BIC book club!

[prettyinpa]

Some of us here have expressed an interest in a book club, myself, @mermadelove, @LCResz, @ZombieMetroAnt, @Mcakes. If you'd be interested in joining, reply below. My initial thought was to mail the books around but if it means that some people can't participate, then I'm all for dropping that requirement. I'd love this to be a place where we nominate our favorite book and others can read it and comment. Something fun for the new year!  ETA: the booklist:

1. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (16)
1. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (16)
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (13)
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (11)
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (11)
4. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (11)
7. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (10)
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (10)
7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (10) Discussion begins 8-13.
7. The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck (10) Discussion begin 9-2.
11. The Fault in our Stars by John Green (9) Time to discuss 9-26
11. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (9) Now discussing below.
11. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (9)
11. What Happened by Hilary Clinton (9) Now discussing below.
11. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (9) Start reading now.
11. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Ashford (9)
11. milk and honey by Rupi Kaur (9)
18. A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (8)
18. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (8)
18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (8)
18. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (8)
18. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (8)
18. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (8)
18. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (8)
18. The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg (8)
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (8)
18. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (8)
18. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (8)
18. The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory (8)

Participants in spoiler

Spoiler

Participants:

PrettyinPA

AlexaSteph

Beadshopgirl

LCResz

Kim888

SoBeautiful

Fatimamummy

ZombieMetroAnt

PalomaFoster

k617

bakeamuffin
Susubee
Skcfan
Lazybeautybeast
SpaceLlama
greeneyedgirl107

Mermadelove
Mcakes
Aaliaa
Serenely
Myinsidevoice
MissPuff
juliehnguyen
lmi82
Knowledgebeauty
Titian06
quspork
darlyndar
KellW
misscg
EuniceO
Elles117
ClassicallyFab
ShiraBT
melanito
Heylady14
ChicagoEngineer
Imightneedthis
PrettyPaint
rachface2921

[Titian06]

@SportyGirly125 - I haven't seen the movie.  I'd like to know if the books are worth reading.

[ShortErica]

@Titian06 I have read the Crazy Rich Asian series and really enjoyed it. I haven't seen the movie. I would recommend reading them. I found them quick and entertaining reads although they aren't short books.

[Titian06]

Thanks, @ShortErica!

[SportyGirly125]

@Titian06 For me I love watching the movies and reading the books.  My brother watched the movie and finished all 3 books and he said he really liked it.

[HelenBT]

@SportyGirly125, I went to watch the movie when it first came out and became obsessed! It recently came out on the App store and my boyfriend bought it and has been re-watching this movie! lol. I've seen the books out and really interested in reading it. I need to find out what happens with Astrid!

[ShortErica]

Astrid was definitely one of my favorite characters @HelenBT!

[SportyGirly125]

@HelenBT The book is almost always different than the movie.  So I'm curious as to how close the movie and the books are.

[Titian06]

@prettyinpa - I finished Fall of Giants.  No rush.  Just want to let you know.

[prettyinpa]

@Titian06-  i've been so slow about Fall of the Giants. I've had it our for about a month now and I'm only about 125 pages in. Between work and Christmas preparations, I haven't had much time for reading, but that's no excuse. It's just not holding my interest. Does it get better as it goes along or what?

[Titian06]

@prettyinpa - It read fast for me.  If it's not interesting to you at this point, it probably won't get any better.  The rest goes into WWI.  If you're not into wars, battles, politics, and the aftermath, it definitely won't be interesting.

Don't feel bad if you don't want to finish this book.  Maybe we should take a break until the beginning of January.  This will give anyone who is reading time to catch up.  It will also allow time to do Christmas and family things without having to worry about getting a book read.

[prettyinpa]

@Titian06-  That's a good idea about calling a hiatus. Maybe I can get more interested in the book if I'm not reading just a page or 2 at a time, I'm having trouble following the plot this way.

[Titian06]

@prettyinpa - Yes, if you can at least read one act or section the chapter is divided into (the Roman numerals) at one sitting, that should help.  Enjoy!

[ShortErica]

I'd like to join in if that's okay. I can start with Fall of Giants.

Also I've never done a book club before. What are the numbers before and after the title and author? Thanks!

[Titian06]

Welcome, @ShortErica!

[prettyinpa]

@ShortErica  Welcome! The numbers came from a survey we had when we first set up the club. Everyone submitted their favorites/books that they wanted to read. Then the spreadsheet was tallied. The number in front of the title is what rank the book came in. For example, 2 books tied for first place (the number after the title is how many members voted that book #1).  It's just a bookkeeping thing, so people knew how everyone voted.

Our club is pretty free form, feel free to skip a book if it's not your cup of tea and jump back in later.

I've got to get going on the Fall of Giants, I'm never going to finish at the rate I'm going, lol.

[EmmaCram]

I absolutely LOVED Little Fires Everywhere. Such a good book, I was looking forward to reading it before bed every night. I also just finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, which I was late to the game on reading but cannot recommend it enough. Two other favorite books are All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah. Anyone who is a fan of historical fiction, particularly related to the world war II on the European front, should read those! They are phenomenal and will keep you enthralled till the very end. Next on my list is Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, which I have heard amazing things about. Always hunting for new books on Good Reads, such a great source!

[prettyinpa]

Great suggestions, @EmmaCram-  I'll have to see if my library has some of these.

[Titian06]

@prettyinpa - I finished The Hate U Give and What Happened.  I can wait until you've ready to discuss.  I started reading Fall of Giants just because it's a HUGE book.

[prettyinpa]

@Titian06-  Wow, you've really been reading lately!  I liked What Happened, it cleared up a lot of mysteries for me. I don't follow the news, so it was nice to hear from the source what she felt and experienced.

What did you think of The Hate U Give? I had trouble understanding it, but maybe it's just me.

[quspork]

I really enjoyed What Happened! Like @prettyinpa   mentioned, it helped explain several things I had questions about and I actually found it to be a really fascinating read. I also loved hearing her voice more as I think that if you only know stories from the news, you don't get a true sense of her personality. 

@Titian06

[Titian06]

@quspork @prettyinpa - I really liked What Happened.  I don't watch the news either.  The book seemed balanced and fair while answering the pertinent questions.  I liked Hillary's writing style; she comes across as personable and caring.

I didn't think I would like The Hate U Give when I was looking into what it was about.  I was hooked after the first paragraph.  It's an excellent book.  I think reading both of these books at the same time only reinforced each other.  @prettyinpa, what do you not understand?  Starr wanting to be anonymous and not vocal or questioning her relationship with Chris or something else like her mom and dad?