10 Picks For Your Book Club

Facing a whole year of "what should we read" in your book club? Our amazingly talented intern Narvan has some suggestions, she's come up with a great list of 10 books that would be perfect for any after-dinner club discussions. Don't forget, too, that Book Club Girl always has amazing resources if you're stuck for suggestions.

10 Picks For Your Book Club

Ringing in the New Year means twelve more months of new books for your book club. It's never an easy decision, and there are always so many books to choose from. Can’t decide between the classics, the undiscovered treasures,or the can’t-put-them-down nail biters? Then don’t. With tales of love, family, marriage, illness, heartbreak and even slavery -- the one quality these 10 books share is irresistibly good storytelling.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Wally Lamb’s two previous novels, She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, were picked by the exclusive Oprah’s Book Club. Now, 10 years later, Lamb is back with another unforgettable novel, The Hour I First Believed. Caelum Quirk’s epic saga takes him from the farms of Connecticut to the Columbine shooting and back again. With enough drama and hot topics to supply a year’s worth of discussions, The Hour I First Believed cements Lamb as an undeniable master of the book club book.

Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
The latest book in the As Seen in Hello! program, Kallos’s novel is a profound and powerful story of loss, hope, faith, redemption and love. Sing Them Home is a moving portrait of a family whose three grown siblings have never recovered from the disappearance of their mother when they were children. Tragedy between the pages might just be the thing for your book club this winter.

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh
After a stolen glance on a New England beach in the summer of 1976, Frank McKotch suddenly realizes that something is terribly wrong with his beloved daughter. Her consequent diagnosis brings on a tragedy so expansive that it shatters the McKotch family for decades to come. Jennifer Haigh’s unputdownable novel will have you curled up on the couch for hours.

Shelter Me by Juliette Fay
Four months after her husband’s death, grieving Janie LaMarche is bewildered by the unexpected arrival of a builder contracted to add a porch to her house. Then she realizes the porch was a surprise gift from her late husband. As the porch begins to take shape, so does Janie’s future, as she realizes that life is best faced with the help of others -- even those we least expect to call on, much less learn to love. Shelter Me is a moving debut about a young mother's year of heartbreak, loss, and forgiveness.

At a Loss for Words by Diane Schoemperlen
The writer always gets the last word when it comes to failed relationships -- unless said writer can’t get them down on paper. The heroine of Diane Schoemperlen’s funny, heartbreaking and whirlwind novel suffers from a broken heart that stops her pen short. Who doesn’t want to dish about relationships at book club? At a Loss for Words provides the perfect opening…

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
Life in the suburbs turns out to be anything but idyllic for city slickers Cornelia and Teo, largely thanks to a Stepford-esque next-door neighbour named Piper. When the elusive Lake moves in, Cornelia thinks she has found a kindred spirit and a much-needed friend. But as the story unfolds, the three women become entangled in a web of love, loss, and betrayal -- it’s the literary equivalent of Desperate Housewives, only it’s better.

October by Richard B. Wright
The award-winning author of Clara Callan is back with another memorable best-seller. Faced with the possibility of outliving his own daughter, James Hillyer embarks on an unthinkable journey in this meditation on mortality, childhood, and memory.

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
Beloved author, journalist, international best-seller, UNESCO special counselor, prophet: Paulo Coelho is an irrefutable literary master. And he shows us exactly why with this remarkable story. Twenty-four year-old Veronika has everything to live for, yet she tries to end it all with a handful of pills; when she wakes up in a mental institute, she’s told she has only one week left to live. Inspired by Coelho’s own experiences, Veronika Decides to Die is a tale of renowned opportunity sure to inspire even the most skeptical reader. Look out for the movie (starring Sarah Michelle Gellar) in 2009!

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Lawrence Hill’s excellent and award-winning novel has just been chosen as one of the five books being defended in this year’s Canada Reads. Have your book club get the jump on the discussions and see what all the fuss is about. As Aminata Diallo is taken from her West African village, her amazing life fills up the pages with her unforgettable story.

Native Son by Richard Wright
Native Son established Richard Wright as the Father of Black American Literature, and then it comfortably joined the ranks of the best novels of the 20th century. Born in the 1930s in Chicago’s South Side, Bigger Thomas was always destined for a life of crime. But nothing prepared him for the accidental murder of a white woman and the subsequent police manhunt. Wright’s classic tale is one that continues to resonate as readers explore the themes of social injustice.

Thinking of starting a book club? Here are some resources.

Comments

[Jonita]

I've read five out of these ten titles....all amazing books! Although I don't belong to a book club I'm always looking for interesting titles to read, so I will be checking out some of these for my personal reading. Thanks for the list!