Book Groups

Are you a book lover? Does reading make you happy? Do you find yourself wondering what to read next? Join us as we read and discuss various forms of literature together in groups of like-minded book lovers.

P.S. I have marked the books with an R that the group has already read. I'm keeping the books listed for ideas and reference.

Literary Fiction

In this group, we read general works of fiction. We seek good writing and great characters in the framework of a good story that keeps us page turning hour after hour. 

R. Horse Geraldine Brooks 
R. Ordinary Grace  William Kent Kruger
R. The Fall of the Year: A Novel  Harold Frank Mosher
R. Carolina Moonset  Matt Goldman
R. The Sweetness of Water  Nathan Harris
R. The Overstory  Richard Powers
R. House Made of Dawn N. Scott Momaday
R. Sea of Tranquility  Emily Mandel
R. The World Played Chess Robert Dugoni
R.  Remarkably Bright Creatures  Shelby Van Pelt
R.  LightHousekeeping  Jeanette Winterson
R. Peach Blossom Spring  Melissa Fu

Added 12/30/2022

R. A Keeper  Graham Norton
The Time is Noon  Pearl Buck
The Whalebone Theater  Joanna Quinn
Yonder  Jabari Asim
Forbidden City  Vanessa Hua
Lessons  Ian McEwan
French Braid  Anne Tyler
Eventide  Kent Haruf
Half of a Yellow Sun  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Peppered Moth  Margaret Drabble

Added 1/19/2023

A Week in Winter  Maeve Binchy
The Women Could Fly  Megan Giddings

Added 1/30/2023

The Good Lord Bird  James McBride
West with Giraffes  Linda Rutledge
The Blackbird Girls  Anne Blankman

Added 3/1/2023

The Secret World of Flora Lee  Patti Callahan Henry

Added 5/15/2023

Hippie  Paulo Coelho
Last Bus to Wisdom  Ivan Doug
Folklorn  Angela Mi Young Hur

Added 7/2/2023

The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers  Terri-Lynne DeFino
Very Cold People  Sarah Mangress
Banyan Moon  Thao Thai

Added 8/30/2023

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store  James McBride
The Lager Queen of Minnesota  J. Ryan Stradal
Whalefall  Daniel Krauss
Kantika  Elizabeth Graver
The Librarian of Banned Books  Brianna Labuskes
The Bean Trees  Barbara Kingsolver

 

Who Done It

Love mysteries? There’s so many to chose from in this all so popular genre! We have been reading the first mystery that introduces a detective in a series that may have you going back for more. We’ve found some great ones! Join us for a lively weekly discussion!

Book List

R. The Player's Boy is Dead  Leonard Towney (Joan and Matthew Stock)
R. Cop Hater  Ed McBain  (87th Precinct)
R. Murder at Melrose Court: A 1920s Country House Murder Mystery  Karen Menuhim  ( Heathcliff Lennox )
R. Death of Mrs. Westaway  Ruth Ware
R. Navajo Autumn  P. Allen Chappell (Navajo Nations)
R. Roman Blood: A Novel of Ancient Rome  Steven Saylor (The Roma Sub Rosa series Book 1)
R. The Case of the Canterfell Codicil   P. J. Fitzsimmons  (Anty Boisjoly)
R. The Deep Blue Goodbye  John D. MacDonald  (Travis McGee)
R. Little Comfort   Edwin Hill (Hester Thursby)
R. The Religious Body   Catherine Aird (C. D. Sloan The Calleshire Chronicles)
R. Checkmate to Murder: A Second World War Mystery   E.C.R. Lorac (British Classic Crime)
R. Rest You Merry   Charlotte MacLeod  (The Peter Shandy)
R. The Glass Key   Dashiell Hammet
R. The Winter Queen   Boris Akunin (Erast Fandorin)
R. The Fencing Master   Arturo Perez-Reverte
R. The House of the Arrow   A.E.W. Mason
R. The Night She Died   Dorothy Simpson (The Inspector Thanet)
R. Midnight at Malabar House   Vassim Khan  (Persis Wadia)
R.The Lodger   Marie Bellac Lowndes
R. The Return of the Dancing Master   Henning Mankell
R. Cathedral of Bones   J. G. Lewis  (Ela Longespee of Salisbury)
R. The Teeth of the Tiger   Maurice LeBlanc
R. A Bend of Light   Joy Jordan-Lake
R. The Return of Faraz Ali   Aamina Ahmad
R. Ruling Passion   Reginald Hill  (Dalziel and Pascoe)
R. That Affair Next Door   Anna Catherine Green (model for Miss Marple)
R. No Strangers Here  Carlene O'Connor  (Cormac O'Brien, County Kerry)
R.  A Key to Deceit  Ashley Weaver  (Electra McDonnell)
R.  The Bellamy Trial  Frances Noyes Hart (first trial mystery)
R.  Full Dark House  Christopher Fowler (Bryant and May)
R.  Murder in eMinor   Robert Goldsborough (Nero Wolfe)
R. Dancing Aztecs  Donald Westlake
R. Gone for Good  Joanna Schaffhauser (Annalisa Vega)
R. The Bookseller  Mark Pryor (Hugo Marston)
R. Hunting Rabbits  Mark Gilleo (Charlie Gates)
R.Trouble Follows Me  Ross MacDonald
R. In Spite of Thunder  John Dickson Carr (Dr. Gideon)

Added 12/30/2022

R. Pepper Pike   Les Roberts (Milan Jacovich)
R. Death at Charity's Point   William Tappley (Brady Coyne)
Ask the Right Question  Michael Lewin (Albert Samson)
Blunt Darts  Jeremiah Healy (John Francis Cuddy)
The Snatch  Bill Pronzini (Nameless)
Lonely Hearts  John Harvey (Charlie Resnik)

Ken's List of "Grandmothers" of Who Done It

A is for Alibi  Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone)
Edwin of the Iron Shoes  Marcia Muller  (Sharon McCone)
Indemnity Only  Sara Paretsky  (V.I. Warshawski)
In the Last Analysis  Amanda Cross (Kate Fansler)
Gaudy Night  Dorothy Sayers (Harriet Vane)

A Blunt Instrument  Georgette Heyer
Death in the Stocks  Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hannasyde)
City on Fire  Don Winslow
Falling Star  Patricia Moyes (Pudge)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead  Olga Takarczuk
The Wolf and the Watchman  Niklas Natt och Dag
The Cuckoo's Calling  Robert Gilbraith (Cormoran Strike)
Sacred Games  Gary Corby (Athenian Mysteries, Ancient Greece)

Added 1/30/2023

Nothing Ventured  Jeffrey Archer (William Warwick)
Aristotle Detective  Margaret Doody (Aristotle)
The Blessing Way  Tony Hillerman (Leaphorn and Chee)

2/13/2023

The Dead Letter Seeley Regester (The first full length American Detective Story)
Until Proven Guilty  J.A. Jance  (J.P. Beaumont)

Added 3/1/2023

Remarkably Bright Creatures  Shelby Van Pelt
The Last Detective  by Peter Lovesey (Peter Diamond)
The House of Whispering Pines  Anna Katherine Green (Mother of Detective Fiction)
Sunlit Weapon  Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs)
Apothecary Rose  Candace Robb  (Owen Archer)
Redline: A Matt Sinclair Mystery  Brian Thiem

Added 5/15/2023

Overboard  Sara Paretsky
The Fellowship of the Frog  Edgar Wallace
The Middle of Things  J.S. Fletcher
Blaze Me a Sun  Christoffer Carlsson (Best Swedish Crime Novel 2023)

Added 5/30/2023

Too Many Cooks  Rex Stout

Added 7/2/2023

Green for Danger  (Inspector Cockrill) Christianna Brand and Martin Edwards
A Duty to the Dead (Bess Crawford) Charles Todd
Nomad's Land  Mary Roberts Rinehard
Murder Takes No Holiday  (Mike Shayne) Brett Halliday
Fire Burn John Dickson Carr

Added 8/30/2023

The Exploits of Juve  Marcel Allain & Pierre Souvestre (The Fantomas Novels)
The Housekeeper  Alex Hay
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie  Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce)
The Law and the Lady  Wilkie Collins (1st female detective)
Fadeout  Joseph Hansen (Dave Brandstetter)
Girl Waits with Gun  Amy Stewart (Kopp Sisters)
Shutter  Ramona Emerson
Death of a Shadow George Bellairs (Inspector Littlejohn)
Deadly Hall  John Dickson Carr
The Hangman's Daughter  Oliver Potzsch
Bruno Chief of Police  Martin Walker
A Rare Interest in Corpses  Ann Granger (Inspector Benjamin Ross)


 

Historical Fiction

Do you enjoy learning about world history? Do you prefer to read great stories that teach? Then you want to join us as we read fictionalized history that teaches while it entertains. 

Book List

R. The Glass Ocean  Beatriz Williams
R. The Poland Trilogy  Book One Push Not the River  James Conroyd Martin
R. Olaf the Glorious  Robert Leighton
R. The Swift and the Harrier   Minette Walters
R. March  Geraldine Brooks
R. The Saints of Swallow Hill  Donna Everhart
R. The Moon in the Palace  Weina Dai Randel
R. Simon the Fiddler   Paulette Jiles
R. The Apothecary Rose  Candace Robb
R. A Hundred Sweet Promises  Sepehr Haddad
R. Deep River   Karl Marlantes
Empress Orchid   Anchee Min
The Master  Colm Tóibín
The Blue   Nancy Bilyeau  (maybe Fugitive Colors as well)

Added 12/30/2022

The Thread Collectors  Shaunna Edwards and Alyson Richman
The Marriage Portrait  Maggie O'Farrell
Dance of the Jakaranda  Peter Kimani
Through a Darkening Glass  R.S. Maxwell
A Tale of Two Citizens  Elyce Waberman
The Forgotten Bookshop of Paris  Daisy Wood
Emily's House  Amy Belding Brown
The Far Traveler  Nancy Marie Brown
The Distant Hours  Kate Morton
The Midwife of Hope River  Patricia Harman
A Dress of Violet Taffeta  Tessa Arlen
Raphael, Painter in Rome  Stephanie Story
Please say Kaddish for Me  Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Lady Magdalen  Robin Jenkins

Added 12/31/2022

If you enjoy reading about strong women who had a impact on the human story, then this class is for you! History is all about his-story. In this circle, we’ll read about the women who had a part in forming our world, her-story. You’ll be amazed at how many women made significant contributions that were ignored or attributed to men. We’ll read about the strong women who held the home front while men were off fighting, too. There’s a saying, “behind every great man, there was an even greater woman.” Come and find out who they were! This class begins October 7.

The plan is to read biographical novels. Our first one is about a woman little known, but highly influential, the one hidden behind the man she influenced.

My MacArthur  Cindy Fazzi

Added 1/30/2023

An Indiscreet Princess  Georgie Blalock
The First Ladies  Marie Benedict
Queen of Exiles  Vanessa Riley
Invincible Miss Cust  Penny Haw
Carolina Bright  Kianna Alexander
Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post  Allison Pataki
Her Hidden Genius  Marie Benedict

2/13/2023

Mad Woman  Louisa Treger

Maybe...Coventry Women  Cathy Hunt (British Heroines from 1850-1950)

Added 3/1/2023

The Invisible Miss Cust  Penny Haw
Too Soon the Night  (Empress Theodora)  James Conroyd Martin
Woman, Captive, Rebel  Margaret Wilson

Added 5/15/2023

Monster  Mary Shelley
St. Theresa  Barbara Mujica

Added 7/2/2023

Illuminations  Mary Sharratt

Added 8/30/2023

After Anne  Logan Steiner  (Lucy Maude Montgomery)
In Her Own Right  Amanda Schiavo  (Lady Mary Tudor)

Bible Study

Come read the Bible with me. This fall, starting October 4, we'll be studying the Gospel of John. Unlike the other gospels, John is not simply a story, but much more, and is notorious for being "difficult" to understand. We'll be using, The Good Wine: Reading God From the Center by Bruno Barnhart to unlock the message of John.

I’ve studied the Bible all my life and have been a certified mentor for the University of the South for twenty years. All are welcome, regardless of faith practice, but please note that we will not be considering the Bible as inerrant truth, but rather a guide that contains many truths.

History of Christianity

Using Diarmond MacCullogh’s History of Christianity, The First Three Thousand Years, we’ll explore the influence of the faith that shaped world events for centuries. 

Whispers of the Spirit

 A Faith Based Books Reading Circle

This circle is for you if you wish to gain in your understanding of God and spirituality. We'll be reading and discussing these challenging books one chapter a week so that we can fully absorb the message the Spirit is whispering to us. The circle starts October 4 in the evening.

Sabboth  Abraham Joshua Heschel
Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul  John Phillip Newell
Our Hearts are Restless  Richard Lischer
Life and Ministry of the Messiah  Ray Vander Laan

Future Circles in the works:

Children’s Literature
Classical Literature, American or European
Stitch Along