The first 3 books of 2012:

Book Chats are always the 1st Thursday of the month!

December
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Book Chat: Jan. 5

January

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
Book Chat:  Feb. 2

February

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Book Chat: March 1

March American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar (release date: Jan. 9)
Book Chat: April 5

March's Pick: American Dervish

http://www.amazon.com/American-Dervish-Novel-Ayad-Akhtar/dp/0316183318

This book will be released Jan. 9, 2012

Keep checking your library throughout January to get on the list right when it comes in!

 

Synopsis on AMAZON:

Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand. Then Mina arrives, and everything changes.

Mina is Hayat's mother's oldest friend from Pakistan. She is independent, beautiful and intelligent, and arrives on the Shah's doorstep when her disastrous marriage in Pakistan disintegrates. Even Hayat's skeptical father can't deny the liveliness and happiness that accompanies Mina into their home. Her deep spirituality brings the family's Muslim faith to life in a way that resonates with Hayat as nothing has before. Studying the Quran by Mina's side and basking in the glow of her attention, he feels an entirely new purpose mingled with a growing infatuation for his teacher.

When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.

American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.

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When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.

American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.

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January Pick: Sing You Home

The Marriage Plot may be a longer wait than we thought!  So we are swapping:

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Synopsis:
Every life has a soundtrack. All you have to do is listen.
Music has set the tone for most of Zoe Baxter’s life. There’s the melody that reminds her of the summer she spent rubbing baby oil on her stomach in pursuit of the perfect tan. A dance beat that makes her think of using a fake ID to slip into a nightclub. A dirge that marked the years she spent trying to get pregnant.
For better or for worse, music is the language of memory. It is also the language of love.
In the aftermath of a series of personal tragedies, Zoe throws herself into her career as a music therapist. When an unexpected friendship slowly blossoms into love, she makes plans for a new life, but to her shock and inevitable rage, some people—even those she loves and trusts most—don’t want that to happen.

***This book has hit a lot of controversy, should be a great, lively chat when we have the monthly Book Club Chat.  Please remember to be respectful of others' views!

Recap of upcoming book picks

Book Chats are always the 1st Thursday of the month!

November

Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Book Chat: Dec 1

December
State of Wonder by Anne Patchett
Book Chat: Jan. 5

January

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
Book Chat:  Feb. 2

February

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Book Chat: March 1

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Recap of upcoming book picks

November= Sister by Rosamund Lupton

December= State of Wonder by Anne Patchett


Plus, please get on the wait list for:
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides--- we'll aim for January with this one, but see if everyone's up on the waiting list first

November's Book Pick: Sister

Gong for a genre we haven't touched yet...


When the body of Beatrice’s beloved younger sister, Tess, is discovered in an abandoned building in Hyde Park and ruled a suicide, Beatrice knows the police have made a mistake. She’s certain her sister was murdered. Determined to uncover the truth, Beatrice impulsively begins to hunt for clues on her own. So begins Rosamund Lupton’s stunning debut, Sister, at once an engrossing thriller and a powerful meditation on the bonds of family. Writing her story as a letter to Tess, Beatrice gradually connects the strange, varied occurrences leading up to Tess’s death--Tess’s pregnancy; a trial drug from a pharmaceutical company; a man who may or may not have been a figment of Tess’s imagination. Beatrice’s former life falls apart as her search veers toward obsession, and she realizes she might pay a terrible price for the truth. An adrenaline-filled psychological thriller, Sister’s emotional impact comes from Lupton’s heartrending portrait of the love between Beatrice and Tess. --Lynette Mong