Book Club Suggestions
My mom is a member of a number of book clubs, and she reached out to ask for suggestions for the next pick. The group prefers books that aren’t too long (all of the picks below are 400ish pages). Otherwise, they are looking for good, smart reads. I selected a number of books I enjoyed that would lend themselves to discussion.
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The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (2020)
Linus, an administrative drone, is sent to evaluate the care at a remote orphanage, where he finds a garden gnome, a wyvern, a forest sprite, and the antichrist among its charges. To his surprise, the remote locale may also be where he finds love.
Mother Land by Leah Franqui (2020)
Rachel is newly married and transplanted to India with her husband. Before she knows what’s happening, her mother-in-law Swati moves in, permanently. The two women, from different worlds, take a long time to find connections. Their relationship is complicated and wonderful.
Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson (2022)
The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.Two teens make a poster with that text on it, and it spreads with incredible reach in a pre–social media world. Now, as an adult, one of the creators is approached by a journalist looking for the story behind the posters.
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (2023)
Martha Ballard is a midwife and healer in 1700s Maine. When a body is found in the frozen river, she is pulled into an investigation of murder and rape. Lawhon loosely based Ballard on a real person, who kept detailed diaries of her life.
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (2023)
It’s the beginning of the pandemic and college students Mia and John are home with their parents and younger brother Eugene, who is a person with autism and Angelman syndrome. Eugene, who does not speak, and his dad leave for a walk one morning, but only Eugene returns. The book is Mia’s trying to piece together what happened and where her dad might be now.