Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

I always feel like I'm cheating just a little when I review a New York Times bestseller. It's essentially been reviewed by thousands already right? Anyway, this was another book club pick for my book group and I was pleasantly surprised. A young college student loses everything and literally runs away and joins the circus. This is the era of prohibition and the traveling circus, where freak shows are the big money makers and elephants are rare and wondrous beasts. I was a bit put off by the main character for the first quarter of the book. Can you say "goody two shoes"? But by the time he finally admits his lust for the menagerie manager's wife (the wife of his boss I might add), I was hooked and my interest in him improved considerably. My book group hasn't met to discuss it yet, but I doubt the discussion will get very deep. I did enjoy reading this, and it was a glimpse into a fascinating world, but as for a literary discussion, I doubt there is much there.

Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

Finally I am reviewing some good books again! The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is one of my book club's picks and an excellent one. Usually our rule is to stick to fiction but this is definitely one of those memoirs that reads like fiction and certainly generates enough discussion. What makes this "sad childhood" memoir a good discussion book is that the author is neglected, but the abuse is not in the way you expect in a book of this genre. And though there is clearly some mental illness involved on the part of her parents, particularly her alcoholic father, it is of the brilliant kind. Jeannette's parents truly love her and she them. It is interesting though at what point each of us in the book group decided we hated her father (even if she didn't). Also, a good discussion surrounding homelessness. These people, the author's parents, literally chose to be homeless and destitute. A New York Times bestseller and a great book club pick.

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This is a book club pick, but it also turned out to be what I would call a smart summer read. It has all the required elements for an easy summer read. It is short, fast paced and compelling. It has bad marriages, close friendships and sex. But it also paints a vivid verbal picture of growing up in a neighborhood where no one exactly fits because no one is from there and no one (or very few) actually stay. The book carries you from a young girl’s playing with a new friend she chooses based on the opportunity to share a bicycle to an age where another she knows disappears into marriage. I believe this book is often on high school reading lists and I can understand why. It touches on subjects that every teenager faces, particularly finding a place in the world. And it makes the reader consider the choices a young person faces in every generation and in every level of income. There are some issues that cross economic lines. It generated a wonderful discussion in my book group and was one of the titles that everyone attending was able and eager to finish.