Upcoming Book Club Picks

When I first joined my book club back in September 2011, the group was meeting after a three-month hiatus. They didn’t meet during the summer because it was too hectic with family vacations (that changed in 2013, though). Because we didn’t meet in the summer, we don’t pick our new list of books at the end of the year.

Every February or March, each person submits books they want to read. We then vote on the selections and the 12 books with the most votes win. Our reading schedule is from June to May of each year. (We still have two books left from our current schedule.)

Here are the books we picked for this upcoming reading year:

  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
  • A memoir of our choice
  • Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen
  • The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
  • Feed by Mira Grant
  • The Maid by Nita Prose
  • In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
  • My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Frederik Backman
  • The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
  • The Silence of Bones by June Hur
  • The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
  • The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

I’m very happy with this list. I’m excited to read all of these books except THE MAID, but I think that’s because I don’t really know very much about it. I’m also excited to choose a memoir to read in July. I just have to figure out which one I want to read. Right now I’m leaning toward Stanley Tucci’s TASTE: MY LIFE THROUGH FOOD, but I’m not sure. Do you have any suggestions?

This year, we started our selection process in February and we had all our books voted for by our March meeting. I’m only just posting the list today because every year I make bookmarks for everyone so we can keep track of what we’re reading each month. Since I unveiled the bookmarks via text yesterday, I can share them online now too. I’m really happy with how they turned out.

Have you read any of the books on our list? Which ones do you recommend?

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Top Ten Tuesday #11

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
21st Century Books I Think Will Become Classics

This week’s prompt is hard. Classics can be so subjective. There are a lot of classics that everyone agrees on and then there are some that scholars still debate whether they deserve the classification of “classic.” When I think of classics, I think of books that are timeless, books that multiple generations have read and/or enjoyed. I don’t think of books that have more literary merit/value than other books. Reading and the enjoyment of reading all depends upon the reader.

Here are my top ten predictions of which books will become classics from the last 21 years:

I know some of my choices may be weird. There are probably other books that would be better than mine. I only listed books I’ve read, though. The other books that may be better choices would be word of mouth only. For that reason, I didn’t put them on my list.

What about you? Which books published in the last 21 years do you think will become classics? Do we have any in common?

I’ve been learning in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) that life is full of dialectics, or two opposing truths. In this case, the two opposing truths are: 1) I don’t agree with JKR’s stance regarding trans people, and 2) I still love Harry Potter.

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Review: Fangirl

Review: FangirlTitle: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre(s): Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 457 (Hardcover)
Source: Own
For: Unofficial Trim Challenge
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Goodreads Synopsis

Now that Cath and her twin sister are going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words ... and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

My Thoughts

I’ve been wanting to read FANGIRL ever since I first heard about it. I’ve just never gotten around to it. I’m glad I put it on my Unofficial Trim Challenge list because I finally read it and it was just as good as I’d hoped it would be.

I loved the whole concept of FANGIRL. Other than the writing fanfiction thing because I don’t do that, I connected with Cath so hard. I’ve been obsessed with fandoms like she and Wren are with Simon before. I’ve met friends in forums and then IRL who are still some of my best friends. I’ve traveled with those friends to settings in the books we love. And, I’ve read fanfics because I wanted those fandoms to live on.

There are other people on the Internet. It’s awesome. You get all the benefits of ‘other people’ without the body odor and the eye contact.

I also loved reading the excerpts not only from the “original” Simon books, but also from Cath’s fanfiction, especially CARRY ON, SIMON. The excerpts made me love the characters almost as much as Cath does. I’m excited that Rowell decided to write CARRY ON so I can read it at some point.

I loved the slow-burn romance between Cath and Levi. I loved their relationship. It was so cute and swoony. There were times when I wanted less Simon because I wanted more kissing, lol. And, I liked the story just the way it was too because Rowell explored some really tough subjects, like abandonment, addiction, and mental illness.

Ever since I finished reading FANGIRL, I’ve been trying to decide if I want to give it 4 or 5 stars. I finally settled on 4.5 stars, but that might change.

Have you read FANGIRL? If so, what did you think?

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Sunday Post #11

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and things received.
Feeling

I’m feeling a little anxious. I met with my doctor on Tuesday to talk about the next steps regarding the digestive issues I’ve been having. Because I’ve been so sick for so long and because I threw up some blood the Friday before I met with him, he scheduled me to do an endoscopy and colonoscopy tomorrow.

I’ve done both before and I know the procedures aren’t that bad. The prep’s the worst part and I begin that today at 5pm my time. I’m mostly anxious because I’m worried about what they’re going to find or not find.

Blogging

This week on the blog:

Reading

I’m almost done reading FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell. I’m hoping to finish it today so I can post my review tomorrow. I want to start rereading and finish THE SILVER CHAIR by CS Lewis for the Narniathon21 by Thursday. Hopefully, I can make both of these happen.

Listening

I listened to and watched Weezer’s cover of Toto’s “Africa.” I love this song and I really love Weezer’s version of it. I also didn’t know Weezer got Weird Al to perform in the music video. I didn’t believe Corey when he told me it was Weird Al because it doesn’t look like him. I love that he’s not even playing the guitar.

Watching

I discovered a new cooking competition on Netflix called Is It Cake? It’s really interesting. The cake artists on the show are insanely talented! Some of the cakes look so real. It’s crazy!

Loving

I’m really loving the weather for the past few days. It has been so warm and sunny. It makes my happy.

Wanting

I want the bookmark I made for my IRL book club to get here now! I’m so excited for how they turned out. I can’t wait to share them with everyone.

Needing

I need to gear up for later today and tonight as I go through the prep for my scopies. I know it’s not going to be fun, but hopefully they’ll help my doctors figure out what’s going on so I can start feeling better.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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March Book Club Discussion

My IRL book club met yesterday evening to discuss March’s book. We finally met in-person and it was great to get out and see friends, especially since I’ve been cooped up with my illness for the past three weeks.

We discussed NINE PERFECT STRANGERS by Liane Moriarty. There were only five of us who met together and all of us read the book. Here are some highlights of our discussion:

  • Two of us, including myself, really liked the characters and marveled at how good of a puppet master Moriarty is.
  • Three people liked the book, but they got bored with the story. They felt like nothing happened and the book was too long. They also didn’t particularly like any of the characters.
  • I’m the only one who mentioned Moriarty’s deftness at dealing with hard topics like mental illness, suicide, suicidal ideation, and psychedelic therapy.
  • A couple of people compared this book to ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Frederik Backman. Most of us liked ANXIOUS PEOPLE more, though.
  • A couple of people listened to the audiobook.
  • View Spoiler »
  • One person was upset with Ben and Jessica’s fate. The rest of us were okay with it.
  • I’m the only one who plans to watch the Hulu series based on the book.
  • A couple of people thought this book wasn’t up to Moriarty’s usual standards.

We also found out which books made the cut from our vote for the next year starting in June. I’ll share those in a separate post (in the next two weeks or so).

Next month’s book is DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland. I’m really excited to read it. I love zombie stories and this will be my first historical fiction zombie story. It will also be my first experience reading about zombies. I’ve only ever experienced zombies on TV or in the movies.

Anyway, have you read NINE PERFECT STRANGERS? If so, what do you think about my book club’s discussion about it?

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