So many books. So little time! How many times have you caught yourself saying just that? And when it comes to picking what works for your book club, it's not enough to pick just what you want to read, it has to appeal to the rest of your reading buddies as well.

We make this task-- of winnowing just the right picks -- easy for you! Many of our reviews are of books that make perfect reading choices for book clubs. Here we feature a dozen carefully selected books, all of which will publish in paperback in early 2013. To help you decide, you can browse through an excerpt and a range of review opinion for each book (and, if you're a member, BookBrowse's full review and backstory). Most also have a handy printable reading guide. I know you'll find plenty in here that will spark lively discussions in your book club.

So the only thing you have to worry about at your next discussion is -- who will bring the wine and cheese!

Davina, BookBrowse Editor

Publication dates are all for USA, and may differ elsewhere

Wish You Were Here by Graham Swift Paperback: January 8, 2013; 336 pages. Vintage Books In his ninth novel, Swift returns to the same motifs - broken family relationships, English landscapes, and an internal narrative based on memory - that run through nearly all of his books... Swift delivers a truly remarkable story about one very unhappy family. He is a deeply affecting writer, one who explores the murky crevices of his characters and their lives... While a reader may not emerge emotionally unscathed, they will have had a deeply felt experience in reading this dark and aching novel that will resonate with you long after the last page is read. Reviews, Excerpt & Reading Guide

Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru Paperback: January 8, 2013; 384 pages. Vintage Books What could a UFO hippie cult, a British rock star, a Spanish Franciscan priest, the son of a Sikh and his autistic son have in common? The Mojave Desert, for one thing. A search for meaning that connects the earthbound physical plane with the spiritual, for another. In his fourth novel, Hari Kunzru confronts head-on the quandaries of modern life while walking a fine line between irony and authentic emotion, between seriousness and lightheartedness, without missing a step.  Reviews, Excerpt & Reading Guide

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash Paperback: January 22, 2013; 336 pages. William Morrow A stunning debut reminiscent of the novels of John Hart and Tom Franklin, A Land More Kind Than Home is a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town. Reviews, Excerpt & Reading Guide

Quiet by Susan Cain Paperback: January 29, 2013; 352 pages. Broadway Books Though her research is current and substantial, the basic tenets of introvert-versus-extrovert issues that Cain explores are, for the most part, not revelatory. Rather, it is her big picture view and her unification of so many aspects of one maligned temperament that make the book an excellent read. Quiet is different from previous books on introversion because it explores the topic from so many perspectives. Other titles on this subject tend to be strictly in the self-help genre or straight memoir. Cain approaches introversion as a cultural anthropologist might, looking for all the ways it affects our society. Reviews, Excerpt & Reading Guide

[More]

October is National Reading Group Month, and the Women's National Book Association (the group behind the event) are celebrating the fifth annual event with a focus on 20 titles ripe for book clubs. Just click below to explore each of these titles on BookBrowse.

The Absolutist by John Boyne
An Age of Madness by David Maine
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall
Boleto by Alyson Hagy
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani
Faith by Jennifer Haigh
A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
The O'Briens by Peter Behrens
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
The Right-Hand Shore by Christopher Tilghman
Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

A few weeks ago I got an email from Sarah asking advice on an all too common book club problem. She wrote:

"I started a book club about a year ago which has 14 members. The members make book recommendations every six months and then we vote on what books to read. It is expected that everyone rotate being a host and a discussion leader.

One member has not attended a meeting since late 2011, and doesn't even RSVP to let us know that she won't be attending (which we agreed was something we'd all do when we formed the group). I know she is not sick or traveling. Should I try to feel her out and ask if she wants to continue as a club member? Should our club care when members are no-shows and don't participate?"

I posted Sarah's question on BookBrowse's Facebook page and soon we had a couple of dozen thoughtful and helpful responses.

About three quarters felt that it's definitely appropriate to care about book club members who don't participate - with a number stating that attending is, quite simply, the first rule of book club!

The advice from those who felt it does matter fell into two camps:


Just drop her from mailing list:

About a third of those who considered non-participation an issue suggested that the member should just be removed from the mailing list. The sentiment of this group is summed up by Kirsten who writes, "I'd take her off the e-mail list. She obviously knows when the meetings are so she can always show up but if she's going to inconvenience people by not letting anyone know if she's coming, I'd just assume she can be equally inconvenienced by not being kept in the loop. If she then asks about the book for the next meeting or whatever, she could gently be reminded about the RSVP policy and told that people assumed she was no longer interested since she hasn't come or responded in so long."

Diana felt particularly strongly: "I definitely think your club should care about member no-shows. If you are a part of a group that meets regularly, there is a certain protocol that should be followed if you cannot make meetings. The courtesy of a phone call or email letting someone know you cannot make it or will be late is not too much to ask from someone. In fact, it is the respectful, courteous, correct thing to do. In my opinion, this person seems like they haven't the least bit of interest in your club, and should not be invited to any future club meetings."

[More]

A book exchange isn't a new idea but a couple of British expats are taking things to a new level with monthly book swaps at Le Carmen, a cocktail bar in Paris which was once a popular haunt of Georges Bizet and is named after his most famous opera.

One of the co-founders is Rosa Rankin-Gee. Just 24 years old and a couple years out of university, where she studied modern languages, Rosa has already been named one of the 75 Brilliant Young Brits of 2010 by Esquire magzine and won the 2011 Paris Literary Prize for her novella The Last Kings of Sark. The other is photographer and writer Jethro Turner. Jethro and Rosa are also part of a small team who have recently launched A Tale of Three Cities, which claims to be "the first printed arts journal to join up the points of Europe's golden triangle: London, Paris and Berlin." The first issue was published in a hand-numbered, limited edition run in October 2011. You won't find it online as it is firmly and consciously a print only magazine.

[More]

Group Messenger for Book Clubs is a new, free, and really easy to use messaging service that takes the hassle out of choosing books, scheduling meetings, and deciding genres or topics.

[More]

I know you're never supposed to say never (who knows what life will bring) but here's something that I will never-ever do. And I mean it. I will never join a book club. I don't care if an Ivy League English professor moderates the discussion or it's filled with literati.

I'm not a club person to begin with and, honestly, I just don't get the whole notion of having one about books. Why do I want a gaggle of readers dictating my literature? Picking a book--I mean truly immersing in one--is one of the few things in life that comes without any ties. Everything else has strings attached. I must meet deadlines (and read relevant literature for them). I'm obligated to my husband, four children, two dogs, three goldfish, and one tortoise--all of whom require varying degrees of food, walks, and nurturing. 

[More]

An endless supply of quotes exist telling us we should do what we love in life. Though many are cliché, I found myself rooting around for just the right one after hearing Alexander McCall Smith read from his latest book, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. Having read most of the books in his No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, I was eager to see and hear in person the man who brought me the much adored Precious Ramotswe. As I entered the Borders bookstore in Ann Arbor, it was evident that I was not alone.

Since I probably haven't had the pleasure of listening to someone read to me since kindergarten carpet time, it was with happy nostalgia that I sat cross-legged and elbow to elbow on the bookstore floor, listening to the cadenced voice of Mr. McCall Smith. Bewitched by his lilt and laughter, he quickly transformed the packed room of overwrought adults into a sea of sunny, eager faces as he read his favorite passages from Tea Time.

[More]

I'm not a joiner by nature, but when my place of employment started a book club, I thought, what the heck, I should get to know my co-workers better, and resolved to attend. And so I appeared at the appointed hour in the appropriate conference room.

Looking around the room that first meeting, I saw to my horror that more than half of the attendees were members of the senior staff who wouldn't know me from Eve. I wondered if I was in the right place.

"Excuse me, is this the book club?"

"It's not a book club. The word 'club' connotes exclusivity. We're a book group."

Uh oh...

I should have realized off the bat that this wouldn't be the fun, gossipy kind of book group so many people enjoy.  Something's gotta be fishy when Management sponsors a book club.  Somehow I missed the announcement that its focus would be "diversity."  (I found out later that someone had set a goal that the company would hold a certain number of events each year to sponsor diversity in the workplace, with some percentage of employees attending at least one event annually.  It was all very political.) 

[More]