Thanks, I’d forgotten you’d read that.
Okay, then I’ll keep it on the list. At least A Christmas Carol is not overtly religious – touches on some pretty universal themes (regret, forgiveness, redemption, etc.)
Possibility:
Duet: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (or Gift of the Magi by O. Henry – a short story [very short – about five pages in my anthology])
If we decide that Christmas isn’t our thing, other suggestions are:
Anxious People by Fredrick Backman
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann
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I think I suggested The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova last time and it was hard to get. I got it easily off hold last week, but haven’t yet picked it up yet. Can’t remember if there was any interest in it. It’s a retelling of the Dracula story.
I don’t have a great interest in reading A Christmas Carol, but years ago went to staged reading with Patrick Stewart that was marvelous. It looks like there’s a somewhat jazzed up video version of it with added ghosts.
I was out the whole day and saw that this thread had exploded. Wow!
Very coincidentally, I was going to suggest Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol or A Tale of Two Cities were going to be my suggestions. It’s been years since I’ve read any Dickens other than Great Expectations which I reread regularly.
I’m okay with anything else that we come with as a group.
ETA: One more suggestion that came to mind. The Jane Austen Society is on my reading list for the next month. It seems like a good book to read and discuss as a group.
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Interestingly enough, I’ve run into a few analyses that discuss how A Christmas Carol
incorporates many of the base themes inherent in Judaism, including atonement.
After seeing it mentioned in another book club thread, I read The Ninth House and greatly enjoyed it. Perhaps because my husband grew up in New Haven so I kept asking him if places were familiar! I’d be happy to reread and discuss it.
I tried to read Olympus, Texas - three times I went back to it - but it never grabbed me.
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Here are my 3 choices from what has been suggested so far.
Anxious People by Fredrick Backman
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
A Christmas Carol Duo
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Here’s another thought:
Maybe we could pair A Christmas Carol with another classic I have in mind – something a bit off the beaten path that might appeal to those who would like something more than a Christmas tale.
If we don’t think “Christmas” but think “Dickens” and “novella” instead, we could pair A Christmas Carol with Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell, a Dickens contemporary (and author of the wonderful North and South). From Wikipedia:
Lois the Witch is a novella of historical fiction, which first appeared in 3 parts in October 1859 in the weekly All the Year Round edited by Charles Dickens. The story’s protagonist, Lois Barclay, is raised in a parsonage in Barford, Warwickshire, but as she becomes a young woman, both her parents die. In 1691, she crosses the Atlantic to live with her uncle and his family in Salem, Massachusetts and then becomes involved in the Salem witch trials.
Both novellas are about 100 pages. Both have a supernatural element (Gaskell’s novella is considered a gothic tale). Charles Dickens was Elizabeth Gaskell’s editor and they had a difficult working relationship, which might be interesting to look into.
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I like that idea. Gaskell is someone, I’ve always been sort of interested in reading as she was so influential.
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I like this idea pairing with Gaskell , I watched the Tv production of North and South, and that’s all I know about her.
I’m fine with whatever you all decide.
I’m good with whatever but I do like the Dickens/Gaskell duo.
Okay, let’s go with A Christmas Carol and Lois the Witch. Another good thing about the pairing is that no one has to search for either book. Both are free on Project Gutenberg (and elsewhere).
Lois the Witch is contained in Gaskell’s mystery and horror short story collection Curious, if True. Now that I think of it, Gaskell can take us to Halloween and then Dickens to Christmas!
Caveat: For those who have never read Elizabeth Gaskell, to gauge her work by Lois the Witch is like assessing Louisa May Alcott by Behind a Mask without ever having read Little Women. Gaskell’s short stories are not representative of her masterpiece, North and South.
(North and South is my Middlemarch – that is, each time I read it I find another layer, another nuance, another subtle bit of social commentary. The mini-series focuses on the romance–which is fine, it’s the thread that runs throughout the story and I do love it–but the novel has so much more. However, I’ll admit it’s an acquired taste – like much of Victorian fiction, it’s not a breezy read.)
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I’ve wanted to read North and South since forever. Well, not forever but rather since you talked about your love for it. I plan to throw it out for discussion consideration one of these day.
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This sounds like a fascinating pairing—never heard of this author. Thanks for the insightful intro.
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OK, now that you all have picked the NEXT book, I’m jumping in to the current discussion! I just finished “While Justice Sleeps” this morning. (I’m in several Book Clubs, and sometimes the schedules overlap by a lot.)
I’ve skimmed through everyone’s comments and likely don’t have anything new to add. I enjoyed the book, but didn’t find it 5 star worthy, for all the reasons others have mentioned. The plot was quite convoluted, and, at times, hard to follow. There were also numerous coincidences/unbelievable events. Yet, the writing was solid and the story held my interest.
I read a fair number of mysteries, usually as a break from “heavier” books that are often Book Club selections. I did guess the previous President did not die from natural causes, but thought Vance was the killer.
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This goes a long way with me, even when a book is as flawed as While Justice Sleeps. Basically, if I want to keep picking up the book to read on, then that’s good; if I don’t, then…not so good.
Right now, I’m reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson – more because I should than because I want to, which makes me sound kind of shallow, but that’s fair, lol. I can only read a few pages a night. It’s interesting, and I’m learning a lot, but it’s not a book to be sailed through for the fun of it.
What are the rest of you reading now?
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Thanks to @Mary13 for helming the discussion once again and for coming up with the Lois the Witch suggestion. While Mary sees the words “witch” and “gothic” and thinks Halloween, I see 1691 and “crossing the Atlantic” to live with an uncle and family in Mass. and think Thanksgiving. A Christmas Carol follows in Dec.
I have 5 books lined up:
*A Darkness Absolute (Rockton, #2) - Kelley Armstrong. Not a closed-room mystery series but rather a closed-town. I liked #1 in the series and #2 even more. Definitely not literary fiction.
*The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave. Mystery without murder/mayhem. Really good so far. It’s also gotten a good thumbs up from two of my friends. (600 holds at the library as I type.)
*The Fall - Albert Camus. Short classic. I’m a Camus fan - loved The Plague.
*The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois - Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. 800 or so pages. Temporary insanity made me pick this one up, as I don’t have time to read 800 pages. The reviews got my attention and I didn’t note length. Warning: Sexual violence layers on top of sexual violence with more sexual violence to come.
*Firekeeper’s Daughter - Angeline Boulley. YA. The reason behind my picking this one up starts with
[The 100 Best YA Books of All Time | TIME]
The books are listed in chronological order beginning with Little Women in the 1800s. Some years have no books listed while others have several. Firekeeper’s Daughter is the only 2021 book on the list. I mean this list has Little Women; Anne of Green Gables; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, even To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Is Firekeeper’s Daughter that good? Good enough to stand the test of time? How would anyone even know? Curiosity wins in this case: I picked up Firekeeper’s Daughter to see for myself.
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Just finished a light, escape, charming, hallmark movie kind of book,
“Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe” - after this last discussion I was ready for for Southern Charm, sweet black tea, and handheld pies and magic.
Now I’m flying through
“The President’s Daughter “ Clinton / Patterson collaboration- two friends read it, and thought I’d enjoy it to, a page turner 30% into 600 page book.
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I’m actually feeling quite good about the books finished reading after our last discussion.
The Weight of Ink I know that this will be against the mainstream opinion but while I enjoyed the book, I didn’t love it.
Middlemarch. It did get really interesting about 300 pages in and then I was hooked. Read without putting it down after that.
Heaven, my Home by Attica Locke. I liked the book but find that it is always hard to read about the stuff that happens to some people that really shouldn’t.
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison. Loved this as it is right down my alley.
Reading currently,
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobbs. Good so far. I’ve just started.
Next up for me.
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. Not many reviews out there but as one mentioned that it is similar to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I decided to give it a try.
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I read Caste earlier this year. Much was interesting, but I thought some of it was self-indulgent.
I took Assassin’s Apprentice with me on our last trip, but ended up reading other things. I’ve been meaning to read it forever, but for some dumb reason our library only had the sequels. I’ve liked other books by Robin Hobbs.
As I said, I’m currently reading Jane Eyre. I’m also reading a fanfic set in the Vorkosigan universe (Lois McMasters Bujold, my favorite sci-fi author).
I will be picking up The Historian from the library this week. So I’ll be reading that soon.
My best friend from high school is lobbying for me to read some Angela Thirkell. (Also recommended by my SIL ages ago.)