The Fitzwilliam Book Discussion Group has been meeting on the second Monday of the month for over 25 years, since January 1995. This makes it the longest running library book group in all of New Hampshire!
Books are borrowed for members and handed out one month before the scheduled discussion.
In Our Next Book Group…
Monday, Feb. 10 at 7pm
by Paul Murray
“Anyone who starts The Bee Sting will be immediately absorbed by this extraordinary story. Although Murray is a fantastically witty writer, his empathy with these characters is so deep that he can convey the comedy of their foibles without the condescending bitterness of satire . . . The Bee Sting never fails to dazzle with its colliding coincidences, the great sprawling randomness of life all somehow brought to glamorously choreographed climaxes . . . Every paragraph is marked by Murray’s stylistic brilliance ― and daring.”
― Ron Charles, The Washington Post
Past Book Selections
2024
- The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession By Michael Finkel
- The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
- The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel by Douglas Brunt
- Hula by Jasmin Iolani Hakes
- The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen
- Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
- Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan
- Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
- Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape by Ben Macintyre
- The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
- Fire Weather by John Vaillant
- The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
- Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Wood
2023
- Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley
- Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
- Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
- The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America by John Wood Sweet
- Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
- Life’s Edge : The Search for What It Means to Be Alive by Carl Zimmer
- Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
- Wintering : The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
- Grey Bees by Andrei Kurkov
- Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America by Eyal Press
2022
- Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnet
- The Woman They Could not Silence by Kate Moore
- Nutshell by Ian McEwan
- The Confidence Men : How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox
- Salvage The Bones by Jesmyn Ward
- The Invention of Nature : Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf
- The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
- Forget the Alamo by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford.
- What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
- Packing for Mars : The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl by Johnathon C. Slaught
2021
- Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Knisely, Lucy
- A Burning by Majumdar, Megha
- Say Nothing: a True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Keefe, Patrick Radden
- A Good Neighborhood by Fowler, Therese Anne
- The Lost Painting by Harr, Jonathan
- The Death of Vivek Oji by Emezi, Akwaeke
- Dirt by Buford, Bill
- Miss Benson’s Beetle by Joyce, Rachel
- Homeland Elegies by Akhtar, Ayad
- The Five Wounds by Kristen Valdez Quade
- The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
- The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin
2020
- Disappearing Earth by Philips, Julia
- Bad Blood by Carreyou, John
- The Lost Children Archive by Luiselli, Laura
- Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Gottlieb, Lori
- Nostromo, Conrad, Joseph
- Emma by Austen, Jane
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Towles, Amor
2019
- The Mars Room by Kushner, Rachel
- The Line Becomes a River by Cantu, Francisco
- Circe by Miller, Madeline
- The Ghost Map by Johnson, Steven
- The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Gowar, Imogen Hermes
- Code Girls by Mundy, Liza
- My Sister, the Serial Killer by Braithewaite, Oyinkan
- The Library Book by Orlean, Susan
- Lake Success by Shteyngart, Gary
- Maid by Land, Stephanie
- There There by Orange, Tommy
- The Soul of an Octopus by Montgomery, Sy
2018
- Stay with Me by Adebayo, Ayobami
- Killers of the Flower Moon by Grann, David
- Autumn by Smith, Ali
- Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by de Waal, Frans
- Home Fire by Shamsie, Kamila
- Book of Ages by Lepore, Jill
- Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Roy, Arundhati
- The Monk of Mokha by Eggers, Dave
- Magpie Murders by Horowitz, Anthony
- The Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons by Kean, Sam
- White Houses by Bloom, Amy
- Murder in Matera by Stapinski, Helene
2017
- American Nations by Woodward, Colin
- Homegoing by Gyasi, Yaa
- LaRose by Erdrich, Louise
- The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Hammer, Joshua
- To the Bright Edge of the World by Ivey, Eowyn
- Hag-Seed by Atwood, Margaret
- Darktown by Mullen, Thomas
- The Sixth Extinction by Kolbert, Elizabeth
- The Muse by Burton, Jessie
- A House without Windows by Hashimi, Nadia
- Being Mortal by Gawande, Atul
- Beartown by Backman, Fredrik
2016
- All the Light We Cannot See by Doerr, Anthony
- Everything I Never Told You by Ng, Celeste
- Dead Wake by Larson, Erik
- Above the Waterfall by Rash, Ron
- The Sympathizer by Nguyen, Viet Thanh
- Midnight in Peking by French, Paul
- Outline by Cusk, Rachel
- The Long Walk by Rawicz, Slavomir
- Kitchens of the Great Midwest by Stradal, J. Ryan
- American Pastoral by Roth, Philip
- Lab Girl by Jahren, Hope
- The Nest by Sweeney, Cynthia D’Aprix
2015
- Americanah by Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
- Euphoria by King, Lily
- Empty Mansions by Dedman, Bill
- Fives and Twenty-Fives by Pitre, Michael
- The Book of Unknown Americans by Henriquez, Cristina
- The Golem and the Jinni by Wecker, Helene
- No Place to Hide by Greenwald, Glenn
- The Children Act by McEwan, Ian
- Station Eleven by Mandel, Emily St. John
- Fourth of July Creek by Henderson, Smith
- The Art Forger by Shapiro, Barbara A.
- Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Fuller, Alexandra
2014
- Escape from Camp 14 by Harden, Blaine
- Life after Life by Atkinson, Kate
- A Walk Across the Sun by Addison, Corban
- We are all Completely Beside Ourselves by Fowler, Karen
- Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Marra, Anthony
- Beautiful Ruins by Walter, Jess
- The Disappearing Spoon by Kean, Sam
- The Circle by Eggers, Dave
- The All Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Flagg, Fannie
- The Sound of these Things Falling by Gabriel Vasquez, Juan
- A Tale for the Time Being by Ozeki, Ruth
- Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Chast, Roz
2013
- The Coroner’s Lunch by Coterill, Colin
- The Broken Shore by Temple, Peter
- Trackers by Meyer, Deon
- The Violinist’s Thumb by Kean, Sam
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Joyce, Rachel
- The Hare with the Amber Eyes by de Waal, Edmund
- The Paris Wife by McLain, Paula
- Stiff by Roach, Mary
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Semple, Maria
- The Wandering Falcon by Ahmad, Jamil
- The Round House by Erdhrich, Louise
- The Dinner by Koch, Herman
2012
- The Desert Queen by Wallach, Janet
- Memory Palace by Bartok, Mira
- Caleb’s Crossing by Brooks, Geraldine
- The Healing of America by Williamson, Marianne
- Travels with Charley by Steinbeck, John
- The Art of Fielding by Harbach, Chad
- State of Wonder by Patchett, Ann
- In the Garden of Beasts by Larson, Eric
- The Tiger’s Wife by Obreht, Tea
- The Redbreast by Nesbo, Jo
- Case Histories by Atkinson, Kate
- The Shape of Water by Camilleri, Andrea
2011
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Skloot, Rebecca
- The Help by Stockett, Kathryn
- My Life in France by Child, Julia
- The Lotus Eaters by Soli, Tatjana
- Perley by Thompson, Sheila Swett
- Cutting for Stone by Verghese, Abraham
- Zeitoun by Eggers, Dave
- Room by Donoghue, Emma
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Ford, Jamie
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Hamid, Mohsin
- Pretty Birds by Simon, Scott
- Finding Nouf by Ferraris, Zoe
2010
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Shaffer, Mary Ann and Barrows, Annie
- Still Alice by Genova, Lisa
- Mudbound by Jordan, Hillary
- The Lost City of Z by Grann, David
- Breakfast with Buddha by Merullo, Roland
- Little Bee by Cleave, Chris
- The Book Thief by Zusak, Markus
- Half Broke Horses by Walls, Jeanette
- Brooklyn by Toibin, Colm
- Half the Sky by Kristoff, Nicholas and WuDunn, Sheryl
- A Reliable Wife by Goolrick, Robert
2009
- Wuthering Heights by Bronte, Emily
- Cold Comfort Farm by Gibbons, Stella
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Garcia Marquez, Gabriel
- The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, F. Scott
- The Zookeeper’s Wife by Ackerman, Diane
- Olive Kitteridge by Strout, Elizabeth
- Unaccustomed Earth by Lahiri, Jhumpa
- Post-American World by Zakaria, Fareed
- People of the Book by Brooks, Geraldine
- Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Pollan, Michael
- Persepolis by Satrapi, Marjane
2008
- Water for Elephants by Gruen, Sarah
- Suite Francaise by Nemirovsky, Irene
- The Road by McCarthy, Cormac
- The Photograph by Lively, Penelope
- One Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini, Khaled
- The Lemon Tree by Tolan, Sandy
- The Double Bind by Bohjalian, Chris
- Without a Map by Hall, Meredith
- Madonnas of Leningrad by Dean, Debra
- Inheritance of Loss by Desai, Kiran
- Geography of Bliss by Weiner, Eric
2007
- In the Fall by Lent, Jeffrey
- The Namesake by Lahiri, Jhumpa
- Tortilla Curtain by Boyle, T.C.
- Under the Banner of Heaven by Krakauer, Jon
- Brick Lane by Ali, Monica
- Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, Ray
- The Golden Compass by Pullman, Philip
- The Forever War by Haldeman, Joe
- Three Cups of Tea by Mortenson, Greg and Relin, David
- Mountains Beyond Mountains by Kidder, Tracy
- Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Kingsolver, Barbara
- Stumbling on Happiness by Gilbert, Daniel
2006
- The Faceless Killers by Mankell, Henning
- Doctored Evidence by Leon, Donna
- The Turkish Gambit by Akunin, Boris
- Bangkok 8 by Burdett, John
- The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon, Carlos Ruiz
- Shadow Divers by Kurson, Robert
- Into the Wild by Krakauer, Jon
- Touching the Void by Simpson, Joe
- In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick, Nathaniel
- The Time Traveler’s Wife by Niffenegger, Audrey
- Empress Orchid by Min, Anchee
- Open Secrets by Munro, Alice
2005
- The Other Boleyn Girl by Gregory, Philippa
- Women of the Silk by Tsukiyama, Gail
- Beloved by Morison, Toni
- Wicked by Maguire, Gregory
- Eminent Victorians by Strachey, Lytton
- Mornings on Horseback by McCullough, David
- No Ordinary Time by Goodwin, Doris Kearns
- Possession by Byatt, AS
- Embers by Marai, Sandor
- Middlesex by Eugenides, Jeffrey
- The Kite Runner by Hosseini, Khaled
- Lying Awake by Salzman, Mark
2004
- Family Matters by Mistry, Rohinton
- Siddartha by Hesse, Hermann
- A River Sutra by Mehta, Gita
- A Thousand Roads to Mecca by Wolfe, Michael (editor)
- Keeping Faith by Picoult, Jodi
- The Secret Life of Bees by Kidd, Sue Monk
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon, Mark
- Fast Food Nation by Schlosser, Eric
- Aloft by Lee, Chang-Rae
- Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafisi, Azar
2003
- Nickel and Dimed by Ehrehreich, Barbara
- The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Doyle, Roddy
- Bel Canto by Patchett, Ann
- Amy & Isabelle by Strout, Elizabeth
- The Lobster Chronicles by Greenlaw, Linda
- The Life of Pi by Martel, Yann
- The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency by McCall Smith, Alexander
2002
- The Maltese Falcon by Hammett, Dashiell
- Confederates in the Attic by Horwitz, Tony
- Pope Joan by Cross, Donna
- The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Erdrich, Louise
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez, Gabriel Garcia
- Lake Wobegon Days by Keillor, Garrison
- Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Wells, Rebecca
- Naked by Sedaris, David
- Bee Season by Goldberg, Myla
- The Color of Water by McBride, James
- White Teeth by Smith, Zadie
- Seabiscuit by Hillenbrand, Laura
2001
- Selected Stories by Dubus, Andre
- How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Alvarez, Julia
- Affliction by Banks, Russell
- I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bryson, Bill
- Northern Borders by Mosher, Howard
- Disgrace by Coatzee, JM
- The Endurance by Alexander, Caroline
- The Old American by Hebert, Ernest
- Spring Snow by Mishima, Yukio
- The Tale of Lady Murasaki by Dalby, Liza
- Some Prefer Nettles by Tanizaki, Junichiro
- Snow Country by Kawabata, Yasunari
2000
- The Kitchen God’s Wife by Tan, Amy
- Le Divorce by Johnson, Diane
- Sister of My Heart by Divakaruni, Chitra
- Northanger Abbey by Austen, Jane
- Pride and Prejudice by Austen, Jane
- Persuasion by Austen, Jane
- Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver, Barbara
- A Gesture Life by Lee, Chang-Rae
- The Red Tent by Diamant, Anita
- House Made of Dawn by Momaday, N. Scott
- Cold Mountain by Frazier, Charles
- Plainsong by Haruf, Kent
- Home Cooking by Colwin, Laurie
1999
- All Over But the Shoutin’ by Bragg, Rick
- A Personal History by Graham, Katharine
- The Perfect Storm by Junger, Sebastian
- Madame Bovary by Flaubert, Gustave
- The End of the Affair by Greene, Graham
- Morgan’s Passing by Tyler, Anne
- Robber Bride by Atwood, Margaret
- The Long Goodbye by Chandler, Raymond
- A Very Long Engagement by Japrisot, Sebastian
- Like Water for Chocolate by Esquivel, Laura
- Palace Walk by Mahfouz, Naguib
- Things Fall Apart by Achebe, Chinua
1998
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by Berendt, John
- Road from Coorain by Conway, Jill Ker
- A Civil Action by Harr, Jonathan
- Black Ice by Cary, Lorene
- The Kinship by Hebert, Ernest
- A Prayer for Owen Meaney by Irving, John
- Reading in the Dark by Seamus, Deane
- Memoirs of a Geisha by Golden, Arthur
- Crossing to Safety by Stegner, Wallace
- Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
- Audrey Hepburn’s Neck by Brown, Alan
- Martin Dressler by Millhauser, Steve
1997
- Reservation Blues by Alexie, Sherman
- O! Pioneers by Cather, Willa
- Stones from the River by Hegi, Ursula
- The English Patient by Ondaatje, M
- Hotel du Lac by Brookner, Anita
- Corelli’s Mandolin by de Bernieres, Louis
- Remembering Babylon by Malouf, D
- The Alienist by Carr, Caleb
- The Weight of Water by Shreve, Anita
- A Brother’s Blood by White, Michael
- Secret History by Tartt, Donna
1996
- The Realms of Gold by Drabble, Margaret
- Sula by Morrison, Toni
- Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Tyler, Anne
- This House of Sky by Doig, Ivan
- Snow Falling on Cedars by Guterson, David
- The Bird Artist by Norman, Howard
- Shipping News by Proulx, Annie
- Stone Diaries by Shields, Carol
- Out of Africa by Dinesen, Isak
- All the Strange Hours by Eiseley, H
- Woman Warrior by Kingston, Mazine Hong
- Journal of Solitude by Sarton, Mary