Hey folks. My book club has a year plus long streak of choosing books that are incredibly depressing (Parable of the Sower, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Freshwater, etc.). We’ve talked endlessly about topics along the lines of oppression, discrimination, sexual assault, mental illness, generational trauma, and cycles of violence. I would love to bring some less dire options to the table for next month’s meeting but I don’t have anything on my list that would foster good discussions without bumming us all out. We generally try to stick to fiction, but apart from that there are no real guidelines. Thanks!
by bahbahrapsheet
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Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch
The Sign for Home by Blair Fell
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Less by Andrew Sean Greer might be a good option
If scifi is okay: The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. In the book humanity is just one amongst several very different alien species, with very different views on sexuality, family etc.
I just read The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr and it was absolutely delightful.
The Blurb from Goodreads:
Clayton Stumper might be twenty-six years old, but he dresses like your grandpa and drinks sherry like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution.
When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton’s life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. As Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve—and it’s a secret that has the potential to change everything.
would you be up for indie?
The Razor’s Edge – W Somerset Maugham – it feels like one that could spur discussion without being super heavy. It kind of looks at class in that most people want to seek money/wealth/status, and exploring a character who is on that path but eschews it for more of a spiritually enlightened direction. It’s one of my favorites.
How about a fun, gender swapped adventure?
A Brothers Price by Wen Spencer.
In a world where males are rarely born, they’ve become a commodity-traded and sold like property. Jerin Whistler has come of age for marriage and his handsome features have come to the attention of the royal princesses. But such attentions can be dangerous-especially as Jerin uncovers the dark mysteries the royal family is hiding.
Should lead to some fun discussions on sexuality and a persons place in society?
It’s nonfiction, but I bet you could get some good discussions out of *The Light Eaters*. It’s about the emerging science of plant intelligence.