Conversation 1: So I already used this book for one of my Week 2 annotations, but I think How to Grow Up by Michelle Tea would be a really good match for this reader. It's a memoir about a woman with a strong narrative voice who is unafraid to bare her soul to the reader, even if what they see isn't polished or pretty. It's a recent release but isn't what I would call mainstream, and I think that might make it accessible to the reader but also challenge them out of their comfort zone slightly. Michelle Tea talks about her life with a very self-deprecating sense of humor, and with its candid discussions of sexuality, drug abuse, and learning the importance of self-love this book would certainly provide plenty of topics for discussion in a book club.
Conversation 2: I would recommend Sunshine by Robin McKinley for this reader for a few different reasons. At a very cursory glance, Sunshine could be seen as sort of a proto-Twilight and is, in my opinion, probably one of the biggest inspirations for Stephanie Meyer's series. However, the main difference between the two is that Sunshine explores the idea of vampires as true monsters, and balances the supernatural elements out with pieces of main character Rae Seddon's regular life as a baker, recovering juvenile delinquent, and girlfriend to a strictly non-vampire biker-turned-chef. The books biggest strengths lie in the patchwork family unit that McKinley has crafted for her protagonist and the very real passion for baking that allows her to give such rich description about monotonous, everyday activities. These bits of humanity and comfort lend real power to the sympathy the reader feels for Rae as she struggles against the darkness that she wandered into by accident. I think this book could show the reader that just because a book focuses on a female character and her involvement with vampires, it doesn't mean that it has to turn out like Twilight.
Conversation 3: The President and the Assassin by Scott Miller sounds like it would be right up this reader's alley. It matches all of the elements that they described enjoying about The River of Doubt, with the added benefit of a dual perspective narrative following both President William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist who ultimately killed him, through the years leading up to the assassination. The author, Scott Miller, deftly weaves the two tales together so that the broad focus at the beginning of the book gradually narrows until the reader is looking through a pinhole at the moment when McKinley died. This book incorporates all of the things the reader said they enjoyed about The River of Doubt while also giving a new twist on a more nuanced subject.
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