Book Club: Favorite literary escapes of 2021

Onstage, Ron, left, and Clint Howard discuss their memoir “The Boys” at the L.A. Times Book Club at L.A. Live’s Rooftop Terrace in October. “So many people said, ‘I want a book that is smart and funny and isn’t going to crush me at the end,’” Patchett said during December’s book club night, discussing her essay collection “These Precious Days.” She suggests a pair of writers whose work fit the bill: Meg Mason’s “Sorrow and Bliss” and Lily King’s “Writers & Lovers,” as well as King’s new short-story collection, “Five Tuesdays in Winter.” Author and indie bookstore owner Ann Patchett discussed “The Precious Days,” her bestselling new essay collection, on Dec. 9 with Times columnist Steve Lopez. January book club On Jan. 25, Stephanie Land kicks off the first book club night of 2022 to discuss her bestseller, “Maid.” Joined by Times reporter Paloma Esquivel, she’ll also talk about the experience of taking her memoir from page to screen and preview her upcoming book, “Class.” Land’s story of resilience, recovery and finding her way to a college education is now a popular Netflix series. Stephanie Land is the author of “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive.” Keep reading Reading lists: Former President Obama, our April book club guest, included “Maid” on his 2019 summer reading list, calling Land’s book “a single mother’s personal, unflinching look at America’s class divide.” This month Obama shared a fresh list of favorite books, music and movies from being “cooped up” in 2021.