The ‘Best of 2010′ book lists are out in force and frankly, I find most of them more confusing than helpful.  Out of the hundreds posted online  (Large Hearted Boy – a music and literature blog keeps a running tally),  I’ve only found four lists  that apply specifically to book clubs  since those are the types of books I like to read.  One book, Emma Donoghue’s Room made three of the lists.  No one book appeared on all four.  If anyone else has seen a good ‘best of 2010′ book club list, let me know.  I would love to include it here.

Misha Stone for Book List’s Book Group Buzz top ten for book clubs

The Women’s National Book Association top ten list for reading groups

Library Journal’s first ever top ten

NPR’s Lynn Neary 2010 top picks;       ‘best of’ 2009 list for book clubs

What books are the librarians loving this season?  Emma Donoghue‘s The Room, Susan Henderson’s Up From The Blue and Tom Franklin‘s Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. Already on the NY Times bestseller list coupled with a stellar audio version, Donoghue’s Room looks to be ‘the’ book of the fall season.  ~via Earlyword

Calling all Henning Mankell fans.  Wallender is back!  Faceless Killers, the first of this years three part Wallender II series aired last Sunday on PBS?   If you missed out, fear not.  You still have time to tune in and catch The Man Who Smiled which airs this Sunday, October 10th followed by The Fifth Women on  October 17th.

In case you’re wondering just who is Mario Vargas Llosa, the winner of this year’s Nobel prize for literature. Book Beast comes to the rescue by telling  you all you need to know about this prolific Peruvian novelist.

Several good books have been adapted into good movies and are showing now.  The American, Never Let Me Go, The Town, Freakonomics, The Social Network, Secretariat, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest (10/29).

For book clubs in need of filling out their reading calendar,  Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) announced their Great Group Reads 2010.  The website states

These titles were selected on the basis of their appeal to reading groups for whom they are bound to open up lively conversations about a host of timely and provocative topics, from the intimate dynamics of family and personal relationships to major cultural and world issues.

Below are links to past Read and Feed selections for your book club enjoyment.

11/09  ‘Autobiography of a Face’ by Lucy Grealy  food: chocolate pudding

9/09  ‘Crescent’ by Diana Abu-Jaber food: goat cheese and fig pizza

7/09  ‘Lying Awake’ by Mark Salzman food: nun’s sighs

4/09  ‘The School of Essential Ingredients’ by Erica Bauermeister food: coffee Abuleita

1/09  ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ by Sue Monk Kidd food: honey cake

10/08  ‘Run’ by Ann Patchett food New England clam chowder

9/08  ‘Loving Frank’ by Nancy Horan food: spring greens salad

8/08  ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’ by Barbara Kingsolver food: mango corn salsa

Stay tuned

Citizen Vince by Jess Walters – a darkly, comic, crime novel that has also been described as unexpectedly profound.   2005 Edgar award winner for best novel.   Pearl says simply, “Read it.”

City of Thieves by David Benioff – this story takes place during  WWII siege of Leningrad.  Two prisoners of the Russian army are given an impossible task, find two dozen eggs in time for the wedding of the colonel’s daughter or be hunted down and shot.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave – a dark, character driven novel.  Very powerful.  It will break your heart.

Field Work: A Novel by Mischa Berlinski -  Pearl describes this fictionalized memoir as  a ‘why dunnit’.  Set in Thailand, a journalist visiting his girl friend looks into the facts of a jailed American anthropologist who commits suicide while serving a 50 year sentence for murder.  One of the few books where missionaries are depicted respectfully.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Amy and Isabelle) – winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (Pearl served as one of the three judges).  Linked short stories set in Maine with an unlikeable main character.  In the end, a magical book.

Little Big Man by Thomas Berger – Dustin Hoffman starred in the movie version.  First published in 1964, it was hailed as one of the finest novels about the American West.

The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway (son of famed thriller writer John le Carre) – set in Britain in the not so very distant future.  A post apocalyptic tale.

The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert – graphic memoir about the humanitarian mission of the volunteers that work with Doctors Without Borders in war torn Afghanistan.

Click here to purchase these books from your favorite Indie bookstore

More Nancy Pearl summer reading  suggestions:

Airplane Reads

Mystery/Spy/Thrillers

Armchair Travelers