Book Club Girl

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.