Books

Last night was my night to present books to my book club.  Usually we choose 5 to 8 books and let the group decide which one they want to read.   I had a hard time narrowing my list down this year.  There are so many books that I have enjoyed.  I don't want to choose one the group has read before.  We keep a list and the list is long because they've read 12 books a year for over 30 years.  We want to choose a book that is available in paperback.  Most members buy their copy from Internet book sells like Amazon.  After much agonizing, these are the six books I chose:  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (and I'm a little disappointed this one didn't get top vote), The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler (the winner), The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Sharak, Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter, The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (also disappointed that this one didn't win), and Solar by Ian McEwen.  I wanted to offer a variety.  Some are long.  Others are short.  Some are meaty.  Others are easy reading.  I suppose if I really wanted the group to do the Gatsby, I could have put that on the list with a couple other really terrible choices and then I would have gotten my way but I don't want to be that controlling and I don't want to run the risk of them choosing something I really don't like.  The book club votes twice.  The first round of voting enables members to vote for as many books as they want.  We narrow it down to the top three vote getters.  One the second round of voting, each book club member has only one vote.  So now I'll be researching Anne Tyler and rereading The Beginner's Goodbye.    I believe it's the kind of book most people in the group will enjoy.