Starting a book club- modern fiction choices?

[Rugbyscrum]

I am currently planning to start a book club with some friends and would welcome any help over book choice - the idea is to read a selection of modern (ie20thc ) fiction, one a month, not too long so quick to read and books that are fairly easy to get hold of from the local library or cheaply new or second hand. Any ideas?

Hi there

How about classics like:
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee
1984, by George Orwell

Also, late 20th C, I love the Handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood.

How literary are your friends? Would they be willing to read classics? A lot of them are free on kindle and other e-reader websites.

Might be a good idea to ask around to see what their interests are. Perhaps mixing in some easier reads from, say, the Richard and Judy WH Smiths' reading list. Or have a word with your library and see what they can get supply in multiple copies to loan out to your bookclub.

YY re The Handmaid's Tale
Lolilta
The Virgin Suicides
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen

Thanks for ideas, have never tried Margaret Atwood so may be a good start Amicablemoomin. Duchess of Malfi- a reasonably intelligent mix of school mums and all with an interest in reading more fiction- we want to discover a genre we don't get around to reading (ie modern fiction) as we have all read at least some of the classics and fear being stuck in the 19thc if we don't branch out! But we could always throw in a classic we don't know for variety and so keep costs down occasionally.

Her writing is fantastic - she has written a lot but handmaid's tale is probably her most well known. I've enjoyed all the ones I've read.

I also thought about Margaret Mitchell - gone with the wind - not that short but v good.

Either The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - both novels set in Afghanistan and depicting ordinary lives against its history or conflict.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid about a Pakistani man living in America who re-evaluates his life after 9/11.
The Remains of the Day or Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter - a collection of very dark versions of classic fairy tales.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce - a light read but quite touching.
Longbourn by Jo Baker - Pride and Prejudice from the servants' point of view.
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, telling the story of the first Mrs Rochester.

Oooh I love the search for book club books (rather more than the actual event sadly...)

My thruppence worth:

Greenvoe - George Mackay Brown 1972

What I Was - Meg Rosoff 2007

Dunsinane - David Greig c2011

These are probably the things that have affected me most over the past few years. They all contain lots to talk about. The Rosoff is supposedly YA - it is stupendous. The Greig is a play - that's where all the real creativity is happening right now imo... The Mackay Brown is simply wonderful and has a very bad mother who is my most beloved fictional heroine (after Harriet Vane.)

Hope you find something to enjoy.

I would agree with To a Kill A Mockingbird - I bet some will have read it before and it's hard not to get into it.

On a related theme - although far lighter - is a The Help, which will be in every library and is also cheap in eg Asda

Other than that, why not speak to one of your local libraries? They often have sets of popular book club books that can be hired out en masse and are really helpful!

Thanks over and above- went to libaraty today and they do have lists of sets of books which they hold just for book clubs - never knew that before! Plenty for me to investigate and some great suggestions from everyone so far.

A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry.

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson
A Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
Longbourn by Jo Baker

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, Magimedi- the MISTRY book is in my local library as a book club set as are some of yr suggestions LeBearPolar so I am quite excited about getting to read them now!

A Fine Balance is long but one of the best books I've ever read.