(Or great books to read yourself!)

I love reading really anytime, but there’s no better escape for me in the summer than a great book, cold beverage and a place in the shade on my patio or (better yet) a lake or beach! 

I love reading really anytime, but there’s no better escape for me in the summer than a great book, cold beverage and a place in the shade on my patio or (better yet) a lake or beach! 

My interest in turning reading into a ‘club’ with my girls really started because my middle daughter just could not get into reading at ALL. This aversion to it (likely because her older sister WAS into it) became an issue that affected her schoolwork. But even if it isn’t educationally-based, a book club is just a fun activity to do as a family or with a group of friends. There’s a reason they’ve really picked up in popularity in recent years.

Depending on the length of the book and the chapters, organize your club- ie two chapters at a time and meet once a week, or whatever. If the book doesn’t have discussion questions in the back (most do NOT), in today’s Internet world you can search for them really easily. I usually use my judgement as to what would be more thought-provoking questions for my daughters. They won’t be yes or no answers, which is what you want. You want the girls to actually think about what happened, their opinion and how they feel about it. 

Because I also love writing, I can be somewhat picky in what I consider ‘good’, but especially what I think is great (I am also picky regarding anything else that’s intended to ‘entertain’ an audience. This includes plays, musicals and movies. I’ll write some suggestions I have for those of you who feel like I do in the future!).

These books have resonated with me as being so incredibly well-written that they are page turners for sure, and I’ve literally read each one more than once. They are all, in general, just REALLY good books.

Pick one up to read yourself, or share with your kids for fun book clubs!

1. She’s Come Undone. By Wally Lamb. I love this for a girls book club, since the heroine is a girl who you follow through her childhood and young adulthood. Some serious things happen to her, but her smarts and resilience are amazing- a great message for girls!

2. Gone Girl. Gillian Flynn. I know some people probably saw the movie, but I will say all the time (for books that turned into movies)- the movies never compare to the books, and this one for SURE. There’s something about using your imagination! But the plot of this story is so clever, and the author just continues to surprise you over and over.

3. The Secret Life of Bees. Sue Monk Kidd. A tale revolving around a young girl with so many real-life struggles in times of racial upheaval. Women facing difficult times while creating joyful lives is another wonderful message for girls!

4. Anything by Jodi Picoult. The Story Teller and A Change of Heart are two of my favorites, but she’s written so many great ones from which to choose. They are based on controversial themes like the Holocaust, school shootings, organ donation or Amish teen pregnancy. Her ability to turn these difficult topics into well-crafted novels, where there are many different sides to each story is pure genious. She has discussion questions in the back of her books as well, that lend themselves really well to differing opinions your kids might have about them.

5. A Long Way Down. Nick Hornby. I happen to LOVE this guy’s super-quirky British style of writing. The movie About a Boy was inspired by his book, and it’s one of my favorites. Like Jodi Picoult’s stories, the topic of this book (people who want to commit suicide) is not exactly uplifting to say the least. But his ability to make the story heartwarming and HILARIOUS is incredible! 

6. Speaking with the Angels. Short stories compiled by Nick Hornby, same guy as above. My favorite author has compiled this list of short stories by several other authors- one of them is him too. I suggest having your kids each choose one of the stories- they will take like an hour max to read, so you could talk about one a day over a short vacation or weekend!

7. Where the Crawdads Sing. Delia Owens. Another book turned movie, where I actually felt the movie was pretty true to the book for once. A young heroine in this one too- facing adversities and overcoming them, with some clever twists. Terrific story.

8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Mark Haddon. This is such a quirky short book, that involves a young boy with autism. Written from his point of view, it is hilarious, yet sweet- and eye-opening into a world most of us know little about. 

9. Hunger Games- and sequels. Suzanne Collins. Well we all know these were movies, don’t we? I pride myself on pulling this series (and Twilight next) for my oldest daughter when she’d gone through Harry Potter and Narnia. Really easy for kids to follow these stories, they are so interesting with complex characters.

10. Twilight Series. Stephanie Meyer. This is the only one on my list that’s based in fantasy. I’m not much of a fantasy story gal, but the way she’s integrated the vampires into life and given them a humanity you can relate to, makes the story so much more interesting than you might think at first glance. Books that have a teenage or young adult female ‘star’ are so great for book clubs, because they offer topics girls this age canidentify with such as teenage love and fitting in. 

I’m seeing a bit of theme here (of course)- that most of these books have pretty serious, dark themes. But they’re spun in ways that give birth to super interesting stories, are written VERY well, and/or make light of serious things without patronizing people in those positions (ie people who are considering suicide). It takes certain talented authors to pull this off well! I hope you enjoy your reading!

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