If you know me you know I love working at the library! One of the perks is knowing books that patrons and book club members like. It's fun to be able to pass on recommendations to friends when they ask. Here is a copy of my latest email to a friend who runs a book club in Sinking Spring (yes, a real place), Pennsylvania.
The latest books we've read and loved:
"A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles - everyone loved it; I think it's a masterpiece.
"Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng - I just finished it and we'll read it in the book club later this year. It's an easy book but lots to discuss. She has another book "Everything I Never Told You" that patrons have liked but the reviews aren't as good as Little Fires.
"Saints for All Occasions" by J. Courney Sullivan -this is about sisters coming to America from Ireland and how the secret they share affects the family throughout the years. We are doing it this month so I'm not sure how the ladies will like it but I really enjoyed it.
"Hillbilly Elegy" by J. D. Vance - a lot of people have already read this but if not, its a good memoir with lots to discuss. It's very topical now with the political divide our country is experiencing.
Three memoirs (not the cookbooks) by Susan Branch - our library system only had nine copies of her three memoirs so I had the ladies read different ones. This was by far the best book club meeting we've ever had. Everyone loved their book and ended up getting the other two so that they could read all of them. The art work is beautiful and probably familiar to you. This was fun and not your typical memoir. The author is about 70 years old so her growing up years were similar to the members of the book club. They are all really delightful!
"News of the World" by Paulette Jiles was good and different than what we usually read. It's set in the West about a Texas Ranger who is supposed to bring a white girl back to her grandparents after she was kidnapped and raised by Indians. The story really stays with you.
Other recent books we've liked are "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown, a non-fiction about the American rowing group that won the Olympics against Hitler's team; "A Man Called Ove", "The Nightingale" and "Our Souls at Night". These are older selections but stand out as being excellent for discussion.
Happy reading!