Book Club Girl - Book Group Recommendations, Reading Group Guides, Audio Book Club Podcasts

Nicole Galland, author of Godiva, is coming to Book Club Girl on Air!

We are happy to announce that author Nicole Galland will be coming to Book Club Girl on Air! Join us at 7 PM on Tuesday, July 23rd to hear Nicole chatting about her newest novel, Godiva, which goes on sale July 2nd. Nicole is also the author of I, Iago, Revenge of the Rose, Crossed, and The Fool's Tale.

According to legend, Lady Godiva lifted the unfair taxation of her people by her husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, by riding through the streets of Coventry wearing only a smile. It's a story that's kept tongues wagging for nearly a thousand years. But what would drive a lady of the court to take off everything and risk her reputation, her life, even her wardrobe—all for a few peasants' pennies?

In this daringly original, charmingly twisted take on an oft-imagined tale, Nicole Galland exposes a provocative view of Godiva not only in the flesh, but in all her glory. With history exonerating her dear husband, Godiva, helped along by her steadfast companion the abbess Edgiva, defies the tyranny of a new royal villain. Never before has Countess Godiva's ride into infamy—and into an unexpected adventure of romance, deceit, and naked intrigue—been told quite like this.

We have 10 copies of Godiva to give to 10 people who comment that they can participate in our show on Tuesday, July 23rd at 7 pm EST. We'll pick 10 random commenters from anyone who posts by 11:59pm Friday, June 28.

We look forward to hearing from you during our live book chat discussion with Nicole on July 23! Send in questions during the live show via the chat function (be sure to register on the site beforehand - choose the free option) or you can call in and ask her a question directly by dialing 347-945-6149. If you can’t join us, post your question in the comments section below, and we’ll ask Nicole on air.

For more details on Nicole Galland, visit her website. In preparation for the show, start reading Godiva now.

And Now Every Neil Gaiman Fan from around the World Says in Unison, “At Last!”

You see, we’ve been waiting for this day for eight years—that’s how long it’s been since Neil Gaiman published a novel for adults (Anansi Boys in 2005). But today, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is on sale, nearly at the omphalos of The Year of Neil.

We’re calling 2013 the Year of Neil because he has so many creative projects coming to fruition that it’s truly a bountiful harvest for his fans! At William Morrow, we’ve published two original hardcovers (Make Good Art and The Ocean at the End of the Lane) and two reprints (American Gods in paperback and How to Talk to Girls at Parties as an e-book short).

Who among you woke up this morning and had The Ocean at the End of the Lane downloaded to your e-reader from your pre-order? Who will arrive home from work to an on-sale day delivery waiting for you on the front stoop, packed with a first edition of #TOATEOTL?

Now is when the fun begins—we are dying to hear what readers think of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I invite you to join the conversation and share your reviews on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Goodreads—and of course post your comments below!

Not to mention, Neil is starting his coast-to-coast book tour today, so look for lots of stories from the road by @neilhimself on Twitter. If you aren’t able to catch Neil on tour, check out this video of him reading an excerpt from the novel, his delivery is quite evocative. 

Enter for a Chance to Win a Book Club Visit from Stephen P. Kiernan, author of THE CURIOSITY!

William Morrow has teamed up with Cabot Cheddar to create an amazing prize package for your book club! Debut novelist Stephen P. Kiernan will come to your book club’s meeting to discuss with you in person his book The Curiosity. We’ll also provide a copy of The Curiosity for every member of your book club, and send a Cabot Cheddar Gift Basket for everyone to nosh on as you discuss The Curiosity.

How often do you have a chance to discuss a book with its author? I hope you all take the opportunity to enter to for a chance to win—Stephen is a congenial man, smart and funny, and will be a wonderful addition to your book club discussion. Don’t believe me? Watch this video, and get to know Stephen a little bit.

Not only is Stephen easy to talk to (he’s also a wine aficionado), he’s written an incredible novel. I love The Curiosity, it’s one of my favorite novels William Morrow has published this year. Stephen’s novel is the story of a man who has been frozen in the Arctic ice for over a hundred years, and who is discovered and brought back to life by a team of scientists. One of those scientists is Kate, the woman who found him, and who takes him around to explore contemporary Boston. What unfolds is an unforgettable love story. The Curiosity is also a gripping yet poignant thriller that raises some provocative questions about the very nature of life and humanity—man as a scientific subject, as a tabloid novelty, as a living being. 

I hope you’re intrigued. Here are the links you need to enter!

ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BOOK CLUB EVENING WITH STEPHEN P. KIERNAN
Read an excerpt 
Like Stephen on Facebook 
Learn more about the book 

How to Do Everything and Be Happy -- It's Easier Than You Think!

How to Do Everything and Be Happy is now available! In the tradition of The Happiness Project and Happy for No Reason comes a simple book that reveals how you can be happy every day, through these surprisingly easy tips and advice.

Peter Jones knows that the secret to happiness is simple: it’s about filling your time with the things that make you happy. That’s why he wrote, How to Do Everything and Be Happy: Your step-by-step, straight-talking guide to creating happiness in your life.

Peter was once a normal guy. Sometimes frustrated, often dissatisfied, but always working hard towards a “happily every after” he would share with his wife Kate. But when Kate died in his arms after just two years and three months of marriage, he realized his days had been spent working towards a fantasy, instead of making every hour count.

How to Do Everything and Be Happy reveals how you can be happy every day through surprisingly easy tips and advice. In just 7 days you’ll be on your way to a happier you. For anyone who has read Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, or Bruce Feiler’s The Secrets of Happy Families, this is a book for ordinary people who want to lead happier, more fulfilling lives.

Read an excerpt of How to Do Everything and Be Happy. For more about the book, visit the official website, and for more information on Peter Jones click here or visit his blog.  

Dorothea Benton Frank Pays You a Compliment, Issues an Invitation, and Tells You Where to Eat

Forget summer solstice: I know it’s officially summer when the new novel from Dorothea Benton Frank goes on sale. This means that TODAY is the first day of summer, because The Last Original Wife (written by none other than Dorothea herself) is now in all the stores. Commence rejoicing!

Have I told you all how much I love The Last Original Wife? This novel is really something special. Dorothea’s wit and snappy voice are on every page, and she has created an unforgettable couple with her lead characters, Les and Wes. Once I started reading this, I tore through it—I was always disappointed when I had to turn off my Nook and turn my attention to real life again. I am sure you will feel the same. Test me out: read the first three chapters, now!

Here’s a sweet note from Dorothea, to you, her readers.

Hello!

The Last Original Wife is finally on sale!  Please come see me while I’m running around the country!  I love to meet the people who read my books because I have the classiest, best looking, smartest readers of all the authors in the country and this year I’m going to prove it!  I’m taking pictures and putting them on Facebook – so wash your hair, Susie!  (You know who you are.)   See you in June!

Love,

Dorothea

Isn’t she the best?

Reading Dorothea’s novels always, always make me want to go to Charleston to put my toes in the sand, feel the Lowcountry breeze on my skin, stroll through historic sites, and eat my heart out at all the amazing restaurants she cites. I’ll get there one day, and when I do, I’ll have this handy primer Dorothea wrote, listing the best of Charleston’s dining scene. 

I’m going back to daydreaming out the window about sitting in a beach chair on Sullivans Island with a book in one hand and a sweet tea in the other. But I’ll leave you with this link: it leads to a bit of hilarious banter between Dorothea and Adriana Trigiani!

You’re welcome. Now, go set yourself up with a copy of The Last Original Wife and get your summer started right.

Now in Paperback: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Flight Behavior, is now in paperback! Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post and USA Today, Flight Behavior is the story of a young woman living in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and how her discovery changes her perspective on the world around her. The New York Times Book Review called the book “a majestic and brave new novel…both intimate and enormous."

Dellarobia Turnbow is a restless farm wife who gave up her own plans when she accidentally became pregnant at seventeen. Now, after a decade of domestic disharmony on a failing farm, she seeks momentary escape through an obsessive flirtation with a younger man.

She hikes up a mountain road behind her house toward a secret tryst, but instead encounters a shocking sight: a silent, forested valley filled with what looks like a lake of fire. She can only understand it as a cautionary miracle, but it sparks a raft of other explanations from scientists, religious leaders, and the media. The bewildering emergency draws rural farmers into unexpected acquaintance with urbane journalists, opportunists, sightseers, and a striking biologist with his own stake in the outcome.

As the community lines up to judge the woman and her miracle, Dellarobia confronts her family, her church, her town, and a larger world, in a flight toward truth that could undo all she has ever believed

Read an excerpt of Flight Behavior, download the reading group guide, and watch a video of Barbara discussing the book.  For more with Barbara Kingsolver, visit her website and become a fan on Facebook. And make sure to look for the paperback wherever books are sold!

 

The Original Playlist for The Original 1982

Singer-songwriter, and now author, Lori Carson's debut novel, The Original 1982, went on sale yesterday! A poignant tale of what-ifs, Lisa is a 24-year-old waitress in New York City, an aspiring singer/songwriter, and girlfriend to a famous musician. That year, 1982, she makes a decision, almost without thinking about it.

But what if what if her decision had been different?

In a new 1982, Lisa chooses differently. Her career takes another direction. She becomes a mother. She loves differently—yet some things remain the same.

Alternating between two very different possibilities, The Original 1982 is a novel about how the choices we make affect the people we become—and about how the people we are affect the choices we make.

Music has been Lori's lifetime passion, so it's not surprising that the novel is infused with references to and inspiration from multiple artists. The playlist that Lori helped curate, comprised of songs that she listened to while writing as well as songs that make an appearance in the book itself, would be the perfect soundtrack for your book club's meeting. Allow yourself to reminisce as you dive into The Original 1982!

You can follow Lori on Facebook, or click here to read an excerpt of her novel.

Guest Blogger: Katherine Webb on the Universal Themes of Art

Please welcome guest blogger, author Katherine Webb, to the Book Club Girl blog! Her newest novel, A Half-Forgotten Song, goes on sale today! 

At an author event for book bloggers in Spain last year, I came as close to being heckled as I have (thankfully!) yet come. A girl in the audience pointed out that the premise of A Half Forgotten Song – that of a character finding out the story behind a series of works by a great artist – sounded far too similar to that of Elizabeth Kostova’s book, The Swan Thieves for her liking. It’s worth pointing out that my heckler hadn’t actually read my book at that point, and that I hadn’t read Ms Kostova’s. I could only assure her that I was sure our treatment of the subject matter was very different, and having gone away and read The Swan Thieves, I can confirm that it is.

This got me thinking about some of the perennial themes in fiction – like art, love, murder, war, parenthood, bereavement and history. These things are the stuff of life; they are the things that govern us, that cause us joy and pain, that inspire and torment us, so no wonder they turn up again and again in both poetry and prose, and in the work of artists of all kinds. What makes one writer or artist different from another is not their choice of subject matter, but their approach to it, and the execution of their work. After all, I bet nobody ever criticised Van Gogh for painting landscapes because it had been done before…and I bet Renoir wasn’t put off painting picnics and boating parties because Manet was doing it too.

The novelist’s approach to art often seems to be to try and find the story behind the picture, another good example being Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. To me, there is just enough similarity between a painter and a writer, and more than enough differences, for them to be a source of fascination to me; and I’m sure I can’t be the only writer who feels that way. It’s all the result of a similar urge for creativity, after all – it’s all an expression of something inside that we need to say. Yet I can no more imagine how it must feel to be able express oneself through painting than I can imagine having a sixth sense, or what a colour I have never seen before might look like. So perhaps writing about art and artists is one way for an author to translate stories told via a mystifying medium into a form they are better able to understand?

The very first idea for A Half Forgotten Song was planted years ago, while I was working in a printing works during my university summer holidays. We were printing a book about the British artist Augustus John, and I was hand-collating it – gathering sections of pages into the correct order before they went off to be stitched. For weeks on end, I had nothing to do but gaze at John’s drawings as I collated. They are some of the most beautiful drawings I had ever seen, and I still find them completely captivating. It was no surprise to me that this seed germinated, years later, into a novel about an artist inspired by John and his glorious portraits. Inside the character of Zach, as he tries to put his finger on what he loves so much about the work of the fictional Charles Aubrey, there’s me, trying to put my finger on what I love so much about the work of Augustus John. Fiction just happens to be my way of exploring that fascination, of trying to describe the allure of that particular artist.

So, I’m sure art and the stories behind it will continue to crop up time and again in fiction, as other authors follow a similar process, and try to pin down the elusive nature of creativity in all its guises. So I hope that readers will forgive us if there are sometimes echoes and crossovers in the theme and contents of novels, and I think it’s necessary that there are. One writer’s interpretation of a subject will always be different to any other, and so, hopefully, there will always be different things for readers to discover in their books!

For more on Katherine and A Half-Forgotten Song, visit her on Facebook or you can read an excerpt of her book here!

Sneak Peek: The Original 1982

Lori Carson's poignant debut novel, The Original 1982, goes on sale next week! Carson delves into the world of what-ifs as a not-so-young woman revisits the emotional and controversial choices she made as a twenty-something. She gives readers a sneak peek in the voice of the novel's heroine below!

It's 1982, and Lisa is twenty-four years old, a waitress, an aspiring singer-songwriter, and the girlfriend to a famous musician. That year, she makes a decision, almost without thinking about it.

But what would have happened if she had chosen differently? Thirty years later, haunted by regret, Lisa revisits her past to reimagine it.

Alternating between two very different possibilities, The Original 1982 is a novel about how the choices we make affect the people we become—and about how the people we are affect the choices we make.

 

 

Hit the Beach with the Novels of Dorothea Benton Frank—the Best Summer Reads on Either Side of the Mason-Dixon

For the last few weeks, some of my favorite bloggers have been participating in the Hit the Beach with Dorothea Benton Frank Read Along. I love it when people read Dorothea’s novels for the first or tenth time—they are always delighted at what they find behind those beachy jacket designs.

Pam, who blogs at An Unconventional Librarian says that “Reading Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank is like being on vacation.”  Never having read Dorothea’s novels before, Elizabeth (Silver’s Reviews) admitted that she wanted to be a part of the novel’s family and live with them on Sullivans Island! Uh, me too!

When Colleen (Books in the City) read Lowcountry Summer, she couldn’t wait to go back and read Dorothea’s other “southern charmers,” including Plantation (the prequel to Lowcountry Summer). Honestly, when I first started reading Dorothea’s books, I too wanted to go back and spend more time in the pages of Charleston, SC, so I knew exactly what Colleen was feeling. Sharon (Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews) has read Dorothea’s novels before and is already a fan, and she raved about Lowcountry Summer:

"Lowcountry Summer is one of my favorites of Dorothea's books - the family dynamics are sharp and crackling, the women are strong and interesting, and the men make for nice window dressing - everything you'd want in a fabulous summer read!”

If you want to read what all of our bloggers participating in the Hit the Beach with Dorothea Benton Frank Read Along had to say about her novels, follow this link. And stay tuned—they’re all coming back with their reviews of Dorothea’s new hardcover, The Last Original Wife, on sale June 11, 2013.

Learn more about The Last Original Wife, and Dorothea’s other novels. Swing by her website.

Behind the Book with Award-Winning Author Daphne Kalotay, on her new novel, SIGHT READING

Daphne Kalotay is the critically acclaimed author of Russian Winter, and we’ve asked her to tell us about the story behind her elegant new novel, Sight Reading, which is on sale today. Sight Reading traces one love triangle as it shifts and falters over the span of two decades, all set against the rich backdrop of Boston’s classical music scene.

Book Club Girl: Each book has a different story behind it.  Could you tell us the background story of how you came to write Sight Reading? How did the idea for this novel originate?

Daphne Kalotay: In 2003, I wrote a short story called “The Replacement.” It was told from the point of view of a conservatory student, about what happens when the school’s conductor is suddenly replaced by a new arrival. I was recalling how one semester in college, our conductor abruptly left and was replaced by a very different personality. 

The characters in the short story quickly became quite different from the real-life ones, and I realized I needed to find out who they were; the next thing I knew, I was writing a story from the point of view of the replacement conductor—and then a story from the point of view of his wife. But I already had a book of linked stories [Calamity and Other Stories] and wanted to do something new, so I told myself I would turn the stories into a novella instead.

I had already begun writing my first novel, Russian Winter, a big project that often felt all-consuming, and told myself I could write the musician book “on the side”—that it would be short and simple. Whenever I hit a wall with Russian Winter, I’d return to this one; I thought that since it was set in Boston, a city I know well, and contemporary rather than historical, it would be much easier than Russian Winter. But of course no novel is easy to write. It wasn’t until 2011 that I finally sat down to revise it.

For more insight on Sight Reading, including an excerpt, a classical music playlist, and a reading group guide, visit www.DaphneKalotay.com.

 

Sutter Home Winery's May Book Club Selection: Have Mother, Will Travel!

Claire and Mia Fontaine’s moving memoir, Have Mother, Will Travel was selected by Sutter Home Winery as their book club pick for the month of May! Their bestselling memoir, Come Back, inspired readers with the story of Mia Fontaine's harrowing drug addiction and her mother, Claire's, desperate and ultimately successful attempts to save her. Now, a decade later, as Mia finds that adult life isn't all it's cracked up to be, Claire realizes that she forgot to plan for life after motherhood. Determined to transform themselves and a relationship that has frayed around the edges, the pair sets off on a five-month adventure through twenty cities and twelve countries: an extraordinary, often hilarious journey that includes mishaps, mayhem, and unexpected joys, from a passport-eating elephant in Malaysia to the lavender fields of France, where they finally make peace with their tumultuous past. Wiser for what they've learned from women in other cultures, and from each other, they return with a deepened sense of who they are and where they want to go.

Claire and Mia shared their recipe for a tomato tart that would pair well with Sutter Home’s Gerwurztraminer wine. This pairing is sure to be a hit at your next book club meeting!

Get Inspired! Inspire Others! Experience Neil Gaiman’s Make Good Art

About this time last year, Neil Gaiman gave the commencement address at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. He spoke about his own journey to success as a writer, and offered his advice to the graduating class on how they too can go out into the world and continue to create art. Gaiman’s speech was so inspiring that the YouTube video went viral and has nearly half a million combined views (it’s been posted more than once).

Gaiman’s fantastic speech is now available in a keepsake edition, beautifully designed by renowned graphic artist Chip Kidd. It’s gorgeous. When Make Good Art arrived on my desk a few weeks ago (seeing finished books before they’re on sale: one of the perks of the job!) I stopped everything and paged through it, cover to cover. Ah, now this is what it means to be a book: heavy paper stock, words on every page that ring true, a jacket design that insists on looking you full in the face (none of this spine-out nonsense). Clearly, Make Good Art was written to be read aloud, because I found myself reciting bits to myself as I turned the pages.

It’s natural to suggest Make Good Art as a gift for any graduate in your life. But this book would be just as apt a present for someone taking a new job, buying a new home, moving to a new town, or switching relationship status. Gaiman’s words are as encouraging as they are inspiring. After I read this book, I had the overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be alright.

I remember when my older cousin gave me Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree as a gift from high school graduation. More than 20 years later, I still have the copy that she inscribed for me. After I read Make Good Art, I could imagine myself inscribing copies of Gaiman’s book to the generations behind me, for years to come.

Experience Make Good Art yourself. Watch the video, or flip through a few of the pages. Here are the links to purchase from your favorite retailer, and like Neil Gaiman on Facebook to stay up-to-date with all his creative news.

What Jane Coxwell Read while Crossing the Oceans and Seas by Yacht

Jane Coxwell, author of the cookbook Fresh Happy Tasty: An Adventure in 100 Recipes (on sale today 5/14), has led a wonderfully itinerant life as a chef aboard various yachts for a decade. She currently works as chef aboard the Eos yacht, which sails for Diane von Furstenberg. In this guest blog post, Jane explains what it’s like being an avid reader and a book lover (and collector) when most of your life is spent far from home, and far from a bookstore.

Books of any kind are so special. They've always been a huge part of my life.

One of the things I'm most excited about when I settle down and have my own place on land is having all my books in one room. Right now they’re all over the world--in multiple storage units, in friends' basements, in the bilges of Eos, the yacht I work on. A few years ago I started a new habit: every time I bought a book, whether a cookbook, an autobiography, or even something instructional, I’ve written where and when I bought it, and so one day, when I do have all my books together, I'll be able to pull one from the shelf and it'll take me back to a particular place and time. 

On board all the yachts I've worked on, including Eos, we have a crew mess. It's where we have meals and meetings, and when we don't have guests on board, it's also where we come together to relax. In the crew mess we have a shelf of books that people have read and left for others, which is great, because we aren't often in places where one would be able to find an English bookstore, or even have an actual address to have books delivered if we bought them online.

Our Internet is often sketchy, especially when we’re doing ocean or sea crossings from one land to the next. So this little collection of books is great. Reading is the perfect escape on longer crossings. Some people set up hammocks on deck and read there, and some use their cabins.

A lot of my recipes are inspired by places I've traveled, such as Southeast Asia, Italy, and South America, and sometimes I like to tie my reading to wherever I am in the world. I received Just Kids by Patti Smith as we were making our way from the Caribbean to New York, and it was the perfect book to get me excited about seeing New York again. I loved it!

Another book that stands out to me was from fairly early in my yachting career when I spent some time off the coast of Corfu on a beautiful yacht called Paloma. Corfu was a beautiful and happy place, and I have such great memories of being there. After we left, my friend Tim gave me a copy of one of his favorite books, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. Just writing this makes me want to find a copy of that book and read it again. It's really wonderful--funny, charming, and it captures Corfu really well.

I also read a lot of cookbooks, of course, and so it was important for me to include little stories for each recipe, whether about the person who made me think of the dish, or another association. For example, when I'm trying to make my fellow crewmates happy, I'll make them a Thai green curry with all the trimmings. Food is so much about the experience of sharing, so I wanted to share what the recipes mean to me.

Learn more about Fresh Happy Tasty
Buy Fresh Happy Tasty 
Recipe: Lamb and Quinoa Koftas 
Recipe: Israeli Couscous with Shrimp and Zucchini 
Watch Jane’s video 
Like Jane on Facebook 
Follow Jane on Twitter 

Kim Wong Keltner Celebrates All the Moms in Our Lives - There are More than Just Our Own

Today's guest post comes from Kim Wong Keltner, author of Tiger Babies Strike Back: How I Was Raised by a Tiger Mom but Couldn't Be Turned to the Dark Side. Today, in honor of Mother's Day, Kim shares her thoughts and appreciation of all the mothers who raised us, and who raise our children, whether or not they are our actual mothers. 

I’ve been thinking of all the moms I knew as a kid and how they welcomed me into their homes. On weekends, or in the afternoons when their own kid and I would be doing homework or watching cartoons, I was secretly watching these women, too. I was unconsciously taking them in – their hairstyles, demeanor, and the way they talked to their children and me. Did they yell? Did they swear? Did they enjoy our company or tell us to pipe down? I took them in with my eyes and ears, and with my heart.

Also, I compared these women to my own mom. I did not by any means love them more than my own mother, not even close. However, for an afternoon or evening, or a semester or couple of years when their kid and I were hanging out, I was also close to them. Through these women I caught a glimpse of the domestic situations of other families. I did not realize it then, but it was a gift to be invited to live in their world for those brief, sometimes even mundane, moments.

I would watch Jill’s mom lug the laundry out the door, headed to the Laundromat up the street. When she would get home, I would know to not sit in her special kitchen chair. She would make dinner and as the water boiled for pasta she’d read her paperback novel while Top 40 tunes played on the clock radio. Similarly, I would steal glances at Barbra’s mother while we played elaborate games with our Barbie dolls. Amidst our General Hospital-esque melodramas, she would be vacuuming, paying bills, or doing the crossword puzzle.

I remember these moms and how they rounded out my ideas of what defined, “mother.” They were each different, but had things in common. They were all practical, juggling work and family life. They all made dinner, did the dishes, and unbeknownst to me then, were navigating their own femininity, friendships, and no doubt, occasional loneliness. And they each welcomed hordes of other people’s kids into their homes and offered snacks, comfort, and a break from our own family lives. These seldom-thanked moms were beacons of light for us kids as we dog-paddled through middle and high school.

Thank goodness for these mothers who were helping us, saving us, and showing us love, even if they or we were not even aware of this affection. I would traipse in and out of their homes like I owned the place, as did countless other kids. Their kindness lasted months, years, and even decades.

So on this Mother’s Day I want to say a big “Thank You” to the moms who mother their own as well as other people’s kids. Thanks for the sandwiches, the attentive words, and the rides to the basketball games. Thanks for just being there in the corner at the school dance, or working in the Snak Shak at the soccer match. No doubt you are busy with a hundred different tasks, responsibilities, and obligations, and yet there you are, still here for all of us. You are visible and available, a touchstone of safety. Moms, thanks for everything you do even when – especially when – you don’t even realize you are doing anything at all.

A battle hymn for every non-Tiger offspring of Tiger parents, Tiger Babies Strike Back examines why generations of kids have been made to feel inferior, isolated, suffocated, and humiliated in dogged pursuit of one goal: making their elders look good. In search of answers, Keltner delves into her own childhood, family history, and community traditions to expose the seamy underbelly of perfectionistic parenting. Can the Tiger-parented take back their emotional lives and love their own kids unconditionally? Keltner herself is living, hugging, fabulously flawed, Care Bear tea-party-throwing proof that they can. Read an excerpt of Tiger Babies Strike Back here. 

 

Guest Blogger: Sally Cabot on Benjamin Franklin's Bastard (the Book and the Man)

I never planned to write about Benjamin Franklin.  I was busy researching some other men and women who peopled eighteenth century America, and as I worked, out popped Benjamin Franklin, lurking around every turn, coming at me from the most unlikely places.  I soon discovered I knew a lot less than I thought about this arguably most famous American: Yes, he was a writer, a printer, an editor, an inventor, a philanthropist, a politician, and need it be said, a balding, overweight, and very clever old man.  But he was also a runaway indentured servant, a would-be swimming instructor, a lifelong slave-holder and an abolitionist, and, once upon a time, a tall, handsome, athletic, and dangerously charming young man, with an “inconvenient” fondness for low women that landed him with a common-law wife and an illegitimate son.

When I first read about William Franklin, Benjamin’s bastard son, and I learned that the identity of the child’s mother had never been unearthed, it was as if someone had handed me a familiar puzzle with several key pieces suddenly missing.  I wanted to find those missing pieces, complete the picture and gaze at it as a whole.  I wanted to know who that mother was, whether she was just one of Franklin’s “low women” or something more, whether she voluntarily gave up her child to Franklin, whether her son even knew her identity.  But as I began to read and dig, I discovered I needed to know others things as well:  Who was that bastard child who grew up to be one of the most notorious Americans of his time?  What was his real relationship with his father?  His mother? Who was this common-law wife who agreed to raise a “base-born brat,” as John Adams called him, and claim him as her own?  How did all these people fit into the puzzle that was Benjamin Franklin, a man I thought I’d thoroughly understood from the time I was twelve years old?

Recent historical discoveries provided answers to some of these questions, but as I got to know and like them more and more, some of the answers came out of the characters themselves.  They – and I – orbited around Franklin like planets orbiting the sun, never managing to draw too close or to pull too far away.

Despite the constant pushing and pulling, the constant challenge, you might imagine that any journey with Benjamin Franklin on board would turn into a fun ride, and this one surely did, but even so, neither Franklin nor I were able to rewrite the central family tragedy that remained.  The “what ifs” continue to haunt me today, as they surely haunted the father, the son, and the women who loved them.  As you read Benjamin Franklin’s Bastard you’re sure to form your own list of “what ifs” and come up with questions and answers that differ from mine, but isn’t that the joy of reading?  Enjoy the ride.      

The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read.—Benjamin Franklin

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Listen to Tonight's Book Club Girl on Air Show with Christina Baker Kline Discussing Orphan Train Now!

If you missed tonight's live broadcast, you can listen to our Orphan Train conversation with Christina Baker Kline now! Thanks to much for all who tuned in and to Christina for joining us. It was so interesting to hear about her inspiration for the book, her research and how readers are responding to. Not to mention the peek we got into her next (2) novels! Listen in now.

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Reminder! Christina Baker Kline is on Book Club Girl on Air Tonight to Discuss Orphan Train!

Just a reminder that tonight, Tuesday, May 7th, we are welcoming Christina Baker Kline to Book Club Girl on Air to discuss Orphan Train, her New York Times bestselling novel! Check out the reading group guide before the show, and if you haven’t read it already, start here with an excerpt. 

During the live show you can send in questions via the chat function (be sure to register on the site beforehand - choose the free option) or you can call in and ask Christina a question directly by dialing 347-945-6149. Set your reminder for tonight's show at 7 pm ET here and return to that same link to listen live!

Join Author Dorothea Benton Frank in a Facebook Chat Today, Monday May 6th, at 7pm

Dorothea Benton Frank, the New York Times bestselling author of Porch Lights, Folly Beach, and Lowcountry Summer (among others), is hosting a chat on her Facebook page tonight at 7 PM EST. Dorothea will be answering questions about Porch Lights, new in paperback, and also about her forthcoming The Last Original Wife (on sale June 11,2013). 

Read an excerpt of Porch Lights  and of The Last Original Wife to get a preview of Dorothea's hilarious stories set in on the beaches of the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry.

RSVP to the Facebook chat here, and swing back to Dorothea's page at 7 PM EST tonight to ask your questions and join in the conversation with other fans.

Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, is chatting on Goodreads today!

New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline is taking your questions all day today on Goodreads! You can find the live chat happening here.

Christina's newest book, Orphan Train, went on sale last month, and is already a book club favorite! You can read an excerpt here.

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adoles-cence of hard labor and servitude?

As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Trainis a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.

Christina Baker Kline is the author of several books including Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be, and Orphan Train. You can visit her website or like her on Facebook! Don't miss your chance to chat with her on Goodreads all day today.

The Kindness of Strangers is now available in ebook!

The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle is now available in ebook for the first time! In this critically acclaimed author's third novel, a suburban mother is forced to question everything she thought she knew about life when her family agrees to shelter a terrified young boy harboring unimaginable secrets.

“Who ever would’ve thought? They always seemed so nice. They were so normal looking.”

A quiet street in suburban Dayton, Ohio. A popular, seemingly stable family that keeps a terrible, dark secret behind closed doors.

In this emotionally compelling novel, Sarah Laden, a young widow and mother of two, becomes the foster mother to Jordan, a neightborhood boy who suffered repeated sexual abuse. The boy’s parents were close friends of Sarah’s, as well as respected members of their affluent community.

Now, not only must Sarah confront her confusion and horror about this shocking revelation, she must reconcile her own guilt and the sense of gratitude she still feels towards her former friends, who had helped Sarah immensely after her husband’s death.

Jordan will come to have a profound effect on each member of the Laden household and his presence in their home will cause every familial relationship to strain and change. But, eventually, his grieving helps the Ladens finally deal with their own long repressed grief. Helping Jordan, ultimately will help them all to heal and to rebuild the damaged places in this new, oddly formed family.

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For more Katrina Kittle, you can check her out on Facebook or on her website! You can also listen to this vintage edition of Book Club Girl on Air, in which Book Club Girl talked to Katrina about The Kindness of Strangers!

Hit the Beach (at least in your mind) with Dorothea Benton Frank’s Novel Porch Lights, Now in Paperback

In most of the country, it’s still too chilly to be basking in the sun on a sandy beach. (What was that snowfall in the Midwest this weekend, anyway?!) But that doesn’t mean we have to wait until Memorial Day to solve our beach problem. No, the solution is very simple: read the novels of Dorothea Benton Frank. They are without exception set in the sultry climes of the South Carolina Lowcountry, on islands with names like Folly, Bulls, Sullivans, Pawley’s and (my favorite) Palms.

The characters in Dorothea’s novels know they’ve got it good. They take advantage of all that warmth, sunshine and sand. They go for long morning walks along the beach, the waves tickling their toes. They bring their children or grandchildren to the shore to collect seashells and pebbles. In what I consider a no-brainer, they set up with a beach chair, a bottle of water, and a good book. And in Porch Lights, available this week in paperback, Jackie, Annie and Deb set up a bar on Annie’s porch most evenings, turn on the twinkle lights, and sip their way through the sunset. Sometimes Steve, the hot doctor who lives next door, joins them for a toast.

If I had neighbors as fun as that, I would never need to go on vacation again.

Let me rephrase: if I had a porch to use like that, I’d never go on vacation again.

It’s a long haul to June, July and August. For now, I’m setting up summer in my mind by reading Dorothea’s novels along with the bloggers who are participating in the Hit the Beach with Dorothea Benton Frank Readalong. Want to learn more about it, and possibly even join in? Readalong details and sign-up information can be found here.

Need a little visual to entice you? Watch this video of Dorothea giving us a tour of Sullivans Island.

Read an excerpt from Porch Lights.

Buy the book.

Like Dottie on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter. 

And keep your eyes on this blog for the next installment of the Hit the Beach with Dorothea Benton Frank Readalong! It can only get warmer between now and then!

Special Video Message from New York Times Bestselling Author Isabel Allende: On MAYA’S NOTEBOOK

On sale now, Maya's Notebook is the new “gripping*” suspense novel from internationally bestselling author Isabel Allende (O: The Oprah Magazine).

This contemporary coming-of-age story centers upon 19-year-old Maya Vidal, a remarkable teenager abandoned by her parents, who has grown up in Berkeley, California with her willful, outspoken, and wise Grandmother Nidia – affectionately known as Nini – and her gentle and beloved grandfather, Popo, who both help her navigate the turbulent waters of her adolescent years. When her Popo dies of cancer, Maya is devastated and goes completely off the rails, falling into a life of drugs, alcohol, and petty crime with her girlfriends, and ultimately landing in Las Vegas at the end of her downward spiral. Her
one chance for survival is Nini, who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile, where she records her thoughts in her notebook and tries to make sense of her past and unravel the mysteries of her family and her own life.

Recommended as “a must read” by Library Journal (starred review), Maya's Notebook is out this week, and we’re thrilled to share a special video message with you from Isabel herself:

Start reading Maya's Notebook now!

Ask Wiley Cash—Live Chat Event Tomorrow!

Join beloved New York Times bestselling author Wiley Cash for a live chat event this Wednesday April 24^th  at 7:30 pm ET. Wiley will be answering all of your questions and we will also be giving away 10 signed copies of his novel A Land More Kind Than Home; so be sure to tune in! Click here to set an email reminder.

For a curious boy like Jess Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when you get caught spying on grown-ups. Adventurous and precocious, Jess is protective of his older brother, Christopher, a mute whom everyone calls Stump. Though their mother has warned them not to snoop, Stump can't help sneaking a look at something he's not supposed to—an act that will have repercussions. It's a wrenching event that thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he's not prepared. He now knows that a new understanding can bring not only danger and evil—but also the possibility of freedom and deliverance.

Told by resonant and evocative characters, A Land More Kind Than Home is a haunting tale of courage in the face of cruelty and the power of love to overcome the darkness that lives in us all.

Serve Daphne Oz’s Grapefruit Thyme Spritz Cocktail the Next Time You Host Book Club and Wow Your Friends!

I am a big fan of Daphne Oz. Not only is she a bubbly and gracious co-host of The Chew, but she is also the author of The Dorm Room Diet and of Relish.  In Relish, Daphne gives us recipes and tips and techniques to help us live our best lives right now. 

Relish is about savoring the moments of our day today, instead of waiting for everything to click into place before we can start enjoying things. One way I put this principle into practice for myself was by joining a book club. I wanted to spend more time with a certain group of girlfriends, and I wanted to read more for myself (mostly I read for work). Now, every six weeks I gather with my girlfriends and discuss our latest book club pick. (This month we’re reading Ian McEwan’s Sweet Tooth.)

While the jury’s still out on Sweet Tooth, I know two things for sure: Relish is a book I will turn to over and over for recipes and guidance; and I will be mixing up (and relishing) Daphne’s Grapefruit Thyme Spritz cocktail at book club this month. I think you should, too! Here’s the recipe.

To get more of Daphne’s recipes, ideas and delightful attitude towards life, follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.  If you’d like a more tangible piece of a life worth relishing, we suggest you buy yourself (and everyone in your book club) a copy of Relish! You can order from your favorite retailer, here. 

Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, is coming to Book Club Girl on Air!

In honor of the publication of Orphan Train, we are happy to announce that Christina Baker Kline will be coming to Book Club Girl on Air! Join us on May 7th at 7 PM EST to hear Christina chatting about the book that Library Journal called "A compelling story about loss, adaptability, and courage."

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adoles-cence of hard labor and servitude?

As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Trainis a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.

We have 10 copies of Orphan Train to give to 10 people who comment that they can participate in our show on Tuesday, May 7th at 7 pm EST. We'll pick 10 random commenters from anyone who posts by 11:59pm Friday, April 19.

We look forward to hearing from you during our live book discussion with Christina Baker Kline on May 7th! Send in questions during the live show via the chat function (be sure to register on the site beforehand - choose the free option) or you can call in and ask her a question directly by dialing 347-945-6149. If you can’t join us, post your question in the comments section below, and we’ll ask Jacqueline on air.

For more details on Christina Baker Kline, visit her website. In preparation for the show, start reading Orphan Train now.

Dana Sachs, Author of The Secret of the Nightingale Palace, Live Chat Today on Goodreads!

Join author Dana Sachs for a live chat today on Goodreads.  She will be discussing her recent novel, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace, a poignant story of an estranged grandmother and granddaughter and a secret that ties them together. She will be joined by friend and fellow author Joshua Henkin, author of The World Without You. Get the story behind Dana’s new book and learn all about her own eccentric grandmother whose bold, energetic personality inspired the grandmother character, Goldie as well as her own connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The conversation will be ongoing throughout the day. All you need to do is visit their public forum on Goodreads to join in.

Dana Sachs is the author of the novel If You Lived Here and two books of nonfiction, The House on Dream Street: Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam and The Life We Were Given: Operation Babylift, International Adoption, and the Children of War in Vietnam. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, with her husband and two sons.

Book Club Girl Baker's Dozen Spotlight: Barbara Kingsolver, Isabel Allende, and Katrina Kittle

Right now but only until 4/16, you can nab some great reads for $1.99 from 13 book club favorite authors like Barbara Kingsolver, Isabel Allende, and Katrina Kittle:

“The work of a visionary. . . . It leaves you open-mouthed and smiling.”
   —Los Angeles Times

“A lively first novel...an easy book to enjoy.”
   —The New Yorker

Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

Read an excerpt!
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“Allende is a master storyteller at the peak of her powers.” 
—Los Angeles Times

Born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue—the daughter of an African mother she never knew and a white sailor who brought her into bondage—Zarité, known as Tété, survives a childhood of brutality and fear, finding solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and in her exhilarating initiation into the mysteries of voodoo.

When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, he discovers that running his father's plantation is neither glamorous nor easy. Marriage also proves problematic when, eight years later, he brings home a bride. But it is his teenaged slave, Tété, upon whom Valmorain becomes most dependent, as their lives intertwine across four tumultuous decades.

Read an excerpt
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“[A] beautifully crafted novel….A must-read not only for animal lovers, but for anyone who has found the courage to come back from heartbreak and find love again, without reservation, without fear.”
—Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants

From Katrina Kittle, critically acclaimed author of The Kindness of Strangers, comes a wry and moving story of forgiveness, flexibility, happiness, and the art of moving on.

Veterinarian Cami Anderson has hit a rough patch. Stymied by her recent divorce, she wonders if there are secret ingredients to a happy, long-lasting marriage or if the entire institution is outdated and obsolete. Couples all around her are approaching important milestones. Her parents are preparing to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. Her brother and his partner find their marriage dreams legally blocked. Her former sister-in-law—still her best friend—is newly engaged. The youthfully exuberant romance of her teenage daughter is developing complications. And three separate men—including her ex-husband—are becoming entangled in Cami's messy post-marital love life.

But as she struggles to come to terms with her own doubts amid this chaotic circus of relationships, Cami finds strange comfort in an unexpected confidant: an angry, unpredictable horse in her care. With the help of her equine soul mate, she begins to make sense of marriage's great mysteries—and its disconnects.

Read an excerpt!
Visit Katrina's website
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To see the full list of down-priced eBooks, visit Book Club Girl on Facebook.

Book Club Girl Baker's Dozen Spotlight: Marisa de los Santos and Claire & Mia Fontaine

Right now but only until 4/16, you can nab some great reads for $1.99 from 13 book club favorite authors like Marisa de los Santos and Claire and Mia Fontaine:

“Marisa de los Santos’s Belong to Me is my favorite discovery of the past years: a terrific page-turner that’s also poignant, funny, surprising and deeply heartfelt.”
—Harlan Coben
 
“Complex, engaging, and surprisingly moving.”
—Boston Globe

Everyone has secrets. Some we keep to protect ourselves, others we keep to protect those we love.

Cornelia Brown surprised herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to move with her husband to the suburbs. Her mettle is quickly tested by her impeccably dressed, overly judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt—the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she'd find in suburbia. With Lake, another recent arrival, Cornelia shares a love of literature and old movies—as she forms an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman and her perceptive, brilliant young son, Dev. But there are shocking secrets and unexpected surprises lurking beneath the peaceful veneer of suburban life—and nothing is quite what it seems.

Read an excerpt!
Like Marisa on Facebook

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The unflinching true account of a teenage girl’s descent into society’s underbelly—and her mother’s desperate and ultimately successful attempts to bring her back.

In powerful parallel stories, mother and daughter give mesmerizing first-person accounts of the nightmare that shattered their family and the amazing journey they took to find their way back to each other. Claire Fontaine's relentless cross-country search for her missing child and ultimate decision to force her into treatment in Eastern Europe is a gripping tale of dead ends, painful revelations, and, at times, miracles. Mia Fontaine describes her refuge in the seedy underworld of felons and addicts as well as the jarring shock of the extreme, if loving, school
that enabled her to overcome depression and self-loathing. Both women detail their remarkable process of self-examination and healing with humor and unsparing honesty.

Come Back is an unforgettable true story of love and transformation that will resonate with mothers and daughters everywhere.

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To see the full list of down-priced eBooks, visit Book Club Girl on Facebook.

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight: The next Gone Girl?

“Like Gone Girl, it should be hailed as one of the best books of the year.” Entertainment Weekly on Reconstructing Amelia

Reconstructing Amelia is a stunning debut page-turner told in alternating voices of a daughter and mother, that unfolds the secrets and lies in the world of a teenager and tells the story of love and betrayal, trusted friends and vicious enemies—of how much a parent really knows a child . . . and how far a mother will go to vindicate the memory of a daughter whose life she could not save.

When Kate, single mother and law firm partner, gets an urgent phone call summoning her to her daughter's exclusive private school, she's shocked. Amelia has been suspended for cheating, something that would be completely out of character for her over-achieving, well-behaved daughter.

Kate rushes to Grace Hall, but what she finds when she finally arrives is beyond comprehension.

Her daughter Amelia is dead.

Despondent over having been caught cheating, Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of impulsive suicide. At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. In a state of shock and overcome by grief, Kate tries to come to grips with this life-shattering news. Then she gets an anonymous text:

She didn't jump.

The moment she sees that message, Kate knows in her heart it's true. Clearly Amelia had secrets, and a life Kate knew nothing about. Wracked by guilt, Kate is determined to find out what those secrets were and who could have hated her daughter enough to kill. She searches through Amelia's e-mails, texts, and Facebook updates, piecing together the last troubled days of her daughter's life.

Jennifer McMahon calls Reconstructing Amelia “A heart wrenching story of secrets and betrayal.”  Check out the Reading Guide and use the discussion points to help steer the conversation when you meet with your book club!

Read an Excerpt!
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