A Good Read for a Book Club--

During our most recent book club, we hosted an open session when each participant brings a book (or more for that matter) to discuss of their only choosing. I had to smile when the slightly older title The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold was discussed by one. The book was first published in 2002 and sat on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year (thanks, Wikipedia).

Is there any popular novel reader who hasn't heard about this title? A 14-year-old girl is raped and murdered with the crime becoming an ongoing investigation in the novel. However, the girl, Susie, lives on in spirit in heaven and she observes how events and life change with her family and friends.

The elements and emotions of the novel made it a success and a must read for many and it also became a frightening title too. Some would comment that some aspects of the book (the death of a child, etc.) would make for disturbing reading.

And--according to Wikipedia again--the story will have a new life (so to speak) as a film version of the book may arrive for the public sometime this year.

As I mentioned in the title for this post, this is a good read for a book club. I read this book several years ago for the "Rea Road Readers" book club at my library where general interest adult titles are discussed.

I really liked the book overall, although I felt a twist near the end of the book was forced and unnecessary.

At that time, I had considered using the book for the mystery book club as it has mystery elements with a clearly different slant. Now, I haven't yet but maybe I should keep it mind. When the book was shared that night, I asked of those present who read the book and only three of us (just under half) did.

In fact, this book could be good for an older teen book club too...