Halfvalue: Listmania! - View List "Season Book Club HITS and MISSES!"

Listmania!
Season Book Club HITS and MISSES!

A. E. Willis
Qualifications: Book Club Organizer

A Summer of Faulkner: As I Lay Dying/The Sound and the Fury/Light in August (Oprah's Book Club) by William Faulkner
$18.87 Used & New from: $11.85
Of the 3 books in this Oprah collection, AS I LAY DYING would be my favorite. The other titles are a bit more difficult to grasp (at least for me).

Zorro : A Novel by Isabel Allende
$17.13 Used & New from: $2.68
Isabel Allende's re-telling of the Zorro legend is a wonderful, literate success.

Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides
$9.75 Used & New from: $2.75
Our most successful book club pick, this is the saga of a compelling Greek American family. The odd but utterly fascinating story of Cal Stephanides, born both male and female.

Saturday by Ian McEwan
$16.38 Used & New from: $9.95
Part of the group of post-9/11 literary works. Our club found it good although a bit slow going. A quality book nevertheless.

Specimen Days : A Novel by Michael Cunningham
$16.50 Used & New from: $0.97
This excellent book is actually 3 separate (but interconnected) novelas (In the Machine, The Children's Crusade, Like Beauty), with the thread of Walt Whitman running through it. We enjoyed this pick.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
$8.40 Used & New from: $4.43
Is there anyone left who hasn't read this title? Our group agreed it was an engrossing if sometimes awkward read. We also agreed that the first half was more successful.

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
$15.72 Used & New from: $5.87
Our group was disappointed with this pick. Although amusing in spots, we mostly agreed it seemed lacking somehow. Maybe the English slang didn't translate properly.

The Losers' Club : Complete Restored Edition! by Richard Perez
$10.74 Used & New from: $8.97
A highly unconventional book club pick. Basically a story of a shy loner, in love with an (of course) unavailable girl. There are some Spanish words with a glossary and book club questions in the back

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Vintage Contemporaries) by Mark Haddon
$9.97 Used & New from: $3.49
Another popular book club pick. Deft and precisely written. An autistic 15-year-old sets out to solve a mystery and discovers the truth about his parents. Brilliant little book.

The Mermaid Chair: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd
$15.72 Used & New from: $5.40
Our group was notably disappointed with this title from Sue Monk Kidd.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
$10.78 Used & New from: $1.49
Our group agreed this title was so much better than The Mermaid Chair.

Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson
$14.95 Used & New from: $5.54
A good book club selection, although not exactly a laugh riot. Reads more like non-fiction, a bit heavy. Okay, it won the Pulitzer.

The Time Traveler's Wife (Harvest Book) by Audrey Niffenegger
$10.78 Used & New from: $5.98
We all enjoyed this light-hearted and inventive comic romance featuring a Chicago librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
$10.78 Used & New from: $2.28
Another popular book club pick. Remarkably well written. A story of survival and a medition on faith.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
$15.72 Used & New from: $9.05
Our group HATED this selection. Repellent stories full of self-loathing. Most of us couldn't get halfway through it before waving the white flag.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
$12.97 Used & New from: $1.49
Our group was mixed on this popular pick. Some found it raised questions much as Albom's earlier book did, some of us found it contrived and rather shallow.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
$9.72 Used & New from: $1.70
Many of us found this book well-written and personable, but without the working knowledge of the classic books referenced somewhat tedious.

Empire Falls (Vintage Contemporaries) by Richard Russo
$9.72 Used & New from: $0.28
This revived book club pick is a study in small town blues. Again we were divided on it, despite excellent passages. A melancholy book.

The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho
$10.01 Used & New from: $2.85
This exotic fable about empowerment and self-awareness received the same mixed reaction as The Five People You Meet In Heaven. Some enjoyed it, others found it "new agey" shallow.

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco
$17.01 Used & New from: $1.34
Another interesting book from Umberto Eco. A book about memory and the artifacts that make up our lives. Interesting book pick.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
$15.72 Used & New from: $10.50
A challenging pick related to the book above and loss (the 9/11 tragedy)... however the narrator seemed somewhat unbelievable in parts (a nine year old? wanting to hear Shakespeare?)

The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank
$9.98 Used & New from: $1.49
The vote was somewhat negative here. Fans of Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing were particularly disappointed.

Never Let Me Go (Alex Awards (Awards)) by Kazuo Ishiguro
$15.60 Used & New from: $12.00
Well-written dystopian story told from a clone's point of view. No not Brave New World but a book at least as equally compelling and more subtlety executed.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
$11.16 Used & New from: $1.29
Zora Neale Hurston's best novel was an excellent book club pick. An account of a woman in the black town of Eaton; it's heartbreaking to read how this author died working as maid!...

Until I Find You : A Novel by John Irving
$17.61 Used & New from: $4.00
Our mid July book club pick! The early word on it is good. Enjoy your book club picks! God bless!

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