<p>No, I haven’t read it, Mary, and I would like to.</p>
<p>If we’re looking for ethnic diversity, I liked Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones and would be willing to reread it or one of her others.</p>
<p>^^ read Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory - long ago for book club- sylvan’s suggestion looks interesting…just glanced at goodreads quickly.</p>
<p>ignatius - Yikes! I never looked at the length of Middlemarch. I am going to read it anyway (evnetually), but I understand why someone may feel it’s too long to take on right now. </p>
<p>We have a diverse selection of books that have been suggested. I guess I’d better go look some of them up.</p>
<p>Mary, I have not read Things Fall Apart</p>
<p>I haven’t read *Things Fall Apart *either and it was in the news recently since he passed away this year. I listened to the first chapter on tape years ago, but didn’t get into it, but I wasn’t doing a long trip which is really the only successful way for me to listen to books.</p>
<p>I think this list of books by African American authors might be more thorough than the goodreads one: [Top</a> 100 Books](<a href=“http://aalbc.com/books/thebesttitles.htm]Top”>http://aalbc.com/books/thebesttitles.htm)</p>
<p>Scroll down for a description of each book.</p>
<p>Alright, my little kittens, here’s what we have so far:</p>
<p>The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
Middlemarch by George Eliot
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat</p>
<p>And I have a feeling we’re not even done coming up with titles yet. But for starters, muse on the above and if there is anything to which you are strongly opposed, say the word and it shall be removed.</p>
<p>The Angelmaker seems to have quite a few fantasy elements, and that sort of thing is not my cup of tea.</p>
<p>^ Thanks! That’s a start:</p>
<p>The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Middlemarch by George Eliot
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat</p>
<p>Nothing here I won’t read but some I’m more enthusiastic about than others (and may I remind everyone that I’m the one who dragged her feet re our choice of The Glass Castle). Take a look at this review: “The close of the book is confessed defeat for all. Direct, uncompromising, a distinguished piece of writing whose very subject matter will make it almost impossible to sell.” Or maybe this one - “Tone: Bleak, Haunting, Melancholy; Writing Style: Gritty” vs. this one - Tone: Moving; Writing Style: Lyrical - compared to this one - Tone: Strong sense of place, Suspenseful; Writing Style: Engaging, Richly detailed, Stylistically complex, Witty. </p>
<p>I didn’t list titles on purpose. This go-around should be interesting.</p>
<p>NJTM: Angelmaker would have been #1 on my list. Drat it! (Intruder in the Dust sounds good, though. ;))</p>
<p>^I think the last review you quoted must be Angelmaker, Ignatius. :)</p>
<p>Sorry about that book…but ya know I am still mourning the vetoing of the wonderful Round House which I urged upon this group not once but twice.</p>
<p>^^^ Nope … last review was not Angelmaker, as Mary had already dropped it.</p>
<p>^ ignatius, The Glass Room. Although, hey, maybe we should throw The Glass Castle into the mix, too – ‘cause you’re right, this seems to be a wildly disparate list of books, which should make the winnowing process interesting. </p>
<p>I had to google your review quotes. Why do you make me work so hard? 
The first quote refers to The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. And I believe the quote is actually from a 1940 review, which makes it rather fascinating because The Heart is a Lonely Hunter did not, in fact, become something “whose very subject matter will make it almost impossible to sell.” On the contrary, the book (per Wikipedia) “created a literary sensation on publication, enjoying a meteoric rise to the top of the bestseller lists in 1940.”</p>
<p>Now I definitely want to keep the book on our list of possibilities. Way to help narrow things down!! :)</p>
<p>Since Ignatius mentioned Intruder in the Dust, I’ll put in another plug for it. It is a book that has a satisfying ending and does not leave the reader feeling all haunted and sad, so it might be a nice change of pace.</p>
<p>I happen to very much enjoy the interplay between mystery and fantasy, so I am going to add *Angelmaker * to my personal list. Carry on!</p>
<p>I would be happy to read *Intruder in the Dust<a href=“or%20anything%20else%20on%20the%20list”>/i</a>. I confess, though, that I am burdened with guilt over NJTM’s post #154 re our paucity of authors of color. There is a decided gap in my education. If not this round, maybe something from the aalbc list for August?</p>
<p>psychhmom: yea! regarding Angelmaker. Maybe a semblance of a coup d’etat is in order. But nah … totally happy with the present leadership. </p>
<p>Continue on, Madam Secretary Mary … and go ahead and throw in The Glass Castle - another one I’ve meant to read.</p>
<p>and sorry :(, I didn’t mean to make you look up review quotes. I didn’t want to prejudice anyone against any particular book. I meant it when I said, “Nothing here I won’t read.” I knew The Heart is a Lonely Hunter went on to acclaim but I doubt the ending got any happier in the interim. (Now see, it sounds like I don’t want to read the book and I have no problem with it - that’s why I didn’t list titles.)</p>
<p>I log on to one of my library databases NoveList to check out reviews. It gathers reviews for each book from Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Booklist. It also lists anything and everything it can about a book: genre, tone, writing style, awards. Easy, easy way to check things out.</p>
<p>Add me to the list of those who think *Angelmaker *sounds intriguing. :D</p>
<p>(Especially the “escapism” description at Amazon.)</p>
<p>^^^ Ooh - uprising in the wind. 
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<p>I joined my public library’s book club a few years ago. The club reads a book each month. </p>
<p>Anyway, each February (Black History month) the chosen book is by a black author or, if not, the topic needs to be relevant for black history month, i.e. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Genre does not matter.</p>
<p>Same for Asian Pacific American month in May</p>
<p>Same for Mexican American month in September</p>
<p>Mary: I have a suggestion. Have everyone list their top 6 choices out of the 11 (or 12, if you add The Glass Castle) remaining books: just top 6, in no order. You can then weed out books that don’t make anyone’s list. The in no order thing is important because we are far from that point. No one has exercised veto rights, except NJTM, and we have too many, varied choices.</p>
<p>Of course, narrowing it that way would be almost too easy. Knowing us each of the 11/12 books will be on someone’s list. :)</p>
<p>I have Middlemarch on my kindle, but I’m in agreement that a 900 page book in May will be wayyy past what I can manage. I’ve read a couple of the others and personally find books written in the form that the Huston book is VERY difficult to read. Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory was an Oprah Book Club selection - maybe we could add that one?</p>