Book #6: The Reading Group

Title: The Reading Group


Author: Elizabeth Noble


While this novel definitely falls under the category of chick-lit (would any guy carry a book with a cover like this around with him to read on the train?), it's no Shopaholic. Instead, it's the story of five women who form a new book club in January and read a book each month until December. All of the women have major life upheavals during the year (two divorce, one has an abortion, one considers cheating on her husband, one loses a parent, one gets married and becomes a grandparent) and the novel weaves the changes in the womens' lives into their book group discussions. For a few paragraphs, I thought I had read this book before-- it's very similar to something I read fairly recently, except this one takes place in England.


I got some great recommendations for future reading from this novel, and I found Harriet's assertion that modern men can't write good female characters pretty much right on target. I also cried a little bit toward the end. All in all, it was a good read-- not too challenging, not too memorable, but just right for a plane trip with two kids (which is where I did the bulk of the reading).


--originally published 2/21/07