Neighborhood book clubs are flourishing.  Club members often ask librarians the same question, “What should we read next?”  Here at MHL, we can show you our Book Club collection.  This collection contains books that have been popular in reading groups, have been Oprah selections, or have been reviewed as good choices for discussion groups.  The Book Club collection is housed in bookcases perpendicular to the adult fiction stacks on the 1st floor.  Another good way to choose a great read for your club is to look at best seller lists from prior years.  Google the keywords New York Times best sellers 2015 (or another year).  These books have, of course, been very popular and there are usually lots of copies in the library system so your club members will get one quickly.  Here are some good picks to read this year: 

The Secret Place by Tana French
The New York Times review called The Secret Place “a book full of giddy, slangy, devious schoolgirls who cannot be trusted about anything, at least not on the first, second, third or fourth rounds of questioning...Part of this book’s trickiness is its way of letting characters hide the truth behind the smoke screen of language and let both readers and investigators gradually figure out who is lying.” Click to learn more and request a copy.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Author Kathleen Kent describes Orphan Train as “A poignant and memorable story of two steadfast, courageous women...A revelation of the universal yearning for belonging, for family, for acceptance and, ultimately, the journeys we must all make to find them.”  Click to learn more and request a copy.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
In the wake of his nefarious father’s abandonment, Theo, a smart, 13-year-old Manhattanite, is extremely close to his vivacious mother—until an act of terrorism catapults him into a dizzying world bereft of gravity, certainty, or love… Drenched in sensory detail, infused with Theo’s churning thoughts and feelings, sparked by nimble dialogue, and propelled by escalating cosmic angst and thriller action, Tartt’s trenchant, defiant, engrossing, and rocketing novel conducts a grand inquiry into the mystery and sorrow of survival, beauty and obsession, and the promise of art. --Booklist Reviews  Click to learn more and request a copy.

Purity by Jonathan Franzen
Kirkus Reviews says Purity is “A twisty but controlled epic that merges large and small concerns: loose nukes and absent parents, government surveillance and bad sex, gory murder and fine art . . . [Franzen is] admirably determined to think big and write well about our darkest emotional corners. [Purity is] an expansive, brainy, yet inviting novel that leaves few foibles unexplored.”  Click to learn more and request a copy.

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
It was “hailed as “masterly” by The New York Times Book Review, “a brilliantly constructed debut set in the aftermath of catastrophic loss (2015 Man Booker Prize Judges).”  Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Cunningham wrote, "The force, range, and scope of Bill Clegg’s Did You Ever Have a Family will grab you with its opening lines, and won’t let go until its final one. I can’t recall another novel that so effortlessly weds a nuanced, lyrical voice to an unflinching vision of just how badly things can go for people. I read it deep into the night, all the way through, telling myself it was getting late, I could finish the book in the morning. I finished it that night, however, slept a few hours, and then, in the morning, started reading it again."  Click to learn more and request a copy.