As I’ve done for a few years now, I am sharing my reading group’s top picks of 2022. This is, after all, the season of lists, but also, I know that some people, besides me, enjoy hearing about other reading groups.
I’ll start, though, by sharing what we read in the order we read them (with links on titles to my reviews):
- Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land: novel, American author
- Robbie Arnott, Limberlost: novel, Australian author
- Robert Drewe, Nimblefoot: novel, Australian author
- Maggie O’Farrell, Marriage portrait: novel, British author
- Bonnie Gamus, Lessons in chemistry: novel, American author
- Edwina Preston, Bad art mother: novel, Australian author
- Debra Dank, We come with this place: memoir plus, First Nations Australian author
- Pat Barker, Women of Troy: novel, British author
- Jessica Au, Cold enough for snow: novel, Australian author
- Patrick Modiano, Sundays in August: novel in translation, French author
- Holly Throsby, Clarke: novel, Australian author
This year’s schedule was reasonably diverse but with some differences from last year. Our overriding interest is Australian women writers, but not exclusively. And, in fact, this year we read fewer Australian women than is often the case, just Preston, Dank, Au and Throsby. We also, somehow, didn’t read a classic which we try to do each year. However, like last year, we read a translated novel (from France) and a First Nations work. We read five non-Australian books, same as last year; one work of nonfiction (versus two last year); and four by male authors (one more than last year). The status and condition of women’s lives featured particularly strongly in this year’s fiction – with Maggie O’Farrell, Bonnie Gamus, Edwina Preston, Pat Barker and Holly Throsby putting the challenges women face front and centre.
The winners …
This year all of our twelve active members voted, meaning the maximum a book could get was 12 votes, and that there were 36 votes all up. The rules were the same. We had to name our three favourite works, and all were given equal weighting. This year like two of the last three years, we had a runaway winner, with second and third spots being close:
- The marriage portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (8 votes)
- Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr and Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (5 votes each)
- Lessons in chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and We come with this place by Debra Dank (4 votes each)
Very creditable highly commendeds, sharing three votes each were Bad art mother by Edwina Preston and Jessica Au’s Cold enough for snow.
As for my three picks, I’ll start by saying that I found it really tough, though I managed to identify six reasonably easily. Those six were the books by Doerr, Arnott, Preston, Dank, Au and Modiano. No, not O’Farrell, much as I also enjoyed that book. It’s been a very good year. My final three were Robbie Arnott’s Limberlost, Debra Dank’s We come with this place, and Patrick Modiano’s Sundays in August.
At the big reveal last night, some in the group asked me why The marriage portrait wasn’t in my list of tops. I said, off-hand, that it was because it was “just historical fiction”, but that’s not exactly it. As I quickly qualified, I didn’t mean by this that it is typical genre historical fiction, because it’s not, though it does have elements of the historical romance trajectory. No, it’s because it wears its heart on its sleeve. You may not know exactly how it’s going to end, but you know pretty much from the start what it’s about, what the author’s intentions are. I enjoyed it immensely. It’s an engrossing and moving read, but the fiction that earns top billing for me is fiction that has me wondering from the start what it’s all about, fiction that through language, tone, and/or structure challenges my brain to engage with the author and go on a journey with them. Modiano’s and Au’s books, in particular, were like this. This sort of writing can be nerve-wracking because I can worry I’m missing the point. But, it’s the sort of writing that excites me.
[In the end I narrowed my choices down to Arnott because his ability to convey with such brevity a full, complex, oh-so human life was breathtaking; to Dank because among other things her generous truth-telling has helped me better articulate, to myself and to others, my understanding of First Nations connection to country; to Modiano, because, well, I’ve explained that already.]
Selected comments
Not everyone included comments with their picks, and not all books received comments, but here is some of what members said about the top picks:
- The marriage portrait: Commenters used descriptions like “lush”, “descriptive”, and mentioned the relevance of its themes, particularly regarding the vulnerability of young women.
- Cloud Cuckoo Land: Comments included “intelligent”, “immersive”, “huge in scope”, “fabulous for its sweep”, “complex”, with a couple enjoying how Doerr created connections between the stories and different eras.
- Limberlost: Commenters mentioned the quality of its writing, and its evocation of the Tasmanian landscape.
- Lessons in chemistry: A dog lover in the group loved the dog Six Thirty’s role, and the humour.
- We come with this place: Commenters loved the generosity of its truth-telling, its explanation of the relationship between story and place to understand country, and found it “deeply moving”.
And, a bonus again
Since 2019, a good friend (from my library school days over 45 years ago (and who lives just outside Canberra) sent me her reading group’s schedule for the year (in the order they read them):
- Andrew O’Hagan, Mayflies
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Living to tell the tale
- Tom Kenneally, The Dickens boy
- Susan Orlean, The library book
- Andrew McGahan, The rich man’s house
- Ian McEwan, Machines like me: And people like you
- Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
- Claire Thomas, The performance (on my TBR)
- Maureen Cashman, The Roland Medals
- Shokoofeh Azar, The enlightenment of the greengage tree
Links on titles (this year, just one) are to my reviews, where I’ve read the book too.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, particularly if you were in a reading group this year. What did your group read and love?
Whispering Gums 
My book group is actually a U3A class, run through U3A Yarra City in Melbourne. It’s called ‘Landmarks in Australian Literature’, so obviously it focuses on Australian writing. The members are retired people (all women, interestingly) with a very wide range of backgrounds. We’ll be in our fifteenth year in 2024. The class limit is 16, and there are already six people on the waiting list for next year.
I’m the volunteer tutor. I choose the books, and I send out background notes and questions for discussion ahead of each month’s class. So it’s not quite like a traditional book club.
Our eleven books this year were:
Elizabeth von Arnim: Vera (1921)
Vicki Laveau-Harvie: The Erratics (2017)
Jeff McGill: Rachel (2022)
Alf Taylor: God, the Devil and Me (2021)
Elizabeth Jolley: The Orchard Thieves (1995)
Belinda Probert: Imaginative Possession (2021)
Jessica Au: Cold Enough for Snow (2022)
Michael Cannon: Cannon Fire – A Life in Print (2022)
Robbie Arnott: Limberlost (2022)
Bertie Blackman: Bohemian Negligence (2022)
Zaheda Ghani: Pomegranate and Fig (2022)
We didn’t take a vote on our favourites (I must remember to do that next year!), but the stand-outs for me were Vera, The Orchard Thieves, Cold Enough for Snow and Limberlost.
Thanks Teresa … I don’t care what sort of book or reading group it is, I love hearing about it. Vera was one of my standouts last year, and of course Limberlost this year. Au was up there too if I could have voted for more because it was hard to choose. And I loved The orchard thieves when I read it a few years ago. I have also read the Laveau-Harvie, and the Alf Taylor.
Do you remember any particular conversations in the group – any that were more controversial than others or are they all polite?
We’re generally pretty polite, but we certainly have differences of opinion! Some people struggled with Cold Enough for Snow, but others loved it. Just today, several people found Pomegranate & Fig a bit of a chore, but others galloped through it in one or two sittings. In fact, one person who I was sure would hate it actually loved it! People are endlessly surprising. And I’m always thrilled when someone who initially didn’t like a book changes their mind as a result of our discussion, and goes back to re-read it in a new light.
Haha Teresa .. I know what you mean about thinking you know how certain people might respond, and being surprised. And, we also have situations where people change their minds – or at least think about changing their minds – after our discussion. That’s exciting isn’t it, because it says that understanding a work more can change out attitude. In all of the arts, really.
PS I love your selections. I’m assuming it’s up to the students to source their own books?
Yes. Some people (like me) prefer to buy the books, while others borrow them, either from libraries or from each other. I don’t think anyone got them as e-books this year, but one person did a couple of years ago.
Glad you like my selection! I try to cater for a range of tastes and interests (for example, we’re doing a lot more non-fiction than we used to), but inevitably my own preferences influence the final list.
I love the process of researching and choosing the reading list. It takes about four months, so I start in around August. I end up with a long list of 25-30 titles. I’ll whittle that down to a short list of 18-20. Then I submit it to the students and ask them to vote for eleven books. Even after the popular choices have become clear, I might still slip in one or two surprises!
I can imagine thoroughly enjoying the process of selection. What booklover wouldn’t really. but it’s nice that the students get a say too!
I really need to encourage my book group to do something similar (although our meeting schedule and commitment to reading the books has faltered this year for all sorts of reasons).
From your list, I would have given all of my votes to Limberlost. I’m still thinking about this book, almost 11 months later. And yes, I really enjoyed Marriage Portrait but it was an ‘in the moment’ reading experience – nothing much about it has lingered.
As for Lessons in Chemistry… I’m in the minority here – I started it but couldn’t get into it. Am planning on watching the TV series instead (or I may listen to an audio version).
That’s interesting Kate about your reading group faltering a bit. We started when we were in our 30s, and we are now mid 60s to mid 70s, and I don’t think we’ve ever faltered in our commitment to reading books though of course every now and then individuals have issues that affect their ability to read for a little time. but I can’t say the group as a whole has ever faltered.
I understand exactly about The marriage portrait. I enjoyed Lessons in chemistry more than you did, and put it in a similar category. It wasn’t in my final six. But in fact, having read it I don’t really feel driven to watch it though who knows, over the summer we might.
PS In our system, you can choose one, two or three books, but you can’t give any weighting to books. That is, not three votes for Limberlost!! Sorry (much as I understand the desire because it was one of my three.)
I like what you say about “the fiction that earns top billing for me is fiction that has me wondering from the start what it’s all about, fiction that through language, tone, and/or structure challenges my brain to engage with the author and go on a journey with them.” I think I agree with this. Last time I wrote about “favorite” books I had a category for books that surprised me (I mentioned Anathem, The Gone-Away World, and The Thief).
Thanks Jeanne … I might use that category in my list this year. I’m always looking for new ways of sharing my end of year lists!
I love how you are so contrarian to your group! You probably had an inkling about what people would choose, and I admire that you stuck with your own standards. It’s a good group you have that they all wanted to understand your choices instead of just saying, oh, well, you know Sue… 😉
Haha Stefanie … I’m not completely contrarian as 4 of the 12 of us didn’t pick that in our top 3. We’ve been together so long – some of us for 35 years – that we know each other’s likes pretty well now, though the thing about readers is that you can always be surprised, can’t you?
I liked The Marriage Portrait just fine, but sometimes found the writing overblown.
That’s part of what I said to my group too when they asked me, Cathy, and most of them looked at me in astonishment! I used the word “flowery” when I was caught off the cuff, but “overblown” is a better description. I’m glad I’m not alone in thinking this. I tried to justify it in my post on the novel but I still felt it was there. Like you I liked the book “just fine”.
To be honest, I felt the same about Hamnet,
I had some questions about Hamnet but I found it less over-the-top than this. My reading group ranked it 5th the year we read it, which felt about right to me and more like where I’d put this one.
This post made me realize I should find out what the best books were in my different reading groups! I never thought to do it before. Thanks, Sue ☺️
It’s great fun Melanie. We’re 35 years old (started in 1988) but have only been doing this since 2017. Let me know how it goes if you do it.
I’ve sent out some polls! Fingers crossed.
Woo hoo, let me know how it goes.
So far, so good! I’ll add the results to my end-of-year post next week.
I enjoy seeing the selections too. There’s a regular feature in each issue of “Poets & Writers” (a publication in the U.S. but one of my favourites) about a bookclub, a single page, and I routinely enjoy that too (even though I often don’t think I’d be a good fit for the club’s selections heheh).
Oh, I’d enjoy reading a regular feature like that too Marcie. I love hearing about reading group. You might notice that I always call this post “my READING GROUP’s favourites”. Coincidentally, the point came up at our Christmas gathering. My good friend and past work colleague (which is how we met in 1977), who suggested we start this group, said that she suggested a “reading group” not a “book club” because our focus was to be reading. I don’t love all our selections but we try very hard to choose books that warrant discussion (and not just about “issues”), that aren’t light or easy reading. We are not anti those books, or enjoying reading them, but they are not “reading group” books.
That’s an important distinction, I agree. (Although I did enjoy the film Book Club heheh) Look how long it’s been important to you, to get the definitions right.
Same here. With pitching for review work, I always choose a book that seems to warrant rereading. Even if it’s not a theme I enjoy, I enjoy the process of peeling back the layers (ouch, that sounds painful, doesn’t it) in a story with some complexity. And especially if you’re not playing the wine-with-bookclub game, you need a rich story to dissect and contemplate in your reading group.
Yes, exactly (though we do have a glass of wine too, and coffee / tea at the end. But we are very structured. 8pm, arrive, chat, catchup; 830pm, discuss the book; around 930pm, stop and have cake!
Well, I read one of your 11, the worst one probably, Clarke. I know I should read some of the others, but what I would really liked to have been in on is your friend’s discussion of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.
Haha Bill, yes I think Clarke was the lightest but it still had some things to offer and think about. I’m sorry I can’t help you about my friend’s group.
So interesting: thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to We Come With This Place – and pleasingly it’s one I can get hold of here.
I’m so glad you are going to read it Liz. I think you’ll like it, but we’ll see won’t we!