Normally I’d suggest that we skip a December book club meeting — but hey, it’s not like we’re all busy going to holiday parties this year. So let’s meet at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 16, to discuss one of these four books, each of which I thought might be diverting on a winter’s night: two comedies of manners, one satire and one mystery. Vote for your favorite by noon Monday, Nov. 23; I’ll announce the winner the following day.
“The Windfall” by Diksha Basu. A New Delhi couple find themselves unexpectedly wealthy — and navigating social minefields — in this debut comedic novel.
“The Sellout” by Paul Beatty. Winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize, this satiric novel about a Los Angeles man who attempts to reintroduce segregation has been compared to the work of Swift and Twain.
“French Exit” by Patrick deWitt. Another comedy of manners, this novel follows a widow and her adult son as they flee creditors in Manhattan and head to Paris, cat in tow.
“Mr. Nobody” by Catherine Steadman. A reader recommended this one to me; its author played Mabel Lane Fox on “Downton Abbey” but has another life writing contemporary psychological thrillers. This one involves a mysterious man found on a British beach, unable to speak.
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