Good books I didn't choose for Book Club

I read China Court, by Rumer Godden, in the 1960's, and goodness-knows-how-many times since then. It's a lovely romance about young people. It's a heart-breaker about an old lady. It's a funny/sad tale about children. It's a book about books. It's a hunt for "buried" treasure. It's about a funeral and a wedding. All in ~300 pages of wide-spaced 12-point print.

Every time I've hosted the Bookmarkers reading group, I've thought about/wanted to choose China Court to discuss. The reason I haven't done so is that I'm afraid someone won't like it. You have to read it 2-3 times just to get all the characters arranged in your head, so you'll remember who everyone is. When I read Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale, I thought about Rumer Godden; she could write a story about anything--like Chekov, who said, "I could write a story about an ashtray," and proved it.

Another book I wanted to but didn't choose for Book Club is Brat Farrar, by Josephine Tey (Elizabeth Mackintosh). This one is about horses, mistaken identity, fratricide and retribution. I guaran-dam-tee that if you read this one, you'll want to read it again. That is, if you like a whopping-good tale.

And, my favorite Shirley Jackson shiverer, The Bird's Nest, about a hole-in-the-floor that touched off a set of multiple personalities. Moreover, The Once and Future King, by T.H. White, one of the best (and longest) books you'll ever read.

These are simply good fiction and are aside from all the great non-fiction books I've read over and over--The Life and Times of Chaucer, by John Gardner. Balzac, a biography by Stefan Zweig (the movie, with Dupardieu and Jeanne Moreau, is better than the book). The Fall of Saxon England, by Richard Humble. Wildflowers of Alabama and Adjoining States, by Mason, Dean and Thomas. The Annotated Mother Goose, by the Baring-Goulds. U.S. Grant and the American Military Tradition, by Bruce Catton. Down the Garden Path, by Beverley Nichols... and... and...