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

Welcome to the Blogosphere Harper Library!

Everbody at work is blogging and twittering these days, I only hope we can all still get our work done...In addition to the aforementioned Cal, the Harper Library team has started Library Lovefest, a blog dedicated to all their library shenanigans, and believe me, this group has some fun. Just to prove it, all this week they're giving away books, today, most appropriately, they're giving away the novel The Ladies Lending Library. And there's still time to get in on the Michael Chabon giveaway from yesterday too! So head on over and enter to win! You can also follow the library team on Twitter.

Our Book Club Girl on Air Show with Judith Hendricks is Tuesday Night!

Just a reminder that tomorrow at 7 pm EST on Book Club Girl on Air we'll be talking to Judith Ryan Hendricks about her new book, The Laws of Harmony! Set your reminder for the show here and tune in to listen and ask questions live at 7! If you can't make the live show, but have questions for Judi, please send them to me at book club girl AT gmail DOT com. For more ideas, check out the reading group guide here. You can always listen to the show after it airs here. Talk to you tomorrow night!

Celebrating the Short Story, One Week at a Time

Here's a cool New Year's resolution you can make in March -- commit to reading one short story a week for an entire year. And now there's a blog that will deliver exactly that to you, once a week, not more often, and not less. Fifty-Two Stories with Cal Morgan comes from Harper Perennial (ok, yes, I know a few people there) and is part of their yearlong celebration of the short story. Later this year they'll be publishing exciting new short fiction by contemporary writers along with new editions of short stories by classic writers such as Willa Cather and Oscar Wilde.

This week's story on Fifty-Two Stories comes from Carol Windley's collection, Home Schooling. "What Saffi Knew" asks the questions all children would if they could. This could also be a great book club activity for the month. Rather than pick one book, have everyone read a story a week for a month, and then gather together to discuss the four stories you all read. Check it out and tune in this Sunday for the next installment! (I also love that this is a blog you need only check once a week!)

Mary Kay Andrews on Book Club Girl on Air!

I'm thrilled to announce that the next Book Club Girl on Air show (after next week's show with Judith Ryan Hendricks discussing The Laws of Harmony) will feature Mary Kay Andrews, discussing her hilarious new novel in paperback, Deep Dish!

After years of hard work, Gina Foxton, chef extraordinaire and former runner-up Miss Teen Vidalia Onion, is hosting her own show, Fresh Start, on Georgia public television. She's also dating the producer. But when Fresh Start goes bad—and her boyfriend is caught in flagrante delicto with the boss's wife—Gina decides it's time to pursue bigger dreams. Namely a gig on national television. Gina knows she's destined to be the Cooking Channel's next superstar. But the execs also have their eyes on Tate Moody, Mr. "Kill It and Grill It" himself, host of the hunting, fishing, and cooking show Vittles. The ultimate man's man, Tate is a tasty side of beef with a large, swooning female fan base. Gina's loyal devotees consist of her free-spirited college-dropout sister and her mother . . . who calls every single day. When the smoke clears there can be only one TV chef standing, and Gina and Tate are ready for the cook-off of their lives.

Browse inside the book here and set your reminder for the show here. The first 15 people to comment that they'd like to participate in the show on Wednesday, March 25th at 7 pm EST will receive a copy of Deep Dish.

Win a Copy of Jodi Picoult's New Book Handle with Care!

I have ten copies of Jodi Picoult's next bestseller, Handle with Care to give away. Read my previous post to find out more about her latest compelling and heartbreaking novel. The ten copies will be given out by a random drawing.

Enter to win by
1) posting a comment here about why you love Jodi Picoult
2) Get two entries by commenting AND posting about this contest on another blog
3) Get three entries by commenting, posting on another blog AND tweeting about the contest

Ideally, include links to your post and/or tweet on the initial comment. Follow me on Twitter, so I can follow you!

Ten winners will be chosen from all entries received by midnight March 5th! Good luck!

Jodi Picoult's New Novel Handle With Care is On Sale Tuesday!

If it's March, it's time for a new Jodi Picoult novel and she does not disappoint--Handle with Care, her new novel, is on sale today! In Handle with Care, Picoult gives us a couple dealing with the severe impairment of their daughter Willow, who of course also brings them great joy. When a series of events causes them to examine what they might have done had they known of their daughter's illness before her birth, they each come face to face with questions that no one wants to answer, much less be asked. In her signature style, Picoult asks all of us to confront what we would do when confronted with one of life's most difficult choices.

Check out the reading group guide, which includes a Q&A with Jodi about the novel and how she came to write it and catch her on tour near you!

Book Club Girl Returns to Work, As Long as Nature and NJ Transit Accomodate Her

So yes, tomorrow is my big return to work from maternity leave. I'm pretty excited actually, it's definitely easier to go back the second time around, especially because we have an amazing babysitter. Now the weather is not exactly working with me, with about a foot of snow predicted. NJ Transit is not known for rolling with the weather punches, so my return could be delayed a tad. My main concern is getting back home on time in the evening to my hungry daughter.

So all day, all I've been able to think of bookwise is Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It, the hilarious and heartfelt Bridget Jones-for-the working-mom-novel. When it was first published I was still single and childless (though engaged and about to become a full-time stepmom) and I remember how much I enjoyed it while it also STRESSED me out. Five years and two more kids later, I now know "how she does it," not perfectly, but humanly, as long as she cuts herself, and her family, a fair amount of slack. So back to the (paid) workforce I go!