Monday, March 12, 2018

SOL 12/31: Book Decision Time!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny
 for hosting this meeting place each day in March
and for nurturing our writing lives.

Thirty years ago, I started my first book club. My current book club is celebrating twenty years of reading together this year. We have a yearly retreat every March. And that's when we choose our books for the upcoming year. Each person brings up to three possible book choices. We sit in a circle, pitch our individual titles, and pass the books around for everyone to see. Then it's ballot time. We use a written ballot for choosing the twelve titles for the upcoming year. Sometimes we vote a second time when we have some clear winners and others that are close. It's the most exciting part of the retreat. 

My book club loves reading nonfiction. It's not my favorite, but I generally bring at least one nonfiction title. If I have to read nonfiction, I want some voice in choosing it. I love memoir and essay and fiction and poetry (and of course middle grade). I'm still struggling with which books to take. I'm taking News of the World by Paulette Giles (which I've read) and Killers of the Flower Moon by David Gran (which I haven't read). It's best if we've read the titles we recommend, but sometimes I take books that come highly recommended by readers that I trust. So that's where you come in. I know that many of you are avid readers and book club members. What books would you recommend for my book bag on Friday?

21 comments:

  1. That is awesome that you have a retreat for your book club! I love that!

    My favorite book of 2018 right now is THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin. It is fiction but there is lots to talk about!

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  2. How wonderful that you have been together so long! I'm envious. I can't pass by your request. Here are three I've enjoyed recently: The Alice Network, The Hate U Give, and one my book club read, then made some of the recipes in it for a dinner together: Stir: My Broken Brain and The Meals That Brought Me Home, Jessica Fechtor! Happy Reading!

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    1. So many good books! I have The Alice Network checked out from the library, so I think I'll tuck it in the book bag. And I requested Stir from the library. We'll see if it arrives by Thursday.

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  3. Oh, I second The Hate U Give - really an incredible voice. I also unabashedly recommend All the Light We Cannot See which won the Pulitzer in 2015 - it's just incredibly beautiful. And just WOW to reading together for twenty years. Impressive and fun.

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    1. All the Light We Cannot See is a great book. Each person is compiling a list of their top 20 books from our 20 years together. It made my list.

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  4. I just read The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah. While it is an extraordinarily long piece, I could not put it down! It is about the women resistance movement in France during WWII. I knew nothing about this from my own recollection of learning about history. The book was amazing. There are also flashbacks/forwards. I was hooked from the first chapter.

    So cool that you do this book club - I would love to get a book club going with my own friends!

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    1. Loved The Nightingale. I think there's a movie in the works. Your mention of it reminds me that she has a new book out that I should check out.

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  5. I just read The Sound of Glass by Karen White and couldn't put it down. The Hate U Give has been flagged in our school district because of the language in it. So sad to see this happen. I read it, but it wasn't my favorite. I did enjoy John Green's Turtles All the Way Down. I'd recommend that one too. What about Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Textbook? When I read your post, I thought I wouldn't have any to recommend but then I guess I was wrong.

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    1. I haven't heard of The Sound of Glass. I'll check it out. When I bring middle grade or YA, it rarely makes the list, but I still want to read John Green's new one. I haven't read Textbook. Will have to take a look at it.
      Thanks for these great suggestions.

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  6. I read a lot, but I browsed some "recommended for book clubs" lists for 2017/2018... and didn't see books that I have already read! (Guess I have been in the children's/MG/YA genres mostly!). I recently read The Snow Child and I think it would be a good book club book even thought it wasn't on any lists that I came across.

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    1. I had planned for some time to take The Snow Child, but had totally forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder, Diane!

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  7. Just finished The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah. I need to reread it. So powerful and heart wrenching. My group is approaching twenty years as well.

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    1. It's on my WTR list, but we try to keep our selections to books available in paperback. I'll read it and suggest it for next year.

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  8. Wow! 20 years...that's incredible. I just finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. I am going to be coming back to this post to get Spring Break reading ideas.

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    1. I've heard this book mentioned by others. I'll check it out.

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  9. I love that we share a passion for book clubs - but Wow! 20 years. I read mostly PD or middle grade books, so I have no suggestions. Good luck with the selection process.

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    1. Oh Leigh Anne, I still read middle grade books. My friends tell me all the time that I don't need to read them since I'm no longer teaching! I recently finished Hello Universe and am currently reading Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess. If you haven't read it, you should. It's a novel-in-verse, and I'm in love with it. It won the Schneider Family Book Award.

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  10. I'm going to be coming back to this post too. My book club, which is about as old as yours, is reading THE NEWCOMERS by Helen Thorpe. I have also heard lots of good things about BENEATH A SCARLET SKY. If you want YA, I loved ALL AMERICAN BOYS.

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    1. The Newcomers is new to me! I'll check it out. A good friend and my PT have both mentioned Beneath A Scarlet Sky. Thanks for jogging my memory on that title.

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  11. I agree that The Great Alone and Beneath a Scarlet Sky were very good. What a great group you are in. Please let us know what you choose.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your faves from the titles mentioned.

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