wrapped up in books

Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogging prompt hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I don’t participate every week, but I join in when I find the prompt interesting. This week’s topic is books you’d want to read with your book club, which is perfect for me, because I have two new book clubs this year.

For the past couple years, I’ve lead a book club for teens at the library. We’ve talked about books, done crafts, and even been to the RT Convention Teen Author Day, which was a blast. This year, we’re a YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten nominating group, which means we’re reading ARCs of 2015 books and helping narrow down the field to 25 titles so teens across the US can vote for their favorites. So we won’t be all reading and discussing the same book as we have in the past.

YA for Grownups

But, I’ve got a new book club at the library that I’m really excited about leading. We’re doing YA for grownups. We had our first meeting and discussed our favorites or what types of books we hoped to read, which ended up being me just booktalking for like an hour because the group was not as well-read in young adult as I had assumed (remember, bloggers, most “avid” readers still only read, like, 10 books a year. Those of us with 100+ books on our 2015 Goodreads challenge are the outliers). But, we’ve narrowed down our list of titles for the year. Since we’re only meeting every other month (people are busy!) these are the six titles I’ve got planned for this year.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound | My Review

I was not at all sad that there were a lot of fantasy readers in my new group and this was the title everyone agreed on out of the book club in a bag sets I’ve already purchased for the library. Feminist fantasy with heartbreak and world-building and…even though Fire is my favorite of the series, I do love this book.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septys
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound

We read this last summer with my teen group, and it was one of their favorites. We had a lot of fans of historical YA, so we chose this one for our second read. There’s so much to discuss and it’s a story from the Holocaust that isn’t as well known.

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutowski
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound

I was surprised by how much I absolutely loved this book, and I’ve already devoured the sequel. It has just the right blend of romance, political intrigue, and fantasy for me. I can’t wait to re-read it for book club.

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound | My Review

This is the sole contemporary we’re reading this year. It’s one of my favorites, and everyone in the group seemed keen to learn about art and they were also intrigued by the “in one night” story.

Through the Woods: Stories by Emily Carroll
Goodreads | Amazon| IndieBound | My Review

I was so thrilled that everyone was open to the idea of a graphic novel. I thought this one was perfect, because it’s a standalone, available for a reasonable price in paperback, and definitely literary with lots to discuss. I had thought about doing The Undertaking of Lily Chen, but it’s much more expensive.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Goodreads |Amazon | IndieBound | My Review

This is my favorite retelling, and there were many Peter Pan fans in the group who were excited about reading this one.

Feminist Book Club

Several lovely ladies from work have also organized a feminist book club, which I am totally thrilled about, even though they picked a yoga book for the first meeting. This month we’re going to read The Handmaid’s Tale (which I’ve already read, but it’s our Read Across Lawrence selection and Margaret Atwood is coming to KU). While I think we’ll be reading an eclectic mix of titles, these are four that I hope we get to this year.

 

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound

I already read this, and bought it, but we also ordered a book club in a bag set for the library, so I’m hoping everyone is up for discussing it. I’ll enjoy it even more as a prompt for discussion.

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound

This is on my to-read list, and I hope we read some new fiction this year. I loved How to Build a Woman and am excited to see what Moran’s fiction (however autobiographical it may be) is like.

Women in Clothes edited by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, and Leanne Shapton
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound

This book inspired one of the NoveList articles I’m currently writing, and I just think it’s a fascinating subject to discuss and that the different perspectives in this book leave a lot to unpack.

All the Rage by Courtney Summers
Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound

Of course I’m going to suggest a YA book. This one does for rape culture what Speak did for sexual assault (I know other people are saying that too, but hey, it’s true), and I want to introduce everyone else to the wonderful words of Courtney Summers.