my first book club

I recently joined my first book club (do Bible Studies count?). It's made up of work people and we meet once a month to talk about the chosen book for 30-45 minutes. Book clubs are funny because you need to choose books which are at the right balance of relatability and gravity, meaning it should be a fairly easy book to get through but at the same time offer some weight in terms of theme or substance. So, it can't be too fluffy, but it also can't be too serious so that no one enjoys reading the book or worse, leaves the group. To choose the first book we all submitted one entry and then everyone voted their first, second, and third choices. I apparently did not appreciate that delicate balance described above and after long and careful deliberation, picked the too serious "The Good Earth," a novel published in 1931 and frequently on reading lists for high schoolers nationwide. It was not picked by the group.

Our first book was "The World We Found" by Thrity Umrigar - this book is about four longtime girlfriends from India who set out to reunite decades after their revolution-filled college days in India. I learned a lot about the Indian revolution in the 70's and the dynamics of religion in India. Also, a good read! We had a nice discussion and I got to meet new people at work. So far we're all ladies in the group but are trying to get some fellas to join.

For May we're reading "Please Look After Mom" by Kyung Sook-Shin. This book was really sad and I almost couldn't continue it because it made me reflect on my parents aging and there's lots of themes of filial piety. This line is crazy (not that I identify with it in particular but it just seemed so...Asian): "He never became a prosecutor. Mom always called it his dream, but he hadn't understood that it had been Mom's dream, too. He only thought of it as a youthful wish that couldn't be achieved; it never occurred to him that he had deflated Mom's aspirations as well. He realizes that Mom has lived her entire life believing that she was the one who held him back from his dream. I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't keep my promise."

The book group leader says I get to pick the next book and at first I was a little power drunk and was going to impose "The Grapes of Wrath" on the group but I'm now leaning towards "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. Has anyone read it? It has nice reviews online. Or does anyone recommend any good graphic novels?