Dear Book Club Members,

Sometimes our group wIll read a wonderful book that we all enjoy------yet it doesn't  inspire any great discussions.  We are looking for books to talk about!  Which book(s) have inspired the best conversations and discussions in your book club meetings?

We read "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne a few months ago.  Not only did the book inspire great conversation but it also became a keeper on my shelf!

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

These were two books that our club really enjoyed and has some lively discussions about.  Here's our club's website <a href="http://www.grinsbookclub.com/">GRINS</a>.  There's a list of the books we've read.  Wish we had time to write reviews of these books.  maybe in the future.

Emily, I'll have to check out The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Hmm what happened to my link?   http://www.grinsbookclub.com/

Some of the books we read that allowed for a good discussion were:

Family Romance, by John Lanchester

Devil in the White City, Erik Larson

A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly

The Last Town on Earth, by Thomas Mullen

The Ghost Writer, by John Harwood

You're Wearing That?, by Deborah Tannen

We had some good discussions from the following books:

The Diary of Mattie Spenser - Sandra Dallas

My Antonia - Willa Cather

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Thank You For Smoking - Christopher Buckley

Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegut

The Giver - Lois Lowry

Girl With A Pearl Earring - Chevalier

The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson

One book that I read recently that would be a wonderful book for discussion is "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.  I didn't particularly care for the book but a lot of people loved it.  It's been on the NY Bestseller list for some time now.

Thanks for the suggestions! 

Any of the books mentioned controversial?  Controversy always inspires great discussions.  We had a great dicussion over THE LIFE OF PI.  Half of the group loved it......the other half hated  the book!

For controversy, read Reading Lolita in Tehran and Lolita at the same time.  My mother's book club did that and hashed it all out for hours.

Other good discussions: On Beauty by Zadie Smith; and An Unquiet Mind by Kay Jamieson

Our bookclub read Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard.  We critiqued the heck out of it and had many bones to pick about her writing, the plot, etc., but the positive thing we all agreed on is that it WAS a pager turner.

I still think the Road would be a great book for discussion.  One reason is that you have to leave a lot to your imagination as to what is happening.

My bookclub had a great discussion on Angry Housewives Eating Bon BOns.  That was a fast and good read!!  Middlesex was another great discussion!

Hope these help!