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Need "clean" book suggestions under 200 pages

T

tallwhitegirl

New Member
I am in charge of selecting next month's book for a local book group. The group prerequisites is that the book is under 200 pages long and is "clean" virtually free of bad language, immorality, etc. I have thought about choosing The Giver by Lois Lowry, but am not sure if that's the direction I'll go. This book club is meeting for the first time this Friday and our first book is The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. While I enjoy books like this, I think it's good to throw in some fiction, too. Any suggestions for books that are under 200 pages and "clean"?

Thanks!
 
Something by Jack London would probably work. However, I am kind of having a tough time thinking of an adult-level book worth discussing that is free of "immorality"... but maybe it's just me.:confused: :eek:
 
This is a challenging one. Could you tell us a bit more about your group? Is it a church group? What age group?
 
StillILearn said:
I just tried to read Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and didn't get very far.

Maybe another time.
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SIL I just ordered that, what was the problem?
 
I have to ask about the "under two hundred pages" bit. Is that a hard and fast rule? Or just something you are aiming for? It is difficult enough to come up with books for adults that are under two hundred pages and easy to obtain. The only ones I can think of probably contain foul language :( . If you were able to stretch the limit to closer to three hundred pages, you might end up with more of a selection.
 
tallwhitegirl said:
The group prerequisites is that the book is under 200 pages long and is "clean" virtually free of bad language, immorality, etc.
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The Wincey Willis Book of Wholemeal Pasta?

I must admit that to me the notion of judging a book (or rather prejudging it) by the level of 'immorality' within its pages is disgusting. What's the point of trying to explore books in depth - which is presumably the aim of a book discussion group - if you're going to remove many of the issues which are likely to provoke discussion? The group's criteria would disqualify most Shakespeare, Dickens and many other classics, as well as all crime fiction by definition. And that's without even considering the 200-page limit...
 
Think that might fail on the immorality grounds, novella (and possibly language too, I can't recall). Rather a lot of drug-taking, alcoholism, cruelty and taking the piss out of Princess Margaret.

I think if you're serious about reading anything worth reading which doesn't have 'immorality' or bad language in it you probably have to go back to the classics. Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, perhaps. Or, a little more recently, Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
 
I'm curious about the nature of this group too. From the titles mentioned in the first post, I wonder if this group is for teens, possible a home school group? If that's the case, I'd recommend Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen..I would also suggest going to www.greenleafpress.com and either browse their online catalog or request a hard copy. I promise they have plenty of good ideas for teen book group selections. Another good source is www.lifetimebooksandgifts.com

Don't miss www.booksbloom.com either. If you want to know about great vintage books, Jan Bloom is your lady.
 
There's always Eizabeth Ogilvie.

Pontalba, I didn't get very far into Didion's YoMT. It was pretty depressing there at first, and things didn't look as if thery were going to get much happier right away. Will you let us know what you think of it?

I may try it again later when my own life is tidier -- not that I'm going through anything near what she did!

(Edit: Oops, sorry. Ogilvies's books don't seem to be readily available.)
 
Shade said:
Think that might fail on the immorality grounds, novella (and possibly language too, I can't recall). Rather a lot of drug-taking, alcoholism, cruelty and taking the piss out of Princess Margaret.

.
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I thought it was rather wholesome and instructive.
 
novella said:
I thought it was rather wholesome and instructive.
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Well quite, but my interpretation of tallwhitegirl's request was that it shouldn't even refer to any arguably immoral acts, lest the maiden aunts/teenagers in her book group throw the book out of the window in disgust/run off and try all those immoralities themselves. Some people really think like that. (I don't suggest this is true of tallwhitegirl herself as she's made it clear here that she's all for a bit of literary contraband.)
 
Colorado Kid, by Stephen King, is an interesting read. It has a '50s pulp-fiction feel to it.
 
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