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

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.

Spend the Summer with Agatha Christie - Cool Down with AC in Our Agatha Christie Read-Along!

Today, along with four other fabulous bloggers, we are launching a summer-long Agatha Christie Read-Along - Spend the Summer with Agatha Christie - Cool Down with AC! You can join one, two, three, four or all five for a truly mysterious summer with the Queen of Mystery!

Why all this focus on Agatha Christie now? As of the beginning of this year, HarperCollins is proud to be Agatha Christie’s global publisher and we are  reissuing all of her books in the US in beautiful new trade paperback editions. These wonderful authentic editions are exactly as Christie wrote them using the original UK texts. Now fans can read all of the Christie mysteries including the Hercule Poirot Mysteries, the Miss Marple Mysteries, and the Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries (coming Winter 2012). And you won't want to miss a single one of Christie’s stand-alone novels and short stories.

So who are my cohorts in crime in this Summer of Agatha Christie? None other than Julie from Booking Mama, who will explore the world of Hercule Poirot, Melissa from The Sunday Book Review who will delve into the mysteries of Miss Marple, Jen from Devourer of Books who will focus on Christie's standalone novels and Nicole from Linus's Blanket who will focus on the four new Masterpiece Mystery films that will air on PBS this June and July. I will focus here on her acclaimed short stories.

Here's the schedule for the summer - sign up at the Mr. Linky below and take part on the weeks you can! Each blogger will be offering giveaways for the books they're discussing and there will be grand prizes for read-along participants of Agatha Christie totes, books, DVDs and more!

Short Story!
June 6th: "The Tuesday Night Club" here on Book Club Girl

Marple!
June 13th-June19th: 4:50 From Paddington: A Miss Marple Mystery on The Sunday Book Review

Poirot!
June 20th-June 26th: Three Act Tragedy: A Hercule Poirot Mystery on Booking Mama

Movie!
June 20th-June 26th: Three Act Tragedy airs on PBS June 19th on Linus's Blanket

Standalone!
June 27th: Endless Night on Devourer of Books

Movie!
June 27th-July 3rd: The Clocks airs on PBS June 26th on Linus’s Blanket

Short Story!
July 5th: "Three Blind Mice" on Book Club Girl

Movie!
July 4th-July 10th: Hallowe'en Party airs on PBS July 3rd on Linus's Blanket

Marple!
July 11th-July 17th: Miss Marple on The Sunday Book Review

Movie!
July 11th-July 17th:  The Pale Horse airs on PBS July 10th on Linus's Blanket

Poirot!
July 18th-July 24th: Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery on Booking Mama

Standalone!
July 25th: And Then There Were None on Devourer of Books

Short Story!
August 1st: "Witness for the Prosecution" on Book Club Girl  

Marple!
August 8th-August 14th:  Miss Marple on The Sunday Book Review

Poirot!
August 15th-August 21st: The A.B.C. Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery on Booking Mama

Standalone!
August 22nd: Ordeal by Innocence on Devourer of Books

Wrap Up!
August 29th-September 4th: Book Club Girl on Air Show to be announced!

To join the overall read-along on all 5 of our blogs sign up at the Mr. Linky here:

For more details on each of the individual readalongs, visit the co-host blogs below. I'll post the sign up for the Short Story portion on Book Club Girl on Wednesday, June 1st!

Booking Mama - Hercule Poirot Mysteries
Devourer of Books -Standalone Mysteries
Linus's Blanket - Masterpiece Mystery Movies on PBS
The Sunday Book Review - Miss Marple Mysteries

There are still giveaways to be had if you're not at BEA...

As you may have heard from Erica at the Olive Reader, we hosted several bloggers and four authors in our offices today at Harper Perennial and Harper paperbacks. Erica is giving away two of the books from the hosted authors on Olive Reader now, and I'm happy to offer the other two books up to non-attending BEA folks here! I'll pick 3 commenters from all those who comment by Wednesday at midnight ET to receive a copy of both books! And check in with Armchair BEA throughout the week for more giveaways.

Jerusalem Maiden by Talia Carner

In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a young Orthodox Jewish woman in the holy city of Jerusalem is expected to marry and produce many sons to help hasten the Messiah's arrival. While the feisty Esther Kaminsky understands her obligations, her artistic talent inspires her to secretly explore worlds outside her religion, to dream of studying in Paris—and to believe that God has a special destiny for her. When tragedy strikes her family, Esther views it as a warning from an angry God and suppresses her desires in order to become an obedient "Jerusalem maiden."

But when a surprising opportunity forces itself on to her preordained path, Esther finds her beliefs clashing dangerously with the passions she has staved off her entire life—forcing her to confront the most difficult and damning question of all: To whom must she be true, God or herself?

Visit Talia Carner's website and find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Fathermucker by Greg Olear

Stay-at-home dad Josh Lansky has held everything together—a five-year-old with Aspergers, the most stubborn three-year-old known to man, the mommies, the mice in the walls, and the chance to interview a local rock star for his "Fathermucker" blog—during his wife Stacy’s business trip. But now it’s Friday, and the revelation that Stacy might be having an affair upsets the rickety apple cart that is life. What Josh needs is a break. He’s not going to get one.

A smart, funny, and compelling novel of a day in the life of one family, Fathermucker is a snapshot of modern fatherhood.

Visit Greg Olear's website and find him on Facebook and Twitter.

Reminder! Our Book Club Girl on Air Show with Brunonia Barry is this Wednesday, April 20th!

Please join us this Wednesday, April 20th at 7 pm ET as we welcome Brunonia Barry, author of The Lace Reader, to Book Club Girl on Air to discuss her newest book, now in paperback, The Map of True Places. Set your reminder for the show here and return to that same link to listen and participate live on Wednesday night. Be sure to register on the site before the show so that you can participate in the chat session from the beginning. During the show you can chat with other readers and listeners in the chat session and also ask questions of Brunonia there that I'll relay to her. You can also ask her questions directly by dialing 347-945-6149 during the live broadcast. Hope to talk to you on Wednesday evening!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week Interview Swap - Meet Jessica of Brief Book Reviews!

One of the most fun parts of Book Blogger Appreciation Week is trading interviews with a fellow book blogger. This year I was asked great questions by Jessica at the young adult book blog Brief Book Reviews and got equally great answers from her as well. Let me introduce her and be sure to check out Brief Book Reviews yourself! 

BCG: What inspired you to start blogging?
BBR: At the beginning of the summer I started reading book blogs because I was interested in the buzz surrounding Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I though maybe, since I read so much, people might also be interested in my opinions too. I have previous experience writing a craft/cooking blog which was hard to keep up with since I had to complete a project to write a post. I find Brief Book Reviews much easier and more natural for me to write.

Your blog focuses on young adult literature. Have you always been a fan of YA?
Oddly enough, I skipped the whole YA literature thing when I was the right age. I went from Sweet Valley Twins straight to Michael Crichton. A few years ago my cousin started recommending YA titles to me, and I was hooked.

Who is your favorite YA author?
That is a really hard question. I would have to say it is a tie between Meg Cabot and Holly Black. They write very different styles, so it is almost apples and oranges.

What is your favorite YA series?
Another really hard question. I’m totally Harry Potter obsessed, but I consider that more Middle Reader than YA. I think the Tithe series by Holly Black is amazing, especially the second book, Valiant. I love how she writes the female characters.

Have you always been a big reader?
No. In my pre-teens I had a shelf full of the typical Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins books that I read occasionally, but usually when I was forced to by school or my parents. I blame my love of reading on Michael Crichton. I have always had a thing for Dinosaurs and I bought Jurassic Park when I was in 7th grade out of curiosity. I haven’t stopped reading since.

You describe yourself as a relatively new blogger. What did you think once you learned the depth and breadth of the book blogging community?
It is really overwhelming actually. I discover a great new blog almost daily. My blog reading list is so long! I started feeling discouraged since so many people are writing reviews for the same books I am reading, but I like being a part of the community and learning about great new books.

What made you decide to write brief book reviews?
I’m a lazy internet reader. I’m not sure why since I love reading so much. The only explanation I can think of is the eye-strain of reading on the screen. I usually give up after the first paragraph, or skip to the end to find a rating or grade for the book. I really don’t like it when reviews contain spoilers. I think my definition of a spoiler is more strict than most. I read Twilight early on and didn’t know that *SPOILER ALERT* Edward was a Vampire. It was nice not knowing. So the best way to keep lazy internet readers like me engaged, and keep the reviews as spoiler-free as I can, is to really limit the length of my review, which is definitely hard sometimes.

If you could meet one of your favorite authors, which one would you choose?
I think I would choose Neil Gaiman. He writes incredible fantasy fiction for all different ages. When I read his stories I am always amazed at his abilities. How does he come up with this stuff! I would like to pick his brain.

When not reading or blogging, what do you do for fun?
I’m a homebody. I like spending my free time on the couch with my boyfriend and our dueling cats. When I’m not reading I like to watch TV and make art. For the past few years I have been honing my skills at bookbinding, and I also enjoy drawing and painting. I’m a long-time Star Wars geek girl and have recently become obsessed with Doctor Who. I take art classes for fun at my local community college and am excited to start Photography this semester.

Thanks so much! Jessica

And thank you Jessica!

Get Your Bling On for Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

In celebration of Book Blogger Appreciation Week which starts today, I'm giving away one twitter handle necklace from The Survival of the Hippest! I love this new twist on the nameplate necklace. You can see how lovely they look here on our very own @ericabrooke (aka @harperperennial). I have been dropping hints with my DH for nearly a year that one would make a lovely gift for me as well....

Until that happens, I want to give one silver twitter nameplate necklace away to one of my fellow book bloggers! How to enter? First, you need to be a book blogger. Second, post a comment about why you love twitter. Get a second entry for tweeting about the contest (pls enter that link as a separate comment).

I will pick one random winner from all comments received by midnight ET, Thursday September 16th and will announce the winner on Friday, the final day of BBAW. (US and Canada only please).

Book Bloggers and Why They Matter - in the Los Angeles Times

There's a great article in the LA Times online today (which will be in the print edition on Sunday) by Carolyn Kellogg, on the growing importance of book bloggers, in which My Friend Amy, Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?, Book Lady's Blog and I all make an appearance!

Book Club Girl's BEA Day 1! Hot Book Club Books, Tea with Adriana Trigiani and a Celebration of Book Bloggers!

I'm a bit delinquent in my BEA posts, but that midweek BEA completely threw me. While I do love having my weekend back, losing essentially a week in the office, followed by a long weekend meant that I returned to work on Tuesday not remembering much pre-BEA or for that matter, that much from BEA week itself. But of course, I exaggerate, I remember quite a bit, because this was one of the busiest and most productive BEAs I've had in a long while. Why, you ask? Well, mainly because of book bloggers. Between events and meetings, I had more fantastic conversations with book bloggers, a group I continue to call the most optimistic and important in the publishing industry today.

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny and after a lovely walk from Penn Station to the Javits Center, I met our wonderful videographers for our To Kill a Mockingbird 50th anniversary celebration (more on that later), stashed my stuff in the booth and headed to the Hot Book Club Titles Fall 2010 Panel moderated by the amazing Carol Fitzgerald of Reading Group Guides.com and the Book Reporter Network. My fellow panelists were Michael Croy of Simon & Schuster, Patrick Nolan of Penguin, Talia Sherer of Macmillan, Karen Torres of Hachette and Jane von Mehren of Random House. We each presented 5 great book group books coming this fall. Check out the complete list of books here.

I followed the panel with a meeting with the charming Barbara and Charlie Mead of ReadingGroupChoices.com, I always love spending time with them. Next I headed to the Charlesbridge booth to meet, for only the second time, but it seems like we've spent so much time together (thank you Twitter), the dynamic Mitali Perkins, who just that morning had wowed the crowd at the Children's Author Breakfast (let's put it this way, I heard more about her speech than I heard about the Duchess of York's, that's how great she is). Mitali was signing galleys of her upcoming novel Bamboo People and the Charlesbridge folks graciously allowed me to insert flyers for the reissue of Emily of Deep Valley which will feature a new foreword by Mitali, into the books. It was so fun spending time with her and her fans. Though it was far too brief an encounter - thank goodness ALA is just around the corner.

Next up was a quick return to our booth where I was meeting the 5 book bloggers who won tea with Adriana Trigiani. It was so nice to see Dawn from She is Too Fond of Books, Julie from Booking Mama, Kathy from Bermuda Onion and Lenore from Presenting Lenore again and to meet Sheila from Book Journey. We also invited Trish from Hey Lady, Whatcha Readin as she helped pull the entire contest together. We headed out into the now blazing heat to meet up with Adriana and dive into horrendous midtown traffic (that is, once we got a car, slight glitch there). We finally arrived at the upper east side location of Alice's Tea Cup, a simply delightful tea shop where we were served a traditional high tea in our own room, painted a deep teal and decorated beautifully. There were personalized signed books for all the bloggers and absolutely delicious food. I have a particular weakness for clotted cream, which I spread liberally on my scones. Thanks to Dawn for this great picture of the entire group - though missing from the photo (and behind the camera) was Stephanie, aka @book_chatter on Twitter.

 
  
That would have been quite a day had it ended there, but there was more! After a quick stop into the office to refresh and redress, we headed to the famed Algonquin Hotel for the Celebration of Book Bloggers: The New Literary Roundtable that we gave with Susan Henderson of Lit Park and the upcoming novel Up From the Blue. It was an amazing night  - so much fun to meet so many people I've known just from their blogs or twitter handles. I left fairly exhausted just past 9, running to Penn Station with Amy, after saying a quick goodbye to the Algonquin's lobby cat Matilda.

Todd Johnson's Book Club Girl on Air Show is This Monday, April 26th!

Just a reminder that on Monday, April 26th, Todd Johnson will join us to discuss his novel The Sweet By & By. Todd's just wrapped up a book tour and his book has been on a blog tour as well. Now you can ask questions of him directly! Set your reminder for the show on Monday at 7 pm ET here and be sure to register on the site beforehand so you can participate in the chat. Check out the reading group guide before the show. Can't wait to talk to you all Monday night!

The Sweet By and By, Dubbed a "Great Read for Your Book Club" by People magazine, Now in Paperback!

Happy paperback on-sale day to Todd Johnson's The Sweet By and By - a novel that People named a "great read for your book club" pick and that bestselling author Adriana Trigiani called "heartfelt and stunning...a genuine page turner." I know many of you are already familiar with The Sweet By and By from my announcement of Todd's upcoming appearance to discuss the book on Book Club Girl on Air on April 26th. Today the Sweet By and By is on sale in paperback and Todd is setting off on a tour to promote it while his book is setting off on a blog tour as well!

Johnson's novel of five southern women who will change the way you think about friendship garnered wonderful attention when it was published in hardcover. And his story of women of a certain age who are confronting their final chapters prompted hundreds of people to send him letters about their own mothers and grandmothers. The paperback edition contains many of the letters that Todd received and they really add to the story once you've read it. The below video excerpts just a few of the letters that he received and is a wonderful testament to the story he tells. Browse inside the book, look for Todd on tour near you, look for the book on tour on a blog near you, check out the reading group guide and please join us to discuss The Sweet By and By on April 26th at 7 pm ET. I'll sign off encouraging you to watch the moving video below.

What's On Your Nightstand?

Joining the What's On Your Nightstand meme sponsored by Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books, here's what's currently on my nightstand (will probably have forgotten a few as I'm not actually near my nightstand at the moment, alas). Oh, but wait, last time I organized it, I took a picture and tweeted it and not much has changed since then, so let's take a peek.....aha, there's Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project; Maud Hart Lovelace's Emily of Deep Valley - which we're reissuing this coming fall with a new foreword by the fabulous Mitali Perkins; Jacqueline Kelly's The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate which I'm dying to read because it's set in the Betsy-Tacy era; Little House, Long Shadow because I'm revisiting Little House these days; and Pride & Prejudice, because, well, it's almost always on my nightstand, just in case.

Book Clubs! Laura Lippman's Life Sentences is On Sale in Paperback Today! Win a Call from Her to YOUR Book Club!

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman's most recent novel, Life Sentences, is on sale in trade paperback today! This is the perfect format for Laura, who writes smart, thought provoking and discussible novels. The Boston Globe said that Life Sentences "may be the most absorbing, entertaining mystery published in the last year," and USA Today calls Laura "a writing powerhouse." Need further proof that Life Sentences is great? Here's the description:

Author Cassandra Fallows has achieved remarkable success by baring her life on the page. Her two widely popular memoirs continue to sell briskly, acclaimed for their brutal, unexpurgated candor about friends, family, lovers—and herself. But now, after a singularly unsuccessful stab at fiction, Cassandra believes she may have found the story that will enable her triumphant return to nonfiction.

When Cassandra was a girl, growing up in a racially diverse middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore, her best friends were all black: elegant, privileged Donna; sharp, shrewd Tisha; wild and worldly Fatima. A fifth girl orbited their world—a shy, quiet, unobtrusive child named Calliope Jenkins—who, years later, would be accused of killing her infant son. Yet the boy's body was never found and Calliope's unrelenting silence on the subject forced a judge to jail her for contempt. For seven years, Calliope refused to speak and the court was finally forced to let her go. Cassandra believes this still unsolved real-life mystery, largely unknown outside Baltimore, could be her next bestseller.

But her homecoming and latest journey into the past will not be welcomed by everyone, especially by her former friends, who are unimpressed with Cassandra's success—and are insistent on their own version of their shared history. And by delving too deeply into Calliope's dark secrets, Cassandra may inadvertently unearth a few of her own—forcing her to reexamine the memories she holds most precious, as the stark light of truth illuminates a mother's pain, a father's betrayal . . . and what really transpired on a terrible day that changed not only a family but an entire country.

Browse inside the book and check out the reading group guide. If you're in the Baltimore area, New Orleans, or Boston you can also see Laura in one of three appearances for Life Sentences. And, there's a special offer for book clubs as well - registered reading groups at ReadingGroupGuides.com can enter to win a call from Laura to their book group that will be recorded on Book Club Girl on Air! Enter to win here!

Be sure to check out the blog tour for Life Sentences to see what other book bloggers think and if you're so inspired, Trish over at Hey, Lady, Whatcha Readin'? is running a Laura Lippman Reading Challenge as well. If you haven't read Laura yet, what are you waiting for?

Book Bloggers - A Special Contest Just For You to Win Tea with Adriana Trigiani!

 
Adriana Trigiani loves book bloggers! And, as you may know, the paperback of the first book in Adriana's new series about shoe designer Valentine Roncalli, Very Valentine, is just out now (with new recipes!) and on February 9th the Valentine saga continues with the release of Brava, Valentine.

To celebrate book bloggers and her new publications, there's a contest on for five lucky bloggers who are attending BEA in NYC this May to win afternoon tea with Adriana at the adorable tea house Alice's Tea Cup! Details on how to enter can be found here. Enter now and hopefully, come May 27th, you'll be donning your lipstick before crooking your pinky finger while raising a cuppa, slathering a scone with clotted cream and having a perfectly hilarious afternoon of conversation with Adriana!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks! & The Book Club Girl Gives 5 Copies Away!

Those of you who have spent any time in the blogosphere know Ree Drummond, of The Pioneer Woman blog. A city slicker who found herself transported to the country when she married a cowboy, she started a blog where she recorded her hilarious transition, shared her photography and wrote her family's story. The Pioneer Woman became an award-winning website with a huge readership. And now, Ree has written The Pioneer Woman Cooks, a beautiful cookbook full of her favorite recipes, from Jalapeno Poppers to Blackberry Cobbler. Ree is currently traveling around the country promoting the book, look for her on tour near you. But in case you can't catch her on tour, I am thrilled to announce that I have 5 copies of The Pioneer Woman Cooks to give away! Just in time for the holidays -- win one for yourself, your sister, your mother or your best friend!

How Do You Enter? 

1) Leave a comment here about your own favorite recipe, you don't have to share the entire recipe (but you can!), just tell us about one of your favorite things to make for friends and family. My favorite of the moment, mainly because we've already made it twice this week (and tonight I taught my 14 yo how to make it): Apple Crisp.

Get two entries when you

2) Tweet this giveaway - simply leave another comment with the link to your tweet

I'll choose five random winners from all entries received by midnight Sunday, November 15th! (US and Canada only please).