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

Making its Way to the Top of My Summer Reading Pile

Everyone seems to be asking me what my summer reading list looks like. It's rather funny because they want to know what my beach read will be. Beach reads...beach reads...I remember those, oh so fondly, but as the mom of a 3 year old and a 5 month old, I'm not sure when I will next loll on a beach reading a book uninterrupted. Between sand castles, digging holes and my ever-growing fear of waves and undertows, it may be QUITE a long time. Perhaps I can revise "beach read" to "deck read" as that's a more likely place for me to catch some time to read, while the kids are napping. So what's on my summer reading/deck read list? Well, I'll reveal it slowly, but at the top is a book I feel like I'm already late in reading, Kathryn Sockett's The Help

In her novel, Sockett tells the story of 22-year-old Skeeter, who has returned home after graduating college. Her mother would like her to get married, but Skeeter wants to know where Constantine, the maid who raised her, has gone, and no one is telling her. It's also the story of Abilene, a black maid who has raised 17 white children and having just lost her own son, is feeling as though she cannot go on as she has for so many years. Lastly there's Minny, Abilene's best friend, who's short, fat and sassy and unable to hold her tongue. As a result, she can't hold down a job and has just found one with a new arrival in town, who has secrets of his own. Skeeter, Abilene and Minny will come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk because they are all suffocated by the time they're living in, and the roles that society demands they fill.

This description makes me want to dive right into The Help, and I can't wait to suggest it at my next book club meeting. You can read an excerpt of it here, and check out the reading guide here. If you've already read it, I'd love to hear what you thought of it!

Summer May Be Over but Barefoot Will Keep Your Feet in the Sand Just a Little Bit Longer

There's a paperback that's been topping bestseller lists lately, and that usually means it's being adopted by book clubs across the country. It's got a cover that says "beach read" but as September rolls on, I personally would love to have a reminder of days spent with my feet dug into the sand. Elin Hilderbrand's Barefoot tells the story of three women spending the summer together in Nantucket, each one at a crossroads in life. They come together in a small cottage, with children and issues in tow and attempt to work out their future paths. It sounds like a great book to discuss in book group. You can read more here, listen to an excerpt of the book here, learn more about author Elin Hilderbrand here and check out the reading group guide.

Book Club Girl Goes to the Beach

We're at the beach for a week, on beautiful Long Beach Island in NJ. Going on summer vacation always reminds me of the books I've read on past vacations. It was during one stormy week here on LBI that I first read Sebastian Junger's Perfect Storm (which was such an appropriate setting). Continuing the disaster genre that vacation, I also read Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Then there was the summer where my friends and I all discovered Richard Ford, reading The Sportswriter and Independence Day back-to-back. I'm not sure what this week's reads will be yet, I brought a pile to choose from. More on that later. Wear sunscreen and a hat!

Speaking of Beach Reads, This One Comes with a Towel!

I first wrote about Ann Brashares first book for grownups, The Last Summer (of You and Me), last year. As a big fan of Brashares' Traveling Pants series, I was so excited to read her first foray into more grown-up fare. And I wasn't disappointed. The Last Summer is now out in paperback and I have five copies to give away along with five special Last Summer beach towels! I'll choose five random winners from everyone who posts a comment on their favorite summer read of all time - the one you've never forgotten.

My favorite summer read would have to be The Thorn Birds, which I found in a house I was renting with some friends and realized I had never read. I almost devoured it in full that weekend, and was guilted into leaving it behind in the house by a super ethical friend. That Monday I scoured NYC looking for another used copy (somehow, I had to continue reading an old musty hardcover edition, new wasn't going to cut it).

I'm looking forward to hearing about all of your favorites! And for fellow Traveling Pants fans, the second movie comes out on August 6th. Check out the trailer below.

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Calling All NYC Book Club Girls - and Guys

If you're in the area, come out tonight to celebrate the publication of Jessica Anya Blau's debut novel about growing up in the '70s with hippie parents -- The Summer of Naked Swim Parties. If you were a teen in the 70s, or even a preteen, you will find much to identify with in this engaging novel. It's the perfect summer beach read. Join us, if you can, at McNally Robinson tonight at 7pm, 52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry. Not in NY? See if you can catch Blau on tour near you. Read a bit of the book here, here's the reading group guide and below is a great promotional video for the book.

Book Club Panel Held Today at NY Public Library

I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel today at the NY Public Library discussing book clubs with librarians from Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx and it was such a terrific experience. The panel was moderated by Carol Fitzgerald, creator of ReadingGroupGuides.com, the absolute go-to resource for reading groups. On the panel with me were Victoria Lustbader, author of the newly released Stone Creek, which many of you commented on here, as well as Elizabeth Noble, whose most recent novel is Things I Want My Daughters to Know.

We had a wonderful time discussing the strength of women's fiction published this year, like the two books above, and also about all the great books we've read in our book clubs and how we've responded to different titles. We learned so much from the librarians in the audience--they were one of the most informative, enlightened and energized group of readers I've been around in a while!

Elizabeth, who is also the author of course, of The Reading Group, so she's heard a lot of book group stories, had a great way of describing the different types that one finds in a book group -- they either, she said, read to learn, to think or to feel. I thought this was such an interesting comment and it made me think about which type of reader I am. The learner will often nominate a nonfiction book or something that when she reads it, is going to teach her a lot, she wants to spend her time reading also learning. The feeler wants to read about emotions and people's lives and wants to care deeply about the people she's reading about. And the thinker wants to ponder higher more complex issues and in a way, is a bit of an amalgam of both the learner and the feeler. Victoria insightfully commented that the reason that historical fiction is so popular is that it allows us to both learn and feel. (Check out Victoria's first novel, Hidden, a historical novel set in 1920s NYC). I personally think that's why historical fiction has been so popular in my group.

Which type of reader do you think you are? Tell me which and why in the comments and you'll be entered to win a copy of both Stone Creek and Things I Want My Daughters to Know along with a great tote to take them to the beach this summer.

And speaking of summer reading, our host the NY Public Library has just launched a website for summer reading that addresses every member of your family -- from toddlers to adults! Check it out.

10 Works of Literary Fiction to Impress

Clearly it's list time. The NY Post featured this list of ten books to impress fellow riders on your subway car, but you don't have to live in a city to enjoy these works and impress people on the bus, in the lunchroom, on the beach, at the pool or just waiting at the doctor's office. This is a great line up of books to help you plan your summer reading. The dates following each is when they're on sale. Check out the article for descriptions of each book.
1. The Condition by Jennifer Haigh, 7/1 -- check out the sneak peek below at the right
2. The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus, 6/2
3. The Other by David Guterson, 6/3
4. Beijing Coma by Ma Jian, 6/4
5. Dinosaurs on the Roof by David Rabe, 6/10
6. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, 6/10
7. My Sister, My Love by Joyce Carol Oates, 6/24
8. When We Were Romans by Matthew Kneale, 7/22
9. City of Refuge by Tom Piazza, 8/19
10. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, 9/2

Discover Your Next Great Summer Read

You may have noticed the lovely box on the right-hand side of the blog under the banner "Check it Out!" Click on that box and you can read an exclusive sneak peek of the new novel, Stone Creek, which goes on sale one week from today. In Stone Creek, author Victoria Lustbader tells a very modern love story, about a woman who is happily married, but unhappy in life, who finds herself drawn to a widower with a young son. I read this book in one sitting, with some kleenex by my side. The first ten people to read and comment on the sneak peek will receive a copy of the book. And if you get your address to me by Wednesday (I'll email you when I get your comment) we'll do our best to get you the book to enjoy on your Memorial Day weekend!

Love Means Never Having to Say You're Out of Books to Recommend

Happy Valentine's Day! In honor of this romantic day, why not revisit a classic of the genre -- Erich Segal's Love Story, which was also made of course, into the classic tearjerker starring Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal. I'm sure you've watched the movie at least once in the last few years, but have you re-read the book? Curl up with it (and a box of tissues) over the upcoming long weekend. Browse inside the book here, and check out the reading group guide here.

My Book Club Met Last Night to Discuss The Island

My book group met last night to discuss The Island by Victoria Hislop. We were a bit of a skeleton crew, what with vacations but a good time was had by all who were there. We also voted for next month's selection. The candidates were Evenings at Five by Gail Godwin, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (our hostess had just spent a week on the Cape and saw the book everywhere), Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen and The House at Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Water for Elephants came out the winner, in large part because we know it's a reading group favorite that we've yet to read and we want to find out what it's all about. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Most everyone enjoyed The Island and we talked a lot about leprosy and the myths that surrounded it then and that continue to today. What with this book and Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, we've been learning a lot about ailments this year....We talked a lot about the wrenching scenes of children being pulled from their mothers and vice versa and how we couldn't even imagine having to go through something like that with our children.

Here are resources for our upcoming read of Water for Elephants:
Excerpt
Reviews
Sara Gruen's website
Reading Group Guide

A Great Site with an Even Greater Name -- Candy Covered Books

Today I found a cool site that reviews chick lit and women's fiction, with a fab name that's making me yearn for something sweet -- Candy Covered Books. And, they just happen to be linking to my review of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, so thanks for that. They gather reviews of books from all over and give them a "candy covered rating,"  "so you don't waste valuable time reading anything less than fabulous." I've added them to the book blog list, should be a great resource for picking books for your groups.

My Book Club Met Last Night to Discuss Suite Francaise

It was my turn to host book group last night and thankfully the heat held off a bit (we don't have central air) so while it was a bit warm, no one was melting. I served chilled white wine and prosecco -- my favorite summer drink along with cheese (always gruyere) and crackers. To keep things light and cool, dessert was pound cake and two-bite brownies from Whole Foods served with strawberries, cherries, blueberries and grapes with freshly whipped cream to top it all off. The best thing is that there is a bit of everything left over for tonight!

We met to discuss Suite Francaise, though some of us (ok, me, due to marathon reading of Harry Potter this past weekend) hadn't finished it , but it was a really great discussion. Everyone really enjoyed the book, and was especially interested in learning more about Nemirovsky's life and loved the extra material and letters in the back of the book.

We found ourselves discussing how various countries responded to the Nazis and either did or didn't rise up against them. I remembered, from reading Beth Gutcheon's Leeway Cottage, how the people of Denmark amazingly saved 7,000 Jews from extinction.

We voted for our next book, and yes, I did stack the deck. Here were the five candidates:
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
The Island by Victoria Hislop
The Maytrees by Annie Dillard

After our two rounds of voting (you get two votes in the first round and then we vote in the next round for the top two vote getters), it came down to The Space Between Us and The Island. The Island won, I think because I kept comparing it to the experience of reading The Thorn Birds, a great sweeping family epic, perfect for the beach.

You can win a copy of The Island and get reading group resources here.

Win a Copy of The Island -- On Sale Today!

As a special thank you to BCG readers, I'd like to offer free copies of a book that I am really excited about. The Island, by Victoria Hislop, was a mega bestseller in the UK -- it was a Richard & Judy pick there, their equivalent of Oprah. In The Island, Hislop tells the story of the Petrakis family, who live in the seaside village of Plaka in Crete, directly opposite the island of Spinalonga, the home of a leper colony. When the Petrakis mother is diagnosed with leprosy and sent to Spinalonga (along with the young boy who infected her and to whom she must become a surrogate mother), the lives of this family are irrevocably changed and the communities of Spinalonga and Plaka become forever intertwined. The daughters who are left behind couldn't be more different and grow up to be opposed in nearly every way and their father, who is essentially widowed when his wife is banished, finds that grief is his most constant companion.

This is an epic and unforgettable story of family, community, illness and prejudice. Reading it reminded me of Year of Wonders, and how the Plague effected the people in England at that time and what a great discussion that engendered when my book group read it.

The first 25 people to email me at bookclubgirl AT gmail DOT com, and include their snail mail address, will receive a free copy of The Island, which is on sale everywhere today.

Watch Victoria Hislop talk about writing The Island
Author Interview
Reading Group Guide

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Grows Up

I devoured the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books and was sad to close the final volume earlier this year. I also really enjoyed the movie (of course it did feature BCG tv faves Alexis Bledel and America Ferrarra). Anyway, as you can imagine, I was excited to learn that Ann Brashares was writing her first book for "grown ups." The Last Summer (of You and Me) tells the story of sisters Alice and Riley, in their mid 20s, figuring out what to do with their lives and how their life-long friend Paul fits in with those plans. The three have spent every summer together on Fire Island and the nostalgia for the island is palpable, reminding me fondly of my own summer share there. Paul and Riley are best friends with the younger Alice always tagging along and looking up, with increasing admiration, to them both, especially Paul. Paul and Alice finally act on their feelings in this fateful summer, and they all must confront a development that will change their relationships, and lives, forever.

It was so nice to see Brashares explore the biological sister relationship, as opposed to the best friends-as-sisters-scenario from the pants books, since it is a much more fraught one, given that it's not a relationship that we choose, but is often one of the closest bonds we ever have.  Highly recommended as a great summer beach read and for book clubs. Here is the reading guide.