BOOK DISCUSSION 2011

Partial Pile

A group of friends and I gathered together the other night for our annual discussion of favorite reads. I love this night and look forward to it every year.  A very comfortable group of women which, when combined, offers an eclectic selection of books.  Rarely is there any overlap of books presented, but those who have read the book certainly jump in with their opinion.  Occasionally, there will be opposite opinions of one book which is great fun.  But usually everyone is madly scribbling down books to add to their own reading queue.

This year, the following themes emerged: perseverance through hard times; Sweden; art museums, and dogs.  Here is the list:

Top 12


Me - Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Finest, Darkest Hour  - Lynne Olson
Liz - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - Laura Hillenbrand
Darcey - Still Me - Christopher Reeve
Lori - Look Again - Lisa Scottoline
Tammy - Rogue's Gallery: The Secret Story of the Lust, Lies, Greed, and Betrayals That Made the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Michael Gross
Alicia - The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Cassandra - Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems - Billy Collins
Jennifer - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life- Donald Miller
Dawn - Desiree: The Best Selling Story of Napoleon's First Love - Annemarie Selinko
Pam - The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon  - David Grann
Sheli - The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel - Kathleen Kent
Leslie - North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

We do a few rounds, one book at a time (usually), so here is a list of those books that were in the second and third round:


To Serve Them All My Days - R. F. Delderfield
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley
The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean
Perfectly Imperfect - Lee Woodruff
The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy - Stieg Larsson
Elegance of the Hedgehog -  Muriel Barbery
Service Included: Four Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter - Phoebe Damrosch
Little Bee - Chris Cleave
The Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman
Composed - Roseanne Cash
The War of Art - Steven Pressfield
Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
A Dog's Purpose - Bruce Cameron
Omniover's Dilemma - Michael Pollan
The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister
South of Broad - Pat Conroy
Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks
Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls
The Life of Our Lord - Charles Dickens
Mariana - Monica Dickens
Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
The Case of the Missing Servant - Tarquin Hall

All in all 36 books recommended.  Some inspiring, some entertaining, a few will carry you off to another time and that may be all you need. One should certainly grab your fancy.