Book Club Exchange: Reading Group Choices & Giveaway

I'd like to welcome Mary Morgan from Reading Group Choices to Book Club Exchange. I have been a big fan of this site for years, and I've even been lucky enough to visit with Mary at last year's BEA.

Reading Group Choices is a wonderful website, and I've received many terrific book club recommendations from it. I've even won a giveaway or two over the years! You will definitely want to check it out!

One of my favorite things about Reading Group Choices is their yearly guide (also) called READING GROUP CHOICES. This year's 2015 edition is filled with over 50 titles carefully selected to be of interest to reading groups. There is a brief description of the book along with insightful "Conversation Starters " to facilitate lively group discussions. I have a few guides from past years, and my book club loved looking through them and selecting books!

Today, Mary has written a fantastic guest post that's perfect for those of you who are looking to start a book club. For those of you already in book clubs, I'm sure you'll agree that her advice is sound!

HOW TO START A BOOK GROUP – FROM READING GROUP CHOICES 

Book groups form for a variety of reasons, and in a variety of locations. A group may be made up of friends, co-workers, parents, neighbors, or people who were once strangers. A group may meet at a bookstore, home, café, church, or park. But, no matter the reason for creation, or the space that they are held, there is one common factor: book groups are filled with people who love reading and talking about books! 

While it is hopefully easy for you to enjoy your book group, it is sometimes challenging to start one. Here are a few ideas and tips for starting a successful and enjoyable group:

THINK: Think about what you would like to find in a book group – are you looking for a specific type of group: A group focused on cookbooks and food books? A mother-daughter/father-son group? A group that enjoys research and a more analytic approach? Or are you looking for a more common version filled with neighbors and acquaintances? 

INVITE: Once you have an idea of the group you would like to organize, you need to find people who are interested in joining. You can extend invitations to friends, neighbors, and co-workers via email, but if you are interested in meeting new people, you could post an ad at your local bookstores and in neighborhood newsletters. Whether you choose friends, acquaintances, or new people, it is important to find people who are as interested and excited as you are!

MEET: It is good for everyone to get together before the book group’s first book discussion in order to talk about the group’s goals or mission. What does everyone hope to get out of this group, and how will it be a welcoming, fun, and interesting experience? Do you want to establish any ground rules in order to make sure you keep your goals in mind? 

Some groups will make a list of words that come to mind when they think of the kind of group they would like to have: welcoming, engaged, positive, energetic, organized. Some groups write down objectives they want to follow: Encourage positive discussion; respect others’ thoughts even when they are different from your own; participate in discussion by asking questions; provide positive feedback to other members’ ideas.

We find that groups that answer these questions together and come up with guidelines/mission statement are the most successful in the long run. By answering these questions, you are creating a shared purpose and understanding for the group, which helps people make sure they are joining a group that matches their personal goals, and helps avoid future problems as well. Don’t worry if someone doesn’t end up joining! Remember – you want to be in a group with people who are just as excited as you are to be there! It can also be helpful to return to these guidelines as the group expands or changes. 

PLAN: Once you have formed your group and established your bigger-picture goals, you need to plan: 

Meeting Time and Place: 
Where will you meet? Will you meet in the same location each time? How often? What time? How long will meetings last? What are the group members’ responsibilities? Will you designate a specific time for socializing? What will the social atmosphere be?

Some groups will meet in the same café each month, while others will rotate houses. It’s up to you to decide where you would like to meet, but it is important to understand how much time everyone can commit. If you meet in a communal location like a café or library, no one has the responsibility of hosting or providing snacks/beverages, but some members may enjoy hosting and entertaining. Gauge your group’s interests. Some groups even meet in different places depending on the book they are reading – they match the book to the meeting location! It’s always fun to think of unique ways to engage with the book. 

Social Time:
It is important to think about how/if you want to include socializing in your book group. As you become friends, you may want to take time to catch up during book group. We recommend including that time at the end – maybe while enjoying a dessert!

Book Choice:
Decide what types of books you will read. Will you focus on a specific topic or genre? Are you open to a variety of writing forms? Will you consider themed months? Do you want to read new releases or wait for paperbacks to have better library access?

Once you decide the types of books you’ll read, consider how you will choose books and when you will choose them. Some groups rotate so each member chooses one book. Larger groups may have a meeting where everyone brings a couple of books, and the group members vote on their favorites. Some groups receive a list of book recommendations from a facilitator. At Reading Group Choices we publish a guide filled with new recommendations each year! We also offer our Custom Club, and can build a list specifically for your group based on members’ interests. 

Discussion: 
How will each discussion be led? Will you designate a leader? Will you have a professional facilitator or guest speakers? Who is responsible for providing author information and giving an introduction to the group’s discussion? Do you want to set up any rules for discussion? 

The discussion set-up can vary depending on the meeting and on the book, but it’s good to understand how you would like discussions to work. You want to make sure everyone feels comfortable, and that everyone who wants to speak is able. 

We hope you found this information helpful on how to start a book group – some of these tips may be helpful for people in groups already as well! Please check out Reading Group Choices for more information, resources, and new book recommendations each month. You can order our annual book recommendation guide straight from the site, sign up for our free monthly eNewsletter, and apply to be one of our Spotlight Clubs to win books for your entire group!

Happy Reading!

Reading Group Choices

Giveaway alert: I have five copies of READING GROUP CHOICES 2015 to share with five lucky readers. To enter, just fill out the form below before May 21st at 11:59 p.m. EST. I will randomly select and notify the winners the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. addresses only. Good luck!



*****

Reading Group Choices selects discussible books and suggests discussion topics for reading groups. The company produces a printed guide annually that is distributed nationally to libraries, reading groups, book stores, community book festivals, and individuals. Its popular website offers interesting, informative, fun, and interactive material of interest to book clubs.

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.

Book Club Exchange: Kristy Woodson Harvey

I'd like to welcome author Kristy Woodson Harvey to Book Club Exchange. Ms. Harvey is the author of DEAR CAROLINA, a novel which will be released exactly one week from today! I read this book last week, and fans of stories about love and family are going to adore this one. My review will be coming shortly.

I am so glad that Ms. Harvey had the time during this very busy time to write a special guest post about the role of book clubs in her life... both in her past and her future.

“Book club,” to me, used to be another phrase for “chicken salad.” I grew up with “book club,” you see. My mom was in one. My grandmother was in two. And book club day meant crystal, silver, linen napkins and tablecloths, and, of course, chicken salad. Book club meant my mom and grandmother whispering in the kitchen, where I was sneaking lemon squares, about how many glasses of chardonnay so-and-so had had while so-and-so was at the dining room table talking—rather loudly—about her friend’s horrific hair-do at the beauty parlor that morning.

It wasn’t until I was eight or nine that I finally realized that the point of these stress-inducing functions where my toys had to be put away just so was to talk about a book. I knew all about books, of course, since, from the time was a baby, my mom would read to me for hours, seeing how many books she could pick up one after another before I asked her to stop. (The answer to that, she found, was that, no matter how many hours she read, I would never ask her to stop.)

In fact, back then, book club weeks were something I didn’t look forward to all. I sort of dreaded them.

There’s a supreme sort of irony in that since, now, with the release of my debut novel, Dear Carolina, impending, all I can think about is getting to go to book clubs. All I want to do is sit around in someone’s living room or a coffee shop and hear what people thought about the book. I want to know what their favorite quotes were and see if they were the same as mine. I want to know which character was their favorite, which one they most related to, what they would do if they were in Jodi’s situation. Or Khaki’s. What choices would they have made differently from the characters? Or, as it were, the author.

I have a handful of book club dates already set on my calendar, but I’m hoping to get to many, many more. I’m so looking forward to hearing about so-and-so’s daughter’s new boyfriend and learning the stories of women I’ve never met, women I never would have met if I hadn’t ever written Dear Carolina. (Although, you know the risk in that: When you tell your story to an author, it may just end up in his or her next book!)

I don’t care if there’s fancy china or starched linens or Chardonnay. I’m not sure I even like lemon squares, and those crystal goblets never hold enough water.

I will keep going to book clubs forever, no matter what they’re like as long as there is good conversation and new friends. And chicken salad. Because you can’t spell “book club” without “chicken salad.” Well, I mean, you can technically, of course. But why would you want to?

******

Kristy Woodson Harvey holds a degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s in English from East Carolina University. She writes about interior design and loves connecting with readers. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and three-year-old son. Dear Carolina is her first novel.

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.  

Book Club Exchange: Sally Koslow

I'd like to welcome author Sally Koslow to Book Club Exchange. Ms. Koslow is the author of three novels, and I can say that I've read all of them. Last year around this time, I reviewed THE WIDOW WALTZ (out in paperback today); and I enjoyed it a great deal. She always manages to infuse both humor and touching moments into her stories, and they are ideal for book clubs.

Check out this fantastic guest post about one of my very favorite subjects -- the importance of book clubs.

Why Book Clubs Make Reading Better

Last week I went to the initial meeting of a book club formed by female writers who live in my borough of New York City: Manhattan. (All those hip Brooklyn writers can start their own book club.) My other book club—now I’m in two—reads only books that have stood the test of time (tonight were talking about Moon Tiger, a 1987 novel by the great English writer Penelope Lively)—but the new group’s commitment is to recent novels. I loved discussing the award-winning novel du jour with other writers, who swooned over insights and metaphors (“The promise of her body was buried under layers of no and not yet.”) Then we did what all book clubs do, fell into a spirited discussion of whether our heroine had been stood up in the Alps or if the new man in her life failed to show because he’d been murdered.

The latter hadn’t occurred to me. This is what I especially love about being in a book club. Considering a book through other readers’ eyes enlarges the experience far more than the Brie and Chardonnay. Not that cheese and wine don’t add to the occasion. To that point, you might want to read this article about book clubs in The New York Times where I was quoted and must offer a mea culpa, because I was talking about a past book club, not either of the current two to which I belong. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/opinion/sunday/really-youre-not-in-a-book-club.html.)

When a group discusses one of my books, I am ecstatic. Quite a few clubs have read my first three novels, and now that The Widow Waltz it’s out in paperback, I’m hoping it will get on book clubs’ schedule. Quite a few topics lend themselves to conversation, even heated debate.

• When the husband of the main character, Georgia Waltz, suddenly dies, she learns that he’s left her nothing. If this happened to you, how would you respond?
• Georgia husband has lee a secret life. What blocked Georgia from seeing the truth? Do you think this happens to many wives? 


• Georgia’s daughters are as unlike as honey and sardines. How does the novel comment on nature vs. nurture in addressing having an adopted child as well as a biological one?
• Georgia must rebuild her life. If faced with this challenge, how would you imagine you’d move forward? Could you have made the same decision that Georgia did at the end of the book? What allows people to move on from betrayals?

A complete discussion guide for The Widow Waltz is here: http://www.sallykoslow.com/content/book_widow_waltz_guide.asp

If your book club that wants to discuss The Widow Waltz, I’d love to join in the conversation through FaceTime if you write to me on my website and ask: www.sallykoslow.com!

*****

Koslow is the author of three previous novels, The Late, Lamented Molly Marx, a Target Book Pick; With Friends Like These; and Little Pink Slips, inspired by her time as the editor-in-chief of McCall’s. She is also the author of Slouching Toward Adulthood, an amusing and insightful report from the parenting trenches. It is currently in development as a sitcom for NBC-TV. www.SallyKoslow.com

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.   

Book Club Exchange: Pamela Schoenewaldt

I'd like to welcome author Pamela Schoenewaldt to Book Club Exchange. Ms. Schoenewaldt is the author of two terrific historical fiction novels WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS and SWIMMING IN THE MOON. I recently reviewed SWIMMING IN THE MOON and I enjoyed it a great deal; however, that wasn't exactly surprising since I also really liked WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS. Both novels are immigration stories as well as coming-of-age tales -- two of my favorite types of books -- so it's no wonder that I'm a big fan of her work.

When Ms. Schoenewaldt offered a guest post, I jumped at the chance and immediately requested a special essay for my Book Club Exchange feature. I think you'll like what she came up with!

A Writer’s View of Book Clubs

Since publishing When We Were Strangers (2011) and Swimming in the Moon (2013), I’ve been to, Skyped to, emailed and speaker phoned to dozens of groups in homes, churches, schools, restaurants, retirement communities, back yards and book stores. All are different; most are mostly women; and in every one there’s warmth, welcome and intricate connections of books and life.

Since both of my books are about the immigrant experience, I’ve heard amazing stories of love and loss, adventure and discovery. I’ve also heard many people say their family members didn’t or couldn’t share their own stories and through my characters these readers have experienced the journeys of their ancestors. In reading many other titles, we’ve all discovered parts of our own or our families’ journeys.

Naturally, structure, or lack of it, varies. Organized clubs set their reading lists a year in advance. Mine spends ridiculous amounts of time picking the next book after each meeting; we’re never more than a month ahead. Some groups assign a presenter for each title and move methodically through a list of questions. A group of English teachers which read When We Were Strangers seemed to know the plot and themes better than I did and drew connections I hadn’t been consciously aware of. My group features disorganized discussion. A Rumanian mathematician friend wouldn’t last a meeting with us. In his group, each member assigns a grade 1 to 100, with decimals allowed, as in 93.5. Grades are defended and vigorously debated. Next, each person sums the book in four (4) words; then a hypothetical film version is thoroughly cast. Finally, each person has the opportunity to re-grade the book, although (naturally) my friend never, never changes his grade. I’m tired and a little stressed just describing Vlad’s process.

Often there’s food, usually fabulous. Some book clubs make meals inspired by the book they’ve just read. At least one I know has an artist who creates a centerpiece from the book. Last week, a book club hostess made a delicious bean soup dinner based on the "beans and bread" diet of the strikers in Swimming in the Moon.

My friend Ellen’s group (pictured, me being the one without a book) began when their children were toddlers; some members have grandchildren now. Through it all, they’ve been faithful friends in every chapter of life. In my city of Knoxville, TN, the “Third Friday” group has met (guess when) monthly since 1911. In Ohio, the 26-20 club started in 1894, with twenty members, meeting 26 times a year. The group stays at 20, exactly, with some fourth and fifth generation members.

In all this variety, book reading becomes the best it can be: personal discovery and social connection. Good fiction (usually) and good friends. Plot and life reflect and enhance each other. Books, wine, food, and friendship come together. There’s a respite from the busyness of life, intellectual stimulus and emotional journeying, friendly debate eased by wine and food; boundaries are stretched and new authors discovered. I’ve read and enjoyed titles I would never have discovered otherwise.

For writer and reader, book groups are a marvel. What’s yours like? How does it operate and how does it enrich your life? Let me know. And if you have a book group that would like to read Swimming in the Moon, let me know how I can help.

*****

Pamela Schoenewaldt lived for ten years in a small town outside Naples, Italy. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines in England, France, Italy and the United States. Her play, “Espresso con mia madre” (Espresso with my Mother) was performed at Teatro Cilea in Naples. She taught writing for the University of Maryland, European Division and the University of Tennessee and now lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband, Maurizio Conti, a physicist, and their dog Jesse, a philosopher.

A huge thanks to Ms. Schoenewaldt for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.   

Book Club Exchange: Ursula DeYoung

I'd like to welcome author Ursula DeYoung to Book Club Exchange. Ms. DeYoung is the author of the new novel SHORECLIFF, a story of a summer-long family reunion told by the observant (or should I say nosy?) thirteen-year-old Richard. I recently finished it and will be posting my review shortly, and I have to say that it's a well written novel about a very interesting family!

I am so glad that Ms. DeYoung has written this fantastic guest post about her experience with a book club (of sorts) as a child and the long-lasting effect it has had on her.

I’ve never been part of a formal book club, but in my childhood I spent two weeks every summer on Long Island with my younger sister and a small group of friends who—now that I look back on it—served the same purpose. When I was quite young, maybe nine or ten, we all developed an obsession with Sherlock Holmes. Every day we read aloud from Arthur Conan Doyle’s collected stories, and in the following summers we continued the tradition. Our favorites were “The Lion’s Mane” and “The Devil’s Foot,” but we must have read all of them at least once over the years. After one or two stories, summer antsiness would get to us and we would run outside to go to the beach or play Piggy Wants a Signal (inspiration, years later, for the game the Hatfield cousins play in Shorecliff), but the two battered volumes of Holmes and Watson would soon lure us back. 

When we knew every word of “The Lion’s Mane” and could cite every instance of Holmes’s amazing deductive powers, we branched out, reading G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown stories and bloodcurdling entries from an old copy of Mysteries of the Unexplained. Holmes remained a favorite, but as we grew older, the endless hours of our summer visits seemed to dwindle, and there was less time for reading aloud. We began our last book when we were well into our teens; we had all read it before, and reading it aloud was simply a chance to savor its genius together: Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, still one of my all-time favorites. But we never finished the book, and it’s been years now since we were all in the same place at the same time. 

The pleasure of our communal reading has lasted, though—to this day I often share newly discovered literary gems with these friends. And I have something more concrete than memories from those times because for a few years, towards the end, we decided to try writing stories of our own. I was already writing independently, as were my sister and our friend Frank, but these stories were a group effort; we called them Stories in the Round. Our method was simple: I sat at a computer, frantically typing while all of us called out sentence after sentence, overlapping with each other, causing the plot to zigzag from one crazy idea to the next. Most of the time was spent laughing hysterically, and it was all I could do to stitch our shouted phrases into some sort of coherence. We usually ended with a few pages of nonsense that no one but us could understand. But I still read them every once in a while—they still make me laugh, and I don’t believe anyone has written a more bizarre and brilliant spoof than our nineteen-page story called “Harry Potter and the Fraternity of the Phoenix.” 

*****
Ursula DeYoung graduated from Harvard College in 2004 and received her Ph.D. in History from Oxford in 2009. She is the author of a nonfiction book on 19th-century physicist John Tyndall, A Vision of Modern Science. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Make sure you stop by Linus's Blanket tomorrow for the next stop in the SHORECLIFF tour!

A huge thanks to Ms. DeYoung for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.   

Book Club Exchange: Andrea Thalasinos

I'd like to welcome author Andrea Thalasinos to Book Club Exchange. Ms. Thalasinos's new novel TRAVELING LIGHT is currently available, and I think is sounds wonderful. It's described as "an inspiring story about fate, family, and healing." By all accounts, that should make it perfect for book clubs!

I am so glad that Ms. Thalasinos agreed to take time from her busy schedule to write this guest post about her experiences with book clubs! I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

My first experience with book groups taught me that I was not book group material. After having been invited by co-workers to participate as a guest I ended up dominating the entire evening with ideas, thoughts and even crossed swords with the President of the College where I taught at the time. Somehow the idea of respecting protocol or rank hadn’t seemed relevant. Me, a probationary sociology faculty, the College President, a larger than life figure (who wore floor-length capes and cowboy hats) that everyone else knew better than to challenge—but what did I know. All was fair when it came to books, ideas and the expression of truth. Or so I thought. 

“Big mouth,” my mother used to call me. “You always have to have the last word.” Okay, so maybe there was (and is?) some truth to that. In retrospect, I did manage to keep my job though I wasn’t invited back.

Then it happened a second time, a few months later, only this time with people down the street—essentially my neighbors. This time I held back, was polite, let others take the lead in discussion. By the time it was over I left with the beginning of one hell of a whopping headache that blossomed on the walk home. At the time I blamed it on my being a displaced New Yorker in a mid-sized Midwestern city where people are more likely to think before they speak, let others take the lead in talking and most importantly, not interrupt. That was also the time I started writing fiction and discovered that I fared much better as a visiting author than a participant. 

I still read like a fiend and my interests take me to favorite authors such as Daniel Woodrell, J.M. Coetzee, Marilyn Robinson, Russell Banks to name a few. I read to become a better writer, to see how others structure stories, develop scenes and characters, and whether they strike that most elusive of chords—having the burn of truth.  I always know when they hit it because their stories follow me for days, exhorting me to examine my motives and sense of honesty a little more carefully.   

I’m always scouring book shelves, asking others for tips on stories. And I count on writers who’ve come before me to help show the way, to humble and make me glad that I get to do this most demanding of crafts.  

Writing, whether novels, journals or stories of any kind, leaves you with a record of what your life is like in a given time. You will freeze frame a moment. It always strikes me with a sense of relief yet discontent when I finish a story. “Okay for now, but next time I’ll get closer to my own burn of truth.” Maybe that’s why I’ve come to love writing more than talking.  

*****

Summary: Paula Makaikis is ashamed of her marriage. Driven out of their bedroom by Roger’s compulsive hoarding, she has spent the past ten years sleeping downstairs on her husband’s ratty couch. Distant and uninspired, Paula is more concerned with the robins landing on her office window ledge than her hard-earned position at the university.

Until a phone call changes everything.

A homeless Greek man is dying in a Queens hospital and Paula is asked to come translate. The old man tells her of his beloved dog, Fotis, who bit a police officer when they were separated. Paula has never considered adopting a dog, but she promises the man that she will rescue Fotis and find him a good home. But when Fotis enters her life she finds a companion she can’t live without. Suddenly Paula has a dog, a brand-new Ford Escape, an eight-week leave of absence, and a plan.

So Fotis and Paula begin the longest drive of their lives. In northern Minnesota, something compels her to answer a help-wanted ad for a wildlife rehabilitation center. Soon Paula is holding an eagle in her hands, and the experience leaves her changed forever.

An inspiring story about fate, family, and healing, this novel explores what is possible when we cut the ties that hold us down and the heart is free to soar. 

Traveling Light by Andrea Thalasinos is an inspiring story about fate, family, and healing. -- Forge
 

Andrea grew up in the New York area as the daughter of a Greek American family. Her early love of animals was confined
mostly to luring home stray dogs by surreptitiously feeding them and then trying to keep them hidden from her parents. Kostantino and Mary were not keen on dogs!

After taking a creative writing course in high school her life was changed. Working in the school library, she'd cut classes and sneak out with an armful of books, hitchhiking down to Jones Beach even in winter to read and write.

Through a quirk of fate she later moved to the northern Great Lakes and began attending the University of Wisconsin Madison where she completed a PH.D. With academic training in sociology, she compares the excavation of history, people and events to, "discovering diamonds in a place one would never expect, embedded into stories that are yet to be told. It's exhilarating as information and story weave together to form new ways of seeing previously unexamined or unknown things."

She remembers telling a close friend after graduation, "Whew, glad that's over, now I can write fiction and get a dog!"

Currently, Andrea lives in Madison, Wisconsin where she is anxiously awaiting the publication of her second novel, Traveling Light, scheduled for release on July 16, 2013 by Forge Books, (Macmillan). Traveling Light is available for pre-order. An Echo Through The Snow was released in August of 2012 and is available for purchase. Andrea is working on her third novel.

A huge thanks to Ms. Thalasinos for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.  

Book Club Exchange: Holly Robinson

I'd like to welcome author Holly Robinson to Book Club Exchange. I just finished reading her latest novel THE WISHING HILL, and I will soon share my review. This book tells the story of a woman named Juliet who is facing a lot of change in her life. It is perfect for book clubs!

Summary: What if everything you knew about your life was wrong?

Years ago, Juliet Clark gave up her life in California to follow the man she loved to Mexico and pursue her dream of being an artist. Now her marriage is over, and she’s alone, selling watercolors to tourists on the Puerto Vallarta boardwalk.

When her brother asks her to come home to wintery New England and care for their ailing mother, a flamboyant actress with a storied past, Juliet goes reluctantly. She and her self-absorbed mother have always clashed. Plus, nobody back home knows about her divorce—or the fact that she’s pregnant and her ex-husband is not the father.

Juliet intends to get her mother back on her feet and return to Mexico fast, but nothing goes as planned. Instead she meets a man who makes her question every choice and reawakens her spirit, even as she is being drawn into a long-running feud between her mother and a reclusive neighbor. Little does she know that these relationships hold the key to shocking secrets about her family and herself that have been hiding in plain sight.… -- NAL Accent

When I asked Ms. Robinson to write something for Book Club Exchange, I was thrilled to receive this guest post. It's such an interesting viewpoint and one I never really considered as "the reader!"

The Joy and Terror of Authors Facing Book Clubs

The first time I ever visited a book club, I had just published my memoir, The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter.  As I was walking up the front walk to the house—a house so hard to find that I'd gotten lost twice—the other book club members were arriving with plates of food and bottles of wine.   

“Oh,” said one woman, looking me up and down after I introduced myself.  “From your author photograph, I thought you'd be so much...taller.”  

I knew she meant “younger” but was too polite to say so; professional photographers have a habit of taking just enough pounds and wrinkles off your picture to make your image more media-friendly.  But the truth was that I did feel much smaller, because I was terrified.  I had never been to a book club before, never mind to a meeting where people would be discussing my own writing!  

Now, as I prepare to launch my new novel, The Wishing Hill, I'm eagerly awaiting my first book club meetings.  I have become a huge fan of putting authors and book clubs together, because these meetings allow readers a glimpse inside the writing process and definitely help authors write better books.  

It wasn't until I attended my first few book club meetings, for instance, that I realized readers don't necessarily care about the same things I do as a writer.  Though many keen readers appreciate the craft of creating lovely imagery or fine sentences, those readers won't get past the first chapter if you don't also give them a plot with tension in the narrative and sympathetic characters—or at least interesting nasty characters.  Readers are busy people with many other commitments shredding their time, and our books have to compete with other wonderfully absorbing forms of entertainment.  If you don't deliver the story, your book will be put down forever and forgotten.   

On the other hand, book clubs also teach authors that there are as many reasons to read a book as there are to write one. One reader might adore a certain character or setting, while another can't stand the sight of that name on the page and hate the setting because it's too gloomy, too mountainous, or just plain unbelievable.  Hearing book clubs discuss your characters as if they're real people living right down the street makes me realize, as a writer, how essential it is to make the people in my books as complex as the people in my life.   

Listening to book clubs discuss our work can also make writers sit up and take notice of themes in our own writing that we didn't even know were there.  I leave every book club gathering not only with a belly full of great snacks, but with a head full of ideas for my next book.  Sometimes I don't even make it out of the driveway before having to whip out the journal in my purse and furiously start writing.
 
So, dear readers and writers, meet at book clubs and talk amongst yourselves.  We have a lot to teach each other. 

*****

Holly Robinson is an award-winning journalist whose work appears regularly in national venues such as Better Homes and Garden, Family Circle, Huffington Post, Ladies' Home Journal, More, Open Salon, and Parents. Her first book, THE GERBIL FARMER'S DAUGHTER: A MEMOIR, was a Target Breakout Book. She holds a BA in biology from Clark University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

A huge thanks to Ms. Robinson for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.    

Book Club Exchange: Peggy Riley

I'd like to welcome author Peggy Riley to Book Club Exchange. I recently finished her debut novel AMITY & SORROW, and I have to tell you it's one very powerful book.

AMITY & SORROW tells the story of a mother and her two daughters who have recently escaped from a polygamist compound. The mother is terrified that her husband will find them, while the girls have absolutely no idea what life is like outside of their very sheltered existence on the compound. It's a story about love, loss and ultimately redemption; and it's quite a thought-provoking read. (That makes it an ideal book club pick!)

I am extremely excited to share Ms. Riley's guest post about her experiences with her "unique book club". Enjoy!

The only book club that I’ve been a part of was an odd one.  We read books that had been made into films that featured Peter Cushing, local Hammer Horror actor and former Dr. Who.  I told you it was odd. 

However, it certainly provided the opportunity to read and reread a number of truly excellent books.  Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, in which Cushing played Van Helsing, was a cracking read – how had I managed to avoid it?  Chilling, modern, a wonderful page-turner; I should have known, with its longevity, that it would be marvelous.  Reading “The Hounds of Baskerville”, with Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, was a wonderful reminder of how brilliant Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books are, hooked as I was on Benedict Cumberbatch.  I got on less well with “Frankenstein”, the title character also played by Cushing.  Maybe I’d simply had enough horror by then. 

Thankfully, we moved on to Cushing’s other, more oblique roles in films made of two classic post-war novels:  “Lolita”, for Cushing is spotted on a screen at the drive-in movie, and “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, which was done for television with Cushing as Winston Smith.  I had read both in university and probably wouldn’t have taken the time to reread them without the book club’s insistence, and I would have missed out. They both struck me as sadder works the second time around, more poignant than frightening.  Your reading does change the second time through a great work, especially twenty years after the first read, and I found much more in both of them than I had remembered. 

After reading these books (and probably others, whose titles I’ve forgotten) we discussed them at length and then watched the corresponding Cushing film.  I should be grateful there were no books to accompany some of his more flamboyant films:  no text was there for “Torture Garden” or “Blood Beast Terror”, nothing to read for “Madhouse” or “The Creeping Flesh”.  This made for a long, but very pleasurable, evening.  It was also a great way to meet people, for I had only just moved from London to a fishing town on the North Kent coast.  We were all very different people, with only these books in common.  And that is all you need, really - a shared love of books and a willingness to read them.  I’d quite like to join another book club – and many thanks for giving my first novel, Amity & Sorrow, a read!     

*****

Peggy Riley is a writer and playwright. She recently won a Highly Commended prize in the 2011 Bridport Prize. Her short fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio and has been published in "New Short Stories 4", Mslexia Magazine, and as an app on Ether Books. Her plays have been commissioned and produced off-West End, regionally and on tour. She has been a festival producer, a bookseller, and writer-in-residence at a young offender's prison. Originally from Los Angeles, Peggy now lives on the North Kent coast in Britain. She is currently working on her second novel, which will be set in the women's internment camp on the Isle of Man during WWII.

I am thrilled to be participating in the AMITY & SORROW book tour. Make sure you check out the other stops and come back on Friday to see my review!

A huge thanks to Ms. Riley for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.    

Book Club Exchange: Tanis Rideout & Giveaway

I'd like to welcome author Tanis Rideout to Book Club Exchange. I am getting ready to start her debut novel ABOVE ALL THINGS, and I'm so excited since I've read a few wonderful reviews by some fellow book bloggers.

ABOVE ALL THINGS is being described as "THE PARIS WIFE meets INTO THIN AIR in this breathtaking debut novel of obsession and divided loyalties, which brilliantly weaves together the harrowing story of George Mallory’s ill-fated 1924 attempt to be the first man to conquer Mount Everest, with that of a single day in the life of his wife as she waits at home in England for news of his return." Sounds fantastic to me... and perfect for book clubs.



I just adore Ms. Rideout's guest post because not only does she give readers some potential questions to help start their discussion, she also gives a great food idea for the meeting! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

One of the loveliest parts about putting a novel out into the world is the chance to share the experience with readers. I’ve been lucky enough to join a few book clubs when they’ve met to discuss Above All Things—and it’s been fun and exhilarating and humbling. Readers open up their hearts (and then their homes!) to an author and fiercely discuss the book. Amazing.

As an author, it’s so interesting to hear what other people think and feel about your characters and your decisions. Having been a fly on the wall to some of these discussions, here are a few questions that might spur your own:

• Is George selfish to do what he does? What does that—“selfish”—even really mean? 
• What do you think drove these men to go to Everest? Do they all have the same motivations? Is Sandy’s, say, different from George’s? 
• How did the war shape the climbers’ attitudes toward the mountain? 
• How do you feel about Ruth? Can you relate to her? What might you have done in her situation? 
• How important is it to support your partner’s obsessions? How far should you support them? What’s the best way to be a good husband or wife and parent in these types of situations? 
• What do you think George decides to do? To go forward to the summit, or turn back to Sandy? 
• Is Everest—or anything like it—worth dying for? What is worth dying for? 

I assume, to go along with the book, most people don’t want to consume tepid tea, meat jerky, and lousy chocolate—so instead I suggest one of the most English of meals—a ploughman’s lunch, which is a cold meal, ideal for sharing and perfect for book clubs. Think of it as a take on a cheese tray. It’s normally made up of cheese, sliced apple, caramelized onion or chutney, and perhaps some cured meat and served with baguette or crackers. My personal addition is roasted garlic.

Recipe for roasted garlic to accompany the ploughman’s lunch (borrowed from Food & Drink magazine): 

Heat up your oven to 450 degrees.

Cut the tops of your garlic bulbs and tuck them into an oven-safe dish—the smallest one that they’ll all fit into. Fill the container with chicken stock (or veggie) so that the garlic isn’t quite covered over. Top with slices of lemon and sprigs of rosemary and add a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Chuck them in the oven for about an hour—basting every 15 minutes or so. Top up chicken stock if required.

Take them out, let them cool. To eat, scoop the garlic cloves out of their skins with a knife and smoosh on bread with cheese. Don’t worry; they’re super mild and tasty.

To make a greater quantity to store, you can also try this garlic confit recipe at the Modernist Cuisine: http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/garlic-confit/

Serve with that most English of drinks—gin and tonic with a slice of cucumber. Enjoy! (And invite me.)

*****

Tanis Rideout’s work has appeared in numerous publications and has been shortlisted for several prizes, including the Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award and the CBC Literary Awards. Born in Belgium, she grew up in Bermuda and in Kingston, Ontario, and now lives in Toronto. Above All Things is her first novel.

Giveaway alert: To celebrate the new Putnam & Riverhead Book Club Community,the publisher is giving away copies of ABOVE ALL THINGS for your entire book club! To enter, just fill out the form here. You will also be included on the mailing list for suggested book club titles and special offers, including sweepstakes, call-ins, reading group guides, and more. The contest to win ABOVE ALL THINGS ends 11:59pm EST on 3/17/2013 and winners will be notified by 3/22/13. Best of luck!

A huge thanks to Ms. Rideout for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.    

Book Club Exchange: Emily Winslow & Giveaway

I am so glad to welcome author Emily Winslow to Book Club Exchange. Yesterday, I reviewed her latest novel THE START OF EVERYTHING which is a terrific psychological thriller set in Cambridge, England. I am very excited to share with you Ms. Winslow's post about her experiences with book clubs that discuss her novels.

I do write book club questions to go with my books, but there's an unwritten, obvious question that is usually asked first, and which I have found can fill at least half the meeting, or even all of it: Which narrator did you like best?

Both of my novels, The Whole World and The Start of Everything, are told through multiple first-person narrators. These characters are villains, victims, investigators and witnesses. None of them alone have the whole story, and each one misunderstands or mistrusts the others. These limited points of view bumping up against one another is much of what propels the plots, and also can inspire lively discussion.

I've had the privilege of attending several meetings with groups who have read my books, and a few patterns have emerged:

The first to speak will be consciously polite, because I'm there. They'll say who they liked, and why, and pass the question off to the next person, who does the same. By the third person, things get looser. Someone across the circle will respond by zinging back, “No! I hated him!” or “Yes, but when they did _____ I was really angry.” Someone else who hasn't yet spoken will interrupt to defend the character, “But they had to do that! Don't you remember when they...” And that's how a discussion is born.

I've noticed that American readers tend to look at my setting of Cambridge, England as a fictional fantasy world, while local Cambridge readers tell me that they recognise not just the city but the characters as utterly familiar types. I enjoy both points of view. As an American who lives here, I identify with both.

I've noticed that mothers of young children have generally judged my difficult mother characters harshly, while mothers of adult children have been more forgiving. As a mother myself, I see both sides of this too. 

I strive to be compassionate towards all my characters, even those who do terrible things. I strive to be honest about my characters, even when honesty doesn't flatter them. I can understand anyone saying they love any one of my characters, because I love them. I can understand anyone expressing frustration with them, or other negative feelings, because I don't have illusions about them. 

Visiting with book clubs has been a huge treat for me (and not just because so many of them serve amazing food!). So, thank you, book clubs! And, thank you Booking Mama, for this chance to talk about it, and for providing a place for book lovers to find more books to love. 

I'm curious to hear from book club members how the presence of the author affects what you're willing to say. Do you hold back or let it all hang out? Any tips to help authors to put readers at ease?

*****

Emily Winslow writes psychological suspense set in Cambridge, England, where she lives with her husband and sons in a house full of books. The Washington Post says of her new novel, The Start of Everything (Delacorte Press): “[Winslow is] brilliant at portraying the ragged fragments of these lives. What emerges isn’t a single killer with motive and means, but a tangle of stories crossing and colliding, stray intersections of incidents and accidents, misunderstandings, and misreadings, all thanks to the myopia of individual perspectives and the self-centeredness of individual desires.” Emily is delighted to interact with book clubs via various technologies and can be contacted via her website. http://www.emilywinslow.com

Giveaway alert: I have a copy of THE START OF EVERYTHING to share with one lucky reader courtesy of Tandem Literary. To enter, just fill out the form below before Tuesday, February 19th at 11:59 p.m. ET. I will randomly select and notify the winner the following day. This contest is open to those of you in the U.S. only. Good luck!


A huge thanks to Ms. Winslow for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.    

Book Club Exchange: Amy Brill & Giveaway

I am so glad to welcome author Amy Brill to Book Club Exchange. I haven't had a chance to read her new novel  THE MOVEMENT OF STARS yet (the novel will be available on April 18th), but I seriously can't wait! It's already getting some terrific reviews.

THE MOVEMENT OF STARS is described as, "A love story set in 1845 Nantucket, between a female astronomer and the unusual man who understands her dreams." It's also being touted as a terrific book club pick.

After reading Ms. Brill's guest post, I have to say that not only am I excited about her novel, but I want her to Skype with my book club. She sounds like a lot of fun and if she's a fan of Electric Company, clam chowder, and wine, then I'm pretty sure I"ll love her!

I’ve been madly in love with books ever since I learned how to read (thanks mostly to 1970s Electric Company segments, truth be told). I’m ever so grateful to my dad, who informed me at the ripe old age of five that I could read that “to myself”—magic! And to my local librarian, who piled me high with picture books and then chapter books and then more complex narratives that swept me away and I had to travel everywhere with two books because what if I finished one on the way and had nothing to read on the way home? Heaven forbid. 

If this sounds like an Oscar speech, well, if it took you 15 years to write and sell your first novel you, too, might go bonkers at every opportunity and thank everyone under the sun. But the biggest thanks of all go to readers who are engaged, interested, and social enough to band together to select my book, read it together, and chat about it in person (preferably with a few bottles of wine and something delicious to go along with it). 

So, in the interest of facilitating your conversation about The Movement of Stars, here are some things I’d probably ask if my book group was reading my book, were I lucky enough to have a book group right now (and maybe I will, when my children are old enough to go to the bathroom alone and/or tie their own shoes). Enjoy! 

1. Why is Hannah so stubborn? Does she really not know she’s falling for this guy? Or is she just too scared to admit it? 
2. Hannah goes through a total mind-body-spirit transformation over the course of the book. The women in her life have a lot to do with it—but so do the men. In what ways do they affect her? Which group has more impact? If these characters were in Top Chef Restaurant Wars (Men v Women) who would win? 
3. Why are the people in her community so threatened by “outsiders”? Why do they enforce “discipline” so stringently? Aren’t Quakers always depicted as really mellow and friendly? 
4. If I visit Nantucket, will there be clams? 
5. Does anyone have a really, really good recipe for clam chowder? (Why yes, I do—see below!) 
6. Could you please pass the wine over here? 
7. Oh, we’re out of white? Is there red? 
8. Did anyone else yell at Hannah through a veil of tears when they got to the end, or was that just me? Did she make the right choice? Was it the only possible choice? 
9. Are we really out of wine? 

Nantucket Clam Chowder (adapted from EJ Harvey, Nantucket Seagrille) 

Makes about a gallon 

About 20-25 fresh Quahog clams, scrubbed clean (or 2 cans of clams + 1 bottle of clam juice—I won’t tell) 4 strips of bacon, diced 
½ cup of butter (I’m just the messenger) 
½ cup of flour 
 ½ cup diced onion 
½ cup diced celery 
1 lb of russet potatoes, ½ inch dice 
1 quart of heavy cream (still just the messenger) 
About a quart of clam juice (the cooking water from the Quohogs, strained and reserved, plus extra store-bought if you need it (or vegetable stock, or water, in a pinch) 
1 bay leaf 
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 
A few drops of Tabasco
A splash of Worcestershire sauce 
A dash of white pepper 
Salt, to taste 

1. Steam the clams in a large pot until they open. Strain the cooking water and set aside. Remove the clam meat from the shells and chop into bite-sized pieces. 

2. Melt the butter in a large pot, and sauté the bacon until the fat renders and the bacon is crisp. 

3. Add the onion and the celery and cook until translucent. 

4. Add flour and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly. 

5. Add thyme, bay leaf, reserved clam cooking liquid or bottled clam juice, and bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce heat to a simmer. 

6. Add potatoes and season with a drop or two of Tabasco, the Worcestershire, white pepper, and taste. Add salt if needed. 

7. Add heavy cream, stir, then add the clams and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste. 

8. Serve hot with oyster crackers or crumbled saltines. 

*****

Amy Brill is a writer and producer who has worked for PBS and MTV, and has been awarded fellowships by the Edward F. Albee Foundation, the Millay Colony, and the American Antiquarian Society, among others. This is her first novel. She lives in Brooklyn.

Giveaway alert: To celebrate the new Putnam & Riverhead Book Club Community,the publisher is giving away copies of THE MOVEMENT OF STARS for your entire book club! To enter, just fill out the form here. You will also be included on the mailing list for suggested book club titles and special offers, including sweepstakes, call-ins, reading group guides, and more. The contest to win THE MOVEMENT OF STARS ends 11:59pm EST on 2/15/2013 and winners will be notified by 2/21/13. Best of luck!

A huge thanks to Ms. Brill for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.   

Book Club Exchange: Elise Primavera

I am so glad to welcome author and illustrator Elise Primavera to Book Club Exchange. Yesterday, I reviewed her latest novel LIBBY OF HIGH HOPES which is just fantastic for middle grade readers. I am very excited about Ms. Primavera's post because not only is it about book clubs, but it is about mother/daughter book clubs, a subject very near and dear to my heart.

When I was asked to do a guest post for my new book Libby of High Hopes I jumped at the chance to tell readers that it would be perfect for their mother/daughter book clubs.

Libby of High Hopes is about the summer in the life of a young girl taking her first steps into the world of horseback riding. It’s also about that moment in childhood when anything is possible; becoming a prima ballerina, an astronaut, or in Libby’s case, the best rider in the world. The skies the limit of who she might be in the future. The problem for Libby is just who she is now.

The book begins at the end of fourth grade when she receives a comment from her teacher saying that, “Libby needs to live up to her potential.” Libby wonders at first what is potential? In the dictionary she sees it defined as: “Expressing possibility, something that can develop or become actual.” Expressing possibility? What kind of possibilities? How can she live up to her potential, she wonders, if she doesn’t even know what it is? It’s at that point in the story that she discovers High Hopes Horse Farm and tries to do what her fourth grade teacher suggests. We hope that girls will make goals and go as far as they can towards achieving them.

We hope that they will explore their talents and not be afraid to find out their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Libby of High Hopes is a book about a girl who loves horses and wants nothing more than to become a great rider, but it’s also about enjoying the journey. Libby has a strong vision of who she wants to become but the story is also about being content with the girl she is now.

The book also speaks to that thing that happens between girls when they both try for something and one is better than the other at it. Libby’s mother is a runner. She’s also best friends and runs with a woman who has a daughter Libby’s age, named Brittany. From Libby’s perspective is seems as though Brittany is good at everything. There’s a part in the story where Libby’s mom encourages her to join the swim team that summer. Libby is not a strong swimmer and to make matters worse Brittany is. So Libby doesn’t want to swim anymore. She only wants to ride horses. Then one day she walks into the barn only to find out that Brittany has invaded her territory and is going to take riding lessons as well!

Libby feels pressure to compete with this girl who everything seems to come so easily to. She worries that maybe her mother wishes she had a daughter more like Brittany. I think this is a common theme and a subject that could be discussed after reading about how Libby deals with it.

All these ideas are timeless; potential, trying our best, supporting each other, and when things don’t go our way, drawing on our inner resources and making things happen on our own. Libby of High Hopes presents them in a format that is easy to understand for young readers and would make for great conversation between moms and their daughters—or even their sons for that matter. 

*****

Elise Primavera has illustrated more than twenty books for children, several of which she also wrote, including the New York Times bestselling Auntie Claus as well as Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas and Auntie Claus Home for the Holidays. Other titles include Plantpet, a Parents Magazine Best Book and she illustrated Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen which received a 1999 Christopher Award, the 1999 Irma S. and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature from the Bank Street College of Education, and an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award. Newsweek, Sesame Street Parent's magazine, and Smithsonian Magazine selected the book as one of the best of 1998. Most recently Ms. Primavera has authored Louise the Big Cheese: Divine Diva and Louise the Big Cheese and the La Di Da Shoes both illustrated by Diane Goode. Elise Primavera lives in New Jersey. Visit her at eliseprimavera.com.

A huge thanks to Ms. Primavera for participating in Book Club Exchange!

If you are interested in participating in a future Book Club Exchange, please contact me at bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com.