I joined my first book club when I was in Salt Lake City. It was fabulous. Great women. Good book selections and very organized with predictable rules and expectations. In New Mexico I visited a book club a few times. It wasn't quite the same. Last summer, our neighborhood formed a book club & it has been pretty great.
Sure, the dates are unpredictable and we've been stuck in a few book selection ruts. But overall, I am really loving having friends (including several new friends) read the same books. There is nothing better than having someone to discuss a good book with and recommend new reads.
Now that we've made it through almost all the Academy Award nominated films, we are ditching TV time for books. I put several on hold at the library. Of course, they all came in at once.
Here's what's on my bookshelf. I finished a few, but just picked up the others:
The Dinner - Herman Koch. Holy cow. I need someone to read this book so I can discus it. I will recommend for an upcoming book club. Short & powerful.
Ready Player One - Ernest Cline. I think this is young adult. It was part of a collection of library book club selections. We didn't pick it for book club, but I read it anyway. It was described as Charlie & the Chocolate Factory meets the Matrix. I liked it.
Dept. of Speculation - Jenny Offill - This was recommended by a book club friend. From the name, I was expecting a quirky detective novel. Instead, it's a melancholy, poetic book tracing the history of a relationship. Most interesting book stylistically that I have read in a long time.
Night Road - Kristin Hannah - A friend recently loved Nightingale. When I saw this book at my hairdresser's book exchange, I grabbed it. Then, I realized I have another book by this author in my guest room waiting for me to read it. It looks promising.
What She Left Behind - Tracy Bilen - Not our June book club selection. That would be this book with the same name. I got 20 pages in before I realized it is a young adult novel. I like YA, but I wasn't expecting it for this book. A story of a mother and daughter trying to escape a bad situation. This book by the same name is our June selection.
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - Tom Franklin - our May book club selection. I haven't read much, but I think it's a mystery novel set in the south.
The Passage - Justin Cronin - another book club recommendation. This one might be returned & read later. It's big with small print. I'm not sure I'll be able to squeeze it in. But, it looks promising enough to put on hold later.
The Grain Brain - David Perlmutter - all about how diet changes (grains, carbs & sugar) will improve your mental health, improve your blood sugar, decrease your risk of Alzheimer's & lots of other good stuff. Or maybe its about how terrible our current diet is for our brains & bodies. If only it was as easy as it sounds to eliminate these foods.
The Happiness Advantage - Shawn Achor - if you enjoy non-fiction, this is a good read. He has a great TedX talk that introduces his theories. We read this as our January book club selection, but I haven't put it away yet.
Clean - Alejandro Junger - my favorite book about healthy eating. There is a great online support community when you are ready for your 21 day reset.
8 Minute Meditation - Victor Davich - This has been on my nightstand for years. Still hoping to adopt a daily meditation practice.
The Gifts of Imperfection - Brene Brown - another one I keep putting aside. I loved her Ted Talk, but haven't made it through any of her books.
Waiting to for me on the hold shelf at the library:
The Story of a New Name - Elena Ferrante - This is the second book in a trilogy about two flawed friends growing up in Italy. The author has an interesting, wordy style. I read a review that said you aren't sure if you like her writing style, but you can't stop reading. I would say that is accurate.
Sure, the dates are unpredictable and we've been stuck in a few book selection ruts. But overall, I am really loving having friends (including several new friends) read the same books. There is nothing better than having someone to discuss a good book with and recommend new reads.
Now that we've made it through almost all the Academy Award nominated films, we are ditching TV time for books. I put several on hold at the library. Of course, they all came in at once.
Here's what's on my bookshelf. I finished a few, but just picked up the others:
The Dinner - Herman Koch. Holy cow. I need someone to read this book so I can discus it. I will recommend for an upcoming book club. Short & powerful.
Ready Player One - Ernest Cline. I think this is young adult. It was part of a collection of library book club selections. We didn't pick it for book club, but I read it anyway. It was described as Charlie & the Chocolate Factory meets the Matrix. I liked it.
Dept. of Speculation - Jenny Offill - This was recommended by a book club friend. From the name, I was expecting a quirky detective novel. Instead, it's a melancholy, poetic book tracing the history of a relationship. Most interesting book stylistically that I have read in a long time.
Night Road - Kristin Hannah - A friend recently loved Nightingale. When I saw this book at my hairdresser's book exchange, I grabbed it. Then, I realized I have another book by this author in my guest room waiting for me to read it. It looks promising.
What She Left Behind - Tracy Bilen - Not our June book club selection. That would be this book with the same name. I got 20 pages in before I realized it is a young adult novel. I like YA, but I wasn't expecting it for this book. A story of a mother and daughter trying to escape a bad situation. This book by the same name is our June selection.
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - Tom Franklin - our May book club selection. I haven't read much, but I think it's a mystery novel set in the south.
The Passage - Justin Cronin - another book club recommendation. This one might be returned & read later. It's big with small print. I'm not sure I'll be able to squeeze it in. But, it looks promising enough to put on hold later.
The Grain Brain - David Perlmutter - all about how diet changes (grains, carbs & sugar) will improve your mental health, improve your blood sugar, decrease your risk of Alzheimer's & lots of other good stuff. Or maybe its about how terrible our current diet is for our brains & bodies. If only it was as easy as it sounds to eliminate these foods.
The Happiness Advantage - Shawn Achor - if you enjoy non-fiction, this is a good read. He has a great TedX talk that introduces his theories. We read this as our January book club selection, but I haven't put it away yet.
Clean - Alejandro Junger - my favorite book about healthy eating. There is a great online support community when you are ready for your 21 day reset.
8 Minute Meditation - Victor Davich - This has been on my nightstand for years. Still hoping to adopt a daily meditation practice.
The Gifts of Imperfection - Brene Brown - another one I keep putting aside. I loved her Ted Talk, but haven't made it through any of her books.
Waiting to for me on the hold shelf at the library:
The Story of a New Name - Elena Ferrante - This is the second book in a trilogy about two flawed friends growing up in Italy. The author has an interesting, wordy style. I read a review that said you aren't sure if you like her writing style, but you can't stop reading. I would say that is accurate.
The Buried Giant - Kazu Ishiguro - I'm expecting this to be fantasy fiction. Several of his books have been made into movies (that I have not seen). I don't know how this one made it on my library hold list, but I'm looking forward to trying it.
The Rosie Effect - Graeme Simsion - The first book was cute - though the main character was a bit much. I thought this would come in closer to summer. Feels like a good summer read.
I loved this post about a book challenge for 2015. I've started a new tab to track my progress. Who wants to play along? You can see my book reviews by following the link on the left side of the page "On My Bookshelf".
1 comment:
Thanks for the great recommendations. I read Ready Player One for a bookclub a while ago and liked it even though it wasn't my usual kind of read.I am finishing Ken Follet's "Edge of Eternity" series of 3 books. Then I have a huge stack on my nightstand to get to. xoxoxo
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