Bookworm Wednesday

What books would make great book club picks?

I truly struggled with this topic because I have never really taken part in a book club but I understand the concept, in some ways, it was weird that I picked this topic for my own challenge but at least it made me think more. I could only pick six books instead of my normal ten because for me, book clubs mean you discuss the book you read and these six are the only ones I thought could generate a truly great discussion because my other books are too niche in my opinion or are just some fluffy entertainment.

Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven was a really interesting book because it shows the destruction of society as well as before and after the fall which would make an interesting topic to discuss in a book club because it would be interesting to find out what others think they would do if society fell or what they would do to survive in the post-fall world, would they kill to survive or just hide.  I'd also loved to discuss the elements that made it stand out for me against other dystopian books, with multiple narrators and different points of time being covered because it's interesting to see something new.

For a debut novel, I thought Giovanna Fletcher's Billy and Me was extraordinary because of the story that had this realistic feel to it, as if taken from her own experiences, and full of wonderful characters that help shape the protagonist Sophie.  Debut novels are the type of books I think book clubs should read prior to release because they could give feedback on strengths and weaknesses and maybe editors and publishers do this.  This book and others by Fletcher are fantastic and would make great discussions in book clubs.

Before it started to get repetitive, the Stephanie Plum series was great and though it may not spark any great debates, I would love to share One for the Money because it introduced some really interesting, and wacky, characters and I want to share that as it was given to me by a friend.  It also leads to another great series so on that point alone I would recommend it to a book club just so more people know about it and get to know Stephanie and her eccentric family and friends.

Whiskey Sour, the first in J.A. Konrath's Jack Daniels series intrigued me because it was interesting to read a book with a female protagonist by a male author and see the story from the point of view from the killer as well as Jack, the investigating officer.  This allows the reader to see the killer's motive for his crimes - some men just want to watch the world burn - and his opinions on the investigation and Jack herself; while I don't read a lot of crime books like this, I assume this is unusual as most of the ones I've glanced at seem to just follow the investigation.  This could make a great discussion about the crime genre in general.

Life and death are hard topics anyway because it stirs up emotions we don't want to think about really but when kids are involved, especially younger siblings, it gets even harder, or it does for me because I am the older sibling and The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood really hit home for me as it made me think about what I would do if something, heaven forbid, happened to my kid sister.  Book clubs could discuss how they would handle Charlie's situation, clinging onto the memory of his kid brother but trying to move on at the same time as he gets to know Tess.  It's a wonderful book with a great story and while the story was altered to make it suitable for a Zac Efron film, it was fairly loyal adaptation.  This is also one of the books that I lend to my friends because I love it so much so it's probably the reason I chose it for a book club read.

Take Me There by Carolee Dean is different from the other books I chose because it is a young adult fiction book, rather than adult, but sometimes the two overlap.  Take Me There is about one young man's struggles with severe mistakes he's made and coming face to face with his estranged father.  It's a beautiful story but heartbreaking in the end and I would love to know others' opinions on it and discuss it with them as it fascinated me when I read because it was so different from what I expected.

Book club picks to me are something that should spark conversation and I think these ones would do that as there's a certain quality about them that makes them interesting in some way for me and that's what book clubs should be: somewhere you can share an interesting book and have some kind of discussion.

Bookworm out!