hÇwxÜ à{x VÉäxÜá „ UÉÉ~ VÄâu a|z{à ECDC Boulder’s Bookclub Bestsellers Elegance of the Hedgehog, Olive Kitteridge, by Muriel Barbery by Elizabeth Strout Told in journal entries, this is the "Thirteen linked tales present a story of a two unlikely friends - a heart-wrenching, penetrating rich, 12-year-old genius and a portrait of ordinary coastal middle-aged self-taught concierge. Mainers living lives of quiet grief When a new tenant moves into intermingled with flashes of their building, it forces them to human connection. The collection stop hiding behind books and bridge the is easy to read and impossible to forget.” generational gap. A moving story of friendship —Publishers Weekly, starred review and art, this book offers much for discussion. Cutting for Stone, The Healing of America, by Abraham Verghese by T.R. Reid A sweeping, emotionally riveting Washington Post correspondent first novel, this is an enthralling Reid explores health-care systems family saga of Africa and America, around the world in an effort to doctors and patients, exile and understand why the U.S. remains home. An epic story about the the only first world nation to refuse power, intimacy, and curious its citizens universal health care. beauty of the work of healing The only non-fiction book to make our list of others. bookclub bestsellers, The Healing of America explains complex issues in a clear, engaging way. The Guernsey Literary & People of the Book, Potato Peel Pie Society, by Geraldine Brooks by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows When an Australian rare-book expert is offered a job analyzing The Guernsey Literary and Potato and conserving the famed Sarajevo Peel Pie Society—born as a spur- Haggadah, she discovers a series of-the-moment alibi when its of tiny artifacts in its ancient members were discovered binding and begins to unlock the breaking curfew by the Germans book’s mysteries. This is a novel of occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, sweeping historical grandeur and emotional deeply human cast of characters. intensity. Little Bee, by Chris Cleave Half Broke Horses, Chris Cleave's Little Bee works by Jeannette Walls because the unflinching, brutal Drawing on family stories, Walls story balances an outwardly writes about her grandmother, Lily political motive with rich, deep Smith. Spunky, no-nonsense, and character development (and fearless, Lily was a true woman of even some welcome humor), the West and her story is made all focusing narrowly on events the more captivating by Walls' before broadening to reveal descriptive writing. This “true-life some larger truths. novel” will capture fans of Wall’s memoir, The Glass Castle. Page 1 hÇwxÜ à{x VÉäxÜá „ UÉÉ~ VÄâu a|z{à ECDC Other Local Bookclubs Recommend... The Help, The Faith Club, by Ranya by Kathryn Stockett Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner Seemingly as different from one another as can be, three women Destined to spawn interfaith will come together for a discussion groups, The Faith Club clandestine project that will put is a memoir of spiritual reflections them all at risk. The Help is a in three voices. As the authors timeless and universal story about reveal their beliefs, readers watch the lines we abide by, and the the blossoming of a profound ones we don't. interfaith friendship and a new way of relating to others. —Recommended by Judy The Girl with the Dragon The Big Burn, Tattoo, by Timothy Egan by Steig Larsson Timothy Egan, National Book A spellbinding amalgam of murder Award winner for The Worst Hard mystery, family saga, love story, Time, spins a tremendous tale of and financial intrigue. This novel Progressive-era America out of the explores the intimate lives of a 1910 blaze that burned across brilliantly realized cast of Montana, Idaho and Washington characters forced to face the darker aspects of and put the fledgling U.S. Forest Service through their world. —Wine, Women, and Words a veritable trial by fire. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter Lit: A Memoir, & Sweet, by Mary Karr by Jamie Ford Lit is about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother In his first novel, Ford expertly nails by letting go of a mother; learning the innocence of first love, the to write by learning to live. cruelty of racism, the blindness of Written with Karr's relentless patriotism, the astonishing honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, unknowns between parents and and irreverent, lacerating humor, their children, and the sadness and it is a truly electrifying story of satisfaction at the end of a life. The result is a how to grow up—as only Mary Karr can tell it. vivid picture of a confusing and critical time in American history. —AKA Bookclub Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Going Bovine, by Libba Bray by Helen Simonson (Paperback November 2010) When he’s diagnosed with mad cow disease, Cameron decides to In her charming debut, Simonson take a road trip to save the world. tells the tale of Maj. Pettigrew as His passengers, a hypochondriac he befriends a widow and attempts dwarf and a Norse God turned to acquire an antique gun. The yard gnome, offer tons of fodder author's descriptive prose for existential musings and crude eventually takes on true page- teenage boy humor. This is a turner urgency. A vastly enjoyable traipse quirky, thought-provoking book that is good for through the English countryside. teens or adults. Page 2 hÇwxÜ à{x VÉäxÜá „ UÉÉ~ VÄâu a|z{à ECDC Fiction Recommendations Tinkers, The Finkler Question, by Paul Harding by Howard Jacobson Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize An old man lies dying. As time Jacobson's wry, devastating novel collapses into memory, he travels examines the complexities of deep into his past where he is identity and belonging, love, and reunited with his father and his grief through the lens of impoverished New England youth. contemporary Judaism. Jacobson's At once heartbreaking and life prose is witty and heartbreaking, affirming, Tinkers is an elegiac meditation on and the Jewish question becomes a metaphor for love, loss, and the fierce beauty of nature. all of us. The Life You’ve Imagined, Wench, by Dolen Perkins- by Kristina Riggle Valdez (Paperback Feb 2011) Have you ever asked yourself, This debut eloquently plunges into "What if??" Here, four women face a dark period of American history, the decisions of their lifetimes in chronicling the lives of four slave this stirring and unforgettable women who are their masters' novel of love, loss, friendship, and mistresses. The women meet family. The Life You've Imagined when their owners vacation at the takes a provocative look at the choices we same resort in Ohio. This novel is heart- make—and the courage we must have to change. wrenching, original and suspenseful. Await Your Reply, Too Much Happiness: Stories, by Dan Chaon by Alice Munro How would it feel to be a 'ghost'? With clarity and ease, Alice Munro What would it be like to start over, once again renders complex, to change lives on a whim? Chaon difficult events and emotions into cleverly weaves together the stories that shed light on the strands of four stories whose unpredictable ways in which men narratives subtly begin to form the and women accommodate and pattern of a larger whole. Await Your Reply is a often transcend what happens in their lives. Too masterful meditation on identity, a literary page- Much Happiness is a compelling, provocative— turner perfect for your book group. even daring—collection. Water for Elephants, Both Ways Is The Only Way by Sara Gruen I Want It, by Maile Meloy This book is an old bookclub Meloy returns with an extraordinary favorite but I highlight it here collection of stories demonstrating because there is a movie version the emotional power and the clean coming out in 2011, starring Reese style for which she's become Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson famous. Set mostly in the American (of Twilight fame). This is a West, the stories explore the moral poignant and entertaining book about a boy who quandaries of love, family, and friendship. drops out of college and joins a circus. Page 3 hÇwxÜ à{x VÉäxÜá „ UÉÉ~ VÄâu a|z{à ECDC Nonfiction Recommendations Man Who Loved Books Too Cheap Cabernet, Much, by Allison Bartlett by Cathie Beck Unrepentant book thief John Gilkey A newly-dumped empty nester at has stolen a fortune in rare books. only 39, Beck had no social life, so Perhaps equally obsessive is Ken she placed an ad in a Colorado Sanders, the "bibliodick" who's paper to form a "smart, sassy driven to catch him. Following this women's group." One of the eccentric cat-and-mouse chase women would change her life with suspense and humor, Bartlett plunges the forever, and their friendship is the reader deep into a world of fanatical book lust. subject of Beck's funny and poignant memoir. Eating Animals, Where Men Win Glory, by Jonathan Safran Foer by Jon Krakauer Foer's first foray into nonfiction Jon Krakauer, who requires no forces us to examine our physical introduction, turns his amazing and cultural attachment to eating journalistic talents to the war in meat. For meat eaters , this book Afghanistan, as told alongside the may not be an easy read, but it is odyssey of Pat Tillman. The impossible to put down. Well intensely personal story of researched and compellingly written, Eating Tillman's life creates a stark contrast to the Animals is a must-read for anyone who cares atrocities that led up to, and occurred during, the about what they consume.