Thank you all for the suggestions. The most suggested book was The Help.
Here are all of the suggestions:
Three Cups of Tea and the second book by the same author about building
schools in Afghanistan.
Oh my, I am reading Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. If you want a
controversial book this is it. But, it deals with God, so know your
audience. This book has one of the longest and most exciting climax, I
have ever read. And the last book I read was The Lost Symbol which was
excellent as well.
We were just discussing a good one from a bit ago-The Women of Brewster
Place.
I did Neal Shusterman's "Unwind" last June with my adult book club -
whoa!
LOTS of discussion. I think Suzanne Collins "Hunger Games" would be
another good one...
THE HELP, by K. Ster-something. You will find it easily, though it is
new and hard cover and so maybe too $$$. I just reserved it for my Mom
at our public library and she is 88th on the list!
My favorite Anne Tyler is LADDER OF YEARS. Look into that one.
Have you done 3 CUPS OF TEA, by Mortenson yet?
Our faculty book club loved "Loving Frank", "The Guernsey Literary &
Potato Peel Pie Society", and "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo". Lots and
lots of discussion with each of these.
South of Broad by Conroy.
Last June my group read Not a Genuine Black Man by Brian Copeland. This
book generated more heated and revealing discussion than any other book
we have read in the over 10 years since I have been a member.
The book I wish we had chosen for this year is the Help by Kathryn
Stockett. I read it over the summer and think that every person should
read it. My husband is now listening to it and says it's amazing.
In my opinion these books are intense and will generate much discussion:
The Kite Runner
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Three Cups of Tea
A few historical fiction-based murder/mystery are Erik Larson's
Thunderstruck and The Devil in the White City
I would also suggest anything by David Sedaris. Very funny and
sometimes controversial author. Racy topics are included. I'm not sure
of your audience, so you may want to review these titles before
selecting.
If you're okay with a nonfiction title, you might try Grand Theft
Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What
Parents Can Do
It's a thoughtful, research-based look at the effect of violent video
games by two parents who are also psychological researchers. Very
thought-provoking.
Our book club enjoyed Loving Frank by Horan or the other related title,
The Women, by Boyle.
The Help by Stockett has also been popular but it is not out in paper
back and still hard to get hold of at the library, if that is a concern
for your group.
You could also try The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.
Mudbound by Hilary Jordan (last name might not be correct) would ignite
lots of discussion about race relations and women's rights. I am really
enjoying it.
Ours has done Middlesex, The Glass Castle and many others.
My book group recently read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I also just
finished Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, which I plan to recommend to the
group...very good!
The Summer We Got Saved by Pat Cunningham Devoto
All God's Children:the Bosket Family and the American Tradition of
Violence by Fox Butterfield
We're reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I finished it last week
and loved it.
I just finished Pat Conroy's South of Broad and while some of it is
disturbing I love his use of language and the characters and setting,
lots and lots of stuff to discuss with this one. I am planning on
recommending it for my sister-in-law's discussion group. There's lots
of stuff about the Church in it.
I just read Mitch Albom's "have a little faith" and LOVED it!
The Help (Stockton?) is awesome
Any Jodi Picoult-Nineteen Minutes is school related Any-Phillipa Gregory
Any Augusten Burroughs (sp?) Running with Scissors My group love these
books Glass Castle (memoir) The Red Leather Diary The Secret Life of
Bees The Sharper your knife the less you cry (something like that) The
Virgin of Small Plains Half Broken Horses (Glass Castle author)
I just finished "Black Elk Speaks"..a neat book about native American
life and philosophy and it really made me think. My husband and I both
read it and we have had many a discussion about how the Native Americans
were treated and what Black Elk's visions and how he handled them show
us about human nature.
Mary Zeller
School Librarian
Resurrection Catholic School, Green Bay, WI
mazeller@gbres.org
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