Book Clubs - Love or Hate?

Book Clubs are a great way to bring people together.  A book club can be made up of friends and the monthly discussion is a great night to get together and have fun.  But, some book clubs, like those that meet through Harleysville Books, meet faithfully each month but started with a group of strangers.  After years of monthly meetings friendships were developed.

Book clubs are always looking for recommendations that will provide good discussions.  Often the best books for discussion are ones that not everyone in the group loved to read.  Books that offer differing viewpoints can create a heated discussion.  When characters are unlovable and totally irredeemable, members can become passionate about their opinions.

Some of the best discussions we've had at our book clubs through Harleysville Books have been around books that we didn't particularly enjoy, but after developed an appreciation for the novel.

Here are some of our recommendations...

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (Read a little with Google Preview)  Written by an award winning novelist, The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas provided our book club with a heated discussion.  I don't think anyone liked the characters,  but the great the conversation was great!  Based around a single incident where a child was slapped, this Australian novel got under every one's skin. 

The Bird House by Kelly Simmons - Kelly Simmons is a local author and a good friend to us.  Her second novel, The Bird House, is the subject of our book club dinner on March 22, 2011.  Kelly has taken what seems to be an ordinary widow and has created conflict with her daughter-in-law, developed a relationship with her granddaughter and provided a twisted history that unravels a family secret.