Last month, we told you how we prayed to the Library Gods for recommendations for The Drinking Club. They replied, voice booming from the heavens, promising to answer us in two weeks. Which they did. And now I’m sharing the results…one month later. I have no defense.
The Almighty Alex, librarian extraordinaire, has suggested the titles below for our group. It’s a mix of literary fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. We’ve read one of them already, so we’re off to a great start.
- The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez by Aaron Bobrow-Strain
- Evicted by Matthew Desmond
- Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
- When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
- H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
- Free Food for Millionaires by Min-Jin Lee
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- In the Woods by Tana French
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Power by Naomi Alderman
This list is comprehensive. We got sci-fi, mystery, dystopian, coming-of-age stories, nature writing. It’s also fairly diverse–knowing full well publishing is primarily pale, male, and stale, and there are a plethora of experiences not captured on this list. Still, there are only two dudes. We’ll take it as a sign of progress.
As you will have noticed, Almighty Alex included The Power, which we read last fall. Alex clearly saw into our collective soul to make these recommendations, so I feel confident in saying that if we read one of these, a third of us would like it. Several of these have been on my TBR for a while. I feel I should hand in my bibliophile card for not having read Americanah yet. It reminds me of my inadequacy every time I find it on my bookshelf.
This just means we have to read one of these. The Library Gods have been magnanimous–all of these books are book discussion sets, meaning they have longer check-out lengths and multiple copies available. They also created a collection for these titles on their website that we can save to our library account. They’ve even named it: Books for a Savvy Book Club. They’re being very generous with that moniker. It would be rude not to read one of their suggestions.
So, what should we read next? Is there a title missing that you think jives with the rest of this list? Let us know!
EV
Drinking Club With A Reading Problem 