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do you decide what to read next? Do you scour book reviews,
or do you ask trusted friends for recommendations? If you're in
a reading group, you probably do a little of both. Allow us to
make a few suggestions. Below you'll find a number of outstanding
novels, books that will appeal to every taste, books with emotional
depth, books that exercise the intellect, and books that are sure
to spark some lively discussions.
January 2008
Young Adult
Skinny
by Ibi Kaslik
In Kaslik's moving, empathetic debut, 22-year-old medical student Giselle is battling anorexia, while her much-younger sister, Holly, struggles to understand and cope with Giselle's deterioration. Alternate chapters of Skinny are told in the voice of each sister. From this duet, both harmonic and dissonant, readers learn the story of the girls' past, the strained family dynamics they have endured, and the particular situation they are in as children of immigrants. The impact of Giselle's strained relationship with her father, recently deceased, comes to light as each sister grieves in her own way.
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Nonfiction
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
by Jean-Dominique Bauby
After suffering a massive stroke, 43-year-old Bauby awakens from a coma to find himself in a state of nearly complete and permanent paralysis. Only his mind is left undamaged; it is as sharp and vibrant as in healthier days. Bauby dictated this brief and sublime memoir through a series of blinks of his left eye. In that painstakingly slow manner, words, sentences, and paragraphs emerged. This book, in which the normally unexamined corners of Bauby’s mobile life take on large and vivid meanings, is far more than a suggestion to take nothing for granted.
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Fiction
The End of the Alphabet
by C.S. Richardson
When Ambrose Zephyr, nearing his 50th birthday, is told he has a month to live, he and his wife Zappora ("Zipper") Ashkenazi decide to travel the world from A to Z (Amsterdam to Zanzibar). Although such a conceit implies that a contrived story would follow, Richardson's novel is anything but. The alphabet acts as a sturdy frame for the nuanced, poignant picture the author paints. Schedules are adjusted, plans don't play out, and, though their physical journey is cut short, the travelers continue it on an emotional and psychological level. The result is a glowing, compassionate evocation of what is inevitable and what endures.
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Fiction
The Gathering
by Anne Enright
Enright's probing, insightful novel about a large Irish family won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction. In it, Veronica, a middle-aged wife and mother of two daughters, travels from Dublin to London to retrieve the body of her brother Liam. In the wake of Liam's suicide, Veronica is forced to confront her past—specifically, a dark childhood secret she and Liam shared—and the dissatisfaction she feels toward her own family. Liam's death stirs the mixture of love, guilt, anger, and regret that lies bubbling just under the surface of familial relationships.
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Looking for more? Browse last month's Borders
Book Club selections.
LATEST EPISODE!
Elizabeth Gilbert discusses Eat, Pray, Love
In this episode, the Borders Book Club members found themselves engaged in a book discussion that was by turns passionate, sad, and very, very funny.
In her mid-30s, Elizabeth Gilbert saw her marriage unravel. The experience made her rethink what was most important to her in life and prompted a one-year quest of self-discovery. Eat, Pray, Love is her bestselling memoir, a remarkable account that's as smartly written as it is uplifting. Watch now.
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Fiction
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