Book Group Favorites from Across the Pond

I think I would enjoy being in a book group in the U.K. Here's a list of Brits' favorite book group reads:

1. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - This is one of my favorite books of all time.
2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - I loved this; see my book review post here.
3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - This isn't a book one enjoys so much as appreciates and learns from. See my review here.
4. Small Island by Andrea Levy - I haven't read this but have already added it to my wish list.
5. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier - I haven't read this (although I did see and enjoy the movie), but I probably will eventually. My old book group was doing Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, and that was just about enough Vermeer for me at the time. I liked the latter, for the record, although it was somewhat flawed. It had a clever premise—that of a potential "lost Vermeer" being passed from person to person, with each chapter narrated by the current owner.

Comments

[Lisa]

I enjoyed Girl with the Pearl Earring----really got a sense of what everyday ife might have been like then. There are others like it, too, where the author looks at a painting and tries to imagine what was going on. Another good book about the time period is Rosalind Laker's The Golden Tulip.

[Elena]

I liked Girl with a Pearl Earring way more than Girl in Hyacinth Blue, basically for the reasons given by Lisa.

[Margaret]

I liked Girl with a Pearl earring as well--just don't expect much of a plot. It's more a slice of life book, and that's fascinating enough.