Book Club

What my book club has read…

Reading for March: Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan
Reading for April: 11/22/63, by Stephen King

Books were rated on a scale of 1-5 stars, with 5 being the highest score (note: not all books were rated, and scores were averaged over those who did rate the book).

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2012
Rules of Civility, by  Amor Towles – 3.7
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin – 3.0

2011
Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn – 4.4
Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen – 3.4
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot – 3.6
Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger – 3.9
Room, by Emma Donaghue – 4.2
Someone Knows My Name, by Lawrence Hill – 4.8
My Own Country, by Abraham Verghese – 4.6
The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain – 3.7
The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom – 4.1
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson – 3.9
This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper – 3.9
State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett – 3.8

2010
The Help, Kathryn Stockett - 4.9
Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls – 4.1
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi – 4.1
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery – 3.3
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson – 3.9
House Rules, by Jodi Picoult – 4.0
Little Bee, by Chris Cleave – 4.1
South of Broad, by Pat Conroy – 3.8
The Lost Continent, by Bill Bryson – 3.3
Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese – 4.3
The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton – 3.9
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford – 4.4

2009
The Soloist, Steve Lopez – 3.6
Shelter Me, Juliette Fay – 4.8
Born on a Blue Day, Daniel Tammet – 3.2
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Ayelet Waldman – 2.9
The Piano Teacher, Janice Y.K Lee – 2.8
Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali – 4.4
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, Gail Tsukiyama – 4.1
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman – 4.0
Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout – 3.1
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak – 4.1
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein - 4.5
Moloka’i, Alan Brennert – 4.6

2008
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield – 3.3
Digging to America, Anne Tyler – 3.4
Friday Night Knitters’ Club, Kate Jacobs – 3.3
Beautiful Boy, David Sheff – 5.0
Tweak, Nic Sheff – 5.0
People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks – 3.7
Love Walked In, Marisa de los Santos – 4.1
Free Food for Millionaires, Min Jin Lee – 3.1
Bright Shiny Morning, James Frey – 3.0
Loving Frank, Nancy Horan – 3.8
The Girls, Lori Lansens – 3.5
American Wife, Curtis Sittenfeld – 3.8
Run, Ann Patchett – 3.3

2007
Saving Fish from Drowning, Amy Tan – 2.6
The Wild Girl, Jim Fergus – 3.0
The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri – 4.6
Broken for You, Stephanie Kallos – 3.8
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See – 4.8
The Tortilla Curtain, T. C. Boyle – 3.8
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen – 4.8
Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin – 2.3
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini – 4.7
The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls – 4.4
Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky – 2.3
Mao’s Last Dancer, Li Cunxin – 5.0

2006
The Distant Land of My Father, Bo Caldwell – 5.0
Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld – 3.8
A Million Little Pieces, James Frey – 4.4
The Emancipator’s Wife, Barbara Hambly – 1.0
Mrs. Kimble, Jennifer Haigh – 3.0
Seven Degrees of Ambiguity, Elliot Perlman – 3.7
Paradise Park, Allegra Goodman – 2.3
In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant – 4.0
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Kim Edwards – 4.8
Last Days of Dogtown, Anita Diamant – 1.8
The Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd – 2.7
Mr. Darcy’s Daughters, Elizabeth Aston – 2.3
The Bright Forever, Lee Martin (not rated)
I Feel Bad About My Neck, Nora Ephron – 2.3

2005
Birth of Venus, Sarah Dunant – 4.0
Jane Austen in Boca, Paula Marantz Cohen – 3.0
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini – 5.0
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger – 4.0
Bringing Down the House, Ben Mezrich – 4.0
Good Grief, Lolly Winston – 3.0
Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy – 4.5
Truth & Beauty, Ann Patchett – 4.0
The Rule of Four, Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason – 3.0
The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club, Christy Yorke – 2.0
Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks – 4.0
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent, Julia Alvarez – 3.0
The Ghost of Hannah Mendes, Naomi Ragen – 3.3

2004
Cork Boat, John Pollack – 5.0
Catching Heaven, Sands Hall (not rated)
The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson – 4.5
Virgin Blue, Tracy Chevalier – 2.5
My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult – 5.0
The Pact, Jodi Picoult – 4.8
Saving Graces, Patricia Gaffney – 3.5
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon – 3.7
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, Elizabeth Robinson – 4.0
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi – 3.5
The Eight, Katherine Neville – 5.0
Life of Pi, Yann Martel – 3.8
The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck – 4.0

2003
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd – 3.7
How to Make an American Quilt, Whitney Otto – 3.0
City of Dreams, Beverly Swerling – 5.0
The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith – 2.3
Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons, Lorna Landvik – 3.7
True to Form, Elizabeth Berg – 3.0
Dreaming Water, Gail Tsukiyama – 4.3
Kate Remembered, A. Scott. Berg – 1.0
The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown – 4.5
The Red Hat Club, Haywood Smith – 2.7
La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture, Lily Prior – 4.0
Eat Cake, Jeanne Ray – 4.0

2002
The Dive From Clausen’s Pier, Ann Packer – 4.3
Good in Bed, Jennifer Weiner – 4.2
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett – 4.4
An Italian Affair, Laura Fraser (not rated)
Thousand Pieces of Gold, Ruthanne Lum McCunn (not rated)
Falling Angels, Tracy Chevalier – 3.0
Good Harbor, Anita Diamant – 2.5
Portrait in Sepia, Isabel Allende – 3.1
Savage Beauty, Nancy Milford (not rated)
In Her Shoes, Jennifer Weiner – 4.2
Stolen Lives, Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi – 5.0
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, Jim Fergus – 3.0

2001
The Weight of Water, Anita Shreve – 4.0
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, Ann Ross – 2.0
Sister of My Heart, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – 5.0
Goodbye Without Leaving, Laurie Colwin (not rated)
Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier – 3.6
It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, Lance Armstrong – 4.7
The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Amy Tan – 3.3
Cane River, Lalita Tademy – 4.8
Big Cherry Holler, Adriana Trigiani – 3.0
Seabiscuit – An American Legend, Laura Hillenbrand – 4.5
The Nanny Diaries, Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus – 3.2
Empire Falls, Richard Russo – 3.5

2000
Daughter of Fortune, Isabel Allende – 3.7
Samurai’s Garden, Gail Tsukiyama – 4.7
Snow Falling On Cedars, David Guterson – 3.5
Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells – 4.0
Georgianna, Fay Logan – 2.5
Tara Road, Maeve Binchy – 4.0
Resistance, Anita Shreve – 4.0
House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III – 4.0
Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichl 3.0
These Is My Words, Nancy E. Turner (not rated)
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant – 4.2
Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani – 3.3

1999
The Pilot’s Wife, Anita Shreve – 3.8
The Language of Threads, Gail Tsukiyama – 4.5
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson – 3.5
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier – 4.0
The Road From Coorain, Jill Ker Conway – 3.5
Plainsong, Kent Haruf (not rated)
Chocolat, Joanne Harris – 3.7
The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean – 2.5
Where the Heart Is, Billie Letts – 3.5
Diary of Mattie Spenser, Sandra Dallas – 4.0
Ahab’s Wife, Sena Jeter Nasland – 3.5
Gap Creek, Robert Morgan – 3.0

1998 and earlier…

Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley – 3.0
Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx – 2.0
Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama – 4.3
The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks – 3.3
Message in a Bottle. Nicholas Sparks – 2.5
Deep End of the Ocean, Jacquelyn Mitchard – 4.0
Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver – 4.5
Joy School, Elizabeth Berg – 4.0
Durable Goods, Elizabeth Berg – 3.5
The Color of Water, James McBride – 4.0
She’s Come Undone, Wally Lamb – 3.5
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt – 3.5
Midwives, Chris Bohjalian – 4.0
Tender Is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald – 2.5
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden – 4.4