Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write about a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-seventh day of the month is "Priority."
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Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - I liked this book a lot and still think about it, but I'm not sure I fully understood what I was supposed to take from it. Lots of good discussion about this one and I think it's a great book club choice.
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - My book club peeps loved this one. I didn't care for the writing style or the graphic depictions of domestic violence.
The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter - Not a successful choice for our book club since no one but me finished it. I did learn some world history, but it was a slog.
Dark Lover by J. R. Ward - I jokingly recommend this book because this is the first book in a series, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, that actually does follow long-term relationships. I honestly love this series and was pleased that most of my book club members also accepted this book for what it was worth and thought the worldbuilding was interesting.
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster - Beautiful writing, but the structure was just a bit too confusing for us. It was an interesting discussion, but I'm not sure I'd recommend this one.
Writers & Lovers by Lily King - Not a book we enjoyed overly much, but is much beloved by my readers here and in the greater world of book nerds.
In general, I think I'd recommend Cloud Cuckoo Land and Hamnet for other book clubs. I am not sure exactly why so many of them were blah this year, but that's the reality we faced.
Of those I've only read Writers and Lovers. I have heard a lot about Hamnet - do I have it on my list? I will have to check.
ReplyDeleteI found the domestic violence in Hamnet to be excessive, so be warned!
DeleteHow does your club chose the titles and how far in advance? Do you plan it out a year or a few months in advance or go from month to month?
ReplyDeleteIt is a bummer when you hit a string of blahs, especially for a group, but unfortunately that's reading reality. Not every book is a great book and that's OK.
Ha ha ha! We are not an organized bunch. We decide at the end of a meeting what our next book will be. We have a spreadsheet, but no one really looks at it or updates it much. (I just checked and we haven't even updated the "books read" column since the summer. Ha.) I think people generally have one or two books in mind when they get to the end of our meeting and we just hash it out trying to find one that easily available through the library, not a duplicate of the genre we just read, and that sounds like it might have enough to talk about. It's not really systematic.
DeleteI have read none of these, but the two you recommend are on my list. (I already own Cloud Cuckoo Land but haven't read it yet.) Like Birchie, I would love to learn more about your book club and how it functions.
ReplyDeleteOkay, done. I'll write up a post about my book club and how it works and get it out soon.
DeleteCloud Cuckoo Land is definitely worth a read!
Yes, the only one I've read is Writers and Lovers. Cloud Cuckoo Land sounds good though.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone should give CCL a go, although it won't be for everybody. The people in my book club who read audiobooks thought it was super confusing to listen to, though, so if you're an audiobook person, I might steer clear of it.
DeleteThe only one I've "read" is Hamnet, but I couldn't finish it. Too depressing and sad and violent! NOT FOR ME!
ReplyDeletePreach it. I agree with you on Hamnet. It did generate some good discussion, so I think I'd still recommend it for a book club as long as everyone is warned ahead of time.
Delete1, I do not know why I cannot comment on your blog from my iPad or my phone. Clearly it is something on my end, but it means I can only comment when I am at my work computer and not busy doing work. :( Just so you know, I AM reading, just not always commenting because I can't.
ReplyDelete2, I tried to love Hamnet, so many people just adored it. I didn't love it. I am going to try again I think, but we shall see.
1. I have a hard time commenting on blogs when I can't log in to my Google account. I will not hold it against you if you don't have the ability/time to comment. There are a lot of NaBloPoMo folks!
Delete2. I didn't love Hamnet, either, and neither did Elisabeth. You're not alone!