For three years, I organized and ran a book club. It was great fun in the beginning as anywhere from 6-10 people would show up each month for dinner and what was sure to be a lively discussion about the book of the month. However, during that last year, I got so discouraged as the numbers dwindled (mainly because a few of the more serious members moved out of town) and many who showed up didn’t finish the book. Nothing irked me more. So I put it to rest. In any event, below is the list of books we read. There are very few I would not recommend from the list.
Jun-97: Beach Music by Pat Conroy
Jul-97: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Aug-97: Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
Sep-97: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Oct-97: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Nov-97: A Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Dec-97: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Jan-98: Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years by Sarah Louise Delany & A. Elizabeth Delany
Feb-98: Paradise by Toni Morrison
Mar-98: Antony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Apr-98: Einstein’s Dream by Allan Lightman
May-98: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Jun-98: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Jul-98: Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Aug-98: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Sep-98: Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad
Oct-98: A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
Nov-98: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Dec-98: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Jan-99: The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain
Feb-99: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Mar-99: The Handmaid’s Tail by Margaret Atwood
Apr-99: Even Cowgirls Have the Blues by Tom Robbins
May-99: A Widow for A Year by John Irving
Jun-99: No Meeting/Wine & Cheese Party
July-99: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolf
Aug-99: On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Sep-99: Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Oct-99: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Nov-99: White Noise by Don DeLillo
Dec-99: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Jan-00: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Feb-00: Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Mar-00: Women’s Room by Marilyn French
Apr-00: Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
May-00: White Teeth by Zadie Smith
June-00: Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
July-00: The Way I Found Her by Rose Tremain
Aug-00: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant