Reader beware! If last year was a peak in 4-star ratings for our book club, this year may have been a valley. That said, it didn’t feel like we were having a bad year of reading while we were in the midst of it. And, our discussions were as lively and engaging as always. But looking at the scores, this year’s books as a whole were found lacking.
We only had three books that scored in the 4’s compared to eight last year. And, we had two books that scored in the 2’s. A rating the 2’s is pretty rare for us, I don’t think we’ve ever had two in one year. But here we are. Note that books that have DNF – did not finish – by a member get an additional penalty which I describe here.)
Four of these books have won significant awards, and two of those were among our three highest ratings. So I’m not even sure what that says about awards. (But more on that in this post.)
| Title | Author | Avg. | High | Low |
| Homegoing | Yaa Gyasi | 3.86 | 4.5 | 3.75 (2 DNF) |
| All Our Worldly Goods | Irene Nemirovsky | 3.55 | 4 | 3.25 |
| The Four Winds | Kristin Hannah | 3.3 | 4 | 2.5 |
| Consequences | Penelope Lively | 4.36 | 5 | 3.75 |
| The Night Watchman | Louise Erdrich | 3.53 | 4.5 | 3.25 (1 DNF) |
| The Remains of the Day | Kazuo Ishiguro | 4.39 | 4.75 | 3.25 |
| The Nickel Boys | Colson Whitehead | 4.23 | 4.75 | 3.25 |
| The Sympathizer | Viet Thanh Nguyen | 2.18 | 3 | 2.5 (2 DNF) |
| The Kurdish Bike | Alesa Lightbourne | 2.9 | 3.5 | 2.5 |
| Anxious People | Fredrik Backman | 3.89 | 4.875 | 2.75 (1 DNF) |
When I see people on the inter-webs ask about recommendations for their books clubs, I typically point them to these round up posts for suggestions. Maybe this year’s list will just serve as a warning.
So, I’m not sure what to make of this year’s reading for my book group. I guess I can only say, I have high hopes for this upcoming year!
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