I am intrigued by James which is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Jim's point of view. It might fit the bill. Has anyone read it?

Notes on an Execution is thought provoking. It's fiction and not too long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It may seem like fluff, but if I were in a book club, I would want to discuss AnnieBot by Sierra Greer. It's about a companion android and her relationship with her owner.

I LOVED that book

Honestly one reason I am not in a book club is because of book club fiction. Why does everything have to be so serious in the same sort of way? And why is it all so LONG?

Annie Bot is excellent, thought provoking, not at all like a Barbara Kingsolver book, and best of all it is SHORT.

In short, your book club will probably hate it.

I agree! We take turns picking books for our club and one person in particular always goes for the heavy, depressing books. I recommended that NPR Books site and when it's my turn I use it to search for book club + short or + funny reads.

Some people might already have read it, but if not, The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Anonymous wrote:It may seem like fluff, but if I were in a book club, I would want to discuss AnnieBot by Sierra Greer. It's about a companion android and her relationship with her owner.

I LOVED that book

Honestly one reason I am not in a book club is because of book club fiction. Why does everything have to be so serious in the same sort of way? And why is it all so LONG?

Annie Bot is excellent, thought provoking, not at all like a Barbara Kingsolver book, and best of all it is SHORT.

In short, your book club will probably hate it.

The Light Pirate is beautifully written and evokes a lot of thought and conversation.

I like the NPR Books site for finding book club ideas - you can filter by book club recommendations plus add on filters like genre, length, etc. It also has all the past years so if you want something that's more easily findable at the library you can look for things a few years old.

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2024

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:North Woods by Daniel Mason

or

Clear by Carys Davies

North Woods is a great one.

Take a look at the best books of the year for the Financial Times. I really respect their arts section—it leans more international and more curated than the NY Times or the Post.

+1 for North Woods. Just read the whole book in one rare Saturday with nothing to do.

Matrix by Lauren Groff might be good for book club. And it’s not too long, which might be good given that some of the others your group has read recently have been. And it is historical fiction which you are looking for.

Anonymous wrote:North Woods by Daniel Mason

or

Clear by Carys Davies

North Woods is a great one.

Take a look at the best books of the year for the Financial Times. I really respect their arts section—it leans more international and more curated than the NY Times or the Post.

It may seem like fluff, but if I were in a book club, I would want to discuss AnnieBot by Sierra Greer. It's about a companion android and her relationship with her owner.

North Woods by Daniel Mason

or

Clear by Carys Davies

Anonymous wrote:Not historical fiction, but I really loved the 100 Years of Lenni and Margot. It’s a really beautiful book.

That was a great book. Maybe the Great Believers?

Not historical fiction, but I really loved the 100 Years of Lenni and Margot. It’s a really beautiful book.

My turn to select a book for our club and I am need of some inspiration! I am newish to the club although it's only been around a couple years to begin with. Picks tend to be on the more serious side- e.g., Demon Copperhead, Frozen River, Cold Crematorium. They read the Wolf Hall series before I came along. I am anxious about picking something too "fluffy" lol. Any suggestions would be appreciated, particularly historical fiction (but open to other genres as well).