Monday, January 30, 2012

A Totally Top-Ten Tuesday! (Numero Cinco)


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the wondrous individuals at The Broke and the Bookish and participated in by so many wondrous book bloggers. So with no further ado, I henceforth give you...

Top Ten Books (BUT ALL I CAN COME UP WITH IS SIX!) I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks

1. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Book clubs tend to like books that make you want to scream at certain characters for doing certain things, and no book causes more vocal outbursts than Mitchell's account of the delightfully bitchy Scarlett O'Hara, whose gumption makes her a classic of American literature. Said book club can also have the experience of seeing the ever-so-famous movie version of Mitchell's novel. 

2. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
A definite tear-jerker, this one's narrator is a golden retriever named Enzo. Enzo really has a knack for understanding humans, and his thoughts make the book light-hearted and thoughtful simultaneously. This one is especially recommended for those book clubs who have dog lovers in their mix, for anyone who loves a canine will keep raving about Stein's novel years after the final page is turned. 

3. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
4. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
These would be fun reads just because of the public debates surrounding them. Not surprisingly, many people have claimed that the at times heartwarming anecdotes recorded in Dreams from My Father were fabricated to promote Obama's political career, while the counterargument has been that Barack wrote this as a senator of Illinois, not a presidential candidate. Such a debate, in my opinion, would be smashing; get a few representatives from the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street, and you've got yourself a real party.  The same goes for His Dark Materials-the argument over whether the trilogy promotes juvenile atheism gets people steaming in a hurry. 

5. Bossypants by Tina Fey
If anybody in your book club is going through hard times, this is definitely one to read. Up there with Joel Stein on the laugh-o-meter.

6. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The simplicity in this novel is gorgeous-it is the story of a boy and a discovery. Yet in the process of his discovering, you get so much more (including illustrations so ingenious in their angles and detail that your jaw has no choice but to drop.) 

Book groups are one of the greatest institutions humanity has ever known. They are a way in which we can appreciate art not in a formal setting with professors screaming at us to write a dissertation about Shakespeare, but in a casual one, one surrounded by friends we know. The comfort brought on by this setting can allow literature to be interpreted in ways not possible outside the realms of a book group. Pretty chill, huh? 

8 comments:

  1. I've seen Bossypants around the blogosphere, but I've never really considered reading it. Another celebrity bio, I thought. Thanks for the rec.

    Here is my Top Ten Books I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks. I hope you will stop by!

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  2. Gone with the Wind would make a fantastic Book Club read! Next time (hopefully soon) I plan to read it with a group of people. Also, thanks for the tip on The Art of Racing in the Rain - no idea this book was a book about a dog.

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  3. Gone with the Wind is a great work of fiction. We studied it in comparison to a couple of novels based on real events. Great list.

    -FABR Steph@FiveAlarmBookReviews
    My Top Ten...

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  4. His Dark Materials made my honorable mentions list. It's a fantastic trilogy and has a lot of valuable things to discuss.

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  5. I haven't read any of these! Really wanna read Bossypants though. I love Tina Fey.

    Great list this week!

    Here's my Top Ten

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  6. ALL of these book clubs should meet at the same time in the same place, and particpate in one giant marathon discussion of the books. Or a really big book club could read all of them and disscuss all of them at the same time. Or this idea is so crazy, so horrible I can't be seen in public with it, that i can't sign my name.

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  7. Wow, you are brilliant. No offense to other bloggers but I feel like my brain is being massaged when I read your posts. Reminds me of the friends in my circle when I was a teenager! Well, fantastic list new friend! I'm looking to start a book club and His Dark Materials would be an awesome one to start with.

    I have Bossypants on the shelf and will get around to reading it and have yet to read Dreams from My Father! Aaah!

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  8. I've heard Bossypants is hysterical and smart. I love Tina Fey, so I'll have to pick that one up!

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