New and Notable for Book Discussions 2010

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

A concierge at an upscale Paris apartment building finds an unlikely bond with a precocious twelve-year-old resident.  Renee’s  philosophical musings and Paloma’s diary entries provide great discussion material.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

A wealthy businessman in nineteenth century Wisconsin advertises for a “reliable wife”; the woman who answers has her own agenda.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn

If the abolition of slavery was the great moral challenge of the 19th century and the struggle against totalitarianism the battle of the 20th century, then the emancipation of women and girls worldwide is the struggle of the 21st.  In vivid prose, two Pulitzer Prize winners make the case that transforming women’s lives can change the world.

Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodato

In this portrait of grief and imagination, Mathilda negotiates family life and growing up after her sister’s death.  This  intense and darkly funny first novel from playwright Lodato should spark lively discussions.

The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Robert Mason

A collection of short stories and vignettes loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey, the conceit here is that because they began life in the oral tradition, the tales in the Odyssey must have been told in different ways over the years.  This is a great book for the classically inclined discussion group.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks, an African-American mother of five, died of cervical cancer in 1951 at age 31.  During her treatment, her doctors took tissue samples without her consent, and those samples have aided in medical discoveries from the polio vaccine to in vitro fertilization.  This absorbing tale humanizes complicated medical and ethical issues that are very much of the moment.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

A surprise bestseller, this story of white women and their black maids in segregated 1960s Mississippi is a must for book clubs.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

This Pulitzer prize winner was Wilder’s second novel and by some accounts his masterpiece.  It is the tale of six interlocking characters whose lives converge in a catastrophic event.