It’s that time of year again, when we vote on books for the AWC book group after sending in our nominations. There are around 15 or so regulars and when each of them sends 3-5 book recommendations, it makes for quite a long list. We had 35 to choose from this year and the 9 winners were announced today. We actually have one book left from last year’s list, that we will be discussing next week and I just realized I’d better get going on it. I often wait until quite close to the book discussion date because if I read the book too far in advance, I can’t remember the details! 😀
Our book group organizer pointed out that it was a very close race this year; only two books were chosen by an overwhelming majority. The rest of the winners received a few votes each and our list is compiled of the books that each received four or more votes. We seem to be in the mood for a good story this year; only two non-fiction titles made the list, which is a bit of a change from the last couple of years. We also seem to want to read about women! In past years we’ve often had a person who could ‘feel our pulse’, and nominated several of the titles that were eventually chosen. This year, however, each book in the ‘final nine’ was nominated by a different person. That somehow feels very democratic!
I’m okay with the list even though only three of the books I voted for and only ONE of the books I nominated made the list because there is only one book on it that I’ve already read. I re-recommended a book this year that I nominated last year, which didn’t make the cut either time, so I’ll just have to read it on my own time.
Here is the list, in case you’re interested or looking for something to read!
Key: blue=recommended/voted for by me. green=voted for by me. yellow=already read. The ones with a star in front won.
- * All the Single Ladies – Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- * Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite Clayton
- Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
- The Book of Joy by Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama
- The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood
- Carried Away – A personal selection of stories by Alice Munro
- Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
- * Educated by Tara Westover
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
- * The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil
- Good Me Bad Me: A Novel by Ali Land
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- * The Home for Unwanted Girls: The Heart-Wrenching Story of a Mother-Daughter Bond That Could Not Be Broken by Joanna Goodman
- Hotel Sacher: A Novel by Rodica Doehnert
- The Human Age: The World Shaped By Us by Diane Ackerman
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
- * Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Little Nothing by Marisa Silver
- Making Friends with Death by Laura Pritchett
- Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
- * The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Ziynab Joukhadar
- Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
- Nothing Holds Back the Night by Delphine de Vigan
- The Outsider, by Stephen King
- * The Power by Naomi Alderman
- * A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- Runaway Amish Girl: The Great Escape by Emma Gingerich
- Sapiens, A Brief History of Human kind by Yuval Noah Harari
- The Small Backs of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- What Unites Us by Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner
Lots of good reading ahead! Now I just have to finish indulging myself with a childhood favorite (Heidi) and get going on the book for next week so I can talk intelligently about it when we meet!