When I started working at West Belmont Branch on Chicago's Northwest side a year ago, I was pleased to find a well-established book club full of passionate readers.
The West Belmont book club members gather to catch up and, of course, drink coffee and eat delicious carbs of the cake or cookie variety. But our book club members also love to (*gasp*) actually read books.
When I asked what books they've read lately, I received a list of nearly 50 titles from all over the literary map. Thank you to Diane, John, Maria, Jeremy and all our book club regulars for your enthusiasm!
Here are just a few of the titles these book lovers have been caught reading.
Did your book club read The Nightingale or All the Light We Cannot See? Check out Lilac Girls, which follows the intersecting lives of three women during World War II: a New York socialite, a Polish teen and a German doctor. Historical fiction is often popular with book clubs!
Crimes both real and imagined are always fascinating to explore. West Belmont book club members recommend Margaret Truman's Murder at the National Gallery for a suspenseful mystery set in the dazzling world of international art complete with forgeries, blackmail and murder.
If true crime is more your style, Ugly Prey tells the compelling tale of Sabella Nitti, an Italian immigrant who, in 1923, was sentenced to hang for a murder right here in Chicago. The roles ethnicity, class and gender played in her case are still relevant today.
Does your book club want something a little controversial? Try something by Philip K. Dick, a writer who might be appreciated for his ideas more than his writing, but is always interesting to discuss. With the Blade Runner sequel in theaters now as well as two PKD-inspired Amazon series available to stream, it might be time to give some classic sci-fi a try. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is the basis for the Blade Runner movies.
Amazon's Electric Dreams is an anthology series based on various PKD stories, some of which are in Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick. I guarantee not everyone in your book club will like his work, but everyone will have something to say.
Has your book club read any great titles lately? Any real stinkers? Share your book club's greatest hits and misses in the comments!
If you're looking to join a group of like-minded readers, visit one of CPL's many neighborhood book clubs.
Add a comment to: Caught Reading: CPL Book Club Edition