Upcoming Reviews Fall 2019

My reading schedule for this fall.

1. Olive, Again (Random House, Oct. 15) by Elizabeth Stout - This is a sequel to her Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge, dealing with the complicated and poignant life of Olive in Crosby, Maine.

2. The Family Upstairs (Atria Books, Nov. 5) by Lisa Jewell - Three siblings who have been out of touch for more than 20 years grapple with their unsettling childhoods, but when the youngest inherits the family home, all are drawn back together. (Kirkus)

3. Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu (Atlantic Monthly Press, Nov. 15) by Les Standiford - The author recounts the creation of the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, by cereal company heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her husband, E.F. Hutton in 1927.

4. Good Girls Lie (Mira, Dec. 30) by J.T. Ellison - The heroine of this high-tension thriller from bestseller Ellison, leaves the U.K. after the death of her parents to attend the Goode School, an exclusive girls’ boarding school in Marchburg, Va.

And these are the books I am reading for In Good Company, our book group:

October - Milkman (Ann Burns)

November - Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)

December - A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)

In Good Company Book Club

Taken at our very first meeting November 2012!

A couple of years ago, my friend Laura and I discussed the idea of a book group. We got together, tossed some ideas around, and the In Good Company Book Club was born.

We remain small with usually 6-8 showing up for dinner at In Good Company, a local restaurant that puts up with our shenanigans and gave us permission to use their name! In some ways it's a women's night out, but we do talk about the books we read and some of those discussions are passionate.

Last Thursday everyone but me had read Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Book Club got cancelled several times this winter and I had moved on and read Donna Tartt's The Gold Finch instead. We all get to choose titles over a year and we don't berate anyone for not being prepared because usually we are. Besides the friendships, I have read more widely and been able to share books I love with others.

This morning, a friend shared a New York Times article (March 22, 2014) with me and I wanted to share with you. It's called Really? You're Not in a Book Club?

So are you in a book club? What is your book group reading? Are you interested in what other book groups chose to read? I would love to know your thoughts!