Recommended Reads for Book Clubs – June 2017
With so many new books out there, which should you pick for your next book club read? The following recommended reads are very different in style and subject matter but all guarantee a great book club discussion.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Since its first publication in 1985, Atwood’s chilling dystopian novel has never gone out of fashion. It has, once again, reappeared at the top of the book charts thanks to two factors. Firstly, the screening of the American TV adaptation, with which Atwood collaborated. Secondly, the disturbing parallels that have been drawn between the misogynistic society of Gilead in Atwood’s novel and the sexist attitudes expressed by the new President of the USA. If your book club has yet to get round to The Handmaid’s Tale, now is the perfect time. Read it and discuss how the novel compares to both the TV adaptation and the troubling views expressed by President Trump.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
When A Gentleman in Moscow was declared to be the new must-read for book clubs, I was sceptical. After all, if it’s so popular can it really be any good? On reading Towles’ novel, however, I realised that it is popular for all the right reasons. Clever, quirky and fiendishly well-written, it is a long way from the formulaic crowd pleaser that I feared.
If, like me, you have resisted Amor Towles’ book club smash simply because of the hype, then you are missing out. A refreshing tonic to contemporary life, A Gentleman in Moscow is a celebration of old-fashioned courtesy and good manners. What’s that I hear you cry? But does this charming, life-affirming novel make light of the horrors of post-revolutionary Russia? Well, I will leave it up to you and your fellow book club members to decide. If you need any back-up, there’s an excellent Study Guide for Book Clubs to accompany the novel. What more could you ask for?
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
If you loved A Man Called Ove, this wonderful debut novel should definitely be at the top of your to-read list. Quirky, hilarious and heartbreaking, the story follows an eccentric and, ultimately very endearing, literary heroine.
Painfully at odds with the modern world, Eleanor is socially unaware and finds the behaviour of others utterly baffling. When she falls in love with someone from afar, however, she does her best to transform herself into a ‘normal’ woman. Honeyman has the reader howling with laughter at the absurdities of modern society one moment and then crying at the depths of Eleanor’s loneliness the next.
Despite the novel’s Scottish setting, Reese Witherspoon (who has proved herself no fool when it comes to picking production projects) has already snapped up the movie rights.
Golden Hill by Frances Spufford
Frances Spufford’s fantastic first novel follows the adventures of Mr Smith, a mysterious stranger who arrives in New York in 1746 – a time when the great city was nothing more than a small town. Smith becomes the object of small town speculation when it turns out that he possesses an order for a thousand pounds. Is he a fraudster or the genuine article?
Acclaimed by critics across the board, Spufford’s novel has not yet achieved the popular success it deserves. This may be because potential readers are put off by the eighteenth century subject matter. The author not only recreates the eighteenth century in Golden Hill but also emulates the style of an eighteenth century novel and readers may be forgiven for thinking that this sounds a little stuffy. Don’t let this put you off, however, as the result is a rollicking riot. The pace of the story is frenzied as Mr Smith is catapulted from one hair-raising escapade to another and the tale is topped off by a fabulous twist at the end.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
If you haven’t read it already, Ann Patchett’s latest novel is now out in paperback. Spanning fifty years, the novel traces the way a drunken kiss at a party changes the lives of two families forever.
Patchett’s most autobiographical novel to date, Commonwealth is loosely based upon the author’s childhood experiences when her own parents divorced. Subtle and beautifully observed, it explores the knock-on effects of divorce without being overly judgemental. As a child of divorced parents myself, I don’t think I have ever come across another book that is quite so perceptive about the unique dynamics of step-families. For groups who decide to read Commonwealth, a Study Guide for Book Clubs is now available.
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