OTHER book clubs favorite reads. Posted because they had TWO of my favorite books.

What is your book club currently reading, and how do you choose your next book?

Our book club is currently reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. We had read Rules of Civility by Amor Towles and the leader for the next meeting received many recommendations from friends in other book clubs for this book. The leader for the next meeting determines the next read — usually it is a recommendation from a reliable friend or family member, one they read and enjoyed, or from researching books that might be trending.

What are a few of your group’s all-time favorite books and why?

Most would say the very first book we read was their favorite — Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. The reason being that not only was it an interesting read, but all were able to escape to somewhere different and learn about culture and history that they had not been familiar with before.

Another book that had an impact was We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Many of us had school-age children at the time or were teachers, and the story’s [depiction of the shooting’s] impact on parents, family, and the community was powerful. We read this book well before this type of thing seemed to be more prevalent.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese was another favorite — similarly to Moloka’i, it was a great escape to another culture and a great story. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Steinhit a chord with the many animal lovers in our book club, and was also memorable.

What book sparked a particularly lively discussion? 

There have been many that sparked lively discussion, but this one stands out as one of our most recent reads — Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. [We had] conversation around how we would have handled a similar situation, the characters, and the outcomes. [There were] definitely varying opinions.