South Shore Readers discussion

What books would you like the group to read in 2014? (Can you believe it?!?! 20141?!) Post your ideas here. We will vote at the meetings.

Authors: Please try to avoid the temptation to do self-promotion in this thread.

General guidelines: book should be available in paperback and be under 400 pages.

See the 2013 version of this topic here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Our selections for the year are....

January: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
February: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
March: A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
April: The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
May: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
June: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
July: The Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly
August: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
September: Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson
October: Houdini Heart by Ki Longfellow
November: The Round House by Louise Erdrich

I've moved over our ideas list from the 2013 ideas topic.

Here are our remaining un-selected suggestions from our 2012 topic.

CONTEMPORARY FICTION

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood

Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

I Couldn't Love You More by Jillian Medoff

Love and Other Near-Death Experiences by Mil Millington

Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories by Edith Pearlman

Mermaid in Chelsea Creek by Michelle Tea

ON THE SPOOKY/CREEPY SIDE
Affinity by Sarah Waters
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

OLD SCHOOL LITERATURE (well, 10 years or older)
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty


NON-FICTION
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back by Claire Fontaine

Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson

Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr

Slackjaw by Jim Knipfel

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman

A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France by Caroline Moorehead

The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice by Rebecca Musser

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai

LONGER READS (500+ pages)

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (720 pages)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 600+

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami 925 pages

can i add "the interestings" when it comes out in paperback? its a hefty novel, but a quick read. plus, entertainment weekly added it to the list of most influential books of 2013.

I'd love to read The Interestings! adding to the list now.

And here are a few lists for inspiration.

NPR's Best Books of 2013: http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2013/

New York Times 100 most notable books of 2013: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

GoodReads Choice Winners & Nominees: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceaward...

Books being released as movies in 2014: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalder...

We talked about reading The Robber Bride soon. Lynn, are you away for March or April? We can do it when you can come since it was your suggestion.

I've been feeling some Neil Gaiman, personally, and want to read The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I'm going to make a meeting comeback!

the robber bride is PERFECT. March or April. happy day. The Ocean at the end of the Lane is another lovely one (maybe april or may). Lit for nonfiction ( may or june). A land more kind than home (june or july)? There goes my book club wish-list schedule.

The Interestings was mentioned in a few posts earlier... it is coming out in paperback on March 25th.

Another for later on: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

I loved Kavalier & Clay!

We will finalize our list of next picks at our February 23rd meeting. So get your ideas in now!

our next 2 books are selected...

March: A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
April: The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

and our May book is Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Has anyone read The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel? My mom read this one in her book club and really enjoyed it.

I have not. We should add it!

Another one that I've heard good things about is The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.

At this weekend's meeting we will select our next batch of books.

I feel like we are overdue for a non fiction read. Everything so far this year has been fiction. Anyone know of any memoirs or other non fiction that is supposed to be good and might be a good beach read for the summer months?

"What I was doing while you were breeding" is at the top of my list. Seems delightful.

That sounds good.

Here's a list from Flavorwire about new non-fiction books to read this summer: http://flavorwire.com/457770/summer-r... There are a few on there that sound interesting to me.

Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward

Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, And 3 RVs On Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure by David Rosenfelt

Shocked: My Mother, Schiaparelli, and Me by Patricia Volk

To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care by Cris Beam

Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine by Paul A. Offit

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by

Did we read the Kitchen House as a group? I know I read it but can't remember if it was with you guys.

I'd like to suggest Moms Who Drink and Swear as a non fiction option!

I read kitchen house too. We might have read it as part of this group. I'll have to dig back thru the group shelves once I'm on a real computer.

Just looked at how I shelved Kitchen House and yes we did read it in this group a few years ago.

Here's a list of 22 Books you Should Read This Summer. Some have been around awhile but others are more recent. Box Girl might be good as a nonfiction selection.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinlarosa/22...

We're reading "My Brain on Fire" for the brain injury book club we do at work for continuing ed credit. It looks pretty good.

I'm reading Brain on Fire for another book club next month as well. Just attempting a possible dual purpose read. ;)

We get to pick our next book(s) this Sunday.

From the list Joanie posted above, I wouldn't mind reading: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Into the Wild, The Cuckoo's Calling, and The last summer of the Camper-downs

Into the Wild by Jon K? a NOVA kid done wrong..

Yeah that guy. It's one of those books I've been meaning to read for years. I read his other book Into Thin Air and enjoyed it.

We've selected our next two books...

July: The Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly
August: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer


For our September and October selections we are going to pick based on a theme...so for our September book start thinking of and suggesting (in this topic) books about drugs & addiction. For our October book, start thinking about books that are creepy or spooky and suggest them here.

September Book ideas (Drug-related books)
Requiem for a Dream
The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star ;)
Less Than Zero
Smack
Permanent Midnight
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Cruddy (graphic novel)

For September, I would like to nominate Jesus' son" by Denis Johnson. The writing is concise and potent

Susan, that's awesome! Ive read a snippet of it, and it's not a book that seeks redemption or forgiveness. It seeks hope among the hopeless and wretched.

That does sound good. I got my list from some listopia here on goodreads.

Here are some possibilities for October's scary book:

Affinity by Sarah Waters
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Joanie, I love all three of those ideas! I saw "let the right one in" (Swedish and US versions both) and would love any of the above. So excited!

Have you guys read the Shining in the book club yet?

We haven't read The Shining as part of this group. I know that a few of the regular members have already read it. I haven't read it yet myself though.

Has anyone ever suggested Hopeless by Colleen Hoover? It is not my usual genre but it was incredible!

Have we picked September yet?

I think Jesus' Son on top running

Our September selection is the short story collection Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson.


For October we will pick a spooky or creepy read so post your suggestions here. It doesn't have to be supernatural spooky, it could just be about a super creepy or odd situation or person. Keep in mind the general guidelines that it should be 400 pages or less and ideally is available in paperback. Post your suggestions here!

Some creepy/dark reads to get us started with our brainstorming. The first 3 were suggested by Joanie, Shining was suggested by Lisa and the others I pulled form various creepy/dark listopias and author recommendations here on good reads.

ON THE SPOOKY/CREEPY SIDE
Affinity by Sarah Waters
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

The Shining by Stephen King

Burnt Tongues edited by Chuck Palahniuk
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
Night Shift by Stephen King
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Houdini Heart by Ki Longfellow
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
Apocalypse Cow by Michael Logan
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is awesome. So is The Haunting of Hill House also by Shirley Jackson. They're both really short too.

Ooh, that sounds great!

We've selected our next two books!
October: Houdini Heart by Ki Longfellow
November: Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs

next on deck: think of your selections for our long (500+ pages) winter read for our January meeting.

Ok, so neither Houdini Heart or Southern Gods is available through the OCLN library network. Houdini Heart also isn't available in the whole Massachusetts Library Network through the virutal catalog. There is one copy of Southern Gods in Beverly that we all might be able to fight over. Not sure how people feel about no option other than buying the book.

What do we win for selecting two books that are difficult to get from the library?!?

One difficult and one impossible! Leave it to us.

I'd like to add Life After Life by Kate Atkinson as a potential read (probably for 2015 at this point.)

I would love that! I keep checking that one out of the library and never get around to reading it.