March Themes
Posted by: Neil Hollands
Here are ten great themes for a March book group meeting:
1. ST. PATRICK’S DAY
Celebrate St. Patty’s with green food and your choice of books set in Ireland or written by Irish authors.
2. READ A PLAY
March is the birthday month for Henrik Ibsen, Edward Albee, and Tennessee Williams, and plays make great book group choices. Read a work of your own choice or stage a reading of a group favorite.
3. MARCH BIRTHDAYS
If your group likes biographies, March is the birthday month for Albert Einstein, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Douglas Adams, Johann Sebastian Bach, Dr. Seuss, Jack Kerouac, Aretha Franklin, William Shatner, Alexander Graham Bell, Gloria Steinem, Michelangelo, Bobby Fischer, Diana Ross, Stephen Sondheim, and Vincent Van Gogh to name just a few.
4. WOMEN’S HISTORY
It’s Woman’s History Month. Celebrate by reading nonfiction or historical fiction about famous women or the suffragist struggle.
5. ANNE FRANK
To commemorate the anniversary of her death, why not re-read The Diary of Anne Frank? Those who have read it before might try another work about the Franks or the holocaust.
6. HUMOR
If the holocaust is just too dark for your mood this month, go to the other end of the spectrum with a humorous work. It’s Humorists Are Artists Month, International Mirth Month, and National Goof-Off Day is the 22nd, so go for the funny with your favorite works of humor.
7. SPRING RENEWAL
Spring is springing, so celebrate the renewal by returning to a new work by an old favorite. Alternately, your readers can bring debut novels for a sampling of something fresh and new.
8. MARCH MADNESS
What subject makes you think of reading more than basketball? OK, maybe not so much… try books that take on the subject of madness or feature crazed characters instead.
9. FOLKTALES & FABLES
Join in the celebration of World Folktales and Fables Week by revisiting the lore that you may not have read since your childhood. Or try writers who put a modern spin on these tales, such as Gregory Maguire, Angela Carter, or Neil Gaiman.
10. NATIONAL QUILTING DAY
It’s coming up on March 20th. Quilting shows up in a surprising number of fictional works. Try Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek series, Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace, The Persian Pickle Club or Alice’s Tulips by Sandra Dallas, Clay’s Quilt by Silas House, Whitney Otto’s How to Make an American Quilt, or a mystery by Earlene Fowler.
