We know you read on your own, but we also know you read together. And for those of you

who read with a book club, this episode is for you. I'm Linda Holmes, and today we're

recommending some great books for your next book club on Top Culture and

Happy Hour from NPR. Joining me today is one of the hosts of all things considered and NPR's

Daily Afternoon News Podcast. Consider this. Ari Shapiro. Welcome back Ari. Thank you,

Linda. It's so nice to be here. It's always good to have you.

NPR's Books We Love feature is a sortable, explorable list of book recommendations

from people inside and outside NPR.

Today we're highlighting some selections

that might work for a book club.

Ari, what is up first?

Well we've got three very different titles.

So whatever your book club is interested in, hopefully one of these will fit the bill.

And I want to start with a novel by a Scottish writer named Douglas Stewart and a lot of people are familiar with his

debut book Shuggy Bain which was wonderful and it won a ton of awards. His second

novel is called Young Mungo and honestly I liked it even more than the first one.

There are some thematic commonalities between the two like they're both set in

Scotland in the late 20th century. They both feature a gay son and an alcoholic mother.

There are some commonalities here with the author's life and upbringing as well.

But Young Mungo centers on a kind of forbidden romance between these

two teenage boys, one Protestant, one Catholic. It's beautiful, it's heartbreaking,

it's transporting, it really sets you in a place and a time. It was one of those books where I felt bereft when I turned the last page because I wanted it to keep going.

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