Dear Friends,
Thanks for all the suggestions for good fiction reading for my book
club. I have included most of the suggestions for others who might want
to see the list.
The most recommended book was THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES. We have already
read that book and I have bought several copies for the library. It IS a
wonderful book!
Our favorite of all time (can't even guess at the
number of years now) is Pope Joan by Donna Wolfolk
Cross. We had an e-mail correspondence going with the
author who recommended Follett's Pillars of the Earth
and that led to Bruneleschi's Dome.
This year we've done JCO's Blond, The Other Boleyn
Girl, Year of Wonders (Brooks)and Brideshead
Revisited.
I am personally recommending Five Fortunes by Beth
Gutcheon. This one was great. A group of women meet
at a spa (very upscale - no school librarians here)
and their lives continue to intermesh for years to
come.
You've probably already read this book, but my friends and I read I
Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and really enjoyed it. The movie was
a nice representation of the book as well. It's about a family that
moves into a British castle and have little money only to befriend a
rich family that buys the castle who then allow them to stay on rent
free.
Try books by
Barbara Kingsolver
Anne Tyler
Ann Patchett
Adriana Trigiani
Jan Karon
Silas House
Gail Godwin
Wendell Berry
Tracy Chevalier
Elizabeth Berg
Anita Brookner
Ward Just
Alice McDermott
Ruth Rendell
Carol Shields
Susan Vreeland
Simon Winchester
Just finished "The Book of Ruth" and loved it. It's bleak at times,
but
extremely well-written and characterized.
Just read The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble
Hi GeorgeAnne....
I would recommend the following:
Echoes by Danielle Steel (I just finished it, it was wonderful)
A love story against the background of the Nazi
concentration camps
and the French Resistance
Also, any of the books by James Michael Pratt
Ticket Home
The Last Valentine
The Lighthouse Keeper
All of these are love stories based around WW
II.
Paradise Bay
Also a love story/mystery, but set during the
Vietnam Era.
All of the Pratt books are written in present day with flashbacks. I
LOVE his books, and am eagerly awaiting another release.
The books are not exactly serious literature, but the Covington series
by
Joan Medlicott was quite enjoyable for my sister and I. Several older
women
meet in a boardinghouse to which they have moved due to divorce or
death of
their husbands. They become friends and when one inherits an old
farmhouse
in the hills of North Carolina, they decide to move in together.
Adventures
in relocating, remodeling, finding work, health difficulties, and
meeting men follow
I am in a book club with some fellow teachers. Some of the recent
books we have read include:
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon-Narrated by
a fifteen-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this
dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary
coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable
of processing emotions.
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen-When Chaz suspects that his wife, Joey, has
figured out his scam, he pushes her overboard from a cruise liner into
the night-dark Atlantic. Unfortunately for Chaz, his wife doesn't die in
the fall.
The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts-The Honk and Holler
Opening Soon captures a small town's prejudice and tolerance, violence
and big-heartedness.
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner-But the day she opens up a national
women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her
ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most
amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home
again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing
her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.
We are currently reading for the Month of April Kite Runner by Khaled
Hosseini-The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son
of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's
father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of
the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable.
and for the month of May we will be reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi
Picoult-My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a
good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it
takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the
rights of another?
Hope these suggestions help. Happy Reading!
Some of my two book clubs' absolute favorites:
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -- time traveller and
his wife develop a complex relationship as he keeps appearing at
different times and at different ages in her life. Also -- time
traveller is a librarian!
Middlesex by Jeff Eugenides -- few people in our group wanted to read
the book when we read the description on Amazon.com, but we are very
glad that we did.
The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
--
Fr. Damien reflects on his years as a priest on a North Dakota Indian
Reservation -- and the complex personal relationships therein.
Good reading! Thanks again.
George Anne Draper, librarian
Wynne High School, Wynne, AR
gdraper@wynne.k12.ar.us
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