Lighter book club option

[crochetcrazy1978]

Hi it's my turn to suggest the books for book club soon. We have to choose 5 books and then at the meeting we all vote and the one with the most votes is what we read that month.

I've picked out 4, they all sound great and have good reviews but are all quite serious. I'd like to include a lighter option but am a bit stuck. I'm not a fan of the classic chick lit. Was thinking of something similar to Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, the keeper of stories, the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Can anyone help me out with some suggestions. Thanks

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

All are easy reads but have enough to talk about. Although for Crawdads that might just be a flight between the lovers and haters.

How about a Mary Westmacott (a pen name of Agatha Christie) Absent in the Spring is short but with plenty to talk about in a Book Club setting.

The Mary Westmacott's are not murder mysteries and have been dubbed romance novels but they really aren't-they are mostly about the lives of women.

Absent in the Spring is told in the first person by a woman who is coming home from visiting her married daughter in Baghdad. Her train is delayed and there is little to do but think about her life.

That sounds dull but it really isn't. She is an unreliable narrator and, as she tells us about events and conversations in her life, we get a very different picture of her character to the one she is presenting.

Does she realise and, if she does, will she do anything about it?

So good.

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession is a book I really enjoyed and found quite heartwarming. Although there are similarities, I preferred it to Eleanor Oliphant.

It's the story of two quiet friends, the sort of people who are often overlooked and undervalued. In this book we see how special they are.

Some great suggestions thanks so much

How about Mrs Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce? I bought it after I heard a recommendation on the radio and loved it - there are a couple of dark points but it's a real pageturner with great characters.

Or Lessons in Chemistry?

I just read a Man Called Ove. Loved it!

Mrs Benson beetle
Away with the penguins
The Lido

The curious incident of the dog in the night time?

5 people you will meet in heaven

How to stop time

All light and easy reads but interesting topics

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce is a great light read, set in World War Two.

Well not the Crawdads, what a miserable book, I binned it angrily halfway through despite the beautiful cover.

Does it have to be recent? If not, how about Jodi Taylor’s “Just One Damned Thing After Another”?

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend: by Katarina Bivald. Absolutely gorgeous book, easy read and feel good.

Old Baggage Lisa Evans
Small Things Like These Claire Chambers
Still Life Sarah Winman

Lessons in Chemistry would get my vote. Plenty to discuss but not a heavy read.

Lessons in Chemistry is a good suggestion. My other light read favourite is Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman. It's an easy read and was unanimously liked by our book group.

The Trouble with Sheep and Goats was quirky, nostalgic and not too serious or grim. I feel it had a similar vibe to Eleanor Oliphant. Or Elizabeth is Missing.

I think the fact that some love it and some hate it makes it a good bookclub choice 😁.

The Winter Garden , Alexandra Bell

Where'd you go Bernadette - Maria Semple

Thursday murder club by Richard Osman. A McCall Smith book?

I am shocked that people hated Where the Crawdad's sing. My book club and I all loved it so much!

I went to my book club last night and ‘lessons in chemistry’ is the next read. I recommend ‘the funny thing about Norman Foreman’ - everyone enjoyed it.

Lessons in Chemistry! Just finished it, loved it

Leonard and hungry Paul is a lovely book, would recommend.

Also Lessons in Chemistry and Miss Bensons Beetle.

A Midlife Holiday, by Cary J Hansson. It's funny, but it also covers issues that are great for book club. My book club read it a while back, because someone knew the author. The chat after was one of the best we've had.