voguedotcom
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
I'm Dani - a returning RiSi 'Golden Oldie'
Posts: 202 
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Post by voguedotcom on Aug 29, 2020 12:06:49 GMT
I've been a member of a book club for around 6 years nows, and we've been a very successful little group, choosing a wide variety of books (mostly novels, it has to be said) from every imaginable genre. It's been a great group for broadening our literary horizons. That said, we do sometimes struggle to choose books that we are able to get a really good discussion out of! It's easy to say whether or not we liked a book (and we are pretty good at choosing books that most of the group enjoys), but we're not always able to get a very lengthy discussion out of them. Books we've read recently where we've managed to get a really good discussion going have included: - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Power by Naomi Alderman
Most of the books we read, though, we struggle to get a huge discussion out of. Does anyone have any good book club read recommendations? |
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Post by evie1612 on Aug 29, 2020 12:29:22 GMT
I've been a member of a book club for around 6 years nows, and we've been a very successful little group, choosing a wide variety of books (mostly novels, it has to be said) from every imaginable genre. It's been a great group for broadening our literary horizons. That said, we do sometimes struggle to choose books that we are able to get a really good discussion out of! It's easy to say whether or not we liked a book (and we are pretty good at choosing books that most of the group enjoys), but we're not always able to get a very lengthy discussion out of them. Books we've read recently where we've managed to get a really good discussion going have included: - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Power by Naomi Alderman
Most of the books we read, though, we struggle to get a huge discussion out of. Does anyone have any good book club read recommendations? I recently read Nina X - Ewan Morrison Nina X has never been outside. She has never met another child. Nina X has no books, no toys and no privacy. Nina X has no idea what the outside world is like. Nina X has a lot to learn. Nina X has no mother and no father; she has Comrade Chen, and Comrades Uma, Jeni and Ruth. Her closest emotional connection is with the birds she sees when she removes the plasterboard that covers her bedroom window. Comrade Chen has named her The Project; she is being raised entirely separated from the false gods of capitalism and the cult of the self. He has her record everything in her journal, to track her thoughts. To keep her ideology pure, her words are erased, over and over again. But that was before. Now Nina is in Freedom, and all the rules have changed. She has to remember that everything is opposite to what she was told, and yet Freedom seems to be a very confusing and dangerous place. I found it very thought provoking and I’m still thinking about the book over a week after I finished it. Not my usual genre but I’m glad I read it. Maybe would make a good group read! |
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voguedotcom
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
I'm Dani - a returning RiSi 'Golden Oldie'
Posts: 202
|
Post by voguedotcom on Aug 29, 2020 17:03:11 GMT
I've been a member of a book club for around 6 years nows, and we've been a very successful little group, choosing a wide variety of books (mostly novels, it has to be said) from every imaginable genre. It's been a great group for broadening our literary horizons. That said, we do sometimes struggle to choose books that we are able to get a really good discussion out of! It's easy to say whether or not we liked a book (and we are pretty good at choosing books that most of the group enjoys), but we're not always able to get a very lengthy discussion out of them. Books we've read recently where we've managed to get a really good discussion going have included: - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Power by Naomi Alderman
Most of the books we read, though, we struggle to get a huge discussion out of. Does anyone have any good book club read recommendations? I recently read Nina X - Ewan Morrison Nina X has never been outside. She has never met another child. Nina X has no books, no toys and no privacy. Nina X has no idea what the outside world is like. Nina X has a lot to learn. Nina X has no mother and no father; she has Comrade Chen, and Comrades Uma, Jeni and Ruth. Her closest emotional connection is with the birds she sees when she removes the plasterboard that covers her bedroom window. Comrade Chen has named her The Project; she is being raised entirely separated from the false gods of capitalism and the cult of the self. He has her record everything in her journal, to track her thoughts. To keep her ideology pure, her words are erased, over and over again. But that was before. Now Nina is in Freedom, and all the rules have changed. She has to remember that everything is opposite to what she was told, and yet Freedom seems to be a very confusing and dangerous place. I found it very thought provoking and I’m still thinking about the book over a week after I finished it. Not my usual genre but I’m glad I read it. Maybe would make a good group read! That definitely looks intriguing! I've added it to my little list 🙂 Thank you! |
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Post by evie1612 on Aug 30, 2020 20:32:58 GMT
Just started The Painted Bridge - Wendy Wallace and noticed in the back there’s a guide for reading groups bit, so might be a good reading group choice 🤔
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Post by windysisters on Sept 2, 2020 6:55:34 GMT
I'm in a local book group too which has been going for several years. I'm away from home at the moment but when I'm back at the weekend I'll look through our reads and pick out the ones which gave us the most discussion
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wyres
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
Posts: 351
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Post by wyres on Sept 2, 2020 16:04:10 GMT
I am in 2 book groups at the moment.
One of them is linked to my local Library and we tend to struggle with books as the group has been going for some time and have read a lot of the books that are on offer. The other problem is that other groups linked to other Libraries are also using the same selection and we can't always get the books that we want. We don't tend to have huge discussions on the books either, but it is interesting to listen to what others thought of the books.
The other is a spin off from a WI group that I was in. We are currently reading Lorna Doone, which I haven't started yet. Again the discussions aren't always very lengthy as we tend to chat about other things as well.
I will have a look back at some of the books that we have recently read and see if I can give you any inspiration.
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voguedotcom
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
I'm Dani - a returning RiSi 'Golden Oldie'
Posts: 202
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Post by voguedotcom on Sept 3, 2020 11:23:02 GMT
I'm in a local book group too which has been going for several years. I'm away from home at the moment but when I'm back at the weekend I'll look through our reads and pick out the ones which gave us the most discussion Oh, that would be wonderful, thank you! We have our next discussion on Tuesday next week, which is on Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. I think we'll get a good chat out of that one. |
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voguedotcom
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
I'm Dani - a returning RiSi 'Golden Oldie'
Posts: 202
|
Post by voguedotcom on Sept 3, 2020 11:27:00 GMT
I am in 2 book groups at the moment. One of them is linked to my local Library and we tend to struggle with books as the group has been going for some time and have read a lot of the books that are on offer. The other problem is that other groups linked to other Libraries are also using the same selection and we can't always get the books that we want. We don't tend to have huge discussions on the books either, but it is interesting to listen to what others thought of the books. The other is a spin off from a WI group that I was in. We are currently reading Lorna Doone, which I haven't started yet. Again the discussions aren't always very lengthy as we tend to chat about other things as well. I will have a look back at some of the books that we have recently read and see if I can give you any inspiration. That would be good, thanks! I find that with some books we talk about other things more than we talk about the book - tends to be the books where we don't have as much to say (other than "I liked it" or "I didn't like it"). We find ourselves just talking about other books we've read or what we've been watching, or whatever's been in the news. But then we have really good, lengthy discussions about other books (but they are rarer, unfortunately). |
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Post by kaydee23 on Sept 4, 2020 22:04:37 GMT
Have you read Q by Christina Dalcher? She wrote Vox which I haven't yet read but Q is another dystopian book - I thought it a chilling and thought provoking read and I would have thought a good one for a book group to discuss
Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state’s new elite schools. Her daughters are exactly like her: beautiful, ambitious, and perfect. A good thing, since the recent mandate that’s swept the country is all about perfection.
Now everyone must undergo routine tests for their quotient, Q, and any children who don’t measure up are placed into new government schools. Instead, teachers can focus on the gifted.
Elena tells herself it’s not about eugenics, not really, but when one of her daughters scores lower than expected and is taken away, she intentionally fails her own test to go with her.
But what Elena discovers is far more terrifying than she ever imagined…
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voguedotcom
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
I'm Dani - a returning RiSi 'Golden Oldie'
Posts: 202
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Post by voguedotcom on Sept 6, 2020 10:04:20 GMT
Have you read Q by Christina Dalcher? She wrote Vox which I haven't yet read but Q is another dystopian book - I thought it a chilling and thought provoking read and I would have thought a good one for a book group to discuss Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state’s new elite schools. Her daughters are exactly like her: beautiful, ambitious, and perfect. A good thing, since the recent mandate that’s swept the country is all about perfection. Now everyone must undergo routine tests for their quotient, Q, and any children who don’t measure up are placed into new government schools. Instead, teachers can focus on the gifted. Elena tells herself it’s not about eugenics, not really, but when one of her daughters scores lower than expected and is taken away, she intentionally fails her own test to go with her. But what Elena discovers is far more terrifying than she ever imagined… I haven't read Q, but I have read Vox, which I enjoyed. This sounds really interesting! I think I may suggest this to the group and see what they think 🙂 |
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Post by windysisters on Sept 14, 2020 13:53:49 GMT
Remembered I hadn't come back with the promised list!
Books we've read over the last 18 months which had lively discussions were:
The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse
All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
The Haunting of Henry Twist by Rebecca F. John
Also, two I've read in the last year which I think would be good as they have very topical subjects
When the Floods Came by Clare Morrall
Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton
In the past we have read a few classics like The Great Gatsby, The Woman in White and even Little Dorritt (although I ducked out of reading that one) and they always have a great discussion.
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Post by pennylane on Sept 15, 2020 17:06:23 GMT
Some books my group has read that had great discussions after include -
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde
The Other Half of Augusta Hope by Joanna Glen
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Some I have read this last year that I think might be suitable -
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
The Sun Does Shine by Ray Anthony Hinton (non-ficton)
The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson
The Migration by Helen Marshall
The Familiars by Stacy Halls
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor (non-fiction) by Adam Kay
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