Are you curious about what others consider good reads? One of the best ways to find a good book or discover new authors is to ask your friends for recommendations or simply ask what they are reading at the time. Joining a book club is also a great way to broaden your reading habits. One benefit of book discussion groups is that it encourages you to read different selections from your normal type of book.
I just came across a list of Top Book Group Favorites of 2006 and would like to share some of the titles with you. Here are a couple favorites of book clubs across the U.S. in 2006.
The number one choice was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This is the first book by Hosseini and it provides an eye-opening look at the turmoil going on in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner is a story of friendship, betrayal and finally redemption. It begins in the early 70s as friends Amir, the son of a wealthy businessman, and Hassan, the son of Amir's family servant, spend their days telling stories and running kites. Amir betrays his friend and their relationship changes. Fast forward to twenty years later, when Hassan and his wife are murdered by the Taliban. Spurred on by guilt, Amir determines to rescue Hassan's only son from Afghanistan. Full of history and psychology, it is easy to see why this book was number one with reading groups.
Another popular reading group selection, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, is a frightening look at the repercussions of genetic engineering and the lengths to which parents will go to save a beloved child. Thirteen-year-old Anna was conceived and engineered to be a genetic match for her older sister Kate who is suffering from a rare form of leukemia. Anna has already donated platelets, blood, umbilical cord material, and bone marrow to her sister. When her family considers donating one of her kidneys to Kate, Anna hires a lawyer and fights back. This book provides no easy answers to the many difficult questions raised by human genetic engineering.
One popular book club selection is The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks a fictionalized account of the real life Carrie McGavock – the real life Widow of the South. I have to admit I just "discovered" this book and have not had time to read it yet. However, I am totally intrigued by the Author's Note at the end of the book. Hicks states that "when Oscar Wilde made his infamous tour of America in 1882, he told his hosts that his itinerary should include a visit to 'sunny Tennessee to meet the Widow McGavock, the high priestess of the temple of dead boys.'" This is the story of Carrie McGavock and how her life was forever changed on November 30, 1864 – the day of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. In five hours on the bend of a river near Franklin, Tennessee, a community of only 2,500, nearly 9,200 men would die in battle. Carrie filled her house with the dead and dying and when the house could hold no more, the yard was appropriated until it too was overflowing. After the war, the McGavocks donated two acres of land for the reburial of 1,500 Confederate soldiers whose original resting place was disturbed. The author, Robert Hicks, was a member of the association to preserve McGavock's cemetery and realized the extraordinary story of Carrie and the final resting place of so many soldiers. He says she "became famous without ever leaving her farm, renowned for her daily wanderings in the cemetery, for her mourning clothing, for her letters to the families of the bereaved, and, most of all for her constancy. From the day the last of the dead was buried in her backyard, she rarely left her post in the cemetery, continuously checking her book of the dead." This fascinating story seems particularly appropriate for Memorial Day reading.
These are just a few of the intriguing, sometimes controversial books read by book clubs around the country. Perhaps one of these popular reads sounds appealing and if not, remember the library has over 90,000 books from which to choose. Hope to see you soon at the Greensburg – Decatur County Contractual Public Library.