<p>Hello all. I have eavesdropped on your threads a few times for book ideas, and I’ve loved the books I found (Cutting for Stone, The Kitchen House, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society). I believe that some of those were your selection of the month and others were just mentioned in posts. Anyway, I’m looking for suggestions for myself and 2 daughters. We’re going to the beach at Christmas and need some good reads. Is there a list of CC Book Club past selections? It’s hard to wade through the parent forum and find the different selections… Thanks so much for any help!</p>
<p>^^^ </p>
<p>Mary13 usually posts this, so I hope I’m not jumping in too early. Still, Mary may be busy with family and the holidays and miss your request. So:</p>
<p>2009:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/722812-cc-june-summer-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/722812-cc-june-summer-book-club-selection.html</a> The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/756770-sarah-s-key-august-cc-summer-book-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/756770-sarah-s-key-august-cc-summer-book-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/775489-american-wife-october-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/775489-american-wife-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/802971-thirteenth-tale-december-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/802971-thirteenth-tale-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2010:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/839908-help-february-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/839908-help-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/874004-shadow-wind-april-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/874004-shadow-wind-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/921062-elegance-hedgehog-june-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/921062-elegance-hedgehog-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/950434-let-great-world-spin-august-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/950434-let-great-world-spin-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/983235-cutting-stone-october-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/983235-cutting-stone-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1017662-moonstone-december-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1017662-moonstone-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2011:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1051496-major-pettigrew-s-last-stand-february-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1051496-major-pettigrew-s-last-stand-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1088114-water-elephants-april-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1088114-water-elephants-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1128229-hotel-corner-bitter-sweet-june-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1128229-hotel-corner-bitter-sweet-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1164259-secret-garden-forgotten-garden-august-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1164259-secret-garden-forgotten-garden-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1196045-state-wonder-october-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1196045-state-wonder-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1227061-before-i-go-sleep-december-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1227061-before-i-go-sleep-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2012:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1258379-11-22-63-february-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1258379-11-22-63-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1289690-bridge-san-luis-rey-april-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1289690-bridge-san-luis-rey-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1324495-cat-s-table-june-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1324495-cat-s-table-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1354603-wide-sargasso-sea-jane-eyre-august-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1354603-wide-sargasso-sea-jane-eyre-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1378606-cloud-atlas-october-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1378606-cloud-atlas-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1403248-glass-room-december-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1403248-glass-room-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>Some of the books are better suited than others to enjoy at the beach. Ones I’d recommend:</p>
<p>*The Thirteenth Tale<a href=“My%20oldest%20daughter%20loved%20it.”>/I</a></p>
<p>*The Help<a href=“My%20girls%20liked%20the%20movie:%20%20eldest%20read%20and%20liked%20the%20book.”>/I</a></p>
<p>Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet</p>
<p>The Secret Garden and The Forgotten Garden</p>
<p>11/22/63</p>
<p>Cloud Atlas</p>
<p>These books may not be the most literary of the ones above, so it depends on what you want. For example, despite a Booker Prize The Glass Room did not win over this particular group … or I liked The Cat’s Table more after discussion than before it.</p>
<p>And for what it’s worth, I’m currently reading and enjoying *The Art Forger<a href=“not%20a%20CC%20discussion%20book”>/I</a>. I think my daughters would enjoy it also.</p>
<p>I normally spend hours researching titles to buy for Christmas presents for my girls (ages 19 & 20), but this year I caught the flu, and I’m so behind… We’re leaving tomorrow for our trip, so I am so, so grateful for your quick reply. I’ve read the first 3 books on your beach read list, but I am going to run out and grab the others. I will also look over the list of selections from past months’ book club selections. I am thankful for your book club group - Cutting for Stone and Guernsey are two of my favorite books of all time, and I found them here. </p>
<p>Happy holidays!</p>
<p>^^^ </p>
<p>Of the books I listed as beach-accessible ;), Cloud Atlas falls into the hardest-to-get-into category: you might look over our discussion before purchasing. (I don’t think spoilers hurt Cloud Atlas whereas reading over the discussion on Before I Go to Sleep ruins the twists and turns the plot takes.)</p>
<p>While people are making recommendations, maybe someone can suggest something for MIL. She liked “the Help” and has read a lot of Bryce Courtenay (sp?). I’m thinking The Glass Room wouldn’t really be her cup of tea ;).</p>
<p>Thanks again, Ignatius. After stopping by the library and bookstore, I ended up with The Art Forger, Cloud Atlas, 11/22/63, Before I Go to Sleep, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, and The Elegance of the Hedgehog. All three of us have a long Christmas break, but that should still keep us busy! I appreciate the help.</p>
<p>One more question, I’ve seen many great reviews of The Forgotten Garden, but I’m reluctant to try it. My 19 year old and I both tried to read Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours, and we just couldn’t finish the book. My daughter even nicknamed it The Dismal Hours. Has anyone read both, and if so, are they similar in style? Thanks.</p>
<p>**plms:**I haven’t read any books by Kate Morton other than The Forgotten Garden so I can’t offer any comparisons. Thanks for letting us know which books you choose: you picked some good ones. Enjoy your time at the beach.</p>
<p>sylvan: If your MIL liked The Help, she might like The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. A friend gave her mother Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas last Christmas: her mother loved it as did her mother’s circle of friends as it got passed around. (Has your MIL read some of the discussion books mentioned like The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet?)</p>
<p>^Thanks for the suggestions - not sure about what she has read on the list, as they spend half the year in the south and half in the north, so I don’t see all the stuff she has. Will surreptitiously check it out. :)</p>
<p>I originally posted the following book review on The Orchardist thread, and it was suggested that I post it here too:</p>
<p>Here’s my book report on some interim reading. I recently finished Jenny Erpenbeck’s Visitation, a short German novel in translation that has some thematic similarities to Simon Mawer’s The Glass Room.</p>
<p>I liked Visitation – in fact, I almost couldn’t put it down – but it was a rather odd book…not like anything else I have ever read.</p>
<p>The writing could be described as poetic, because it is spare and almost impressionistic, but at the same time it struck me (especially at first) as strangely formal and almost stiff.</p>
<p>I think the German could perhaps have been translated more gracefully. I also feel that it was the author’s intention to make the reader work a bit to grasp the deeper meanings hidden behind the somewhat flat narrative.</p>
<p>In Visitation, there is NO rhapsodizing about the house, as there was in The Glass Room. In fact, there is no rhapsodizing about anything. The focus is more on how the ownership and boundaries and husbandry of the land shifted over several decades, and how these transformations related to the experiences and actions of the characters.</p>
<p>The characters themselves drift in and out of the narrative in sort of a confusing kaleidoscope (if I were going to read the book again, I would take notes to try to keep them straight); however, the “who’s who” doesn’t matter as much as the overall patterns of behavior that are revealed.</p>
<p>The reader is presented with a relatively in-depth look at a few of the characters. Some of these people undergo startling experiences or are the victims of tragic occurrences, but the book’s relatively few harsh episodes are not overly dramatized. They emerge form the flat and repetitive rhythms of the narrative in a manner that is all the more powerful for being restrained.</p>
<p>I would recommend this book.</p>