Monday, January 24, 2011

The Colorado Springs Winter Book Group Roundup

Last Thursday evening, I attended the Colorado Springs Winter Book Group Roundup held at the East Library of the Pikes Peak Library District. The Roundup was a free event that included wine and snacks and conversation about books for the members of eighty-two invited book groups in the Colorado Springs area. I went as a representative of my personal book club of thirteen neighborhood women who meet monthly to discuss books.

When representatives from the book clubs sent in their RSVPs, they also sent in the title and author of their group's favorite book that they would recommend to other book clubs. The library staff whittled those suggestions down into the top ten that are listed below. I've read some of them, and the others are going on my to-read list.

After some eating and socializing, the hundred and seventy or so of us took our seats. Library staff talked about the book club program at the library and how to reserve book club sets of popular books for your group to read. Then the guest speaker was introduced, English Professor Susan B. Taylor from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Her talk was "Hunger, Rebellion, and Rage: Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre". In actuality, it covered the lives and literature of all three Bronte sisters, including Emily and Anne. It was a fascinating presentation!

The library plans to host two of these events every year, one in August and one in January, and I'm looking forward to attending future ones. Here's the list of recommended books:

The Room by Emma Donoghue
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Cutting for Snow by Abraham Verghese
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
My Antonia by Willa Cather
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jaime Ford
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

2 comments:

MB said...

Sorry I missed this one, so thanks for posting the list! Can't wait for the next one.
mb

Beth Groundwater said...

Me, too, MB!