Top Ten Tuesday: Books For the Book Club!

Today we are looking at the Top Ten Books That I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks. If you are new to the Top Ten Tuesday concept head over to The Broke and The Bookish and explore.

10) "The Bröntes Went to Woolworths" by Rachel Ferguson
A short, sweet book that reminded me a lot of "Anne of Green Gables". The main question of this book is whether or not you can have too much imagination and whether dreaming can be dangerous.
Perfect for a January night discussion over a cup of tea.

9) "The Crimson Petal and the White" by Michel Faber
A different story to the Victorian novels you know. This one features a prostitute called Sugar who changes her life for several reasons, some of which are obvious and some that do no reveal themselves until the very last moment. A modern classic with lots to talk about.

8) "Lucky" by Alice Sebold
This one will probably be a difficult one to discuss so it should probably only be used in book clubs where you know each other well and where discussing difficult topics is not an issue. "Lucky" deals with rape that Sebold suffers as a teenager and with her fight to get her life back. For a non-fiction book club, this would be a great pick but it is not for the faint-hearted.

7) "Snobs" by Julian Fellowes 
This one is great for a book club because the main character Edith is someone who would probably divide people. Either you will think her a golddigging scheming woman with no morals or you will think her a product of her upbringing. It should be good for a heated discussion about values and morals.

6) "I Am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe
This book deals with some of the really difficult parts of being a teenager: being an outsider, being new, not fitting in, being a geek, being a virgin, being poorer than the others. It is the story of village wonder Charlotte who wins a scholarship to an elite university where she is no longer a prodigy but a nobody.

5) "Valley of the Dolls" by Jacqueline Susann
This is another modern classic. Written in 1966 it is the predecessor of "Sex and the City", a book about young women struggling with love, careers and finding the right dresses in New York. A great book for a girls' book club.

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3) "The Privileges" by Jonathan Dee
Each chapter is like a little short story and there is lots to discuss. In these "Occupy" times, this book raises some interesting questions about wealth, capitalism and love.

2) "Purge" by Sofi Oksanen
If you don't know anything about the recent history of Estonia (which I don't), this book will give you something to think about. It raises significant questions about loyalty, love and the human nature and it is a must-read if you have any interest in eastern European countries or human trafficking.

1) "We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver
This one is perfect for book club. The topic is nature versus nurture and Eva, the main character, will give alienate some and find the pity of others. It is a long book and could be difficult for some but it is also a must-read (if you ask me) and I would have loved to have shared the reading experience with others. Plus, you can follow up by watching the movie together.

Review: "The Brontës Went to Woolworths"

If you like a bit of whimsy and if you find yourself drawn to Anne Shirley from "Anne of Green Gables" (by L.M. Montgomery) because of her tendency to escape into her own fantasy world, then you will love this book. Being completely honest - which I find to work best for me on this blog - I was drawn to "The Brontës Went to Woolworths" by Rachel Ferguson not because I liked the sound of the plot but because I loved the title. Simple as that. And the title is actually very describing.

Meet the Carnes. A family consisting of three girls and their mother as well as a sour governess and several made up chacters. Living in pre-war London, these women have made good lives for themselves. Deirdre, the main charater, is a journalist with a good head on her and her sister Katrine is an aspiring actress. Both of them are clever girls, well able to to take of themselves and to take on the sour, constantly offended governess who tries to protect little sister Sheil from the rest of the family. Now why is the governess so protective and so worried that Sheil will be damaged by her vivacious older sisters?

The question lies in the irrepressible imaginations of these two girls. Not content with the normal everyday lives of middle class girls, they have dreamt up a world of their own which their mother is quite happy to participate in. In this world, they regularly get visits from Ironface, an old doll of Deirdre who married above her station and is now living a socialite's life in France from which she descends upon them with her la-di-da manners. They are also close friends with Dion Saffyn, a pierrot, whom the close family friend Judge Toddington does not think is good company.

Toddy, as they affectionately call him, is the man of the house. Calling them every evening, bringing them splendid presents and being ever so dear to them. Only they've never met him in real life... And one day reality strikes when Deirdre meets Lady Toddington - or Lady Mildred - as they call her, at a society event and is drawn into a friendship with her.

The clash between the real and the imagined is very relevant today I find. When I was a teenager, it was all Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (who are now middle-aged, gee I feel old!), today I guess it is Justin Bieber, there isn't a teenage girl who hasn't had a crush on a guy she didn't know, whether celebrity or just a boy on the bus. This book is like 1930's YA. It is a great alternative to unimaginative boy-meets-girl stories and the perfect present for the girl who loved "Anne of Green Gables". This is quality people!!

For the Carne girls, especially Deirdre, Toddy is that secret crush-from-afar, the Justin Bieber. She adores him, and her worry and fear when he suddenly becomes part of real everyday life, I can completely understand. Oh how I felt for her. Sometimes, isn't it better to have a good daydream than a harsh reality? Anyway, I will not say anything more because I don't want to throw spoilers at you but let me just say that Rachel Ferguson turns this story on its head and invites the reader to ponder what is most strange - eccentric girls with their own fantasy worlds or realists who are unable to partake in daydreams?
And where do the Brontës fit in? Well apparently Katrine and Deirdre saw them go into Woolworths to fetch some highly everday-boring items, including a hairnet.

Read it if: You are a daydreamer. If you love Anne of Green Gables. If you too believe that the losers are not the people who allow themselves to let their imaginations soar and dream big and grand but the people who are unable to follow them into the realms of imagine.