“Top Ten Tuesday:” Books to read with my “book club”

I had no idea what a book blog meme was until I heard them mentioned in my favorite bookish podcast Dear Book Nerd. 'parently it's the same thing as a blog linkup, except book-themed.

So now you've learned that despite being a tech-savvy millenial, I am woefully out of the loop. I dunno whether I want to do this on a weekly basis, but I will see whether I enjoy it.

Anyway The Broke and the Bookish runs a weekly affair wherein bloggers link up themed top-ten list.

This week's theme is: Ten Books I'd Love to Read With My Book Club/If I Had a Book Club



Well, it just so happens that I do have a book club. Sort of. My bestie from college and I decided to form a book club of two. We swap TBR (to be read) lists and take turns picking a book off each other's list. This is, frankly, much more fun than any group club I have ever been in.

Advantages include:

• Every other book we read is guaranteed to be a book I wanted to read. 
• Since the other person in question is my dear friend, every other book I read is guaranteed to be something I have at least a vicarious interest in. 
• Expanding horizons. We have similar interests but read within those interests very differently. For instance, we both love science writing, but he tends to read books on new ideas and research, while I tend to read essays and reflections. We're both interested in social justice, but he veers more hands-on theories of change, and (again) I veer towards essays. 
• I know I will be discussing the book with someone whose opinions I actually care about, unlike most book clubs. Sorry. 
• Scheduling. We can always both make every “meeting” because our “meetings” are phone calls at a time of mutual convenience.
• Friend bonding time, obviously!

While I know J. gives me his full TBR list each time, I admit I curate the list I give him. Why? Well, I feel like there are some books I want to read with a companion more than other books. I adore Georgette Heyer, but I don't particularly feel that I need or even want company while reading her. Same with the latest P.D. James. Ulysses, on the other hand? I'd never get through that without help.

So bearing that in mind, J., this post is for you. The ten books I'd most like to discuss with you next, in no particular order, are:

• The Wandering Falcon, by Jamil Ahmad
• The Known World, by Edward Jones
• Among the Believers, by VS Naipaul
• Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown
• A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, by Robert Olen Butler
• The Moons of Jupiter, by Alice Munro
• Brother, I'm Dying, by Edwidge Danticat
• The Vagrants, by Li Yiyun
• The Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoyevsky
• Morfine, by Mikhail Bulgakov

And if anyone else wants to read one of these with me, well, just let me know!