Book Clbus

Book clubs!  Book clubs! I love book clubs!

In 1998, I discovered a book club in a mall. 

The first book we discussed after I joined was "Middlemarch".

 And this book club has discussed a classic every other month since then.

 So I have read 90 classics with this group!
There is no summer break.
We read 12 books a year.

This is "The Monday Night Book Group".

The book we are reading here is not a classic, but a Victorian-inspired crime novel.

"Fingersmith" was written by Sarah Waters and we loved it!

My favourite classics:

The Good Earth / Uncle Tom's Cabin / Of Human Bondage / The Grapes of Wrath / The Woman in White / To Kill a Mockingbird / The Return of the Native / The Mayor of Casterbridge / Far From the Madding Crowd.  

And then there were the challenges!  Tough!  Tough!

Beowulf / The Iliad

This group just finished discussing "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith.  It was one of ten books that affected Oprah's life.  It was so popular when it was written in 1943 that several studios vied for the movie rights and movie stars were anxious to be involved.  That movie appears on T.V. regularly.

I struggled through the book, finding it tedious and long.  But when I finished, I realized that it was well-worth reading and I understood why it was so popular when it was written.

It is called a "bildungsroman", a coming-of-age novel.  But it is also a capsule of time and place.  Is there a fancy word for that?

I have been challenging my reading friends to share their favourite classic in a video on my blog.  No luck so far!