Help with my snobby bookclub

[HeartsTrumpDiamonds]

It is my turn to pick our next book for our book club and I am stumped. And a bit scared TBH.

It needs to be fairly highbrow and literary I'm afraid. I don't know the other women all that well (apart from the friend who introduced me to the group) and they have all been picking books that are either literary classics or modern winners of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes. So no chick lit - I think I would be kicked out of the group

I'd like to do something English or British because our current book is Runaway (Alice Munro) set in Canada.

I've already read lots of classics myself but don't really mind a repeat. I just want a book that won't make me look stupid.

So wise MNers - any recommendations?

Very topical but an absolute favourite from my youth Testament of Youth or I have heard good reviews of Bees , my 13 year old has just read Nimak Farm at school and J have really enjoyed revisiting it . For a classic classic how about Portrait of a Lady

Sorry obviously that should read Animal Farm

I love Margaret Forster and read most of them or is it not highbrow enough ?
I loved Diary of an Ordinary Woman

I know exactly what the OP means about snobby book clubs - and I write books for a living! :o

The whole point of book clubs is to read stuff you wouldn't normally read and talk about what you like and don't like which you have gone along with. If they're only reading the dull or worthy, they're missing out. Pick something you really love or really want to read. To be fair I wouldn't want to read something completely low brow (personally I'm not a chick lit fan) - but middle of the road is fine, especially if it's genre fiction.

Books should be about losing yourself in a story or a world, not about ticking off some kind of mental homework list. Pick a book or an author you love and share the love! And if they are snooty, then seriously - find another book club. Start one yourself. Life is too short for anything else!

good post NOvel, and I second Margaret Forster, maybe 'ShadowBaby'

The David Lodge suggestion is brilliant- do it!

No idea what's considered highbrow, but as other people have said Angela Carter's always great.
I just read Jeanette Winterson's "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?" Not highbrow, rather depressing in parts, but enjoyable.
Probably also not highbrow, but I do love Rumer Godden. My favorite is probably "The Peacock Spring."

waves at Isadora

The Trial by Franz Kafka

SunnyBaudelaire Whenever I see your posts on here, I feel as though you're my sister (I'm Violet Baudelaire on a few other forums!)

Try under the skin by Michel Faber.
My group has been going for years and it's still refered to.
Throw some scifi in the mix to confuse them.
Ps our group likes to think we're highbrow but we're still fun

Going with the 50 Shades theme, what about The Story of O by Anais Nin? That should, er, make them think...

lol wol, v funny. Can u imagine turning up with that in your hand? er no.

I am thinking of turning up with three books and saying, "Ok, let's choose amongst these three."

• The Story of O
• 50 Shades
• Lolita

That should raise some eyebrows

And the only one I haven't read is 50 shades. Not sure whether that should be a or not!

Iris Murdoch - the Bell

Anything by Susan Hill.

The Children Act by Ian McEwan is an excellent read with loads of discussion points. It's the current Times Bookclub read. Sorry if repetition, I haven't read the whole thread.

It is also very easy to read and quite short.

I hate it when someone suggests an 800page book I suspect I won't enjoy. Good literary books are surely meant to be enjoyable ?

And wine, don't forget wine. And crisps All very necessary for a good book club meeting.

My Dear I Wanted To Tell You by Louisa Young - it's a relatively recent and serious book about the First World War that is also a cracking good read.

www.amazon.co.uk/My-Dear-Wanted-Tell-You/dp/0007361440

Come join my book club instead! Plenty of wine and a range of books. Such a laugh!

I've just finished The Miniaturist - really enjoyed it.

How about Maus by Art Spiegelman. Most people haven't read many if any graphic novels. It's a really amazing book and the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer prize. So much to talk about as well.

Someone upthread said that (paraphrasing) I have a problem because I equate "snobby" with "highbrow" and what that says about me.....

TBF I have to admit I used the word snobby because I thought it would get quite a few clicks

We are so far from snobby it's not even funny... three single mums (not that single mums can't be snobby), a nurse, and two of us work in schools. The only one I am sort of intimidated by is this high-powered IT exec who flies around all over the world. She is the one who shows up with comments scribbled in the margin and yellow stickies on every other page. The one time she wasn't there we got through about double the amount of wine and barely talked about the book at all....

anyways, back to the books.

I have actually gone back and compiled a list of all the books / authors mentioned on here and it runs to 4 pages can you believe it? It's on my other computer so I'll see if I can post it (not all at once though, don't want to break MN) tomorrow

I recommend Neil Gaiman's 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane'

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day which is charming and beautiful - and YY to previous recommendation for Longbourne. Loved it.

The City and The City by China Mieville. About two cultures that live side by side in one city and rarely interact. Very cleverly done, well plotted, good themes, nods to magical realism but also a very British sensibility. Could be linked to a discussion about what is happening socially/economically in London at the moment.