Looking for recommendations for 2011 Book Club

[wagamama]

My book club is having trouble finding interesting books for our 2011 year. Would love to get some suggestions. We are looking for a balance of fiction and non-fiction. Otherwise, anything goes!

[missreeka]

i haven't read a lot of nonfic lately, but here are some fiction titles that i've really enjoyed: 

Affliction, Russell Banks

A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley

The Patron Saint of Liars, Ann Patchett

Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

Flesh & Blood, Michael Cunningham

Amy & Isabelle, Elizabeth Strout

Dinner At the Homesick Restaurant, Anne Tyler

Postcards, Annie Proulx

The Female of the Species, Lionel Shriver

The God of Animals, Aryn Kyle 

The Lonely Polygamist, Brady Udall

none of those titles are new releases (except for The Lonely Polygamist which i thought was *awesome*)  i did read "Room" by Emma Donoghue and thought it was okay, not one of my favorites, but it has received wide critical acclaim and i could see it being a very good choice for a book club. 

[LuckyMommaToo]

Some of my book club's favorites have been:

The Help

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Hunger Games

Molokai (Brennart)

Loving Frank

We read three non-fiction selections last year -- two of them were complete duds. Here If You Need Me (Braestrup) was decent, but not earth-shattering. I really love NF, but haven't seemed to hit on the right ones for book club. We're doing The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down next month.

Happy hunting!
-e

[Ambishop19]

My book club read and loved "These Is My Words" by Nancy Turner. I'm thinking of doing a non-fitcion pick for my next choice- either NutureShock by Po Bronson or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

[swede]

loved amy and isabelle.

a really great non-fiction was "Enriques journey" about kids coming up to the united states from guatemala through mexico.  sad and compelling story.

[swede]

Originally Posted by Ambishop19 

My book club read and loved "These Is My Words" by Nancy Turner. I'm thinking of doing a non-fitcion pick for my next choice- either NutureShock by Po Bronson or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Henrietta lacks was fascinating!!

[swede]

Originally Posted by LuckyMommaToo 

Some of my book club's favorites have been:

The Help

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Hunger Games

Molokai (Brennart)

Loving Frank

We read three non-fiction selections last year -- two of them were complete duds. Here If You Need Me (Braestrup) was decent, but not earth-shattering. I really love NF, but haven't seemed to hit on the right ones for book club. We're doing The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down next month.

Happy hunting!
-e

also loved this book :)

[Shanna Sexton]

I started a blog on the books I have read I have a whole section that we have used for book club check it out abooksreview.blogspot.com

[Viola]

My church has a book club, and here are the books they've picked for 2011.  I read Cutting for Stone, and I enjoyed it, mostly.  So what books did you end up choosing?

Olive Kitteridge (270pp)	Elizabeth Strout
The Art of Racing in the Rain (336pp)	Garth Stein
Deaf Sentence (304pp)	David Lodge
Cutting for Stone (688pp)	Abraham Verghese
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun (341pp)	Peter Goodwin
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet (496pp)	David Mitchell
Remarkable Creatures (320pp)	Tracy Chevalier
Room: A Novel (416pp)	Emma Donoghue
The Hundred Foot Journey (256pp)	Richard Marais
In the Company of Others (416pp)	Jan Karon
In the Dark Street Shineth (56pp)	David McCullough

[readermaid]

I read a lot of memoirs.  Here are a few that I liked recently:

Double Take by Kevin Connolly - man who was born without legs travels and takes photos of people staring at him.

Atlas of the Human Heart by Ariel Gore - Gore's story of her travels in China and Europe when she was a teenager.

I am Nujood by Nujood Ali - Ali was married against her will and sought a divorce despite the odds.  She's about 12 now, I think.

To Timbuktu by Casey Scieszka - Travel memoir of teaching English in China and other travels by recent college grads.