Started a book club - what do you suggest?

[Doris Day]

I started a book club with some of my girlfriends two months ago. The aim is for us to expand our reading 'range', and to explore titles and authors that we wouldn't ordinarily consider. I would say that most of the members lean towards more 'popluar fiction' than anything else.

If you could suggest five books that you feel we must absolutely include in our library, what would they be?

Thanks :>

 

[bartleby]

Eazy peazy Doris:

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

And two short but wonderful little gems:
Pobby & Dingan by Ben Rice
Silk by Alexandro Barricco.

My mouth is watering already.

Bart.

 

[silverseason]

I am in two book clubs. We ask the members to nominate books and then set up a schedule so that people can read as they have time. Some books that resulted in very lively discussion:

The Strange Incident of the Dog in the Night - novel written as a memoir by an autistic boy
The Rise of Silas Lapham - American classic about an aspiring entrepreneur and social class
The Black Dog of Fate - wonderful memoir about the Armenians
Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw - the play
Mornings on Horseback - biography of the early years of Theodore Roosevelt
The Kite Runner - everyone's reading this one

 

[lionsroar13]

Anything by David McCullough is very readable (and Im not one for nonfic)
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (excellent discussion on this one)
To Kill a Mockingbird (a CLASSIC)
Fahrenheit 451 (another CLASSIC)
Night by Elie Wiesel (short but oh so powerful)

Congrats on starting a book club! Its good to hear of people reading and discussing books!

 

[sparkchaser]

It might be fun to pick a BAR book of the month and have them join in on the discussion.

 

[Ronny]

For non-fiction The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson.

For fiction Stones From The River by Ursula Hegi or Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen.

For Classic Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier or East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

 

[Doris Day]

Thank you for the suggestions - have made a note of all of them! Keep them coming...

 

[butterflyer246]

I will always recommend Dances with Wolves! by Michael Blake!

 

[BooknaMug]

My book club is reading the Chronicles of Narnia, which has been fun. We also read A Tale of Two Cities a couple months ago and that sparked some great conversation. My favorite one that we've done so far is Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray. It was the first time I'd ever heard of this author, but this book is in my top 20 because the characters are so wonderful.