What we do
The Mostly Social Book Club (MSBC) has been in existence since 1992. Sometimes at our meetings, we even discuss books. However, as the name of our book club implies, we are mostly social, and we don’t put too much pressure on ourselves to read books. With that said, in the past couple of years, we’ve really ramped up the reading as you can see by our list. [Read how it all began…]
Our rotation for selecting books is: Suzanne, Sharon, John, Mary.
| Year |
Book |
Author |
Chosen by |
| 2024 |
| 2024 (#7) |
The Age of Innocence |
Edith Wharton |
John |
| 2024 (#6) |
Crossing to Safety |
Wallace Stegner |
Sharon |
| 2024 (#5) |
Gift from the Sea |
Anne Morrow Lindbergh |
Suzanne |
| 2024 (#4) |
The Floating Feldmans |
Elyssa Friewdland |
Mary |
| 2024 (#3) |
The Sense of an Ending |
Julian Barnes |
John |
| 2024 (#2) |
Jane Eyre |
Charlotte Brontë |
Sharon |
| 2024 (#1) |
A Good Neighborhood |
Therese Anne Fowler |
Suzanne |
| 2023 |
| 2023 (#16) |
The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club |
Julia Bryan Thomas |
Mary |
| 2023 (#15) |
The Professor & the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, & the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary |
Simon Winchester |
John |
| 2023 (#14) |
The Authenticity Project |
Clare Pooley |
Sharon |
| 2023 (#13) |
Rules of Civility |
Amor Towles |
Suzanne |
| 2023 (#12) |
The Woman in the Library |
Sulari Gentill |
Mary |
| 2023 (#11) |
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle |
Matt Cain |
John |
| 1023 (#10) |
The Paris Apartment |
Lucy Foley |
Suzanne |
| 2023 (#9) |
The Thursday Murder Club |
Richard Osman |
Mary |
| 2023 (#8) |
The Last Mrs. Parrish |
Liv Constantine |
John |
| 2023 (#7) |
Lessons in Chemistry |
Bonnie Garmus |
Sharon |
| 2023 (#6) |
Anxious People |
Fredrik Backman |
Sharon |
| 2023 (#5) |
Necessary Lies |
Diane Chamberlain |
Suzanne |
| 2023 (#4) |
Lucy by the Sea |
Elizabeth Strout |
Mary |
| 2023 (#3) |
Mrs. March |
Virginia Feito |
John |
| 2023 (#2) |
North to Paradise |
Ousman Umar |
Sharon |
| 2023 (#1) |
The Dutch House |
Ann Patchett |
Suzanne |
| 2022 |
| 2022 (#14) |
Murder in the First Edition |
Lauren Elliott |
Mary |
| 2022 (#13) |
Summer at the Cape |
RaeAnne Thayne |
John |
| 2022 (#12) |
The Only Woman in the Room |
Marie Benedict |
Sharon |
| 2022 (#11) |
The People We Keep |
Allison Larkin |
Suzanne |
| 2022 (#10) |
The Midnight Library |
Matt Haig |
Mary |
| 2022 (#9) |
Here for It; Or, How to Save Your Soul in America: Essays |
R. Eric Thomas |
John |
| 2022 (#8) |
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek |
Kim Michele Richardson |
Sharon |
| 2022 (#7) |
The Personal Librarian |
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray |
Suzanne |
| 2022 (#6) |
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett |
Annie Lyons |
Mary |
| 2022 (#5) |
The Editor |
Steven Rowley |
John |
| 2022 (#4) |
The Plot |
Jean Hanff Korelitz |
Sharon |
| 2022 (#3) |
Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance (abandoned) |
Erica Dhawan |
Suzanne |
| 2022 (#2) |
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life |
Mark Manson |
Mary |
| 2022 (#1) |
Oona Out of Order |
Margarita Montimore |
John |
| 2021 |
| 2021 (#14) |
The Good Sister |
Sally Hepworth |
Suzanne |
| 2021 (#13) |
Everything I Never Told You |
Celeste Ng |
Suzanne |
| 2021 (#12) |
The Souvenir Museum: Stories |
Elizabeth McCracken |
John |
| 2021 (#11) |
Guests on Earth |
Lee Smith |
Mary |
| 2021 (#10) |
Far from the Tree |
Robin Benway |
Suzanne |
| 2021 (#9) |
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone |
Lori Gottlieb |
John |
| 2021 (#8) |
Running with Sherman |
Christopher McDougall |
Suzanne |
| 2021 (#7) |
Man’s Search for Meaning |
Viktor E. Frankl |
Sharon |
| 2021 (#6) |
Where the Crawdads Sing |
Delia Owens |
Suzanne |
| 2021 (#5) |
The Nature of Fragile Things |
Susan Meissner |
Mary |
| 2021 (#4) |
Tell the Wolves I’m Home |
Carol Rifka Brunt |
Suzanne |
| 2021 (#3) |
The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South |
Osha Gray Davidson |
Sharon |
| 2021 (#2) |
Have You Seen Luis Velez? |
Catherine Ryan Hyde |
John |
| 2021 (#1) |
The Things We Cannot Say |
Kelly Rimmer |
Mary |
| 2020 |
| 2020 (#9) |
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas |
Agathie Christie |
John |
| 2020 (#8) |
Christmas Cake Murder |
Joanne Fluke |
John |
| 2020 (#7) |
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership |
James Comey |
Mary |
| 2020 (#6) |
The Great Believers |
Rebecca Makkai |
John |
| 2020 (#5) |
White Fragility |
Robin DiAngelo |
John |
| 2020 (#4) |
The Husband’s Secret |
Liane Moriarty |
John |
| 2020 (#3) |
Be Frank With Me |
Julia Claiborne Johnson |
John |
| 2020 (#2) |
What Alice Forgot |
Liane Moriarty |
John |
| 2020 (#1) |
The Underground Railroad |
Colson Whitehead |
Suzanne |
| 2019 |
| 2019 (#8) |
Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story |
Jacob Tobia |
John |
| 2019 (#7) |
The Wonder of All Things |
Jason Mott |
Mary |
| 2019 (#6) |
Winter in Paradise |
Elin Hilderbrand |
Sharon |
| 2019 (#5) |
One Plus One |
Jojo Moyes |
Suzanne |
| 2019 (#4) |
The Last Romantics |
Tara Conklin |
John |
| 2019 (#3) |
Becoming |
Michelle Obama |
Mary |
| 2019 (#2) |
Eileen |
Ottessa Moshfegh |
Sharon |
| 2019 (#1) |
Before We Were Yours |
Lisa Wingate |
Suzanne |
| 2018 |
| 2018 (#7) |
Logical Family: A Memoir |
Armistead Maupin |
John |
| 2018 (#6) |
A Day No Pigs Would Die
Breakfast at Tiffany’s |
Robert Newton Peck
Truman Capote |
Sharon |
| 2018 (#5) |
Aging: An Apprenticeship |
Nan Narboe |
Mary |
| 2018 (#4) |
Me Before You |
Jojo Moyes |
Suzanne |
| 2018 (#3) |
People of Darkness |
Tony Hillerman |
Janet |
| 2018 (#2) |
Anansi Boys |
Neil Gaiman |
John |
| 2018 (#1) |
The Ninth Hour |
Alice McDermott |
Mary |
| 2017 |
| 2017 (#8) |
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan |
Lisa See |
Sharon |
| 2017 (#7) |
All My Puny Sorrows |
Miriam Toews |
Suzanne |
| 2017 (#6) |
small great things |
Jodi Picoult |
Janet |
| 2017 (#5) |
The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss |
Anderson Cooper, Gloria Vanderbilt |
John |
| 2017 (#4) |
Still Alice |
Lisa Genova |
Sharon |
| 2017 (#3) |
When Breath Becomes Air |
Paul Kalanithi |
Mary |
| 2017 (#2) |
The Liars’ Club |
Mary Karr |
Suzanne |
| 2017 (#1) |
Born a Crime |
Trevor Noah |
Janet |
| 2016 |
| 2016 (#4) |
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed |
Jon Ronson |
John |
| 2016 (#3) |
The Rosie Project |
Graeme Simsion |
Sharon |
| 2016 (#2) |
A Place at the Table |
Susan Rebecca White |
Mary |
| 2016 (#1) |
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail |
Bill Bryson |
Suzanne |
| 2015 |
| 2015 (#5) |
Circling the Sun |
Paula McLain |
Janet |
| 2015 (#4) |
The Astronaut Wives Club |
Lily Koppel |
John |
| 2015 (#3) |
The Call |
Yannick Murphy |
Sharon |
| 2015 (#2) |
Benediction |
Kent Haruf |
Mary |
| 2015 (#1) |
Room |
Emma Donoghue |
Suzanne |
| 2014 |
| 2014 (#5) |
Love in the Time of Cholera |
Gabriel García Márquez |
Janet |
| 2014 (#4) |
South of Broad |
Pat Conroy |
John |
| 2014 (#3) |
Divergent |
Veronica Roth |
Sharon |
| 2014 (#2) |
The Interestings |
Meg Wolizer |
Mary |
| 2014 (#1) |
Life After Life |
Jill McCorkle |
Suzanne |
| 2013 |
| 2013 (#3) |
The Pillars of the Earth |
Ken Follet |
Janet |
| 2013 (#2) |
The Great Gatsby |
F. Scott Fitzgerald |
John |
| 2013 (#1) |
The Fault in Our Stars |
John Green |
Sharon |
| 2012 |
| 2012 (#3) |
A Whole New Mind |
Daniel Pink |
Mary |
| 2012 (#2) |
Cutting For Stone |
Abraham Verghese |
Suzanne |
| 2012 (#1) |
The Art of Racing in the Rain |
Garth Stein |
Janet |
| 2011 |
| 2011 (#4) |
Outliers: The Story of Success |
Malcolm Gladwell |
John |
| 2011 (#3) |
The Hunger Games |
Suzanne Collins |
Sharon |
| 2011 (#2) |
The Color Purple |
Alice Walker |
Mary |
| 2011 (#1) |
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks |
Rebecca Skloot |
Suzanne |
| 2010 |
| 2010 (#4) |
The Help |
Kathryn Stockett |
Janet |
| 2010 (#4) |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time |
Mark Haddon |
John |
| 2010 (#4) |
The Blind Side |
Michael Lewis |
Sharon |
| 2010 (#4) |
My Stoke of Insight |
Jill Bolte Taylor |
Mary |
| 2009 |
| 2009 (#4) |
Three Cups of Tea |
Mortenson &
Relin |
Suzanne |
| 2009 (#3) |
Anna Karenina |
Leo Tolstoy |
Janet |
| 2009 (#2) |
Dewey: The Small-town Library Cat Who Touched the World |
Vicki Myron |
Sharon |
| 2009 (#1) |
Lost on Planet China |
J. Maarten Troost |
John |
| 2008 |
| 2008 (#3) |
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother |
James McBride |
Suzanne |
| 2008 (#2) |
Eat, Pray, Love |
Elizabeth Gilbert |
Mary |
| 2008 (#1) |
The Shipping News |
Annie Proulx |
Janet |
| 2007 |
| 2007 (#4) |
The Glass Castle |
Jeannette Walls |
Sharon |
| 2007 (#3) |
Lucky in the Corner (Note: It’s debatable whether we really read this book as a book club.
John is the only one who remembers anything about it.) |
Carol Anshaw |
John |
| 2007 (#2) |
My Sister’s Keeper |
Jodi Picoult |
Suzanne |
| 2007 (#1) |
Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting |
Lynn Grabhorn |
Mary |
| 2006 |
| 2006 (#1) |
Memoirs of a Geisha |
Arthur Golden |
Janet |
| 2005 |
| 2005 (#1) |
The Power of Full Engagement |
Loehr & Schwartz |
Sharon |
| 2004 |
| 2004 (#4) |
The Nuclear Age |
Tim O’Brien |
John |
| 2004 (#3) |
Eats, Shoots, & Leaves |
Lynn Truss |
Suzanne |
| 2004 (#2) |
The Five People You Meet in Heaven |
Mitch Albom |
Mary |
| 2004 (#1) |
The Life of Pi: A Novel |
Yann Martel |
Janet |
| 2003 |
| 2003 (#2) |
Seabiscuit: An American Legend |
Laura Hillenbrand |
Sharon |
| 2003 (#2) |
Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender |
Riki Wilchins |
John |
We read these books before we started keeping track of the dates.
How it all began
We are a group of 4 people who at one time all worked on the “Network Performance Team” at IBM, although we’re all retired now! We started off reading mostly professional development and self-improvement kinds of books, but quickly diverged. Through 2006, we met each week for lunch, and in 2007 changed our meetings to once a month, on the third Sunday of the month. But now that we’re retired, we meet on a weekday—because we can—on the third Monday of the month. During the COVID-19 pandemic years, we continued monthly meetings virtually. [Back to reading list…]