I am so confused! I believe Daring Greatly is the book club pick for May, which we were supposed to discuss last week or early this week. Well, that’s not going to happen! I’m putting the discussion for this book (that looks dangerously foo-foo-la-la to me–I haven’t read it yet, so I’m hoping it isn’t!) for June 18, which is a Tuesday. That should give everyone, including me, enough time to read it. Hopefully it’s not too tap into your inner goddess/write power words on your chest in eyeliner. We’ll see.
As for the rest of the summer, here is what I think will work.
Eleanor & Park. I’ve read this one and if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you know I have a Great Many Opinions on this book. This is the kind of book you will read in one day. Perfect for summer. Mark your calendars for the July 9th discussion.
Life After Life. I’ve heard great things about this book and 75% of the people I’m friends with on Goodreads have this book in their To Read pile, so I thought I might combine a few goals with one book. I’ve marked August 6th as the discussion date.
Beautiful Ruins. Yes, the cover is breathtaking and it would appear I selected it only because it screams August, but in my defense, it’s a critically recognized book and 99% of you have it on your To Read list on Goodreads. So there. We’ll see if the critics were right when we discuss this one on September 3rd.
So there stands the summer session of book club! I already have some books picked out for fall, if you can believe it, and that’s thanks to all the great suggestions I get on a weekly basis. Keep it up, please. I’m always paying attention to what you’re reading and recommending–heck, two out of three of these picks were recommendations.
foo foo la la. I’m working that into every conversation today.
Hah! I try to avoid foo-foo-la-la every day. ;)
Wait, are we even reading the same book? Foo foo la la? I have a huge brain-crush on Brene Brown right now, and its thanks to you putting this on the book list. Daring Greatly is a life-changer for me, & I hate foo foo la la!
Yeah, Brene is simply AMAZING and not in a foo-foo-la-la way. You have to watch her TED talks and it may be useful to read some of her other work before getting into Daring Greatly. I had the amazing opportunity to see her speak in April and it was amazing. Like Louise, she’s a life-changer for me as well.
I wanted a self development book, and I picked this book because of her TED talks and because she seems non foo-foo-la-la. I am so glad to hear my instincts were right! I haven’t read it yet–obviously–and I was nervous it was going to be a disappointment.
I do believe you are luring me in…except I’ll probably skip the foo foo la la. I’m missing fiction.
In poor Brene’s defense, I hear she is not at all foo foo la la. That’s why I picked her! But, yeah, I’m not looking forward to that book only because I don’t really ever look forward to reading nonfiction.
Oh, I love nonfiction and have heard all the same good things. It’s just not going to happen right now. :-(
That’s fine! I totally understand that one. As long as it wasn’t my dry humor/sarcastic mouth that turned you off. :)
I’ve had Beautiful Ruins on my to-read list since it was released. Provided I can get it from my library, I will join you for that one. I am a little concerned, because I loved The Financial Lives of the Poets, but hated The Zero. I will try & join for the others, but I am still reading (and enjoying) the Shoemakers Wife
I’m a little concerned that Beautiful Ruins will be too similar in style to The Shoemaker’s Wife, but fingers crossed. My heart just about dropped when I saw Trigianni wrote a big ol’ recommendation or interview or something for this book. Ugh. I hope it’s not same song, different day.
I have Beautiful Ruins on my summer reading list. I cannot wait to read it.
I just read about Eleanor and Park somewhere…I think it was a review of the audio book by the author. I think it was in the NYT Book Review in the past couple of weeks, but I can’t find it online. In any case, I’m looking forward to checking all of these out! This may be the first summer in 10 years that I can read a little bit by the pool, and not have to be in the water with a small child at all times. Woo hoo!
I’m letting the cat out of the bag, but Eleanor & Park is my favorite book of the year, hands down. I love, love, loved it.
YAY! I’m ahead on the reading list- I’ve read Daring Greatly (not too foo foo la la) AND Beautiful Ruins (which I very much enjoyed, but I won’t say anything else about it). I have Eleanor & Park on my library hold list.. whew! I can now continue on with my ridiculous June reading list courtesy of every single book I had on hold coming in at the same time (it happens every time I swear!)
I am so jealous of all of you with these excellent library systems.
My mom says much the same. She doesn’t live in my area & whenever I mention picking all the latest & greatest from the library she’s makes with the loud sigh of disgust that she can’t do the same. We have an excellent library system here, and all of the libraries within our county (and, actually the other two metro counties do the same) share items. I came back to your list because I forgot about Life After Life.. need to put that on the list, too. I may or may not make that one in a timely manner.
I keep seeing Daring Greatly everywhere but I’ve avoided it for that very “foo foo la la” reason! I may be lazy and wait for you to give it the thumbs up before I try it. I have a low tolerance for self-help-love-yourself writing because it never feels authentic or realistic really. Eleanor and Park, on the other hand looks bomb. And if I can read it in a day then even better! Can’t wait for the discussion!
I think I’ll have to buy (gasp!) Daring Greatly. I’m only 20 pages in and already I’m realizing I’ll have to re-read this many times as my life changes. I’d never heard of her before, never watched her TED talk(s), and had no idea what to expect other than a self-improvement genre. Anytime someone can say something that makes me wince at myself is worth paying attention to.
Really! I saw on Goodreads that you started it and was curious (nervous) to hear how it was going. The fact you want to buy it is encouraging. This was the one book club book I was considering getting from the library! I didn’t realize she had more than one TED talk, but the one I saw (she’s wearing an unfortunate solid brown ensemble) was excellent.
Excellent! I’m compiling my summer reading list now (one of my favorite things to do!), and can start staking my place in line at the library. And here I was worried I wouldn’t find a good YA read for the summer; I don’t think I can take any more dystopian stuff.
Ooh! I’m about 5 pages away from the end of “Life After Life.” LOVED the book, but the ending is challenging. Can’t wait for the discussion.
The others are great picks too.
LOVED Life After Life. Loved. It. I bonded with every character (except Maurice, blech).
I’ve been meaning to read some Brene Brown (H-town represent!) since forever, but I tend to have trouble making it through nonfiction, so we’ll see how that goes. I love her TED Talks & seminars, though. Maybe if I listen to the audiobook?
Oh yeah…boo-hiss on Maurice. I too, love everyone else. Teddy!