Greetings all! I am wondering if we could experiment with some lists this week.
I am hoping that some of you would care to share the list of books to be considered by your reading groups for 2010.
My reading group met last Friday for our annual feast and book choosing. We also finally discussed Jane Eyre, and "that Potato book", as one of the members referred to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
In choosing our books, we each bring along our copies of books we are interested in, or copies of reviews. We also have lists of book prize winners. We like to do some Australian novels, some young adult fiction, and a classic.
Here is what we have come up with for this year:
Young Adult: Then, Morris Gleitzman, a follow-up to Once; "I had a plan for me and Zelda: Pretend to be someone else; Find new parents; Be safe forever; Then the Nazis came."
Classic: Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens, "It is the story of the Nicklebys (Nicholas, his mother and sister Kate) who have been left penniless by the death of Mr Nickleby. In their poverty and desperation they seek help from Nicholas's uncle - the difficult and oppressive Ralph Nickleby who is a usurer."
Man Booker Award winner: Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel, "Wolf Hall is set in the 1520s and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to prominence in the Tudor court. Hilary Mantel has been praised by critics for writing a rich, absorbingly readable historical novel."
Australian Novel: The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas, in which "he explores the different reactions of friends at a barbecue to a child being slapped."
Non-Fiction: Dreams from my Father, Barack Obama, "In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American." It was published before he became President.
Miscellaneous:
Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood, her latest. Our reading group reads all her books. "Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners " a religion devoted to the melding of science, religion, and nature " has long predicted a disaster. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life."
Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery. One of our members is heading to France, and wanted to "get in the mood" ☺ "The main character in this book, Renée Michel, the concierge of a Paris apartment, also knows a thing or two about philosophy that the wealthy tenants would be surprised she knew."
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom. An oldie, but one we missed the first time round. "Mitch rediscovered his mentor Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class': lessons in how to live."
The Road, Cormac McCarthy, highly recommended to me, but very bleak. In fact it feels similar to Year of the Flood. "In The Road a boy and his father lurch across the cold, wretched, wet, corpse-strewn, ashen landscape of a post-apocalyptic world. The imagery is brutal even by Cormac McCarthy's high standards for despair. It would be pure misery if not for its stunning, savage beauty."
The Secret Scripture, Sebastian Barry, "a lyrical and energetic novel of troubled Irish memories."
So, what is your reading group reading in 2010? How do you choose your books? Any comments about our list?
I will be responding to your comments, but then will take a break over Summer = there is plenty of reading to do to prepare for this blog next year ☺
Happy Christmas and may all your reading stimulate and satisfy.
