My Book Club’s Picks for the Year

On Tuesday my book club met via Zoom to discuss our book for the month and to pick our list of books for the upcoming year. With apologies to my friends (I should have asked everyone to smile for this pic…I promise we’re a happy group!), this is what book club looks like in the age of Coronavirus.

The way this meeting works is that everyone brings two or three books to choose from and we go one by one, (very informally) presenting our picks, and the group makes the final decision. The goal is to try to have a good mix of fiction and non-fiction, light and heavy when we’re done.

Here is our list for 2020-21. These links are affiliate links (more here).

Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict

Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God by Sarah Bessey

The Library Book by Susan Orlean (I’m especially excited about this one…it’s been on my TBR list for a while.)

The Last Bathing Beauty by Amy Sue Nathan

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore (My pick.)

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (We read Ordinary Grace by this author and loved it.)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Marybeth always picks a classic to keep us honest!)

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

50 Things That Aren’t My Fault: Essays from the Grown-Up Years by Cathy Guisewite (By the author of the Cathy comic strip; remember her?)

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

I’ve mentioned before that this is my favorite book club meeting of the year. It feels like the first day of school to me, when you get a fresh syllabus. And the timing couldn’t be better since we all have so much time to read right now.

Kindle Deals

While we’re on the subject of books, I wanted to let you know about a couple of books that I’ve read and can recommend that are part of Amazon’s Kindle Deals right now.

From the description: “The Good House by Ann Leary is funny, poignant, and terrifying. A classic New England tale that lays bare the secrets of one little town, this spirited novel will stay with you long after the story has ended.”

10% Happier Revised Edition: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story by Dan Harris. If you’re curious about meditation, this memoir by Nightline anchor Dan Harris is an interesting and entertaining way to learn about it. Dan’s journey began when he had a panic attack live on the air. He doesn’t promise miracles, just that he found a way to be 10% happier. I liked that.

Supporting Independent Bookstores

Finally, I’d like to make a pitch for helping our independent bookstores during this time. Like so many small businesses, they are heavily impacted.

My indie, Rainy Day Books, is offering free shipping for orders over $75 and $5 shipping for orders under that amount. I just ordered Anne Bogel’s Don’t Overthink It and A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler (one of their staff picks) from them.

If audiobooks are your thing, Libro.fm is a way to purchase and download audiobooks while supporting independent bookstores. They offer both monthly subscription and a la carte purchasing options.

I hope this post has found you and your family safe and well. Are you reading anything good right now?