 1:31 am
At our book club (mostly young marrieds though) we’ve read a variety. A favorite was Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier. When it comes to mysteries I love the British classics of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. I just read independently of book club Rachel and Leah by Orson Scott Card. It’s a fictionalised account of these biblical figures. It’s the 3rd in a series he’s done on biblical women. I enjoyed it.
Comment by Rebecca Head — April 15, 2005 @ 3:20 pm
My Book Club read Life of Pi but no one really liked it. We all expected discussion of spirituality but it was quite limited. I have read the Color of Water and liked it. We recently read Girl With a Pearl Earring. All members enjoyed it.
Good Luck.
Comment by bette — June 2, 2005 @ 10:23 pm
I am in a bookclub. We have read Jane Austin’s Bookclub and all hated it. We have also read The Perfect Journey, Forest of the Pygmies and Saffron Skies. Saffron Skies was my favourite. I have to choose the next book, any suggestions?
Comment by Emily — June 7, 2005 @ 4:05 am
My book club read SLEEPING WITH SCHUBERT by Bonnie Marson, and we all totally loved it! It’s about a woman from Brooklyn who gets inhabited by the spirit of Franz Schubert, composer of the Unfinished Symphony. It’s smart, funny, mysterious, inspiring, and very touching. Not much sex at all. I’ve told many friends about it, and they’ve loved it too.
Comment by Annie — June 29, 2005 @ 9:41 am