Summer '11 Book Club

Each season I will list ten books. You will pick one, read it, review it and snail mail the review to your partner. I’ll pick genres/themes for each season, and try to include a variety. This time the theme is NOVEL DESTINATIONS. The reason for the large choice list is this: if you get a few chapters in and think “Errrr”, then you can pick another book and have another go. You do need to read the whole book for this swap, but like I said, you have plenty of choices. Remember that the point of this is to read books/genres/authors that you otherwise wouldn’t, even if you have to grit your teeth and bear it. You may pick a book you’ve read before, but that kind of defeats the object, right? But, yes, you can do this.

Every summer, my local library has an Adult Reading program (with prizes and stuff – just like they do for kids). The list below includes some of their wonderful suggestions of books that will transport you to different locations (I took from both the fiction and non-fiction list, so hopefully you will find something to your taste).

Here’s the list :

1. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

2. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

3. Faithful Place by Tana French

4. Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish

5. Waiting by Ha Jin

6. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff

7. Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson

8. My Life in France by Julia Child

9. County Driving by Peter Hessler

10. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Your review should be about one side of printer paper. You should include the following points and anything else you wish:

• Which book you picked and why.

• What the book is about – you can copy out the synopsis if you want.

• What you thought of the book (eg. Would you recommend this book? Would you read it again? Would you read more from that author? Or from the same genre? Is it the type of thing you like, or is it totally new for you? Why or why not would you read more like it? etc.)