Since so many of you expressed interest in the Book Club idea I've decided to kick it off in November! YAY! Luckily, I have an amazingly smart and talented book-loving friend, Stephanie DeLuca, the Director of Publicity for Melville House Publishing, that gave me a ton of recommendations (be sure to follow her on Instagram @stephdelucaaa to hear more of her book recs on her story!). I have narrowed it down to TWO choices and here they are! I will give you the official synopsis of the book as well as Stephanie's opinion!
Be sure to leave your pick in the comments section for an official vote count and I will announce the winner in a few days!
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
“Beautifully written and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. I fell in love with Eleanor, an eccentric and regimented loner whose life beautifully unfolds after a chance encounter with a stranger; I think you will fall in love, too!” —Reese Witherspoon No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine. Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . . The only way to survive is to open your heart.
FROM STEPHANIE: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman may be the buzziest book club novel that's out there right now. It's really sweet and funny and heartwarming and also will make you cry a bit. Eleanor is super quirky and a total weirdo but also good hearted. It's a very original story, I've never read a character like Eleanor. She's really the heart of the book. I think some of the humor is a bit subtle in how weird Eleanor is and some people may miss that, but if you're a close reader you should appreciate it. Reese Witherspoon is turning it into a movie at some point in the nearish future so may be a good book to read as a group before the movie.
Winner of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction
One of President Obama's favorite reads of 2017
In The Power the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power - they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly. This extraordinary novel by Naomi Alderman, a Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and Granta Best of British writer, is not only a gripping story of how the world would change if power was in the hands of women but also exposes, with breath-taking daring, our contemporary world.
FROM STEPHANIE: If you want something that's a bit dystopian and about women, I have to recommend The Power by Naomi Alderman. This was my favorite book of 2017. It's for people who like The Handmaid's Tale. Basically it reimagines a world where one day women are able to shoot electricity out of their hands. Obviously this changes the entire world - women are no longer the "weaker" sex and aren't threatened by men, women gain power in the world, women run countries, etc. It takes a serious look at how this would be both good and bad - it's not just like "oh women are amazing things would be great." It's a study in how power can corrupt anyone and also a study in world powers and countries making alliances with each other. It also takes a look at the power of resistance. It's obviously a very timely book for our current landscape. It's incredibly smart and a page turner.
So there you have it! Those are are two options for November. You can vote on the comments below or by sending me a message on Instagram @tourwifetourlife!
xoxo. Alexandra
