The Best Book Club Picks Mid Way Through 2011

Jul 28

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Top Book Club Books in June 2011

The following are the most popular book club books during June based on votes from readers and leaders of more than 30,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2. Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
3. Cutting for Stone: A Novel by Abraham Verghese
4. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
6. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford
7. The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain
8. Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
9. Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
10. Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls

Top two risers:

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (New at #24)
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (New at #30)

[Many thanks to Bookmovement.com!]

I have read on my own #1 and #5.  With my book club I have read:  #2, #3, #6, #8, and #9.

How about you?  Have you or your book group read any of these books?  Do you have a favorite out of this group?

About Sheila (Book Journey)

Bookaholic * Audio Book Fan *Bike Rider *Rollerblader *Adventure Seeker *Runner*Coffee lover *Fitness Fan * Movie junkie

Posted on July 28, 2011, in Book Stuff and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. 49 Comments.

  1. Helen | July 28, 2011 at 11:35 am

    From that list I’ve read #1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9. I am going to read #4 in the next month or so. And, I’ve loved them all! So glad that Shanghai Girls is also moving up the list as I loved it!

  2. Christina T | July 28, 2011 at 11:38 am

    I’ve only read The Help (which I loved) but there are several on the list that I plan to read. I am going to be starting a book club at my library this fall so this list has given me some great ideas. Thanks!

  3. Sarah E. | July 28, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    One book club that I participate in read Room. It was an alright book, but I’m a girl that wants all the answers. I think it left too much unexplained and that irritated me. I read Water for Elephants on my own and also wasn’t impressed with it either. I think it was a very good story, but the first half of the book almost made me put it down because it was so drawn out. This is a case where I thought the movie was better than the book. I think it translated better as a movie.

    I have #1, 4, 8 on my Kindle and to-read list. And Something Borrowed as well.

  4. semicolonsherry | July 28, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    I’ve read numbers 1, 3, 4, and 8 plus Shanghai Girls. YOu should definitely read #4, Unbroken. The best book I’ve read this year, I think.

  5. Staci | July 28, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    I’ve read 6,8, and 9….all of the other ones are on my TBR list 😀

  6. laurelrainsnow | July 28, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    Well, I’ve read The Help and The Paris Wife…and Half Broke Horses is on Sparky, my Kindle.

  7. reviewsbylola | July 28, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    My book club has read The Help and Cutting for Stone. In fact, next month we plan on going to see the film adaption of The Help as a group. I have read a few others on the list as well, on my own.

  8. Ellie Warren | July 28, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    My book group has read #2 and #4, we nearly had #5 but it was a voting month and we went for Unbroken. I’ve also read The Help and Water For Elephants, which is my personal fave.

  9. Nise' | July 28, 2011 at 6:25 pm

    I’ve read The Help, Room, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Little Bee and Water For Elephants on my own. Loved, loved Water for Elephants.

  10. Jenners | July 28, 2011 at 8:08 pm

    I’ve read 5 of the 10 … and I bet a ton of book clubs are going to go see The Help together when it comes out as a movie too!!! I’m planning on reading Unbroken soon … I heard it was fantastic. I need to find a book club to join STAT!

    By the way, I’m just back from vacation and only leaving one comment for everyone to help me catch up with everything. Thanks for understanding.

  11. Jill | July 28, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    I’ve only read Water for Elephants. Some of the others I want to read but haven’t gotten to yet. I am trying to make myself work on cleaning off my shelves by reading, but going to the library keeps giving me more to read!

  12. andrea from raisin peanut | July 28, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    Hi! I found you on Amazon.com… you left a very good book review (can’t remember the book now!) and I then went on to read some of your other reviews. From there I followed the link to your website. I left a comment on one of your reviews (on amazon) to join goodreads.com, but now I see you have this blog….

    I listened to The Help on audio and I have to say, it was like watching a 15 hour movie. It was terrific, one of the best books around. Listening to it on audio was a moving experience. Transformative in fact. I highly recommend it to anyone. I shall prolly be profoundly disappointed when the film comes out. I so wanted the actors in the film to be the same ones who read the book. They did an amazing job!

    I also read Little Bee and Water for Elephants. Good stuff.

    I will certainly be checking back here! Hope you had a good weekend!

    Andrea from Raising Peanut

  13. Amused | July 28, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    How interesting! Looks like my book club is doing pretty good as is yours! We’ve read three and I’ve read two more on my own from the list.

  14. Marg | July 28, 2011 at 11:15 pm

    From that list I have read The Help, Water for Elephants, Unbroken and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, all on my own. They are reading The Help this month, and I think they read Hotel before I joined!

  15. Alyce | July 29, 2011 at 4:46 pm

    I’ve read six of the books myself, but we’ve only read one of the books in our book club and that was Unbroken (which was awesome).

  16. Nikki-ann | July 31, 2011 at 6:29 am

    I haven’t read any of those, but I do have Room in my TBR pile. I also nearly bought Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet last week.

  17. Topazshell Norman | July 31, 2011 at 11:24 am

    I spotted Little Bee and Water For Elephants on the book list. I loved both book especially luved, luved Little Bee. Fabulous.

    • Sheila (Book Journey) | July 31, 2011 at 1:51 pm

      Little Bee was not my fav on the list, its probably the one I struggled with most. My book club had mixed feelings – some really liked it, others not so much.

      Water For Elephants though? FANTASTIC!

  18. Mary | July 31, 2011 at 2:21 pm

    I’ve read five but have 3 more on my tbr list.

  19. Julie @ Knitting and Sundries | August 1, 2011 at 10:51 am

    On my own, I’ve read The Help, Room, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

    I’m reading (on my own) Cutting for Stone this month.

  20. Sue Jackson | August 1, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    oooh, what a fun list – thanks for sharing!

    I have read # 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 on my own and # 9 for my book group. #5 is our selection for September! Looks like we have a few more to add to our list for fall!

    Sue

  21. MMawn | August 24, 2011 at 7:49 am

    What a great list!!I have read all but two of the books on this list,The Paris Wife and Something Borrowed.I guess I’m going to have to chek them out if they rate as high as these others.

  22. Michele | September 3, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    If I can also make a suggestion… I just read “Sarah’s Key”. Excellent read

  23. Mary | January 2, 2012 at 1:14 pm

    Our book club read 1,2,5,6 last year and have planned to read 3,4,7 this year. I read 9 on my own some time ago, but as Sarah E said above, I liked Water for Elephants, but liked the movie better . The Help and Room were top favorites but Thirteenth Tale was the club favorite and elicited the best discussion. Looking forward to good reading in 2012.

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