Book Choices - January to June 2017

Here are our themes and some possible book choices for the next 6 month period.  We will be deciding book choices for January to June 2017 at our NOVEMBER meeting so come prepared!

This is simply our list from 2016 (minus the books we actually read)... if you have an additional suggestion, please add it.  If you remember that we discussed one of these books and definitely decided that we were not interested, please add a comment about which one and why and I will remove it from the list to save us time on decision making.  Thanks!!

·         January - Change Your World... (hostess: Lindsay) an inspirational book that could be a biography or autobiography

         - some options include:

·         Between Gods by Alison Pick... one woman's discovery that she is really Jewish and how she struggles to make sense of her heritage, faith and family in the midst of depression

·         Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng (the true story of one woman's sufferings during the Cultural Revolution in China... see review in July 2010) 

·         Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson (about building schools to educate women in Afganistan)... this book is also interesting in that it has been widely discredited

·         Night by Elie Wiesel (a classic memoir about one teen's struggle to come to terms with guilt and God after surviving the death camps in WWII)

·         I Hate to Leave this Beautiful Place by Howard Norman (a memoir)

·         Queen of the Air by Dean N Jensen (a biography that may inspire a new fitness routine for 2014?!)

·         An Invisible Thread (reminds me of Same Kind of Different As Me)

·         Some Assembly Required (a true story of a woman's first grandson and how he changes her life)

         

·         February - Be My Valentine... (hostess: Marion) In Feb 2012-2016, we had a couples book club meeting on a Friday in mid-February and picked something that we felt quite sure that the guys would enjoy to, as well as  a full meal - appetizers, dinner and dessert- and this went over really well. We need to decide if we are going to continue with a couple’s meeting or not. Some options for a book for the couples meeting include:

·         The Orenda by Joseph Boyden.. Canadian history, big adventure, amazing author

·         A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout (for the girls) and The Price of Life by Nigel Brennan (for the guys)... his and hers versions of their experience of being kidnapped in Somalia

·         The Martian by Andy Weir... on a mission to Mars, one man is left behind - presumed dead - but he isn't.  How will he survive alone until the next Martian mission can rescue him?    (The language is iffy at times, but an engaging read that is sure to spark lots of conversation!) 

·         here are a few manly book club lists to appeal to our guys: for men, top 100 for men,   popular men's books 

·         Do you or your hubby love Duck Dynasty?  How about this one?

·         The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (the story of the brothers of flight and the pivotal role of their sister in bring the dream of flight to life)

        

·         March - Reader's Choice... (hostess: Melissa) we usually give the hostess first dibs here, although anyone with a favorite that they are itching to read with us could step up here.

          - here a master list of favorite book club picks to inspire us!  Maybe a library book club kit? (HPL library kits)

        

·         April - The Lastest Buzz ... (hostess: Shelagh)  the most talked about novels of the year; any genre or age level as long as there is some buzz around the book lately

         - here's the NYT best-seller list to get us started
         - some options include:

·         The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (a murder mystery; a psychological thriller; a heart-pounding, can't put it down read - so the reviews all say, still on the bestseller list from 2015)

·         A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi (who also wrote The Pearl that Broke its Shell)

·         The Wonder by Emma Donoghue.  This is the  author also wrote “The Room” which several  of us have already read, although this book seems very different from "The Room".

·          

·         May - Forgotten Favorites... (hostess: Sherrie) a classic children's novel; sometimes we push the boundaries on "classic" and read the hottest new book for Middle Graders instead.

         - some options include:

·         The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame... another classic with a subtext about the wonder of reading and writing books

·         The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate... a Newbery Medal winner; written as a gorilla's journey.  So well written!

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher... a modern classic for teens dealing with the after math of a suicide

·         Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool... a Newbery Medal Winner; Abeline discovers secrets that change her view of her father and herself; and she changes the town she's visiting too

·         June - Celebrate Canada... (hostess: Tamara) a Canadian author writing a story that takes place in Canada - past or present

         - some options include:

• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• The Birth House by Ami McKay
•  A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Towes
• The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
• other suggestions?