Today Jeff Potter, a member of The Great Apes Reading Group of Fort Collins, Colorado, shares the three books that sparked their best discussions. The group's name comes from their 10th reading selection, Tarzan of the Apes. The main character in the book is "an avid reader, even teaching himself to read by reading Paradise Lost, if you can believe that," says Jeff. The Great Apes, an all-guy book club with members ranging in age from 37 to 64, has been going strong for 15 years.


Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West may be the best non-fiction book most of us have ever read; I personally would call it such. We still refer to parts of it even twelve years later, especially the sad ending after the trip to the Pacific was completed. Stephen Ambrose has the ability to put us right on the trail with Lewis and Clark and we see the country, or what became part of the country, unfold right before our eyes. We couldn't believe that only one Corps of Discovery soldier died over the course of the two year trip. Ambrose captures the personal and personality struggles of each soldier, too. Leadership is a big theme and I'm not sure anyone today could complete the task Jefferson charged Lewis and Clark with without lots of infighting and egos getting in the way. The psychology behind the choosing of the Corps is fascinating. If history was always taught in such a readable fashion, it would be much more popular!

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing is similar to Ambrose's book: adventure, leadership, personalities, psychology, devotion to a crew and a cause. The world was a different place when Shackleton ran his ad soliciting men for a mission to the South Pole that you "probably wouldn't return from," but the men that signed up were very recognizable to us all. We contrasted Shackleton's leadership style and motives with that of the Everest guides in Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Very well researched and readable about an expedition that many people have forgotten about or never even knew about. We can all learn something about committment to a cause and to a crew as Shackleton goes for help...and returns with help months and months later. It's an unforgettable expedition and an unforgettable read, simply an unbelievable story.

The Master and Margarita is an incredibly inventive novel that crosses all genre boundaries. It's historical, religious/spiritual, satiric, full of magic realism (see the "cat"!), political and more all at once. We talked about this over two meetings and on occasion still return to plumb its depths and keep trying to wrap our minds around what Bulgakov has created. A background in basic Russian political history and early Christianity is helpful, but probably not necesary as long as one reads with an open mind. It's also a psychological and philosophical study too, so there is no limit to the discussion subjects. I don't think any of us had ever read any Bulgakov before we happened on this novel, but we are all glad we read it even if we can't neatly tie it all together! This was one of our first foreign novels that offered a variety of translations, so we received an education of how the translation can influence the reading or the meaning. Fascinating and rewarding but definitely not for everyone.

Continuing with best discussion books, as submitted by readers of the ReadingGroupGuides.com newsletter (sign up here), below are some of the comments that were shared. And find out what book club members had to say about why My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and Alan Brennert's Moloka'i make for great conversations.


"I laughed, cried, and was challenged by The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I sometimes shy away from "translated" books; at times they do not capture the style of the author, but this book is wonderful. It's the story of a concierge at an upscale apartment building in Paris. Her relationship (and lack of) with the characters who live there is very telling." --Rosemary Hood

"One of the best discussions we have had was about the book The Invisible Wall: A Love Story that Broke Barriers by Harry Bernstein. We also read the sequel, The Dream: A Memoir, shortly after that. The ladies in the group come from a wide variety of backgrounds but all have experienced prejudice in one form or another. Prejudice from socio-economic status, religion, or simply working and stay at home have given rise to damaged egos and hurt feelings. We all related to Harry's experience and admired the courage of both mother and son." --Susie Schachte, Greenwood Public Library

"Recently, my book group read two older books: The Far Family by Wilma Dykeman and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Book books stimulated two of the best discussions we have had. Everyone had something to say, and we all agreed we would like to read more older novels." --Anna Robinson

"I think the first pick would be One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus, as the members were still bringing it up a year after we read it. The next would be Jackdaws by Ken Follett. We hesitated about picking this book, but everyone ended up loving it. Also Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Each book picked generated not only a good book discussion but many referrals to the book months down the road." --Lana Mason

"Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood was our best discussion. Often during other book club meetings, the book would resurface in our discussion. The ending was never clear and brought many ideas and much philosophical discussion on the subject." --Micheline Heckler

"Choosing three favorites is quite a task, but if I must pick three that stand out, these would be: On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker. The author, A'Lelia Bundles, phone conferenced with us for our discussion. Our group was estatic that an author would take time to discuss her work with us. Ms. Bundles gave us special insights to her book; she is also the great-grandaughter of C.J. Walker, so this made the connection more special.

Our very first book and the namesake of our group is special to us. In March 1998, our first discussion was Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith, thus our group name is FTL Book Club. As women, we connected with the protagonist of Smith's novel and enjoyed reading about the changes this Applachian woman saw in herself and in her surroundings.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks was a good and enjoyable piece of fiction. Brooks cleverly entwined religion and mystery in the storyline to keep interest for a good book club discussion." --Pat Neidhard

Susan Meissner, today's guest blogger, talks about being both a reading group member and a writer whose works are read by book clubs. She offers her thoughts on why books can make strangers the best of friends...and what she thinks readers deserve when they journey through one of her novels.

Susan is the author of White Picket Fences and The Shape of Mercy, named by Publishers Weekly as one of 2008's one hundred best novels. You can learn more about her at SusanMeissner.com.


I was sitting in a cozy fire-lit room a few weeks ago with a dozen other women. Chocolate, mugs of coffee and glasses of merlot were scattered about our copies of The Help, and the book's mellow, butterscotch cover blended in nicely with the room's fall colors. There was laughter, tender moments, tense moments, and more laughter. A casual observer might have thought, "Look at those women over there, talking and laughing and listening to each other. They're probably at this bed and breakfast for a reunion of some kind. Probably classmates who've known each other thirty years."

Truth is, my book club is comprised of women who collectively have known each other less than three years. Some of the women are so new to the group, we don't yet recognize their cars when they arrive for book club.

But when we gather to discuss, dissect, digest a book, we come across as old friends who seem to have known each other since kindergarten. A good book can do that --- bring together the people who've read it into an immediate fraternity of souls, like survivors of the same hostage situation. I would venture a good book, read by a dozen strangers, could have those strangers exchanging email addresses one hour after being placed in a room with Starbucks, comfy chairs and discussion questions.

Consider this. A book like The Help, which is a fabulous book club read, is not just a book about a twenty-something aspiring writer in the early '60s penning the stories of Mississippi maids. It's a story about servitude, prejudice, ambivalence, ingratitude, injustice, grace, resilience, choices, desperation and dignity. A book that rises above its own storyline and makes us itch to talk to someone about it is why book clubs have made best friends of ordinary booklovers.

I admit, when I write a novel, I think about the book club readers who will read it, internalize it and then relive it in someone's living room or patio. Will they want to talk about this book when they are done? Will I be able to put enough flesh on this imaginary person that she seems real? Will these readers laugh with her, cry for her, shake an angry fist at her? Will her journey --- and every protagonist is on one --- matter to these readers?

When I was piecing together The Shape of Mercy, and more recently White Picket Fences, these were the questions that haunted me as I wrote. I am highly aware of the promise I make when I begin on page 1. You, dear reader, deserve a story that will touch you at a level that the morning newspaper does not. You deserve a story that somehow leaves you different than before you read it. I write to entertain, of course. But that which is merely entertainment is often quickly forgotten. I don't want you to forget what I write. And that means I have to create a story peopled by unforgettable characters. It is a tall order. But I love every minute of the labor to give you what you deserve.

An author friend of mine recently finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I loved, loved, loved. She posted how much she enjoyed the book on an online writers group, and I couldn't help but comment on her post. I told her those characters are so beautifully real to me, I want to get on a plane and go to Guernsey right now and meet them --- 70 years after the war --- as if they are still living there. As if they were living there. As if they were living.

This is what I want to do for you. I want to give you characters who seem real to you, characters whose choices you pick apart while you sip spiced cider in a room full of people you may have only just met. Characters who make you think about things that matter. That keep you thinking long after you've turned the last page...

---Susan Meissner

Katherine Stockett's debut novel, The Help, has been generating interest since its publication earlier this year. Set in 1963, it's the story of three women --- two African American maids in Mississippi and a young white woman who sees a story in the world that they live in.

An article in today's New York Times, "A Southern Mirrored Window," takes an in-depth look at The Help --- how Stockett came up with the idea, her not-so-easy path to publication, the novel's extraordinary success (it has stayed in the top 5 on the NYT hardcover fiction bestseller list since August), and the praise as well as the controversy it has garnered.

More on The Help:
Discussion Guide
RGG.com Blog Post
Bookreporter.com Review
Bookreporter.com Author Profile
Kathryn Stockett's Website
Podcast of Stockett Talking about The Help

Sometimes it happens --- a book club meeting just doesn't go well. And sometimes they're among the most memorable discussions. RGG.com contributor Heather Johnson's group, Storie delle Sorelle, recently experienced this in back-to-back meetings, and today she talks about these two extremes.


Most months my book club meetings are fantastic --- great friends, great conversation, everything goes smoothly --- but from time to time we have duds. Our August and September meetings are perfect examples of those two extremes.

Near the end of August we met to discuss The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Most of our members attended this meeting so we had a great crowd. The weather was gorgeous and we all enjoyed sitting around the pool. We even had three guests attend, all of whom fit in quite well.

The discussion couldn't have been better. We talked about the epistolary form of the novel --- who liked it, who didn't, and why. We discussed the characters --- were they fully developed, and who were our favorites? We talked about the history of Guernsey, an island in the English Channel --- what we'd known before versus what we learned from the novel. Near the end of the meeting I was able to share insight from an interview I conducted with co-author Annie Barrows that shed some light on our discussions. All in all, an excellent day.

In September we met to discuss C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, the story of two princesses and the struggle between sacred and profane love. We were all looking forward to an outdoor Happy Hour complete with margaritas to help us celebrate the official end of summer. In reality, however, the weather was rather cool and so windy our napkins kept blowing away. Only five people made it to the meeting; of that number, one didn't finish reading and one didn't read at all. This has happened before, but it isn't common...and it is usually a sign that the book wasn't a hit.

Those of us who did read the book disliked it to varying degrees. We tried to discuss the plot, the characters and our reactions to it all, but every topic fell flat until we finally realized that we'd rather talk about anything else but this book. In part that was due to having too few fully engaged participants (more people who had read the book would definitely have led to a better discussion), but it was also due to the book itself; we were simply ready to be done with it.

So instead of book talk we sipped our drinks, chatted about our lives, got pulled into yet another conversation about whether Twilight is worth reading, and simply enjoying being together...until the black clouds rolled in about 15 minutes later. At that point we realized we hadn't gotten to the administrative issues were had planned to discuss at this meeting. It was too late to fix that, though; in the end we barely made it to our cars before the skies opened up on us.

I think every club has these kinds of meetings from time to time, meetings where all your careful preparation amounts to nothing in the end. Hopefully you also have great meetings where everything falls into place perfectly. My suggestion for the bad times is to make the best of the time you have together with your club and simply realize that your next meeting is bound to be better. Of course, if EVERY meeting is like this then you've got a real problem...

My club's next meeting is coming up soon and we'll be discussing Kevin Roose's The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. Will this meeting be a success? We'll just have to wait and see...but I'm pretty confident it will be great.

---Heather Johnson

Continuing with best discussion books, as submitted by readers of the ReadingGroupGuides.com newsletter, here is what Becky Haase of the LaSalle Book Group in Chicago had to say about Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.


Our best discussion was for Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, the story of a leper colony on one of Hawaii's islands. The main character, a young girl condemned to the colony from age six in the late 1800's to her old age when the colony was disbanded after World War II, is a fascinating tale of the island and many of the "real" people who lived and worked there, including Father Damian. It was obvious by the loving and accurate detail that a great deal of research had gone into the writing of the book.

Our discussion ranged from removing children from their homes to the impact of disease on the ill and their families to love and marriage to the internment of the Japanese during WWII to reuniting birth and adoptive families --- just to mention a few of the topics we covered. We usually meet for one hour, but this discussion lasted for two full hours. It is often referred to as "the best book we've read" by members when choosing our next book.

When, soon after our meeting, the book became a bestseller, we joked that our discussion must have led to its popularity. Now we are looking forward to reading Alan Brennert's new novel, Honolulu.

---Becky Haase
The LaSalle Book Group

Recently we asked book club members to share the book that resulted in their group's best discussion. The nearly 40 titles we received run the gamut from biographies to thrillers. Surprisingly, only one was mentioned more than once: Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. Today Denise Neary offers her thoughts on the novel and why it sparked a great discussion among the mother-daughter members of her book club. Has your group read My Sister's Keeper? Tell us about your discussion in the Comments section.

We'll be sharing more "Best Discussion Books" in future posts.

Click here to read Denise's RGG.com guest blog post about The Red Balloons, the book club she founded with her daughter, and here for her recollections of the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.


My Sister's Keeper provided a great discussion for our daughter/mother book club. That is, if you count talking all over one another, laughing, arguing, never letting the discussion leader get a word in (much less getting her questions out) as a great discussion, as our group does.

Picoult is such a master at presenting complicated questions in concrete yet head-spinning packages --- so here is the situation, and your response is.... What? Given the choices these characters had to confront, what would you do?

For some inexplicable reason, the strong-willed daugher and the strong-willed mother in the book both resonated with our group of teens and moms. It was interesting to hear the teens' take on Sara, and the moms' take on her daughters, Anna and Kate. The book made us think hard, both daughers and mothers, about what it is to be an individual in a family, not just in extraordinary circumstances but day to day. That is a complicated issue at any time in life, and especially tricky for a teen coming to terms with a sense of who they are in the world. Several of them have probably considered legal emancipation since reading the book.

The ending (the book's ending, not the movie version) provided such perfect discussion bedlam, especially when one of the moms pointed out that Sara was right (bad words to be uttered in front of a group of teens) --- if Anna had done this one last thing for her sister, she would have saved Kate and no more would have been asked of her.

A rare and telling silence in the discussion --- everyone, daughters and moms, strongly believed that Anna had been asked too much in her young life. But when the discussion leader asked the moms in the group what we would do if our own child were in that situation, none of us could answer. What did that silence mean, and what did it say to our daughters?

We all make plans, and then fate steps in --- in real life, and in books. My Sister's Keeper gives a beautiful and anguished portrait of the choices we sometimes have to make...and endless opportunity for discussion.

---Denise Neary
The Red Balloons