The Second Thursday Bookclub [Carin Meister, Holly Ying, Chrissy Bridges, Kerri Eastham, Molly Skinner, Christy Volmer, Eva Polizzi, Ilana Griffiths, Alex Fletcher, {Melanie Bassett, retired}] has been reading together since 2001; when you’ve read (or intended to read) this many books with the same group of friends, you are bonded forever.

Read-to-Date

List started by Christy; maintained by Holly and Alex

  1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith
  2. The Red Tent – Anita Diamant
  3. The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay – Michael Chabon
  4. Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  5. The Liars Club – Mary Karr
  6. The House of the Spirits – Isabel Allende
  7. Possession – A.S. Byatt
  8. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
  9. Blue Shoe – Anne Lamott
  10. God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
  11. Atonement – Ian McEwan
  12. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
  13. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
  14. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
  15. Palace Walk – Naguib Mahfouz
  16. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
  17. Love Medicine – Louise Erdrich
  18. Bel Canto – Ann Patchett
  19. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
  20. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
  21. The Power of One – Bryce Courtenay
  22. Devil in the White City – Erik Larson
  23. Saint Maybe – Ann Tyler
  24. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
  25. Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwegll
  26. Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austin
  27. Emotional Toolkit – Darlene Mininni
  28. Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
  29. Bringing Down the House – Ben Mezrich
  30. My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult 
  31. East of Eden – John Steinbeck
  32. A Million Little Pieces – James Frey
  33. Leap of Faith – Queen Noor 
  34. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathon Safran
  35. I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith
  36. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie
  37. Love – Toni Morrison
  38. The World According to Garp – John Irving
  39. I Know this Much is True – Wally Lamb
  40. Under the Banner of Heaven – John Krakauer
  41. Wicked – Gregory Maguire
  42. Portnoy’s Complaint – Phillip Roth
  43. Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
  44. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
  45. The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri
  46. Beasts of No Nation – Uzodinma Iweala
  47. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Lisa See
  48. The Road – Cormac McCarthy
  49. Geek Love – Katherine Dunn
  50. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
  51. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything – Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
  52. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
  53. The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
  54. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  55. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
  56. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
  57. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
  58. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  59. The Tempest – performance at Garden Grove Amphitheatre
  60. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
  61. Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
  62. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  63. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
  64. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
  65. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  66. The Book Thief  by Marcus Zusak
  67. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
  68. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo
  69. Secret History by Donna Tartt
  70. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
  71. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
  72. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
  73. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
  74. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornsby
  75. Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman
  76. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  77. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
  78. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  79. Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet
  80. Tinkers by Paul Harding
  81. Charles & Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith by Deborah Heiligman
  82. Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
  83. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
  84. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  85. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
  86. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
  87. Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
  88. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
  89. Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson
  90. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
  91. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
  92. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
  93. March by Geraldine Brooks
  94. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
  95. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  96. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
  97. Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  98. Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
  99. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
  100. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  101. Book of Fred by Abby Bardi 
  102. Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
  103. Great House by Nicole Krauss
  104. Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
  105. This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
  106. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
  107. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 
  108. The Fault in our Stars by John Green
  109. Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
  110. Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
  111. Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
  112. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
  113. Birds of a Lesser Paradise by Megan Mayhew Bergman (short stories)
  114. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
  115. Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
  116. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
  117. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
  118. Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
  119. Bossypants by Tina Fey (plus OC Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream)
  120. Dirty Daddy by Bob Saget
  121. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (Sept 2014)
  122. The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
  123. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
  124. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Jan 2015)
  125. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (Feb 2015)
  126. Me Before You by JoJo Moyes (March 2015)
  127. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida (Apr 2015)
  128. Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (May 2015)
  129. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan (June 2015)
  130. The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker (July 2015)
  131. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (Sept 2015)
  132. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Oct. 2015)
  133. Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee (Nov 2015)
  134. After You, by JoJo Moyes (Jan 2016)
  135. Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel (Feb 2016)
  136. The Dinner, by Herman Koch (Mar 2016)
  137. Fates and Furies, Lauren Groff (Apr 2016)
  138. The Nightingale, Kristen Hannah (May 2016)
  139. Knucklehead, Jon Scieszka (Jun 2016)
  140. The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., Adelle Waldman (Jul 2016)
  141. The Madwoman Upstairs, Catherine Lowell (Sep 2016)
  142. Speak, Luisa Hall (Oct 2016)
  143. The Sympathizer: A Novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Nov 2016)
  144. Boston Girl by Anita Diamant (Jan 2017)
  145. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman (Feb 2017)
  146. Love Anthony by Lisa Genova (Mar 2017)
  147. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (Apr 2017)
  148. The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks (May 2017)
  149. I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (Jun 2017)
  150. Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Jul 2017)
  151. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin (Sep 2017)
  152. Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement (Oct 2017)
  153. The Red Car: A Novel by Marcy Dermansky (Nov 2017)
  154. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel by Robin Sloan (Jan 2018)
  155. The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman (Feb 2018)
  156. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance (March 2018)
  157. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown (April 2018)
  158. Manhattan Beach: A Novel by Jennifer Egan (May 2018)
  159. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (July 2018)
  160. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz (August 2018)
  161. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (September 2018)
  162. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (October 2018)
  163. Before We Were Yours: A Novel by Lisa Wingate (November 2018)
  164. A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles (January 2019)
  165. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (February 2019)
  166. The Power by Naomi Alderman (March 2019)
  167. Exit West: A Novel by Moshim Hamid (April 2019)
  168. Less: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer (May 2019)
  169. Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak (June 2019)
  170. Becoming by Michelle Obama (July 2019)
  171. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver (August 2019) 
  172. Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (September 2019) 
  173. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (October 2019)
  174. Where the Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens (November 2019)
  175. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez (January 2020)
  176. Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran (February 2020)
  177. The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung (March 2020)
  178. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (April 2020)
  179. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (May 2020)
  180. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (June 2020)
  181. Gut: the Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders     (July 2020)
  182. The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (August 2020)
  183. Educated by Tara Westover, (September 2020)
  184. Stamped by Jason Reynolds (October 2020)
  185. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (November 2020)
  186. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates (January 2021)
  187. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (February 2021)
  188. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare (March 2021)
  189. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum (April 2021)
  190. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (May 2021)
  191. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (June 2021)
  192. The Storyteller’s Secret by Sejal Badani (July 2021)
  193. Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (August 2021)
  194. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (September 2021)
  195. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (October 2021)
  196. Lovely War by Julie Berry (November 2021)
  197. Circe by Madeline Miller (January 2022)
  198. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (February 2022)
  199. The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah (March 2022)
  200. The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich
  201. This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel (May 2022)
  202. We are Not Free by Traci Chee (June 2022)
  203. Agatha of Little Neon: A Novel by Claire Luchette (July 2022)
  204. Crying in H-Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner (August 2022)
  205. Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel by Anthony Doerr (September 2022)
  206. I’m not sure (October 2022)
  207. The Reading List: A Novel by Sara Nisha Adams (November 2022)
  208. Annual Duffy Boat Ride/Book Exchange (December 2022)
  209. Dear Committee Members, Julie Schumacher (January 2023)
  210. The Great Alone, Kristin Hannagh (February 2023)
  211. Normal People: A Novel by Sally Rooney (March 2023)
  212. The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki (April 2023)
  213. There There, Tommy Orange (May 2023)
  214. Last Night at Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo (June 2023)
  215. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (July 2023)
  216. Skipped!  (August 2023)
  217. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin (September 2023)
  218. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver (October 2023)
  219. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (November 2023)
  220. Annual Duffy Boat Ride/Book Exchange (December 2023)
  221. Anne Lamott at The Barclay (January 2024)
  222. Remarkably Bright Creatures (February 2024)
  223. Tom Lake, Anne Patchett (March 2024)
  224. Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese (April 2024)
  225. Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles (May 2024)
  226. Weyward, Emily Hart (May 2024)
  227. All My Rage, Saba Tahir (June 2024)
  228. None of This is True, Lisa Jewell (August 2024)
  229. The Overstory, Richard Powers (September 2024)
  230. Trust, Hernan Diaz (October 2024)
  231. This Other Eden, Paul Harding (November 2024)
  232. Annual Duffy Boat Ride/Book Exchange (December 2024)
  233. James, Everett Percival (January 2025)
  234. Hello Beautiful: A Novel, Ann Napolitano (February 2025)
  235. Leonard and Hungry Paul, Ronan Hessian (March 2025)
  236. All Fours, Miranda July (April 2025)
  237. Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams (May 2025)
  238. The Eyes & the Impossible, Dave Eggers (June 2025)
  239. Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley (July 2025)
  240. The Life Impossible, Matt Haig (August 2025)
  241. I Hope This Finds You Well, Natalie Sue (September 2025)
  242. Martyr, Kaveh Akbar (October 2025)
  243. Emperor of Gladness, Ocean Vuong (November 2025)
  244. Annual Duffy Boat Ride/Book Exchange (December 2024)
  245. My Friends, Frederik Backman (January 2026)
  246. Making Things Work, Nancy Hiller (February 2026)
  247. Orbital, Samantha Harvey (March 2026)
  248. Shark Heart, Emily Habeck (April 2026)
  249. Audition, Katie Kitamura (May 2026)
  250. As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows, Zoulfa Katouh (June 2026)
  251. The Road to Tender Hearts, Annie Hartnett (July 2026)
  252. Heart the Lover, Lily King (August 2026)
  253. The Measure, Nikki Erlick (September 2026)
  254. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans (October 2026)
  255. Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin (November 2026)
  256. Annual Duffy Boat Ride/Book Exchange (December 2026)

Dear Book Club:

Books I’d like to suggest for 2027, by Alex Fletcher

YA Title: Secret Astronomers, Jessica Walker (such a beautiful text – no good as a digital or audio text, so that might deter some of us; it’s a lovely physical object, and a good read)

Sister Creatures, Laura Venita Green (I know an excellent reader/writer who is friends with this author; she says it’s glorious and strange – a 2025 Indies Introduce Pick)

The Yellow House, Sarah M. Broom (National Book Award Winner, Nonfiction 2019 – a highly regarded memoir on my TBR stack)

Whistler, Anne Patchett – a popular title by a popular writer; a loyalty read. I have loved Patchett, so yes, I will read this to see if I still do

I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman (…back in print for the first time since 1997…) Intense and creepy, yet beautiful and a testament to female friendship.  Can’t wait to crack into this.  

I am currently reading (for my first time) Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (Book #65, in Year 6; skipped it back then) – I am reading it because I want to read Four Janes by Marian Yee, and I can’t read that one without OG Jane.

Love, Alex 

PS. We will reach Book 300 in 2030