Book suggestions from our July 2021 Zoom
Joan Willenbrok Leonard
1) The Daughters of Yalta by Catherine Grace Katz
2)Meet me at Museum by Anne Youngson (thanks to you!)
3)Plastic Ocean by Capt Charles Moore
4) the Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larsen
Book List from Sylvia Johnson Wilson Lucas
“The Girl who wrote in Silk” by Kelli Estes
“The last Letter from Juliet” by Melanie Hudson
“When the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owen
Fiona Valpy Books:
“Sea Of Memories”
“ You are not Alone”
“ The Dressmakers Gift”
“ The Beekeepers Daughter”
Kate Quinn Books:
“ The Alice Network”
“ The Huntress”
Allison Pataki Books:
“ The Accidental Empress”
“ Sisi” (a continuation of the above book)
From Jan Williams Libby
The Indomitable Florence Finch by Robert J. Mrazek
Lincoln on the Verge by Ted Widmer
The Agitators y Dorothy Wickenden
From Dee Lamb Barstow
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Anxious People by Fredrick Blackman
The Splendid and the Vile) already mentioned
The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbana. The latter is more of an eye opener than a pleasant read.
From Ada Ball Liggett
I had more than 3 to recommend of my recent reads You are welcome to pick and choose.
Kristin Hannah The Four Winds
Sarah Blake The Guest Book
Fiona Davis The Lions of 5th Avenue
Wm. Kent Kreuger This Tender Land
Clare Pooley The Authenticity Project
Susan Wiggs The Lost and Found Bookstore
Sue Miller Monogamy
Elizabeth Strout Amy and Isabel
Elizabeth Strout Abide With Me
I found out yesterday that, as I thought, all book clubbers have the same issues
From Ellie Dobbie Full
First, I read 250 pages a day as that is all there is to do with the pandemic. I have a lovely porch and if the light is good I do pretty well. I belong to three book clubs and we have a lovely library here on the first floor. I belong to 3 book clubs and choose a book from each as the titles appeal.
Handmaid's Tale by Atwood
3 Harry Potter books
All the Light we cannot see by Doerr
Story of My Life by Helen Keller
I met Maya Anjalou in an airport bar and we chatted so I bought her book-I Know Why the Caged BirdSings
Educated by Westover
'MATILDA BY Raol Dahl – I saw the play when it opened so I bought the book
The Greatest Generation by Brokow this was my fathers time and also my present husband's
Nightingale
Guardians by Grisham
The Paris Architect by Balfour
Lady Clementine by Benedict
Night Watchman by Erdick
Glass Hotel by Meniil
Dear Edward by Jano
Washington Black by Edigyan
It by Stephan King
4 James Herriott books
Giver of Stars by Moyes
and I just finished Secret language by Monica Wood. I had also read My Only Story by Wood and did not enjoy it but I read the review and a gal said she had read Secret Language and liked it much better. It is gripping and very sad but beautifully written.
From M.C. Bachman Churchill
All of Dickens
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdlich
The Equivalents by Maggie Doherty
From Pat O’Keeffe Brodt
Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland
A Bookshop in Berlin by Francoise Frenkel
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
This Tender Land by William Krueger
Kristin Hannah books
From Elie Graham Claus
Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nisihi Coates
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Bendict
This Promised Land by Barak Obama
From Nancy Nutting Lane
The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan
The Good Earth trilogy by Pearl Buck
Citizens of London by Lynne Olson
The Seven Sisters (series) by Lucinda Riley
In the Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson
A Long Petal of the Sea and all Isabel Allende books
From Sue Nutter Keller
Sapiens. Harari. The history of humans. Well written and easy to understand
Transient Desires. Donna Leon. She has written 20 mysteries all set in Venice
Heat. Bill Buford. Inside the kitchen at Babbo and other restaurant-y things
Dirt. Bill Buford. Inside the kitchen of a three-star Michelin restaurant in Lyon plus more French dining and cooking
From Mollie Hibbard
Citizens of London by Lynne Olson
Tough Love by Susan Rice
From Sally Palmer Barr
Lincoln on the Verge, by Ted Widmer. Well researched history presented in a real page-turner!
The Witch City Mystery series by Carol Perry. Light mystery series.
Dead-End Job series by Elaine Viets. Very funny mystery series.
The Bryant & May mystery series by Christopher Fowler. Weird mysteries with hilarious characters and wonderful scenes of London.
Here's one I forgot to mention -- Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon. Mystery ingeniously based on Twelfth Night.
Series based in ancient Rome by Lindsay Davis -- someone else mentioned these too
Although I don't belong to a traditional book club, I do belong to Friends of Freddy, a club which promotes the Freddy the Pig books by Walter R. Brooks, written 60-80 years ago. I have a full set of the books and they are as much fun now as they were when I first read them. Does anyone else remember these?
I think it was Jane Barth who mentioned the books by Ann Perry --I like these too.
From Mac Croft Osborne who missed the Zoom but wanted to suggest two books
The Vanishing Half by Bennett
Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
From Marilyn Jacobson Nasatir who also missed our Zoom
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Last but not least…from Wink
What I call my “Nancy Drew Books”…mysteries or suspense with the same characters
Martin Walker mysteries all take place in Provence
Donna Leon mysteries all take place in Venice
Louise Penny mysteries all take place in Canada (except the last one)
Daniel Silva books who I consider the best suspense writer these days. You must start with number 1 which is The Unlikely Spy.
Recently I really loved a book Deb Nash recommended which was Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson. And it reminded me of a favorite called 84 Charing Cross Rd by Helene Haniff
Angle of Repose that MC mentioned jogged my memory about Crossing to Safety which is excellent… both by Wallace Stegner
I thought both of the Obama books were beautifully written…This Promised Land by Barak and Becoming by Michelle
Sue Nutter’s books on cooking reminded me of how much I enjoyed Michael Ruhlman’s The Making of a Chef and The Soul of a Chef. Along these lines are The Buford books, Heat and Dirt and anything by Ruth Reichl…she is an absolute KICK!
Betty Krasne's Extended Book List
A (NOT SO) HISTORICAL LIST OF BOOK DISCUSSION TOPICS
OFFERED AT KML, 2005 TO 2018
Fall 2005
“Does Class Matter in Modern American Fiction?”
Baker Towers, Jennifer Haigh
An Unfinished Season, Ward Just
Please Don’t Come Back From the Moon, Dean Makopoulos
The Center of Everything, Laura Moriarty
Fall-Spring 2006-2007
“Novels of Contemporary Immigration”
The Foreign Student, Susan Choi
The Inheritance of Loss, Karen Desai
Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, Faiza Guéne
Brick Lane, Monica Ali
Spring 2007
“Rewriting History”
Fallen, David Maine
Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
The Last Days of the War, Judith Claire Mitchell
The French Lieutenant’s Woman, John Fowles
Fall 2007
“Constructing Family in the Twenty-First Century”
Digging to America, Anne Tyler
Three Junes, Julia Glass
Any Bitter Thing, Monica Wood
Broken for You, Stephanie Kallos
Spring 2008
“The Modern Quest Plot”
Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell
A Woman in Jerusalem, A.B. Yehshua
The Dive From Clauson’s Pier, Ann Packer
A Complicated Kindness, Miriam Towes
Fall 2008
????
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Mr. Pip, Lloyd James
White Ghost Girls, Alice Greenway
In the Country of Men, Hisham Matar
Spring 2009
“The American Experience”
The Dollmaker, Harriette Arnow
Native Son, Richard Wright
Water For Elephants, Sara Gruen
Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
Fall 2009
????
The White King, Gyorgy Dragoman
Out Stealing Horses, Per Peterson
The Yacoubian Building, Alaa Al Aswan
Snow Country, Yasumnari Kawabta
Spring 2010
???
City of Thieves, David Benoff
The Good Thief, Hannah Tinti
The Law of Dreams, Peter Behrens
Netherland, Joseph O’Neill.
Fall 2010
“Glory Days: The U.S.A., WWII, and the 20th Century”
The Art Student’s War, Brad Leithauser
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford
American Rust, Philipp Meyer
The Story of a Marriage, Andrew S. Greer
Spring 2011
“Murder… and its Uses”
Wolves Eat Dogs, Martin Cruz Smith
The Crimson Room, Katherine McMahon
The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
A Fierce Radiance, Leslie Belfer
Fall 2011
“Writers as Ventriloquists: Re-imagining Lives”
Loving Frank, Nancy Horan
Creation, A Novel, Katherine Govier
Mr. Darwin’s Shooter, Roger McDonald
Leaving Van Gogh, Carol Wallace
Spring 2012
“Tales of the 1%”
The Privileges, Jonathan Dee
Union Atlantic, Adam Hasliett
The Three Weissmanns of Westport, Cathleen Schine
Rules of Civility, Amor Towles
Fall 2012
“Leaving Homelands”
The Clothes on Their Backs, Linda Grant
On Black Sister’s Street, Chika Unigwe
The Free World, David Bezmogis
The Little Bride, Anna Solomon
Spring 2013
“Community, Its Ins and Outs”
Arcadia, Lauren Groff
Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward
The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
The Patron Saint of Liars, Ann Patchett
Fall 2013
“Women and War”
The Man From Saigon, Marti Leimbach
My Name is Mary Sutter, Robin Oliveira
In the Shadow of the Banyon, Vadday Ratner
The Attack, Yasmin Khadra
Spring 2014
“Elsewhere in America”
The Bridge of Sighs, Richard Russo
A Map of Tulsa, Benjamin Lytal
Waterloo, Karen Olsson
Say Nice Things About Detroit, Scott Lasser
Fall 2014
“Science/Fiction”
The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert
Mendel’s Dwarf, Simon Maur
Intuition, Alegra Goodman
Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver
Spring 2015
“Immigrant Story”
We Need New Names, NoViolet Bulawayo
American Dervish, Ayad Akhtar
The Imposter Bride, Nancy Richler
A Replacement Life, Boris Fishman
Fall 2015
“American Family Chronicle”
The Children’s Crusade, Ann Packer
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, Ayana Mathis
Some Luck, Jane Smiley
The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
Spring 2016
“Russian Writing, The Last 200 Years”
Short Stories: The Overcoat, The Nose, Nicolai Gogol
Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksander Solzenitsyn
The Betrayers, David Bezmogis
Spring 2017
“Created Equal? American Novels Explore History”
Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead
News of the World, Paulette Jiles
The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsaka
Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford
Fall 2017
“Keep Calm, Carry On: England’s Twentieth Century Wars”
Regeneration, Pat Barker
A God In Ruins, Kate Atkinson
The Welsh Girl, Peter Davies
The Clothes on their Backs, Linda Grant
Spring 2018
“The View From Down Under: Australian novels, WWI to WWII”
The Daughters of Mars, Thomas Keneally
The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman
The Strays, Emily Bitto
The Narrow Bridge to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan
Fall 2018
“Into Africa”
Dance of the Jakaranda, Peter Kimani
Cry The Beloved Country, Alan Paton
Half a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Stay With Me, Ayobami Adebayo
Spring 2019
“Nationality and War: Four Asian Novels”
Miss Burma, Charmaine Craig
White Chrysanthemum, Mary Lynn Bracht
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
In the Shadow of the Banyon Tree, Vadday Ratner
Spring 2020
The Road Trip
One Plus One, Jojo Moyes
Lake Success, Gary Shteyngart
America for Beginners, Leah Farquul
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce
Fall 2020
75 Years of Writing By Blacks: A Sampler
The Street, Ann Perry
Sula, Toni Morrison
The Known World, Edward P. Jones
A Kind of Freedom, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Spring 2021
Retro-History: The Historical Novel
Augustown, Kei Miller
Washington Black, Esi Edugyan
Signs for Lost Children, Sarah Moss
Fifty Words For Rain, Asha Lemmie
Book Suggestions From Our March 2022 Zoom
Jan Williams Libby
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict’s and Vicataoriia Christopher Murray
Cloud Coukoo land by Anthony Dörr
The Howe Dynasty by Julie Flaevil
Sylvia Johnson Lucas
"The Personal Librarian" (to J.P. Morgan) By Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
"The Girl Who Wrote in Silk" By Melanie Hudson
Books by Fiona Valpy "Sea of memories", "The Dressmaker Gift", "The Bee Keeper Promise" are the ones I have read and enjoyed.
"The Last Letter From Juliet" By Melanie Hudson
"The Alice Network" by Kate Quinn
Sue Nutter Keller
The Feather Thief. Beauty, obsession and the Natural History Heist of the Century. Kirk Wallace Johnson. Fly fishing, fly tying, exotic birds. Non fiction which reads like a classic mystery book. Very much off the beaten track.
Ruth Harberg DuBois
The book I mentioned by de Waal is Letters to Camondo. Interesting and true.
Ada Ball Liggett
I recommend The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams and The Storied Life of A J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.
The Reading List is a multigenerational, multicultural novel about friendship, the power of reading and the importance of the local library. As a result of this book, I reread Rebecca which was one of the books on the reading list..
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry features a middle aged widower who owns an independent bookstore on an island off the Massachusetts coast. It has humor, romance, suspense and the love of books. What's not to like?
I just finished Mercy Street. It was okay. I'm looking forward to Ann Patchett's These Precious Days. Today I picked up the large print copy from the library. I loved her This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage.
M C Bachmann Churchill
Klara and the Sun. K Ishiguro
Bewilderment. Richard Powers.
Babbitt. S Lewis
Dickens classics. Tale of a two Cities, great expectations.
Fahrenheit 451
Ann Tomlinson Edmondson
Homeland Elegies a Novel by Ayad Akhtar. extremely well written account of an Islamic man born in this country of Pakistani parents and the difficulties of their lives as they seek to adjust to this culture. It gave me the opportunity to look at our culture and people from a totally different perspective.
My next suggestion is a series---The Louise Penny Armand Gamache Seriles of murder mysteries. The first one is Still Life by Louise Penny. IT is set in an obscure village in Quebec close to the American border. She writes well and the mysteries are engaging as well as having a parallel ongoing plot about the individuals of the village.as well as the life of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. It's fun and absorbing reading.
Joan Willenbrok Leonard
“These Precious Days” by Ann Patchett
“The Women of Chateau Lafayette” by Stephanie Dray
“Dear Edward” by Ann Napolitano
Ellie Graham Claus
Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
Travels with George by Nathaniel Philbrick.
Nancy Nutting Lane
Daughters of Yalta by Catherine Grace Katz
Red Roulette by Desmon Shum
1984 by George Orwell
There is Nothing for You Here by Fiona Hill
Wildland by Evan Osnos
Wink
Sweetness of Water by Nathanial Adams
The Boys by Ron Howard
Ann Cleeves mysteries
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Books From My Plea for Help July 2022
From Betty Krasne
I consulted my reading log and found nothing to recommend from this year, but two very different books from the previous year had something to recommend each one. The Seedkeeper by Diane Wilson, set in mid-west and about Native Americans and Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin, set in the Columbia University area. Also Lauren Groff’s Matrix, an historical novel is worth a reader’s time for its subject and writing.
From Ada Ball Liggit
A good steamy, summer beach read is "The Paper Palace".
From M. C. Bachman Churchill
I’m so frustrated finding a good book. I read CrossRoads, Circe, whereabouts, listening to the personal librarian. Nothing electrifying. I hear the great alone by Kristin Hannah is good. Maybe that’s next. Got any better ideas?
From Deb Hazzard Nash
I do have a few books for you to try. THREE. By Perrin. THE STATIONERY SHOP. By Kamali. The MAID. Great fun read. And my most fav which no one will read as it is loooong………THE TIME OF OUR SINGING by Richard Powers. He is truly the genius novelist of today ! His writing blows me away. This tells you I had good reading on our summer island for 1 week with 4 generations over July 4 th. And the beat goes on. I’m happy to have read some books I enjoyed !!!
THE APARTMENT 
JACK LEMMON, SHIRLEY MACLAINE
JACK LEMMON, SHIRLEY MACLAINEA FISH CALLED WANDA JAMIE LEE CURTIS
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
LEAVING LAS VEGAS NICK CAGE
GOOD WILL HUNTING ROBIN WILLIAMS, MATT DAMON, AFFLECK
12 ANGRY MEN LEE J COBB AND OTHERS SO GOOD
DUCK SOUP MARX BROS
LOST IN TRANSLATION BILL MURRAY, SCARLETT JOHANSSON
BILL MURRAY, SCARLETT JOHANSSONMARGIN CALL KEVIN SPACEY, JEREMY IRONS
THE TALENTED MR RIPLEYMATT DAMON, JUDE LAW, PALTROW, BLANCHETT
MATT DAMON, JUDE LAW, PALTROW, BLANCHETTWITNESS HARISON FORD
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND JIM CARREY KATE WINSLET
ERIN BROCKOVICH JULIA ROBERTS
THE GOLD RUSH CHARLIE CHAPLIN
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK H FORD
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE GHOST TOM CRUISE
TOM CRUISEHAROLD AND MAUDE RUTH GORDON
SERPICOAL PACINO
AL PACINOLICORICE PIZZA 2022 ALANA HAIM
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM ZERO MOSTEL
PRIMAL FEAR ED NORTON
UP IN THE AIR GEORGE CLOONEY
MAN ON WIREPHILIPPE PETIT’S HIGH WIRE WALK
PHILIPPE PETIT’S HIGH WIRE WALKCATHERINE CALLED BIRDY LENA DUNHAM
FENCES LANGSTON HUGHES WONDERFUL PLAY, DENZEL WASHINGTON
WHALE RIDER MAORI GIRL
MAORI GIRLCLASSIC MOVIES ON AMAZON PRIME FROM NYT MARCH 19, 2023
FROM BETTY KRASNE'S FALL 2023 DISCUSSION GROUP THAT SHE LEADS...
HARD TIMES by Charles Dickens
A GIRLS STORY by Annie Errnaux
ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT by Mieko Kawakami
MERCY STREET by Jennifer Haigh
