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You’ve just moved in, unpacked the boxes, and put everything neatly away (or maybe not). Everything’s new and unfamiliar - the house, stores, school, work…everything. You’ve left your old friends behind but haven’t made new ones yet. In a word: you’re lonely. Realistically, you know it can take months to begin to feel like this is “home,” but in the meantime... what can you do?

Why not join a book club? There are few better places to meet new people than a book discussion group. Book clubs offer an intimate environment where friendships develop and flourish. You’ll find fellow travelers - like - minded people who love to read and discuss books.

The terrific thing about book clubs is that you don’t have to struggle to start up a conversation with strangers: book club members have built in conversation starters - their books! If you tend to be on the shy side, no one will push you to talk - others are plenty happy to do so on your behalf. And if you’re gregarious, then there’s plenty to talk about - wonderful, meaty conversations about a subject everyone in the room has in common: the book.

The problem is, of course, finding an existing book club - one willing to take in newcomers - and that’s not always easy. Many clubs meet in private homes. You need an established network of friends to find one - and since you’re new in town, that’s exactly what you don’t have!

So where do you go, how do you even begin to search? Below are five good places to start looking. Try any one - or all - of these ideas, and chances are you’ll find a club.

Public libraries are the first place to start. They’re huge sponsors of local book discussion groups. Many sponsor one, two or more groups to accommodate different schedules - clubs that meet midmornings, during lunch hours, evenings, on weekdays or weekends. Some even offer “specialty” book groups according to reading genre: mystery, romance, biography, history, mystery or sci - fi book clubs. Library sponsored groups are open to all comers.

Local Y’s are another place to check. Many have book clubs, although you may need to pony up a membership fee and join the Y before you can join a group.

Bookstores love book clubs, for obvious reasons. Small independent stores or large chains often sponsor their own book clubs…or advise them when new books come on the market. Either way, bookstores frequently keep lists and may be able to put you in touch with a book group.

Churches frequently have book clubs. If you already attend one, great! Check it out. But even if you’re not a churchgoer, or you belong to a different denomination, it may not be a problem: not all church book groups require affiliation. Some church groups read books of a religious nature; others read widely on any subject. It’s worth checking into.

Newcomers Club is national organization with chapters in hundreds of cities and small towns. They’re a great way for new residents to make friends, and many chapters sponsor book clubs as one of their monthly activities. Check the organization’s online directory to see if there’s one near you - and give them a call. Even if the group in your area doesn’t have a book club, you have a ready - made group of newcomers to start one.

Finally, of course, draw on the knowledge of your new acquaintances. Just ask around - neighbors, colleagues at work, parents of your children’s friends, and even their teachers (teachers are big book clubbers). What you’ll find, most likely, are small, private clubs that meet in homes - groups that require an invitation to join…and invitations depend on whether the group wants to add new members or not. Still, get your name out there - and let whatever groups you find out about know that you’re ready, willing, and available.

If you don’t find a book group right away, stick with it. Try not to get discouraged. It may take a little while, but think of this: no one knows precisely, but estimates put the number of book club members in the U.S. somewhere around 10 million - which means you can’t throw a stick without your Golden…or a book club member - somewhere - catching it.

Khaled Hosseini writes with power and surety, producing another best seller with A Thousand Splendid Suns. This is his second novel, following close upon the heels of The Kite Runner, and like the earlier book deals with the troubled history and people of Afghanistan.

Two women, Mariam and Laila, a generation apart, are thrown together under painful circumstances.(What in this country isn't painful, especially for its women?) Tyrannized by those who hold dominion over them, the two women eventually find common cause and unite to face their enemies.

Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of a prosperous businessman, is married off in to Rasheed, a Kabul shoemaker. She is only 15. But when it becomes apparent over the years that Mariam will never produce a male heir, Rasheed's domination over his wife escalates into verbal and physical brutality.

Enter Laila, a girl of 14. It is now the early 1990's, after the Soviets have left the country and the mujahideen are fighting for control of the country. Laila, whose parents are killed in a rocket attack, is given aid by Mariam and Rasheed. It becomes clear to Rasheed, however, that this girl will be the one to bear him a son. And so at the age of 60, Rasheed takes Laila as his second wife, bringing her into the household.

The two women balance an uneasy relationship as Laila tries to break through Mariam's resentment. Laila bears two children, the first a girl, whom Rasheed, in time, comes to understand is not his own. The second child is a boy, but his birth gives neither Laila nor Mariam respite from Rasheed's brutality. By now the Taliban are in control, Rasheed becomes increasingly frenzied, and life's hardships are more desperate than before.

The novel's heart is the gradual bonding of Laila, the girl-mother, and Mariam, an older woman. Hosseini writes poignantly, giving voice to his two female characters-a remarkable accomplishment for any male author. What follows is devastating. Yet Hosseini is unflinching in his desire to remind us not only of his characters' tragic lives, but also of their strength and capacity to sacrifice for those they love.

While some criticism has centered on the book's melodrama-characters too good or evil to be believable-the power of Hosseini's writing is his ability to illuminate and make readers care. This is a book that brings immediacy to the story of people's lives in a remote yet vital part of the world.

Here's a publishing rarity—a literary novel based on the darkest of Shakespearean tragedies becomes a huge commercial success. That rarity is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Much of the novel's success is due, of course, to Oprah's imprimatur as one of her book club picks. Even so, there must be more to it than Oprah's popularity, something that attests to the wide appeal of this densely packed, tragic novel.

The book has been described as epic, coming-of-age story, mystery, thriller and, of course, tragedy. Something for everyone. Words like compelling, imaginative, suspenseful, heart-wrenching, enchanting...and more...have issued out of the keyboards of critics. And every superlative is correct—Edgar Sawtelle is a great read! (One more superlative.)

In the vein of Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, a retelling of King Lear, Wroblewski's novel is an updated Hamlet. The Danish kingdom in this case is a Wisconsin farm, operated by the Sawtelle family as a kennel, famed for its line of dogs.

The story opens with a mysterious prologue set in Korea during the war: an unnamed buyer buys an unnamed poison, its potency tested on a stray dog wandering the streets. We wait for the poison to make its re-entry into the story—and it does. Years later Claude Sawtelle visits the family farm, now run by his brother Gar and wife Trudy. Edgar, the couple's 14 year-old son is mute. Yet in spite of, or more likely because of, his muteness, Edgar develops an uncanny ability to communicate with his dogs. Their connection—boy and dogs—borders on the atavistic, elemental, even mystical.

But Claude's presence disrupts the family's idyllic existence, and Edgar senses the growing tension between his father and uncle. When Gar dies suddenly, Edgar suspects Claude, who gradually insinuates himself into the family, and into Trudy's bed. After another deadly accident, Edgar takes off into the wilds accompanied by three of his dogs. He finds safety and temporary respite with an eccentric but kindly loner. Yet the inexorable crush of fate propels Edgar to return to the farm and settle accounts with his uncle. From there the story rushes to its breathtaking conclusion.

For all its intense plotting, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a powerful contemplation of that thin layer of order and civility that overlays both humans and dogs—and how easy it is for both species to revert to their basic, instinctive natures. Civilization, it turns out, is only a veneer.

Few books are so widely loved, or reviled, or have sparked such interesting book club discussions as Loving Frank by Nancy Horan—a novel based on the real-life, ripped-from-the-headlines affair of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his beloved mistress-muse Mamah Borthwick Cheney.

Based on years of exacting research, Horan creates vivid portraits of Frank and Mamah, two outcasts, of sorts, who brave public condemnation to carve out a life of their own making. Mamah (pronounced MAY-muh), in particular, is perplexing—some readers find much to admire in her, others much to abhor.

Mamah, a bright, educated woman, just beginning to move past the bounds of marriageable age, is persuaded to marry Edwin Cheney, a kind, honorable, but uninspiring businessman from Chicago. The two settle in Oak Park, Ill., have two children, and lead a seemingly content life. Then in 1903-04 they decide to construct a new home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Mamah and Frank fall in love.

The story revolves mostly around Mamah's internal conflict, one still unresolved by women 100 years later—how to justify the desire for self-realization with the traditional role of wife and mother. As she writes in her diary, “I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current.”

In 1909 Mamah decides to plunge into the river. Giving no notice, she leaves her children in the hands of a dear friend in Colorado and joins Frank in Europe. During her two year stay, Mamah meets feminist Ellen Key and studies Swedish in order to translate Key's books into English. In 1911 Frank persuades her to return to the States to the new house he has been building for her in Wisconsin.

From there Mamah attempts to make peace with her children, who have by this time all but forgotten her. So that she (and we) can gauge the devastating impact of her actions, her now ex-husband, reveals that shortly after she abandoned them in Colorado, John, a mere youngster, was lost for hours...only to be found wandering the streets in search of his mother.

Horan writes beautifully, objectively, carefully avoiding the language of judgement. She lays no blame nor condemnation on two people who in many ways were at odds with their own time, Mamah especially. The price Mamah pays for her elopement is dear—and readers are left to ponder, on their own, whether that price was too dear, or not dear enough.

An unlikely breakthrough book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society rose quickly through the ranks to become one of the top book club reads in the US. Unlikely, because first off, it's a story told through letters—not always a winnable formula. Second, it centers on the redemptive power of books, again, not the most gripping of themes (except for devout book lovers).

Yet GLPPPS hit the bestseller charts not long after its release...and has stayed there for months on end. Why? Because it contains an engrossing account of one of history's darkest periods, told with a mixture of charm, sincerity and quirky humor by an intriguing cast of characters.

The story revolves around the five-year Nazi occupation of the Channel Island and a group of islanders who start a book club—first as an improvised excuse to get around a curfew—but later as a full-blown communal discussion of books and ideas. The group shares meager desserts (meager due to limited supplies on the island) and what evolves into a genuine love of reading, even for those who had never before read a book.

It is shortly after the war has ended that the novel begins. Juliet Ashton, a London newspaper columnist, receives a letter from one of the society's members, Dawsey Adams, who had found her name penciled into the cover of a second-hand book he's reading. He wants to know if Juliet can recommend other works by Charles Lamb, the book's 18th century author. Thus begins the rich correspondence, with Dawsey and the other members of the literary society, that make up this work.

Their letters and telegrams create a vivid account of the war as experienced by the residents of Guernsey—the cruelty of some of the German occupiers, the bravery of the many of the Islanders, the horrors of concentration camps, and the powerful role that books played in their lives. The writers themselves, an eccentric and delightful cast of characters, spring to life as they reveal their most inner secrets to Juliet, often without knowing they do so. They eventually draw Juliet into a community that will change her life in ways she never expected.

This is a heartwarming, and at times heartbreaking, novel told through a myriad of wonderful, eccentric voices. It's a winner for solo readers and is sure to spark lively discussions for any book club.