Musing Monday...Share and Share Alike

This weeks Musing Monday question, from the desk of MizB at Should Be Reading asks about book group suggestion. Gosh, I wish I had a real life book group...

If your book group asked you to bring two (2) suggestions for group reads to your next meeting, what two books would you suggest? Why?

Oh my, this is another one of those pick your favorite child questions, isn't it. A new book or an old...something on the N.Y. Times bestseller list or a classic?
The first book that came to mind was a classic, a book I love and really should find time to re-read, 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' by Willa Cather. In case you are not familiar with it, it is a book written in 1927, about a Catholic bishop traveling from Ohio to try and establish a diocese in the New Mexico territory and it is a great story with a wonderful cast of characters that he interacts with. It's a great personal story, a great story about the history of the west, a story about faith and friendship and a really good read. But what I really remember about the book is Cather's breathtaking descriptions of New Mexico. I have never been there, but because of this book, I want to get there someday. What can I say, I am a proponent for this book and if you have never read it, I think you should.

But if we are looking to something a bit more modern, two books that I read recently come to mind. For an excellent thriller, with a good story, good characters and a mind blowing twist at the end, I would go with Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. A good thriller but with enough depth to make for some good discussions. And what can I say, I love a good thriller.

And lastly, I will pick a book of local interest, Bayshore Summer: Finding Eden in a Most Unlikely Place by Peter Dunne. Yes, I will admit it, I try to make people, both those that live here and those from afar, more aware of some of the great things about NJ. This book, that shares some of the beauty and wildness that still exists in Cumberland County, along the Delaware Bay, is a book that does that. I must say, I am not sure I really want too many of my fellow NJites visiting there...that would sort of spoil the whole effect...but I like them too know it is there.

So there are three suggestions, a classic everyone should read and two present day books that should be getting more exposure and shared with anyone that wants a good read and a good discussion.

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