We had book group last night and we were a small gathering, only 5 of the usual suspects, but it was cozy and made for a really nice discussion…easy to follow and jump in, without it breaking down into smaller groups, which sometimes happens. The book we discussed was interesting, though I wouldn’t have read it on my own initiative: Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite Clayton. It’s about Hemingway’s third wife Martha Gellhorn, and while I pretty much dislike HIM, even if his books are (mostly) good, SHE was fascinating, and I found myself wondering as I often do, why have I never heard anything about her before? She was an amazing woman and writer and war correspondent her whole life, but if anyone has heard of her it’s often only in relation to her marriage to and subsequent divorce from Hemingway.
Our organizer also brought along and announced the winners of our annual vote on the book recommendations for what we will be reading after the next meeting, which is the last book from the ones we voted on last year. There are 10 winners this time so we’ll have a reading list to keep us occupied into 2021.
I nominated 5 books as usual, and this year 2 of them were voted in plus 2 others that I voted for. There were, in fact, several people who had 2 of their recommendations voted in and one 6-way tie. Lots of non-fiction this time around, but that always seems to be popular with this group. and happily, only one book I’ve already read, though there is also a repeat author that we’ve already read one book from last year. I do wish people wouldn’t recommend authors we’ve already read, but I guess maybe the person who did it maybe wasn’t in the group when we read the first book by that author. 3 books at least have been recommended before (1 by me, haha!) but none of them made it, so time to give it up.
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.
1. Iodine by Haven Kimmel
2. The Small Backs of Children by Lydia Yucknavich
3. *Wilding—Returning Nature to our Farm by Isabel Tree
4. America For Beginners by Leah Franqui
5. *Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
6. *City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
7. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
8. *Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
9. Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
10. The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel
11. Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
12. See Jane Win: The Inspiring Story of Women Changing American Politics by Caitlin Moscatello
13. *The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
14. My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
15. *Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
16. *The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan
17. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
18. Before We Were Yours: A Novel by Lisa Wingate
19. *Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
20. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
21. Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
22. The Reality Bubble: Blind Spots, Hidden Truths, and the Dangerous Illusions that Shape our World by Ziya Tong
23. *Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
24. Grace by Natashia Deon
25. Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel
26. *The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight
27. Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill
28. Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
29. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
30. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
31. Soft City by David Sim
32. The Blue Hour by Laura Pritchett
33. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
I’m in the middle of a thrilling space opera series right now though, so book group will have to wait! 😀