I should perhaps also mention that although there are a few avid readers in the group, most are individuals who have just decided that they would like to try to read more.

One of my favorite books from last year is now available in paperback -- The Ha-Ha by Dave King. Both a great read and lots of good discussion material.

Then you want a book which is (a) a fairly easy read (b) interesting to all (c) easy to obtain (d) and plenty to discuss.

The Time-Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger - we all know about that!
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico - very short, but very moving.
Coming up for Air by George Orwell - to demonstrate to people that he didn't just write 1984 and Animal Farm
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck - a wonderful read, and not at all "heavy".

I'm sure people will come up with stacks more.

Mumby, have you read the recently published The Girls by Canadian author Lori Lansens? It has been one of my most interesting fiction reads in a while.
The first few lines..

"I have never looked into my sisterÂs eyes. I have never bathed alone. I have never stood in the grass at night and raised my arms to a beguiling moon. IÂve never used an airplane bathroom. Or worn a hat. Or been kissed like that. IÂve never driven a car. Or slept through the night. Never a private talk. Or solo walk. IÂve never climbed a tree. Or faded into a crowd. So many things IÂve never done, but oh, how IÂve been loved."

Mumby, Here is a list of all of the books my book club has read recently that have generated lively discussion. Hope this helps. Good luck with your book club. Keep us posted.
PAM

The DaVinci Code: Dan Brown F
Bel Canto: Ann Pachett F
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time:
Mark Haddon F
The Five People You Meet in Heaven: Mitch Albom F
Princess: Jean Sasson NF
My Sister's Keeper: Jody Piccoult F
Ella Minnow Pea: Mark Dunn F
The Red Tent: Anita Diamant F
Bee Season: Myla Goldberg F
The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini F
Women of the Silk: Gail Tsukiyama F
In the Land of Second Chances: George Shaffner F
A Star Called Henry: Roddy Doyle F
A Million Little Pieces James Frey

My club has a wide age range, too, although we are all women. We just finished Gilead and were not wow-ed by it. We loved Princess and also Shadow of the Wind.

Another hit was The Other Boleyn Girl

Our next choice is Birth of Venus.

A number of books lending themselves to lively discussion have been mentioned so I'll give you advice on a different subject. My club is going into it's fifth year (I think) and what we've found is just as important as the book--if not more so--is that you have a designated discussion leader who is PREPARED to lead the discussion. Do research on your author and come ready with a list of questions (readinggroupguides.com is one resource)which you've reviewed and thought about the answers. We've found that a prepared leader results in interesting, informative extended discussion but it does take advance effort and some discussions have floundered disappointingly despite revolving around a fascinating book because the leader was not prepared.

Here is a link that might be useful: Book discussion questions

Sometime ago here we had a discussion on book groups/clubs and I complained bitterly that there were none in this area. I then saw a mention in the library of such a group and the librarian took my phone number to pass to the organiser. Some days later I received a call from a very sad-sounding woman who couldn't remember the title of the book they were planning to read and warned me that the library would be locked in case of attack by local undesirables.
The thought of spending an evening locked in the library with such a miserable bunch discussing a book so boringly unmemorable was too much for me and I decided to stick to RP and the 'friends' I know.

veer,
Wish you lived closer - we'd love to have you in our club.
PAM

Vee, that's hilarious. I can't imagine a worse evening, even if it is in a library.

I think it sounds like a great lead for a book. Think of the plot possibilities.

>We've found that a prepared leader results in interesting, informative extended discussion but it does take advance effort and some discussions have floundered disappointingly despite revolving around a fascinating book because the leader was not prepared.

I so agree with this. Doesn't matter whether its an on line or RL group - a good leader (moderator, really) makes or breaks a discussion. Find a few articles or interviews about the author or book. Find some local connection with the book. Ask open ended questions that pertain to the lives of the community in which you live.

I would stay away from most reader guide questions that you find in many books marketed to reading groups. They often read like a HS lit final, or they ask such banal questions that nothing much happens. Or, the leader thinks she has to ask each question in order, only giving a few comments for each.

An example of the above: We read Girl in Hycinth Blue. One of the questions asked was what work of art has moved you in the way that this work moved the characters. A few of us answered, and we started to talk, then the leader said, ok, next question. I said - no, we are not done here* - and it ended up being a marvelous discussion. If you must chose from the reader's guide, pick questions that will pertain to the book and interest the readers enough to discuss, and don't worry about getting to each question, its not important.

*of course this didn't endear me to the leader, but the discussion was worth it :)

Thank you all for the excellent suggestions - I knew I could count on RPers. I have read some of the titles and think that a number of them would probably go over very well with this group. I'm also going to research some of the unfamiliar ones. Of course, what will happen is that one title will get chosen for the book club and a bunch of the others will be added to my TBR list :)

Don't give up hope, Vee (and thanks for making me laugh out loud)! Last September I was envious of everyone who belonged to a book club - and now I belong to two. This group resulted from two people talking about A Million Little Pieces and realising that they both had always wanted to belong to a book club. They thought they were both just odd but to their surprise they managed very easily to get a dozen members.

My other group is at a local library and so far they have not resorted to locking us in. That group has been established for some years and is more homogenous (all middle-aged women.) Mummsie, I will probably suggest Tbe Girls for the library group since we enjoy reading Canadian authors.

I will probably not make a final decision until the May & June choices are made so if you have any other suggestions I'm still open to them.

I am in two book groups..one is comprised of a large group of friends and the other I found through the AAUW. If your group is fairly new I think the most important thing is that you try to keep your members coming back for awhile until you all mesh as a group and have your sea legs so to speak. Many of the books mentioned are excellent but I'm wondering if some of them would hold the attention of men? One book whose title keeps coming up over and over as one of the best books we have ever read was Bel Canto,which has been mentioned. I don't know why that is,but it was very interesting and made for some great discussion. Another good book which makes for interesting reading and good discussion is Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson. I think both of these books would be just as appealing to men as women.

In my area, there are many bookstores, large and small. Each seems to have several book groups going. Thanks to RP, I've not found the need to join any. Also, in the past, the time would have competed with my writers' group.

I would second the 2 choices of mwoods above, adding 2 more": "Dogs of Babel" by Carolyn Parkhurst and "Kite Runner" by K. Hosseini.

How about Robert Hough's marine adventure story recalling the escape of Romanian stowaways on the ship Maersk Dubai? The novel is based on actual events, (the ship finally docked in Halifax harbour) and raises some compelling ethical issues, darn good read, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Stowaway

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer (author was a member of the disastrous Everest expedition, the subject of this book) and "The Last American Man" by Elizabeth Gibson (about Eustace Conroy, a radical naturalist with a mission who is a true square peg in today's round-hole society) would be two excellent non-fiction choices. Both would easily appeal to men and women and both were fascinating reading.

Vee, your story made me laugh. The library close to me has a retired English teacher leading its reading group--she is vibrant, intelligent and focused and never ever are the participants locked in! I often wish I had the time to be a regular at her discussions but just can't swing it.

Another book you might consider for the mixed group is Shadow Divers about a driven group of scuba enthusiasts who locate a sunken U-boat off the coast of NJ-where no U-boat can be, according to hisotrical record. Not only is it an interesting and educational read, but it opens up the question-how much can we trust history and what do we owe those who have died before us. We had a great discussion.

You have lots of good ideas here! My two cents - with a mixed group, choose a non-fiction book. People who don't read a great deal don't have to worry about plot and so forth, and men tend to enjoy non-fiction (dodging brickbats for my gross over-generalization). Of course the avid readers will enjoy any of the suggestions here, and they may not read a lot of non-fiction, so it will be a nice change for them.

good point-and I forgot to add-Shadow Divers is non-fiction.

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. I should be able not only to pick a book for July but for when my next turn comes around. I'm definitely going to save this thread!

I agree with you, mwoods, that the really important thing at this point is to keep the members coming back which is why I am trying to select a book that will appeal to as many of the members as possible.

Some of the non-fiction titles sound very interesting. As it happens, bookmom, one of the fellows has chosen Into Thin Air for April. I'm looking forward to it - it was already on my TBR list.

I am not big on disaster books. However, I read an excerpt from that book on Outside Magazine and was hooked. The book is incredible. That might be a good one to start with.

mumby,
Into Thin Air was an amazing book. Look for the National Geographic movie, simply entitled "EVEREST" to watch AFTER you've read the book. Also, if you want visual aids for your book club meeting, there is an oversize (coffee table-ish) book of photos taken during the same expedition. Maybe your library has both the big book and the movie. Into Thin Air is a GREAT choice. Let us know what you think of it. I loved it. Climbing Everest was never on my to-do list, but this book held me captive. I could not put it down.

PAM

I'm glad your group is reading Into Thin Air - I also thought it was terrific and would have a very wide appeal. The discussion is likely to be very lively!

A friend and I started a book club and here is a link to our website, GRINS Book Club. There is a list of our upcoming books and the books that we've read. We had the liveliest discussions over One Thousand White Women and Shutter Island.

You're all making me very eager to start Into Thin Air. PAM, I'm hoping my library will have the book of photos that you suggest - I love the idea of taking it to our meeting.

Maryann, thanks for sharing your website. I don't have the computer knowledge to set up a website but I really like the idea of one for our bookclub and suspect that some of our younger members are quite capable of setting it up. Failing that I may ask my daughters to show me how it's done.

Hope "Into Thin Air" is a hit at your club, mumby, as it was at mine. Again, the discussion leader brought photos and maps which greatly added to the discussion.

I am embarrassed--I also recommended "The Last American Male" but is about Eustace Conway (not Conroy) and the author is Elizabeth Gilbert (not Gibson.)

mumby, I was at the library last night and looked up the oversize Mt. Everest book so I could provide you with more detailed information. It's entitled, 'Everest: Mountain Without Mercy' by David Breashears (who is the movie guy in Into Thin Air and was on the Into Thin Air Expedition). It's done by the National Geographic Society and my library has it under the Dewey number: 796.522

AND just for a bit of trivia, Newsweek magazine had a small article a few months ago where they mentioned that there is now a helicopter with a 500hp engine that can go to the top of Mt. Everest when the weather conditions are right. Supposedly, the rotors spin so very quickly that the thin air is no longer the unsurmountable problem is was just a few years ago. But it's still a very dangerous trip and not open for day-trippers or tourists.

The whole Mount Everest aura and mystique is fascinating.

Keep us posted.
PAM

Here is a link that might be useful: Background and pics on Mount Everest

Thanks so much for the additional info, PAM. My library has quite a few copies of the Everest book so there will be no problem getting one for our meeting. I'm going to pass on the helicopter trip though :)