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BOOK CLUB BEAT with Sherry Hemingway

How will you pick your books this year ?

Finding a good book is hit or miss . Finding a great book takes some work .
One way to improve the odds of finding worthwhile reading is to look to book clubs for what they are choosing . Take advantage of their legwork . Book clubs are ever on the prowl for books with broad appeal that will provoke lively discussion . They may look at literary winners that have been singled out for the Pulitzer Prize , National Book Award or Man Booker Award . They peruse the New York Times bestsellers and the newer Amazon lists . They might also look at the new NPR Morning Edition Book Club which has come to rival the heyday of Oprah ’ s recommended books .
So many books , so little time .

We asked those local book clubs that compile an annual reading list to share with gmh TODAY readers their picks for 2016 . Surprisingly , among the vastly different choices , the only crossovers are Memory of Water , The Martian and The Life We Bury .

Last year , locally , the most popular book club selections were All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer , which won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction , and The Whip , a work of historical fiction with roots in the South Valley , by Karen Kondashian .
Take a lesson from local book clubs , be choosy and grab a new book !
BookSmart Book Club Monthly , open-to-thepublic , meet in Morgan Hill ’ s independent bookstore ( 3rd Thurs ., 7 pm )
The Dinner , Herman Koch
Sherwood Nation *, Benjamin Parzybok
What Alice Forgot , Liane Moriarty
Sea of Poppies , Amitav Ghosh
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry , Rachel Joyce
How We Got to Now : Six Innovations That Made the Modern World , Steven Johnson
East of Eden , John Steinbeck
The Plover , Brian Doyle
The Octopus , Frank Norris
Different Seasons , Stephen King
A Man Called Ove , Frederik Backman
Gilroy Library Book Club Monthly , public book club discusses each book twice ( 1st Fri ., 10:15 am and last Tues ., 7 pm )
In the Heart of the Sea : The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex , Nathaniel Philbrick
Memory of Water **, Emma Itäranta
The Marriage Bureau for Rich People , Farahad Zama
So Big , Edna Ferber
The Sandcastle Girls , Chris Bohjalian
Land of Love and Drowning , Tiphanie Yanique
All the Bright Places , Jennifer Niven
Three Day Road , Joseph Boyden
Golden Spruce : The True Story of Myth , Madness and Greed , John Vaillant
The Life We Bury , Alan Esklins
The Storied Life of A . J . Fikry , Gabrielle Zevin
Pageturners Book Club Morgan Hill friends who have been talking over books for 10 years .
The Picture of Dorian Gray , Oscar Wilde
My Father the Maker of Trees , Eric Irivuzumugabe
The Moment of Everything , Shelly King
The Martian , Andy Weir
The Weight of Blood , Laura McHugh
Bloody Kin , Margaret Maron
The Color of Water , James McBride
The Husband ’ s Secret , Liane Moriarity
Black Dove , White Raven , Elizabeth Wein
The Life We Bury , Allen Eskins
Home , Marilynne Robinson
Las Madres Book Club Affiliate of Las Madres of Gilroy social group for mothers of young children .
The Hypnotist ’ s Love Story , Liane Moriarty
The Nightingale , Kristin Hannah
Devil in the White City , Erik Larson
Orphan Train , Christina Baker Kline
The Short & Tragic Life of Robert Peace , Jeff Hobbs
The Light Between Oceans , M . L . Stedman
The Martian , Andy Weir
Peace Like a River , Leif Enger
Miss Peregrine ’ s Home for Peculiar Children , Ransom Riggs
Morgan Hill Library ’ s ‘ Books with Dessert ’ Monthly , public book club over potluck desserts ( last Mon ., 7:30 pm )
Memory of Water **, Emma Itäranta
Everything I Never Told You , Celeste Ng
Swamplandia , Karen Russell
The Rook , Daniel O ’ Malley
Eleanor & Park , Rainbow Rowell
My Brilliant Friend , Elena Ferrante
* Silicon Valley Reads selection for 2016 . Author will be at the Morgan Hill Library at 7 pm , Tuesday , March 8 .
** Silicon Valley Reads selection for 2016 . Author will be at Gilroy Library at 2 pm , Saturday , March 19 .
SHERRY HEMINGWAY spent her childhood after lights out with a book and flashlight under the covers . With degrees from Kent State University and Harvard University , her lifelong career was in journalism and public relations . Her hobbies are travel in ( very ) remote countries , volunteering , and two book clubs .
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN MARCH / APRIL 2016 gmhtoday . com
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