Book Club Girl

October is National Reading Group Month!

The Women's National Book Association has named October "National Reading Group Month" with 2007 being the inaugural year. Events celebrating reading groups and the love and value of shared reading are planned in NYC, Boston, San Francisco, New Jersey, Nashville, Detroit and LA, with favorite book club authors including Adriana Trigiani, Jennifer Haigh, Beth Gutcheon, Jamie Saul, Wally Lamb, Hillary Carlip, and Beth Lisick. See the full schedule of events here.

Oprah's New Book to be Announced Next Week!

Tune in next Friday, October 5th to find out Oprah's new book club pick!

Banned Books Reminder

If you didn't take my suggestion to pick a banned book to discuss if your group meets during Banned Book Week (Sept. 29th - Oct. 6th), it starts tomorrow, so celebrate the week by choosing a banned book for next month!

Book Club Girl is Off to Providence RI for the New England Booksellers Association Conference

I'm off for a day trip to Providence, RI tomorrow to attend the New England Independent Booksellers Association Conference. Among the authors I hope to meet are Gregory Maguire, winner of the 2007 New England Book Award and author of Wicked; Richard Russo, author of the newly released Bridge of Sighs; Scott Heim, author of Mysterious Skin; Kate Morgenroth (an old colleague!), author of They Did it for Love; and Geraldine Brooks, author of The Year of Wonders. I hope to report back on lots of great books for your reading groups.

Diane Rehm's Listeners Sink their Teeth into Dracula

Just in time for Halloween, Diane Rehm invites her audience to read Dracula by Bram Stoker. The discussion is set to take place on October 24th, one week before Draculas and their kind show up on your front stoop.

Book Club Favorite Ann Patchett's New Novel is On Sale Today!

Book groups everywhere fell in love with her novel Bel Canto and have been eagerly awaiting the new novel from Ann Patchett. Run is on sale today and has already received a glowing review in the New York Times. Run is the story of the Doyle family. The father, now widowed, is a former mayor of Boston and since his wife's death, a single father to their two adopted African-American sons (he and his wife had their own son who is the now the grown, black sheep of the family). An accident during a blinding snowstorm brings a woman and her young daughter into the care of the Doyle family, and uncovers secrets from the past. The novel is told over the course of a single day and is an amazing testament to what it means to be a family and to what we will do to protect our children. This is not a novel to be missed. You can listen to an interview between Patchett and Harper Collins Publisher Jonathan Burnham here, and here is an excerpt from the novel itself.

Patchett's two earlier novels, Taft and The Patron Saint of Liars, have also been reissued with new P.S. sections. Find Ann Patchett on tour.

Thumbs Up for Jane Austen Book Club

Well, I haven't actually seen it yet (I took my 12-year-old to her first Yankee game instead, an equally-if-not-more-important milestone/outing) but the New York Times confirmed the buzz that we've all been hearing in this favorable review of Robin Swicord's adaptation of The Jane Austen Book Club. The movie opened last night in NY and LA, and opens wider in the next few weeks. Check out the movie site for showtimes, trailer and to enter to win a trip to Jane Austen's England.

Exclusive Oprah Video Interview with Jeffrey Eugenides Now Online!

Members of Oprah's Book Club (you can sign up easily on her site) can view not only her tv interview with the author of her current book club pick, Middlesex, but also see exclusive video of what happened after the show!

My Book Group Met Last Night to Discuss Water for Elephants

My book group met last night to discuss Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants (resources). It was a really good discussion (fueled by excellent brownies)and many were impressed by the amount of research Gruen had done and how she had woven that into the fabric of the story. Some wondered what she had written before this book and I mentioned her two previous novels. We also voted on our new book and it was a heated session. The candidates were:
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen

It came down to Devil in the White City and The Emperor's Children in the final round, where we found ourselves with what looked like an unbreakable tie. We postponed final voting until we discussed Water (and everyone had a chance to have a little more wine) and by our final vote, we landed on The Emperor's Children. All the resources for The Emperor's Children can be found in my first post about the book. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Book Club Girl's Big Movie Premiere

Last night I went to the big premiere of Brad Pitt's new movie, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, based on the PEN/Faulkner nominated novel of the same name by Ron Hansen. What a night! The crowd was star-studded, of course. My husband saw George Clooney, bearded and with a lovely lady in tow, several other colleagues saw Brad and Angelina and I saw one of my favorite Daily Show contributors, John Hodgman.

The movie, for which Brad picked up the Best Actor nod at the Venice Film Festival, is very intense. Early reviews have likened it to the best westerns of the '70s, like McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and it really did have that feel. Casey Affleck delivers a compelling breakout performance, he is incredible as the "coward" Robert Ford and should, I think, be just as eligible for a Best Actor nom as Pitt, but I suspect they'll submit him for Supporting Actor. Brad is chilling as Jesse James and is often literally weighted down by the legend he has become. The film covers the years after the James Gang's heyday and nearly all the characters move like men both haunted and hunted. The movie was shot beautifully, kudos to cinematographer Roger Deakins.

The film opens in NY, LA, Austin and Toronto on Friday and in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and DC on October 5th.

The tie-in trade paperback, with a new P.S. section in which Hansen writes about what it was like to watch his book be transformed into film (he was on the set for the shooting) is available now.

What's One of Your Favorite Books that You Want to Tell Everyone About?

I think we've all had this experience: we read a book that touches us in such a fundamental way, that we can't NOT tell everyone we know about it, and if it isn't a major bestseller, we can't understand why (this second emotion might happen more of course if you work in the publishing industry). That book, for me, is Light of Day, by Jamie Saul. Yes, it's a book we publish, but that is not why I love it. In fact, I avoided reading this book for quite a while, given the subject matter. It's about (and I'm giving nothing away here, as it happens in the first pages) a single father (Jack Owens) whose seemingly happy, well-adjusted, teenage son kills himself. The novel charts Jack's search to understand what happened and why, and Saul paints an achingly accurate portrait of parental love.

Whenever I heard the plot, I thought, "oh no, I can't read that book," but when I did, urged by so many others who loved it, I was tranpsorted. I read it in just a few days, sequestering myself at work one morning because I hadn't finished it on the way to work, and could not start my day without reading to the end. Because, although you know what happens from the beginning, the story of Jack's journey and grief reads like a mystery, and you find yourself racing to the end to understand why this tragedy occured and to see if and how Jack will come to terms with it.

Jamie Saul is available to call in to reading groups, you can email me at bookclubgirl AT gmail DOT com to request him. And, if you email me at that same address and and tell me about the book in your own life that you recommend to everyone you know, I'll send you a copy of Light of Day.

Interview with Philippa Gregory

Bone up before this weekend's live web event with Philippa Gregory with this interview with the favorite book club author, including her thoughts on what it's like to watch her Other Boleyn Girl be transformed into film. There's still time to sign up for Sunday's event, and there's more information on Gregory for your reading group at my first post here.

Reading Group Choices 2008 Edition is Here!

The 2008 edition of Reading Group Choices, put out by the folks behind the website of the same name, is filled with 60 new book group recommendations along with insightful questions and conversation-starters. You can order your copy here, with discounts given for multiple orders, so everyone in your reading group can have a copy! Previous edtions, back to 2004, are also still available. This is a great resource for choosing and discussing the newest and best book club titles, as is the site, which you'll always find in our resource section to the right.

Book Groups Connect with Authors at Reader's Circle

I can't believe I hadn't heard of Reader's Circle before. It took a great author meeting at work today to introduce me to it and I feel completely remiss that I haven't shared it with all of you. Reader's Circle is a wonderful resource for book groups, and what is unique about this site is that they offer book groups a way to connect with (currently 139) authors to arrange for half hour phone chats! They also help readers find one another no matter where you live to start up, or bulk up, your own reading group.

And as for the authors who turned me onto it, they're Claire and Mia Fontaine, mother and daughter, respectively, whose collaborative memoir Come Back is a fantastic reading group selection. In it, they recount the story of Mia's descent into drug addiction as a teenager, and her mother's fight to literally do anything to bring her back. It is a completely unique experience to read because you see the story from each of their very different perspectives. The book was a Target Book Club selection and since then has been igniting the book club scene. Here are resources for Come Back, and Reader's Circle will be added to the resource list at the right.

Come Back Reading Group Resources:
Excerpts
Reading Group Guide
Authors' Website
Claire's blog
Mia's MySpace page
Target's Bookmarked Feature, with recipes, video and more

Book Club Girls Everywhere Mourn Madeleine L'Engle

I'm sure I'm not the only book club girl saddened at the news of Madeleine L'Engle's death this past Thursday. So many of us were raised on her classic A Wrinkle in Time. As one of my friends wrote: "I love Harry Potter, but Meg Murray will always be first in my heart." This same friend and I reminisced about how much we loved her Austin family series, which begins with Meet the Austins, and includes one of my favorite novels of all time (you should see my extremely tattered copy with the cover completely torn off) A Ring of Endless Light. If you missed this series as a youth, I urge you to pick it up. And don't miss The Arm of the Starfish, an Austin-related novel.

Here is the first stanza of the poem that inspired the title of A Ring of Endless Light, The World by Henry Vaughn:

I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great Ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright
And round beneath it, Time is hours, days, years
Driven by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov'd, in which the world
And her train were hurl'd;
The doting lover in his quaintest strain
Did there complain,
Near him, his lute, his fancy, and his flights,
Wit's sour delights,
With gloves, and knots the silly snares of pleasure
Yet his dear treasure
All scatter'd lay, while he his eyes did pour
Upon a flower.

First Review in for Jane Austen Book Club Film

Here's a review of the film, from the Toronto Film Festival going on right now. I like this part of the review, a fabulous justification for all our reading groups: "[Director] Swicord seems to be intimating something about the need for connection -- there's a variety of group activities going on in the background of The Jane Austen Book Club, from dog shows to live-action role playing, from high school theater productions to skydiving expeditions. It's suggested that having a little more of that in our lives might be a good thing for both us and society."

Nicely put. And...there's a contest on the movie site as well, to win a Jane Austen Tour of England, a tour normally available only to members of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), with exclusive access to historic homes in the towns that Jane frequented.

Win an Advance Screening of The Kite Runner in Your Town!

The official website for the film adaptation of The Kite Runner is now up and it is full of fabulous contests. Enter to win an advance screening of the film in your town, tickets to the LA premiere or dinner with Khaled Hosseini himself! And these aren't just random drawings. Paramount will award prizes to winning clubs who form via their site. It's a virtual book club surrounding one of the biggest reading group books of the past few years. A no brainer!

Apple.com has also posted the new HD version of the trailer. Not sure if this means you need some souped up computer to view it in all its HD glory, but even if it does, it's a don't-miss in any format.

The Book Club Cookbook

Fall has arrived, the kids are back at school (or at least, will be tomorrow for me) the weather is getting cooler and suddenly, wine and cheese alone doesn't seem like enough for your next book group gathering. Wondering what to prepare when it's your turn to host? The Book Club Cookbook is the best resource to rescue you. Not only is it chockful of recipes, authors Judy Gelman and Vicky Levy Krupp have paired their favorite book club books with appropriately inspired delicacies. Who can resist the sound of:
Ambrosia with To Kill a Mockingbird
Britta's Crab Casserole with The Hours
Honey Cake with The Secret Life of Bees
and, well, here's one last nod to summer: Mint Juleps with The Great Gatsby

Their site is full of resources and ideas for your book group as well. Check it out!

New Target Book Club Pick Announced -- Summer People by Brian Groh

The new Target Book Club Pick has been announced and perhaps to help us prolong these summer days, it is Summer People by Brian Groh. This is a wonderful novel about a young man in his twenties, who is plunked down in an insular (to say the least) Maine summer town as caretaker to an elderly matriach of the community. Nathan finds himself face-to-face with long-standing traditions and social morays and meets a woman he's interested in, all while struggling with his charge's increasingly eccentric ways in this compelling novel.

Target provides great book club resources including a book overview, reviews, an author interview and letter, as well as a book club discussion guide on their site.

Two Thumbs Up for Becoming Jane

As you can see, I'm catching up on my movies this week. Last night I finally saw Becoming Jane (at the historic Town Hall Theater in Wilton, NH) and I really liked it. I thought Anne Hathaway did a terrific job and of course was supported by the usual cast of excellent British actors. I loved seeing the seeds of Austen's characters in the people in her life. Surely Lady Gresham is a model for Lady Catherine de Bourg and I imagine that Mr. Darcy is who Jane wished Mr. Wisley could have been, had he had more wit and imagination about him. One can understand as well how after being betrayed by John Warren, Austen would write with such contempt about Mr. Collins. And Tom's niece Lucy seemed a model for the younger, sillier Bennet girls. The film's website has some nice book club resources, including a quiz and a reading guide to the book the film is based on (look under links and downloads).

Penguin/Orange Broadband Readers' Group Winner Announced!

Congratulations to Books on the Broad, winners of the Penguin/Orange Broadband Readers' Group Prize! The prize is awarded annually to a reading group in the UK that "illustrates individuality, reflects diversity of reading choices and demonstrates the pleasure of shared reading." This year's winning group is from Oxford and as part of their prize, they win a visit from author Naomi Alderman, author of Disobedience. You can read about that encounter here and find the reading group guide to the book here.

Earlier this month Penguin/Orange Broadband announced that The Kite Runner was the #1 Reading Group Pick in the UK for the second year in a row.