The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - October CC Book Club Selection

Parent Cafe
101

Here we go:

@mathmom, you are right about not jumping into another fantasy right now, so I will remove Nettle and Bone.

@VeryHappy, I’ve read The God of the Woods (and loved it). I know that several others in the group have read it, too, so I will have to sacrifice it in the pursuit of a shorter voting list. Let’s keep the other Liz Moore book, The Unseen World.

I’ll also remove Frankenstein and I, Robot, as darker fare (and two books to read) is not ideal going into the holidays. We will re-visit for classics February.

I’m removing Pilfered Promises because it’s fifth in a series. @HImom, the first book is Maids of Misfortune, if you’re in the mood to give the series a go during the interim.

Theo of Golden is very hard to get, so let’s hold that one for another round. @silverlady, do you own it? I am #310 on the waiting list at our fairly large library system.

@ignatius, I made a similar vow after The Nightingale, so I hear ya, but I’m going to leave The Women on the list because the holiday season is all about redemption and forgiveness. :joy:

There hasn’t been much comment re Playground, but I’m leaving that one on as well, partly of course because it was well-reviewed and Powers is a gifted writer, but also because I need a token male.

So here are our five choices. I will post the RCV link shortly.

Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
Playground by Richard Powers
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
The Unseen World by Liz Moore

102

Here you go. Please rank all five choices for more accurate results. The books are listed in alphabetical order.

103

Just want to chime in to say The Briar club is a page turner and uplifting :+1::+1:

104

Sounds like at least three people here have already read it? (I felt fairly “meh” about The Alice Network, so haven’t picked up a Kate Quinn since then.)

105

I felt fairly “meh” about The Alice Network also. IMHO The Briar Club outshines it, as did The Rose Code.

1 Like
106

I read the opening samples of each book before voting - if I can’t get past a couple of pages, I likely won’t like the book. There have been some books that grabbed me and I went straight from the sample read to the library app to request the book. Even if it didn’t win!

2 Likes
107

We have a lot of votes yet to come in, but if you like to watch the purple bars move back and forth, this is for you: RCV123 - Preliminary results

1 Like
108

I’d read any of these choices, although like @ignatius and @Mary13, after The Nightingale, I’m sort of an anti-Kristin Hannah fan too. Though I know several people who RAVED about The Women.

109

Yes, Mary, I own Theo of Golden. It was really a good book. I will happily read it again, if we select it. I don’t even want to lend it out, in case I don’t get it back. It has a 4.67 rating on Goodreads and a 4.8 rating on Amazon. It would be a nice book to consider for next December. It was published 2 years ago, and it seems that its popularity is just growing.

1 Like
110

Wow, usually two years is the point at which you can finally get a popular book easily – not the other way around!

111

It’s not available in the city or Coronado library systems ebook or hard cover, nor the county ebook system. Kind of surprised since it apparently is a popular book.

112

Our small consortium of libraries has one copy of the book, but it is checked out. We rarely have anything that is popular, but not from a known author.

113

Okay. I didn’t even bother voting for The Women. It was pretty clear it wasn’t going to win. I guess I’ll keep it on my list and try to get to it on my own! I didn’t know there were so many people who didn’t like Kristin Hannah.

114

I actually have it on my shelf (unread). Too bad you don’t live closer, we could share. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

1 Like
115

@caraid I know readers who have raved about that book, shed tears as they revisited the Vietnam era. Given today’s political climate I don’t think I could handle revisiting the Vietnam turmoil. Just wanted to clarify I’m not in the anti Kristin Hannah club.

2 Likes
116

Wow, I’m #1 in hold list for our local public library for the new selection that was chosen and “How to Age Disgracefully” is also #1 and available for me to pick up now! I’m pleasantly surprised and maybe it will help H have a few chuckles as we deal with all the medical issues we are handling this year.

117

We only have 10 votes so far, so the final pick could go a couple different ways!

118

Well, one of the finalists I’m #1, so maybe I’ll read it regardless.

119

Ok, have placed a hold on ebook for the winning book and it should be available in about 4 weeks which should be good timing. Sadly no paper copies so will have to come into the modern world.

120

It wasn’t our biggest voter turnout, but enough to declare Enlightenment the winner!

Of the top contenders, I think we chose the one that might be the more complex read (given our experience with Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent). To which I say, Good for us! I like when we select a book that folks are less apt to pick up on their own.

It was a very, very close race with The Unseen World as #2. I hope to see Liz Moore’s book on a future list for us.

I’ll start a new thread for Enlightenment.

Thanks, everyone!

2 Likes