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    		•  November paperback releases offer good choices for reading groups

    REVIEWS BY JULIE HALE

    Cover Memoirs of a Geisha
    With the film version of Golden's opulent bestseller set for December release, this is an excellent time for book clubs to revisit his exceptional debut. The novel—available in a new movie tie-in edition—received overwhelming praise when it was first published in 1999, and rightfully so; it contains all the requisite elements of a classic. Chiyo is nine years old when she and her young sister are sold by their father to a fashionable geisha house near Kyoto. There, Chiyo begins her transformation into Sayuri, a beautiful and skilled geisha who is a natural with men. It is Sayuri who narrates the novel, recalling the events of her life in retrospect and spinning a story as seductive as the trade she engages in. Sayuri gives a chilling account of her initial arrival at the geisha house and the cruel treatment she experiences there. When Sayuri attempts to escape, she is caught, but she soon finds a friend in Mameha, an experienced geisha who acts as her mentor. Sayuri's initiation into the complex rites of the tearoom, her love affairs and her life after World War II unfold without an off-note. Golden has degrees in Japanese art and history, and his authority shows. His ability to render the interior of a woman's heart makes the book especially remarkable. A reading group guide is available online at readinggroupcenter.com.

    Cover The Children's Blizzard
    Laskin, author of several previous books and a contributor to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, offers a fascinating historical reconstruction of one of the worst blizzards ever to hit the Great Plains. Unexpected and merciless, the storm, which came to be known as the School Children's Blizzard, occurred on January 12, 1888, and it pounded the prairies of Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas, bringing with it hurricane-force winds and blinding snow, and leaving approximately 500 people dead. A large percentage of the victims were children headed home from school on foot. Laskin provides a chilling account of the fatal night of the storm; some teachers made their students stay at school and burned desks to keep from freezing. Many children got lost in the snow, surviving overnight only to die the following day. The inhabitants of the territory, primarily immigrants from Germany, Norway, Denmark and the Ukraine, were forced to rebuild their lives in the shadow of the disaster. Drawing on extensive research, including personal interviews and memoirs, Laskin recounts the stories of five families who experienced the blizzard, and he does so with an eye for the era, handling his material expertly and providing abundant, vivid detail. This is a compelling narrative about the pioneer spirit, the vagaries of nature and the human will to survive. A reading group guide is available in print and online at harperperennial.com.

    Cover Runaway: Stories
    Hailed as Munro's best collection yet, this is the 12th book from an author who has perfected the short story form. In these eight selections, each of which takes place in her native Canada, Munro examines the nuances of human relationships, exploring the complexities of marriage, the difficulties of parenting and the responsibilities inherent in friendship. In the title narrative, a discontented wife, aided by a neighbor, decides to leave her abusive husband, but her plan doesn't go quite as expected. A sequence of three interconnected narratives—"Chance," "Soon" and "Silence"—tells the story of Juliet, an instructor at a girls' school who quits her job to engage in a passionate love affair. The consequences of that romance—the birth of her child, a renewed relationship with her own parents—lead Juliet into a deeper understanding of herself and her decisions. The female protagonist in "Powers," who can see into the future, triggers a series of events involving her fiancé and a friend, events that alter their lives forever. Overall, the narratives in Runaway are coolly composed, possessing a quiet calm, but tension is part of what makes them work, and it hums like a hive beneath the surface of the book. At the age of 74, Munro is at the peak of her powers. A reading group guide is available in print and online at readinggroupcenter.com.


    Has your club recently read an excellent book that sparked good group discussion? If so, BookPage would like to hear about it. Contact us at reading@bookpage.com with a description of the book and the reasons for your recommendation. We'll pass the top choices along to our readers.

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