The Book Thief question

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Personally I think you can have good discussions about most books, 'light and fluffy' or not.

Well, one example that comes in mind is the Importance of Being Earnest. It's a literary classic, but it's a satire and a pretty fun/light read overall. Nonetheless, Wilde makes a number of points that mock the customs and mannerisms of high society at the time and so it's very insightful about the period in which he's writing. It's a play though, so I'm not sure if you're only interested in novels. Satire in general though is probably a good genre to look into for things that are light, funny, but have a message about humanity, society, etc.

I can think of two off the top of my head - maybe one of these will be worth the read for you...

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie: It's clever, funny and rich all at once and deep if you're willing to dig.

Cold Sassy Tree - Olive Ann Burns - worthy of discussion as well as entertaining

The Swiss Family Robinson is all I can think of.

Eww! I am one of those who really dislikes reading dark material and so I run up against this bias quite a bit. And of course I agree that you can have deep and meaningful discussions about books that change your life without a lot of doom and gloom. The first one that pops into my head (probably because I am in the middle of reading her second series) is N.K. Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. She explores social, political & economic issues while addressing very modern problems of race and gender, all within the context of a rich fantasy. Yes, of course there is some gloom and doom but the overall feel of the book isn't dark. And for those who don't think genre fiction is literary, well, first I stick my tongue out in their general direction. Second, I think part of a book club should be to push people outside of their comfort zones.

I recommend Voltaire's Candide, which is actually pretty deep as well as very funny. In a way it's a scathing black humour attack on both the literary conventions of the adventure genre and the philosophy of "everything happens for a reason" and "we live in the best of all possible worlds", but it's not pessimistic, its philosophy is more akin to Stoicism than anything else. Its conclusion, "one must tend one's garden" is a call to finding satisfaction in work and companionship while avoiding both delusions about everything happening for the best and succumbing to nihilism.

My suggestion would be Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley. What appears at first 'blush' to be just the story of a garden party in the English countryside turns out to be much much more. From almost revolutionary speech to British mannerisms intruding on everything to a hapless and perhaps unrequited love story tangled in to the mix, Huxley's 'first' novel is a masterpiece of English literature. It is also very funny in places and no one can accuse it of being fluff.

If any one is so disposed in your book club, you might want to think about reading one of the Larry McMurtry books. The The Last Picture Show series would provide several good choices.

One more that my club has read in the recent past
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. It has a Shakespearean theme.

Our next read, and I've already 'skipped ahead' and read it is Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. Great literature? Probably not. But an interesting story with lots of discussion elements about society, children, and expectations with decidedly humorous twists and a bit of mystery.

Happy Reading!

As far as I am concerned, you can have an intelligent conversation about ANY kind of book. As long as you yourself and those you are discussing it with are half intelligent there are always worthwhile comments to be made and argued over. It is pretentious and somewhat lazy to reject a book on the premis that it's "not deep enough". What a lot of prattle.

Steph Bowe wrote a good post about that on her website:

http://www.stephbowe.com/2013/05/on-w...

More about writing than reading, but same principle, and good points.

I would suggest reading Robertson Davies - anything from the Salterton Trilogy, the Deptford Trilogy, or the Cornish Trilogy - in looking for something that specifically is not dark, perhaps try Leaven of Malice from the Salterton Trilogy. Davies wrote highly literary novels, in this case about provincial manners, and I think would give the group a lot to talk about.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

It's hilarious and you can talk quite a bit about the themes of this book.

Confederacy of Dunces...hilarious and brilliant, and a good back story on the author.

And of course there's Jane Austen, the queen of satire.

I'd count black humor like Catch 22 and Candide as dark. But perhaps all literature has to be a mix of both. Personally, I prefer like The Book Thief where the light shines from the dark to black comedies that make light of dark stuff.

Our book club selects a mix of all genres and types- we've even incorporated a few "chick lit" reads- still had plenty to discuss!