<p>I would like to suggest one possibility for the next book. It is “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green.</p>
<p>A couple of people raved about it recently on CC’s “one of the best books I’ve read in the last 6 months thread.”</p>
<p>Green is an author of young adult books. I’m not sure whether that makes any difference. (Lots of adults have been reading “The Hunger Games” recently; however, that’s a series I am NOT going to read.) </p>
<p>It turns out I have read another book by John Green, “Looking for Alaska.” When a couple of teenagers I knew were reading it several years ago, I read it too and thought it was quite good.</p>
<p>NJTheaterMom- interesting suggestion but I’d like to hear from someone who has read it. Mary13, I think the CC book discussion has expanded with our more recent selections, and I’d just like the selection to appeal to wide audience.
I know it’s easier said than done, but I am concerned how the ‘theme of Fault in Our Stars’ will resonant with CCers. I think Stephen King’s book was excellent selection! </p>
<p>I’m in, but would really like to hear from someone who has read it. NJTheaterMom- when I heard about the plot of The Hunger Games, I thought no way.
Well, the first one was such a page turner, I’m really. REALLY glad I read it. You should try sample chapters.</p>
<p>The Fault in Our Stars sounds to be a wonderful deeply moving subject-and well worth reading-but I don’t know if I’m up for a discussion about the issues it will bring up.<br>
I know that the last two books we read had a strong element of mystery and suspense-so it might be good to have a change of pace for April.
A couple of past suggestions that I’ve read (and wouldn’t mind reading again-because they are wonderful!) were The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer and Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks.
I recently read Erik Larson’s Devil In the White City and it was very interesting (Creepy buy very well written non-fiction.) My local book club is reading In The Garden Of Wild Beasts later in the spring-which could be interesting.
Maybe look back at a few of our past selections?</p>
<p>Also, my dear son gave me a copy of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel-its a novel about King Henry VIII told from Thomas Cromwell’s point of view. Haven’t started to read it yet-but I’ve heard good things about it. And it is really interesting history</p>
<p>PATheaterMom- I watched Amazon Instant Video- Expo the Magic of The White City …the most memorable “history” lesson after reading Erik Larson’s book. Actual footage of that amazing WHITE CITY!!!I feel as though I visited. I think you’d love this!
For $2.99 you get ** 7 days** to view the movie!</p>
<p>Synopsis: Narrated by Gene Wilder, “Expo - Magic of the White City” immerses viewers in one of the most unforgettable events in American history, the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.
Starring: Gene Wilder</p>
<p>I completely agree that The Fault in Our Stars might not have a wide enough appeal, and that talking about cancer, if we discussed the book, might be distressing.</p>
<p>I’d be okay with Caleb’s Crossing, and I’m still a huge advocate of The Cat’s Table, which I read and loved and would be delighted to discuss.</p>
<p>PATheaterMom, you mentioned Wolf Hall. I read that and thought it was quite superb. You will enjoy it!</p>
<p>I’ve read Devil in the White City, but would be fine with any of the others. </p>
<p>I’d also like to suggest The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>SouthJerseyChessMom, I think we tend to draw in more readers when we choose bestsellers that are currently on people’s must-read lists. Here’s the NYT bestseller list for reference: [Best</a> Sellers - The New York Times](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/overview.html]Best”>Best Sellers - Books) </p>
<p>Any titles there that seem universally appealing? (You’ll see that 11/222/63 is #5 under hardcover fiction.) What about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer?</p>
<p>Great Suggestions! Thanks for the link to Expo Magic city-I will check that out for sure!
I’m happy with anything we choose-just maybe a little change from the suspense/horror genre of the last two books.</p>
<p>I’ve read *Caleb’s Crossing<a href=“good”>/i</a> and *Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close<a href=“can%20I%20veto?”>/i</a> and *The Devil in the White City<a href=“just%20substitute%20%5Bi%5DIn%20the%20Garden%20of%20Wild%20Beasts%5B/i%5D%20and%20%5Bb%5DPATM%5B/b%5D%20can%20kill%20two%20birds%20with%20one%20stone”>/i</a>.</p>
<p>I plan to read The Fault in My Stars but agree that it might not be the best choice for here.</p>
<p>Still highly interested in The Cat’s Table. We’ve seriously considered a Sherlock Holmes duo and The Invisible Bridge along with The Language of Flowers and again I remain interested.</p>
<p>I know nothing about baseball other than it involves a ball (hence, baseball LOL) but am willing to read *The Art of Fielding<a href=“sounds%20good”>/i</a>. However, I’m not so interested in Wolf Hall, though I’d read it, if chosen.</p>
<p>Another thread (book club) mentioned The Bridge of San Luis Rey as a good discussion choice and it’s only 128 pages. Might be nice to follow 850 pages (11/22/63) with something short (and spring break beckons, so short might be a good thing).</p>
<p>Also my librarian stalks me every time I enter the library now and whispers The Dovekeepers, so thought I should at least mention it.</p>
<p>Ignatius, the idea of Bridge of San Luis Rey intrigues me. It’s considered a classic, and I’ve never read it. If people think it leads to good discussions, that’s a big plus.</p>
<p>I would also still be okay with the Sherlock Holmes duo.</p>
<p>The Erik Larson books that have been mentioned are both great, but I can’t see that they would be very highly discussable. Same with Wolf Hall.</p>
<p>When it comes to The Art of Fielding and The Invisible Bridge – um, well, when I’m deciding whether to read a book I always at least glance at how many Amazon reader reviews fall into the negative category. Invisible Bridge has at least a few people talking about historical inaccuracies, and I was startled to see that the Art of Fielding has an unusually large number of negatives along with the positives…so…</p>
<p>NJTM and PATM: I pulled this article out of the WSJ back in September. I’ve wanted to read The Bridge of San Luis Rey forever but kept getting involved elsewhere. I moved it to my short list recently. I also notice that the OP my2sunz on thread “Book Club Books” mentioned it as a good discussion choice in his/her real-life book club. Anyway … to the article: </p>
<p>Of the books mentioned so far I like The Language of Flowers, Wolf Hall, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and The Art of Fielding. The only books suggested that I have very little desire to read are the Sherlock Holmes duo. It’s just not peaking my interest at all.</p>
<p>ignatius, yes you can veto – in fact, vetoing is the best way to narrow down our list. </p>
<p>Here are the 12 books suggested:</p>
<p>The Fault in Our Stars
The Invisible Bridge
Caleb’s Crossing
Devil in the White City
In the Garden of Beasts
Wolf Hall
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Language of Flowers
The Cat’s Table
The Art of Fielding
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The House of Silk/The Hound of the Baskervilles duo</p>
<p>Of those 12, here are the seven that were vetoed (veto=”I really don’t want to read that,” “I’ve already read it,” “I don’t think that would be a good book for discussion,” “Amazon reviews turned me off,” etc.):</p>
<p>The Fault in Our Stars
The Invisible Bridge
Devil in the White City
Wolf Hall
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Art of Fielding
The House of Silk/Hound of the Baskervilles</p>
<p>See how well vetoing works!</p>
<p>That leaves us with five possibilities:</p>
<p>Caleb’s Crossing
In the Garden of Beasts
The Language of Flowers
The Cat’s Table
The Bridge of San Luis Rey</p>
<p>Of those five, only one book has been given a nod by…well, by almost everyone so far (ignatius, PATheaterMom, NJTheatreMOM, BUandBC82 and myself). But I’d like to hear from SouthJerseyChessMom, CBBBlinker and/or anyone else out there who reads along with us and might have a strong opinion one way or the other.</p>