Recommendations for Future Book Forums?

Any suggestions for books for our three forums in 2009-2010? Our committee always wrestles with these decisions, so feel free to suggest a book. Just leave a comment and we'll be glad to take a look.

Here are our general criteria:

• Available in paperback - our budget has limits.
• Relatively short books – we try to avoid long books such as War and Peace or Moby Dick.
• Elements in the book that lend themselves to lively discussions.
• Readable - we are looking for books that interest a diverse audience.
• Typically works of fiction, although a non-fiction book that appeals to a wide audience would be good, too.
• A book worthy of attention from a university.

Perhaps the highest compliment for a book selection is when someone says, "I probably wouldn't have read that book on my own, but I sure am glad that I read it."

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Master Butcher's Singing Club

The Master Butcher's Singing Club is our selection for our spring book forum. Louise Erdrich deserves the high praise she receives from literary critics and casual readers alike for her vivid characters and compelling plot lines. My wife and I tried to share a copy but we kept swiping it from each other. "Hey, where is that book - I want to read it tonight." It is one of those books that you want to keep reading once you start.

I grew up in South Dakota, and so I am familiar with the stoicism necessary to endure the harsh landscape of this novel. And, I can empathize with the characters as they discover each other's secrets and rely on each other's support during the unexpected twists and turns of their tightly scripted and yet strangely ad-hoc lives. I highly recommend curling up with The Master Butcher's Singing Club on a cold January day and letting yourself get lost in the story.

Be sure to contact Melissa Flannery to sign up. Cost is $5 to help cover the cost of refreshments, and the university picks up the cost of your book. We meet in the Training Room in the Humanities Building at 2:30 pm on either Thursday, February 19th or Friday, February 20th.