Picked historical fiction over a thriller for our book club pick

I had to choose between two books for our monthly vote last week: a 500 page historical drama set in 1800s London or a fast paced thriller about a missing girl. I went with the historical fiction because I wanted something different from our usual picks. Only 4 people finished it by the meeting date which was frustrating. But the discussion was actually deeper than any thriller debate we have had. Has your book club ever picked a slower book that ended up surprising everyone?

3 comments

3 Comments

milesbarnes18d agoTop Commenter

Rolled with a 600 page literary novel about old New York (the Gilded Age, not the hipsters). Only three of us got through it but one lady sobbed during the discussion which never happens with our crime picks. Guess slow burns can hit different when you actually finish them.

brooke44818d ago

YES. That thing where a slow book just hits you in the gut out of nowhere. Last month I finally got through Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence and I was not ready for that last scene. I read the whole thing over a week on my lunch breaks and when I finished it I just sat there in my truck for like 10 minutes staring at the dash. My book club usually does thrillers too so when I brought that one in everyone gave me side eye but the two other people who finished it both got emotional. There's something about a story that makes you sit with it that those quick page turners just dont do.

kim_davis18d ago

Oh come on, people crying over a book? @milesbarnes that story about the sobbing lady just sounds like too much wine at book club, not the book being that deep. You guys are acting like a 500 page novel is somehow a bigger deal than a thriller that actually makes you turn pages.