My Choices, Pre 2008

In my non-book club reading life, my tastes run toward popular mystery novels and non-fiction, especially science non-fiction.  My book club choices therefore reflect those predilections while making an attempt at choosing something my fellow members might want to read.  I go back and forth between non-fiction and fiction.  When I choose fiction I try to choose things that no one will have read before (in order to follow the rules of book club) and that is not too far into the popular fiction category because I want to seem smart and better read than I actually am.

Love Over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith
     This was a mistake.  I only picked it because someone had passed their copy on to me.  Too popular, too common and to be honest I didn't really like it.  I know that McCall Smith is a terrifically successful author but this is the only book by him I've ever read and I won't be using any of my future reading time on others.

Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner
     I loved this one, but I was the only one.  This is a very academic (though readable) book about why we are afraid of things that have virtually no chance of happening to us and why we don't fear things that may actually be a danger to us.  Other members of book club agreed with most of what was written in the book but did not find value in having read the book.

Metropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney
     This was one of my favorites.  It was a little hokey, but I enjoyed reading it and everything one reads doesn't have to be Important.  Can't remember what others thought.

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
     Love, love, love.  This is the best of Erik Larson's books.  His works fall into my favorite genre, narrative non-fiction and he is a leader in this field.  This book is about a murderer and the architect behind the Chicago World's Fair, working simultaneously in Chicago.  Everyone enjoyed this one.

What's Wrong With Dorfman by John Blumenthal
     No one, me included, liked this book.  Depressing and yet not very interesting.

As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto
     Fascinating.  Twins are born, both male, but one's circumcision goes awry and so the parents decide to raise that child as a daughter.  The book explores one person's experience as well as gender identity in general.  Everyone liked the book, though some were somewhat upset by some of the more intimate details.

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
     Another book I loved.  I think others liked this one a lot.  This is the book the movie is based on, but as usual the book is a million times better.  One lawyer takes on corporations accused of causing the deaths of children.

40 Days and 40 Nights by Matthew Chapman
     This book is subtitled "Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin, and other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania" which may be the best subtitle ever.  Intelligent Design and vaccinations are topics that always get my scientific hackles up so I was excited to read this.  Add that it takes place in Pennsylvania and is written by Charles Darwin's great-great-grandson and I am sold! Chapman followed the 2005 trial in Dover regarding the teaching of Intelligent Design in the public schools.  A great read, even if the idea that this is still being discussed is terrifying.

The Psycho Ex Game by Merrill Markoe and Andy Prieboy
     Awful.  I am not great at picking fiction.  Maybe it wasn't awful, but it wasn't good.

Ostrich by Michael A. Thomas
     This was another book that I chose because we had it in the house.  It was good, something about an ostrich farm, but I don't remember much, certainly not enough to recommend the book.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
     I liked this book, but I still feel bad about picking it.  It is just too pop-fiction, too stereotyped, too predictable, but well-written and enjoyable to read.

Out by Natsuo Kirino
     I have no idea how  I chose this book.  Probably wandering up and down the fiction aisle.  This book was a hit in book club despite a shocking and disturbing premise.