Books: Book Club Book List for 2015-2016

Books:  April 13, 2015

Book Club List for 2015-2016

We met, we discussed, we chose…

There are 6 of us and each of us brings 5 book suggestions to the group–and the group chooses 2 of each member’s 5 books.

It works well…

Here’s our new list, which runs to April of 2016.

 

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, Deborah Rodriguez

From the author of the memoir Kabul Beauty School comes a fiction debut as compelling as real life: the story of a remarkable coffee shop in the heart of Afghanistan, and the men and women who meet there — thrown together by circumstance, bonded by secrets, and united in an extraordinary friendship.

The People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks 

An ambitious, electrifying work that traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain.

Leaving Before the Rains Come, Alexandra Fuller 

Memoir about the unravelling of a twenty-year marriage that began in Africa.

All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr 

Tackles questions of survival, endurance, and moral obligations during war time.  Called a “vastly entertaining feat of storytelling” in a NY Times book review.

Still Life with Breadcrumbs, Anna Quinlan

Brilliantly written, powerfully observed, a deeply moving and often very funny story of unexpected love.

Sparta, Roxana Robinson  

Conrad is a Williams graduate who flies back home to the United States after four years in Iraq to face the weird vagaries of his homeland. At only 26, he sees American life with new eyes — or are they old eyes, those of a damaged warrior.

The Homesman, Glendon Swarthout 

A haunting novel.  A haunting movie.  Many of the women on the prairie frontier go mad and have to be taken back to civilization–a journey of danger in many ways.

French Hats in Iran, Haydar Radjavi 

Presents a series of mini-tales that features characters such as: the elderly father who works in the Tabriz bazaar and runs his household according to unbending religious precepts; the resourceful mother who finds ways to enjoy such forbidden frivolities as music; the female playmate who marries at the age of nine; and, more

Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarity

A brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

The Sandalwood Tree, Elle Newmark 

A sweeping story that expertly blends fiction and history as the author weaves together two stories which take place in two tumultuous times in Indian history. One story recounts the events of India’s First World War also known as the Sepoy Mutiny; the other takes place during the 1940’s as British rule was coming to an end in India.

Euphoria, Lilly King

The story of three young, gifted anthropologists in 1933 caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens theirs bonds, their careers, and ultimately their lives. Set between World War I and II and inspired by events in the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is an enthralling story passion, possession, exploration and sacrifice.

Wild From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed

Memoir.  Movie.  Powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.