Unlikely Books
It goes without saying that bookclubbers are avid readers. DUH! At the same time most of the above mentioned bookworms prefer one genre of literature over another.
While this makes for a pleasurable reading experience, one misses out on the vast range of fiction and nonfiction available at your local book store or neighborhood library.
That’s the beauty of a book club – members are forced to read outside of their comfort zones.
Left to my own devices, I would never have picked up Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough.
McCullough’s biography of Teddy Roosevelt’s remarkably innocent childhood depicts a pathetically weak, asthmatic boy clamoring for his parents’ attention. It was through the demanding love of Roosevelt’s unusually demonstrative father that Teddy grew into his tough adult self.
While this book was a favorite of both Laure and Dixie, I returned it to the local library partially read.
Discussion questions can be found here.
Anyone who has enjoyed the The Inspector Lynley Mysteries on PBS, would likewise appreciate the printed version of works by Elizabeth George. 
In her debut novel, A Great Deliverance
The mismatched team must weigh the general conviction of the villagers that this silent, obese adolescent Roberta Teys could not have possibly wielded the bloody axe that killed her church-going father with the mounting evidence to the contrary.
Not your typical book club fare, but the skeletons in every closet made for a great discussion.
Questions are as follows:
1. Does the opening sentence, “It was a solecism of the very worst kind,” apply to Father Hart only or to the entire novel? Explain. (Solecism – grammatical mistake or absurdity)
2. Given that Barbara Havers and Thomas Lynley come from vastly different backgrounds can they, in your opinion, work together successfully?
3. Is Havers accurate in her assessment of her own abilities as a detective? Do others at Scotland Yard share the same opinion? Webberly? Lynley?
4. Discuss the purpose of the two shrines in the novel. Would you consider them productive or counterproductive?
5. We know why William Teys wanted to marry Olivia O’dell, but what did Olivia have to gain from their marriage?
6. Not judging by appearances is a recurrent theme in ‘A Great Deliverance’. Discuss who is judging, who is being judged and the result of that judgment.
7. Webberly told Havers, “There’s a lot you can learn from working with Lynley.” What could she learn? What did she learn? What was she afraid to learn? Does she really hate Lynley?
8. “People would do anything for the ones they love most.” How does this statement explain Roberta’s behavior and/or her motive for killing her father?
9. Was Barbara Havers at fault for her hard-nosed treatment of Nell Graham a.k.a. Gillian Teys?
10. After entering her parent’s home and seeing Tony’s shrine, Havers realized that she had been, “incubating a chimera and what a bloody waste it’s been.” Explain.
(Chimera – In medicine: a person composed of two genetically distinct types of cells; In Greek mythology: fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent.)
11. Did you agree with Father Hart’s decision not to betray what he had heard in the confessional? Why/Why not?
12. In your experience, was the picture of religion that Elizabeth George portrayed in ‘A Great Deliverance’ an accurate one? Did the author have an ulterior motive?
13. Discuss the emphasis the author places on setting/scenery in the novel. (p. 55 – the right streets of Acton, p. 56 – the wrong streets of Acton, Scrapbook of travel sites, p. 108-109 – Yorkshire countryside)
14. Give examples of the author’s use of humor to lighten the subject matter of the novel.
15. Given the book’s title, ‘A Great Deliverance,’ did you believe the murderer’s confession early on in the text? What other characters had sufficient motive to kill William Teys?
What unlikely books has your club enjoyed?
