Book Club Mon Feb 26 2007

Our 2007 Booklist

Veronica and I have been talking and emailing each other back and forth the past couple weeks trying to put together the rest of our 2007 booklist, and we are finally ready to reveal the results. Here is what we'll be reading for the rest of this year:

[January's book was Boss by Mike Royko and February's book was All This Heavenly Glory by Elizabeth Crane.]

Now: The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
This is our current book, which we'll be meeting to talk about on Monday, March 12.

April: A Chicago Tavern: A Goat, a Curse and the American Dream by Rick Kogan
We'll be kicking off baseball season by reading this new book about Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern, written by one of Chicago's most celebrated journalists. Don't miss this meeting on April 9 because Mr. Kogan is scheduled to join us for our discussion.

May: The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
A novel about a woman who moves to a small town to try to rebuild her life after the death of her husband, written by best-selling author Elizabeth Berg.

June: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
First published in 1968, this classic work of science-fiction tells the story of Richard Deckard, a bounty hunter for the San Francisco Police Department in the year 2021, who is charged with the job of finding rogue androids passing for humans on Earth. The 1982 film Blade Runner was adapted from this novel.

July: Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
Ghost World is one of the most popular graphic novels of all time, and the basis for the 2001 film of the same name, about two teenagers struggling through life after high school.

August: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
This historical novel about one man's career in a Depression-era circus was a surprise indie bestseller last year.

September: Peel My Love Like an Onion by Ana Castillo
A passionate novel about love and flamenco dancing by an award-winning writer.

October: Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
The critically-acclaimed memoir about race and identity by our popular Illinois senator and current presidential hopeful.

November: Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Disgrace, which won the Booker Prize in 1999, tells the bleak story of one man's downfall in post-apartheid South Africa. Coetzee, a former U. of C. professor, was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003.

That is the complete list for this year, and we will have more about all these books in the coming months. Happy reading!

— Alice Maggio