b Dear Ravenous Readers,
I joined a book club a few months ago, and it’s now my turn to choose the book the group will read. I need suggestions for a thought provoking book that will promote a lot of discussion. The women in my group have read many great books, including The Kite Runner, Cutting for Stone, Me Before You, and The Glass Castle among others. We like to read realistic books with strong characters and a great storyline. They can be fiction or non-fiction. What books can you recommend to me?
Signed,
Book Club Newbie
Dear Book Club Newbie,
I’m so glad you asked. Since you enjoyed reading The Glass Castle, you could choose a book by the same author:
The Silver Star generates a lot of discussion about sibling relationships, abandonment, and teenagers learning to live on their own
A good nonfiction choice by another author would be:
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
This book is about the author’s often difficult childhood growing up on farms in Rhodesia, Malawi, and Zambia during the 1970s and 1980s.
Have you heard of our Book Club Kits?
There are over fifty titles available, with 10-12 books in each one. They even include one large print and one audiobook version for book club members who enjoy those formats. Just type “Book Club Kits” in the search bar of our website and they’ll come right up. You can have the book club kits brought to any branch. Just hand the books out to your book club members, and ask them to bring them back to you at the next meeting.
Here are some suggestions of fiction books in our book club kits that will generate a lot of discussion, and have strong characters in them that you will care about:
The Light Between Oceans: Set in Australia, this beautifully written book tells the story of a couple who take care of a lighthouse. A baby washes to shore in a boat, and the couple adopt her. When they go back to the mainland, they must come to terms with who the baby’s birth parents really are.
Commonwealth: Ann Patchett writes an engrossing story about marriage, divorce, and the relationships between step parents and step siblings that spans two generations.
Swing Time is about best friends studying dance covers territory from Northwest London to West Africa. Only one of the friends has talent, so this creates discord in the friendship.
If you’re interested in non-fiction, I recommend the following:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an incredible book about race relations and ethical issues in medical research.
The Boys in the Boat is a page turner about the University of Washington’s rowing team 1936, and how they competed for an Olympic gold medal.
For more book club suggestions, check out these lists from our website:
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my book club. We have been meeting for over 18 years, and have read a large variety of books. Here are some books that we have especially enjoyed reading and discussing.
Here are some more books that we read in our book club that were popular.
If you are looking for a good book to read for your book club, here are some suggestions--enjoy!
Happy reading and discussing!
LM for Ravenous Readers
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