I don’t know if it’s the pandemic, making us want to find new ways to connect, or what, but I’ve been getting a lot of requests at work and from friends for book club reading recommendations.
Here’s my best general advice:
Pick a reasonably sized book, about 300 pages, give or take.
Find an imperfect book.
The first item is self-explanatory. Unless your group is specifically reading something challenging, which can be a wonderful, useful thing to do together,1 people tend to get intimidated by door-stopper novels. Your discussion will be over before it begins.
As for the second point, nothing kills discussion faster than complete agreement. A great book is not inherently a discussable book. Your goal in picking a book club read shouldn’t be something that everyone will love. You want something to provoke debate and conversation. You want unlikeable narrators (why don’t we like them?) or shifts in point of view (why is this necessary?). You want topics that spark personal reflection (when this happened to me …) or new takes on old stories (why tell it this way?)
Now, you don’t want something everyone hates either. At one meeting, a book roundly deemed terrible still will generate more discussion than one beloved by all; however, pick enough of these one-star wonders, and you lose your readers.
Think about your book club: who’s in it and what’s the real purpose? Are you a bunch of Very Serious Readers or a group of Book Skimmers & Chit-Chatters? Both are fine, but you know, each is going to want a different imperfect book. For the former, I’d suggest Lincoln in The Bardo by George Saunders — gorgeous writing, weird structure — while for the latter, I’d pick The Dutch House by Ann Patchett — family drama with a hasty ending.
Here are a handful of other books I’ve had great discussions with:
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
There, There by Tommy Orange
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
If you’re in a book club, I’d love to know what you’re reading. And if you ever need a book club rec, I’m happy to help.
Reading links
Presented without further comment: “… anyone who thinks all books are founts of wisdom clearly hasn’t read enough books.”
A man discovered Jane Austen’s novels are wonderful. And then he wrote about it. (If you know me, you’re probably imagining my eye roll right now, but really, I’m happy for him and glad he’s exploring the gendered way writers are sometimes categorized.)
Anyone else have an obsession with the thesaurus? My fourth-grade teacher, Miss Johnston, required all of us to have our own copy, and I fell in love instantly with this treasury of words. It seemed so much better, livelier than the dictionary. I still have my first thesaurus, the paperback cover ripped and my name written inside in painful cursive. Anyway, that’s a long way of saying I found this story about Peter Mark Roget, of Roget’s Thesaurus fame, to be fascinating.
I’m eagerly and impatiently awaiting the new Lauren Groff novel, Matrix. In the meantime, she’s published a couple great short stories in The New Yorker: The Wind and What’s The Time, Mr. Wolf? Both explore violence and masculinity, and be warned, the first one, especially, is a difficult read. The way she creates tension by playing with time, structure, and things left unsaid is brilliant.
So, this list is called “15 great books that speak to the lives of middle-aged women,” but I think we can do better. Ideas?
What I’m Reading2
Recent Favorites: I’m breaking with tradition and giving you three, very different but all good, and so maybe one of them will be perfect for you right now.
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of The Sackler Dynasty, Patrick Radden Keefe: This is a feat of reporting and writing. It’s compelling and infuriating, and it raises questions not just about the Sackler’s role in the opioid crisis, but about American philanthropy, government and marketing.
Gold Diggers, Sanjena Sathian: Fresh and thoughtful. I keep describing this as a 21st century immigrant, suburban Catcher in The Rye because it explores similar themes of the pressures and angst of adolescence and young adulthood, asking what success and happiness really mean. (Also, the plot and everything else is totally different, but this had a similar feel to me as We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, one of my favorite reads of last year.)
People We Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry: I didn’t love this quite as much as last year’s Beach Read, but Henry has again produced a stellar beach read. Light, satisfying and just smart enough.
Up Next: Libertie, Kaitlyn Greenidge: I’ve been seeing it compared favorably to Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, which I loved. Just started it and so far so good.
What are you reading?
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Leading “big book” discussions on challenging books like The Odyssey and Moby Dick is a big part of my job at The Mercantile Library. We had 60+ people signed up to read Anna Karenina with us this spring!
Housekeeping note: Throughout this newsletter, I use affiliate links from Bookshop.org. If you purchase a book through these links, I will earn a small fee that I’ll likely use to purchase more books, usually for giveaways. I am not paid in any way for my thoughts on these books
I’m about 3/4 of the way through The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. It’s good!
My favorite day of the month: the arrival of your newsletter! Many thanks for your thoughtful commentary and links. I'm currently reading "Moonflower Murders," right on the heels of "Magpie Murders." What wonderfully crafted mysteries!