Looking for book recommendations

[Jillerina]

I'm a part of a local book club. We have just started up and have only met once but I'm trying to get organized with suggestions for our next book selection.

Since we are mostly mothers in the group we've decided to select books that are readily available in libraries and at used book stores because we are too cheap to spend the money on a brand new book every month!

Do you have any recommendations for older books that would be fun to talk about? FYI this month we are reading Lolita.

Thanks.

[anothermama]

Oh I LOVE LOLITA!!!!!!!!

You could stick with a "classics" theme along those lines and go with:

Ethan Fromme (tragic but beautiful imagery)
Jane Eyre (my favorite tragedy of all time)
The Great Gatsby (I get something new everytime I read it...)
Brideshead Revisted (a little dry at parts but a facinating story and amazing characters)

You could also go with some of the not-so-recent best sellers. My favs are:

The Poisonwood Bible (amazing women in this story)
Midwives
Shes Come Undone
Icy Sparks
Good in Bed (Everyone I know who's read it said they identified more with the main character in this book than any other they've ever read)

[MamaMonica]

Pride and Prejudice

[MamaMonica]

Oh- and a newer one "MY Life on A Plate." by India Knight- it's hilarious along the lines of a married Bridget Jones with children.

[dr.j]

Here are some of my favorites:

Prodigal Summer (This is by Barbara Kingsolver, who also wrote
Poisonwood Bible. I love all of her books, but
this is my favorite at the moment...I also love
Animal Dreams. This is the book I read
whenever anything major happens in my life.
I'm not sure why.)
Ceremony (Leslie Marmon Silko. After I read this book, I
walked around thinking in her writing style for
a few weeks.)
The Autobiography of My Mother (Jamaica Kincaid--her writing
style is really fluid and beautiful)
The Farming of Bones (Edwidge Danticat. Her books tend to be
more quick reads for me, but she writes
captivating stories.
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Anna Deavere Smith--This is a
really powerful, amazing work that complicates
the media's portayal of the LA riots, and really
brings out the larger issues of race and power
the media ignored. This is a play, but the
people in it are actual people, and the words of
the play are transcriptions from Smith's
interviews with them)
Waterland (Graham Swift--the token male author on my
list)

I'll stop here, but I could keep going all day.

[Journey]

Here's a suggestion of some of my favorite books

Their Eyes Were Watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
Fair and Tender Ladies- Lee Smith
Clan of the Cave Bear- Jean Auel
The Red Tent- Anita Diamant

[Irishmommy]

Moving this to Books, Music and other Media...

[LiamnEmma]

I'm reading a spectacular book for my book club right now, it's called Tales of a Female Nomad...Living at Large in the World, written by Rita Golden Gelman. It is one of my favorites in a long time. Also for good discussion, The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. Very disturbing, but promotes lots of talk...good for book clubs. have fun!

Leah

[Ligmom]

oh, I second The Red Tent by Anita Diamante...awesome book

I also loved Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett...this is probably my favorite book ever

[CaliMommie]

Originally posted by Ligmom
oh, I second The Red Tent by Anita Diamante...awesome book

I'll third that! Wonderful book!

AmiBeth

[plum]

a book i read last year that was pretty good was 'don't let's go to the dogs tonight.' it's by alexandra fuller. it's about a white woman's childhood in africa.

[cathe]

I just finished reading Lolita - what a book! My dh is reading it now. I was inspired after reading the very good book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" which I also highly recommend.

Other good books I've read lately are

Travels with Charley by Steinbeck (suprisingly funny but insightful)
Ella Minnow Pea
I captured the Castle
Amatuer Marraige
The Master Butchers Singing Club
Miracle at Little No Horse

[Dragonfly]

Originally posted by LiamnEmma
I'm reading a spectacular book for my book club right now, it's called Tales of a Female Nomad...Living at Large in the World, written by Rita Golden Gelman.

I second this! It was a fantastic book. Gave me wanderlust, though.

Also:

Memoirs of a Geisha
Too Loud a Solitude (Bohumil Hrabal)
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray)
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Geek Love (Katherine Dunn, I think? Prepare to be disturbed...)
Silence (Shusako Endo)

Um.... that's all for now. These are all great!

[plum]

'geek love' disturbed me. good book, though.

[pammysue]

I don't have any suggestions for books, but since you are looking to save money I wanted to let you know that Barnes and Noble has a new line of classics in paperback that are very inexpensive. I am reading Persuausion by Jane Austen that I bought for $4.95. I skimmed though their list and the most expensive I found was less than $10!

Happy reading!

[mom2be]

I second "Love in the Time of Cholera" and "Geek Love" both very different books but still deal with love. One thing I would recommend is ask all your book club members to bring one or two books for the first meeting and make a list from there.

One book I really enjoyed at book club was "The Sabbath Theater" by Philip Roth. I think one of his better books.

Enjoy the club!

Carolina