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Book Choices That Endure

A Century of Reading

Who says time travel is difficult? Yes, there are incredible novels and memoirs being published right now—every month—that will inspire great book club discussions. But don’t forget about the great titles from the past that still endure and even hold up to the best books of today.

Reading Group Choices invites your group to go back in time, whether 10 years or 100, for your next pick! Below you’ll find one book from every decade over the last century. Some may be familiar, and some unexpected. Either way, each stands on its own as a compelling read and offers a window into the culture and time that produced it.

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Coffee, Fika, & the Joy of Connecting Over Books

Wait. Press pause. Put down whatever you’re doing (except reading this!).

Wouldn’t you like a cup of coffee or some tea? Go ahead: Eat something sweet along with it, a pastry or cookie. Most of all, say hello to a friend, a neighbor, the person in the next cubicle, the parent on the playground. Take a few minutes to relax and catch up.

The concept is called fika (fee-ka), and it’s practiced in Sweden at least once or twice a day—a moment to stop, take a break, have a hot drink and a nibble,

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Great Group Reads 2017

The Woman's National Book Association presents its list of Great Group Reads for National Reading Group Month

Reading Group Choices is pleased to share the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) Great Group Reads 2017 list, part of their National Reading Group Month initiative!

This annual month-long celebration provides an opportunity for reading groups worldwide to celebrate their accomplishments and plan for the future. It’s also a perfect time to join or start a reading group! Every October, WNBA organizes events nationwide and announces an annual list of book selections for reading groups: Great Group Reads.

Great Group Reads 2017

The Best of Us: A Memoir by Joyce Maynard
The Clay Girl by Heather Tucker
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The Hearts of Men by Nickolas Butler
Kinship of Clover by Ellen Meeropol
Last Things: A Graphic Memoir of Loss and Love by Marissa Moss
The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman
Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran
Mothers and Other Strangers by Gina Sorell
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
One Good Mama Bone by Bren McClain
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Redemption of Galen Pike: Short Stories by Carys Davies
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
Smoke by Dan Vyleta
So Much Blue by Percival Everett
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
The Velveteen Daughter by Laurel Davis Huber
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

Discover more of the WNBA’s Great Group Reads lists on our blog!

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The October Spotlight Group Is …

October Spotlight:
The Feckin’ Book Club

The October Spotlight Group is The Feckin’ Book Club!

The Feckin’ Book Club was started in March of 2008. The first book they read was Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. He used the word “feckin’” so often in the book that they thought it would be a perfect title for the group!

This club currently has 11 members that range in age from 32 to 79. Although people have come and gone, nine of the original members remain—and some have near-perfect attendance!

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Not Your Typical Reading Group Book

Adventurous Choices To Spice Up Reading Group Picks

Up for adventurous reading? Veer away from novels, stories, and biographies into the uncharted territory of these unexpected book group picks that include science writing, illustrations, and atlases of other worlds.

 

Pocket Island of Remote IsnaldsPocket Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Not Visited and Never Will

by Judith Schalansky; Christine Lo (Translator)

Winner of the prize for the most beautiful German book of the year 

The Atlas of Remote Islands,

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Bookish Books: Recommendations for Extreme Readers

Interested in the story behind the story?

Do you devour stories about books, book thieves, book stores, and book sellers? Are you always wondering what happens after a story ends or before a book begins? Then this is the list for you, a treasure trove of bookish books for the extreme reader.

 

The Book That Made MeThe Book That Made Me: A Collection of 32 Personal Stories

edited by Judith Ridge

What if you could look inside your favorite authors’ heads and see the book that led them to become who they are today?

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