Book Club Girl

5 Things I Learned at LauraPalooza 2010 - Guest Post from Erin Blakemore, author of The Heroine's Bookshelf

When I learned that Erin Blakemore, fellow blogger, twitter friend and author of the forthcoming book, The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder was attending this year's first-ever LauraPalooza, a celebration of all things Laura Ingalls Wilder, I begged her to write me a guest post. One bribe of a Betsy-Tacy tote bag later and she said yes! Read on for the 5 things she learned at Laurapalooza (which I think has to be the best name for a literary conference yet.)

A double-take-inducing name.  A droolworthy topic.  A weekend where academics and fans alike could commune over some of the most iconic subject matter in children’s literature.  LauraPalooza 2010, which was organized by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association and hosted by Minnesota State University, Mankato from July 13-17 turned out to be all of these things and much more.  Here are five things I learned along the way:

1. Laura fans are not messing around.  Fellow Laurati (Laurata?) and panelist Wendy McClure recently posited that Betsy-Tacy fans are hardcore, and I agree.  But LAURA FANS ARE NOT MESSING AROUND.  These are people who will happily crisscross the country and circumnavigate the globe for a glimpse of soil tread by members of the Ingalls and Wilder clans.  They talk semiotics, gender construction, local history, cultural criticism.  And yes, they sew a mean quilt square. 

2. Laura was a many-faceted woman.  I already knew this from my own reading and research, but the idea was reinforced during talks that covered things as various as Laura’s philosophy, her potential use of music to access vivid memories, the starvation that may have driven her delectable food descriptions, and her suspected obsession with hats.  

 
Sign at the entrance to LauraPalooza 2010:  Legacies, where I arrived bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and sporting a Betsy-Tacy bag courtesy of BookClubGirl! 

3. There’s room for every flavor of Laura fan.  Fans of the TV show swooned over Dean Butler, TV’s Almanzo Wilder.  Crafters were able to discuss needlecraft heritage.  Physicists and meteorologists found their voices in two AMAZING discussions of The Long Winter (seriously – check out Sarah S. Uthoff’s YouTube videos of the event…never in my life did I think I’d want to stand up and cheer for a science lecture).  People like me got to discuss their favorite book mispronunciations (turns out “Almanzo” was one – put the emphasis on the MAN and you’ve got it right).  The most heartwarming thing?  All were welcome, all belonged. 

 
Me and my mom get a book signed by Laura biographer, South Dakotan and rabid Cardinals fan John Miller

4. It's all about context. To me, the most valuable thing about LauraPalooza and my subsequent travels to De Smet and Walnut Grove was the context.  Armed with new information and new perspectives, my childhood (and adult) comfort reading is even more meaningful.  The conference helped refresh the sense of discovery and fun I had while researching and writing The Heroine’s Bookshelf while reminding me that there’s always more to learn. 

Why is this image freakout-worthy, you ask?  Because it’s an image of the five cottonwoods on the Ingalls homestead, complete with prairie grass (video) the Ingalls themselves tread!

5. You don’t need a crack in the floor to win a spelling bee.  That’s what I learned in my DECISIVE SPELLING BEE VICTORY in the first-ever LauraPalooza Spelling Bee!  Okay, so the rules weren’t quite as strict as I’d have liked, and I almost flubbed “dialogue,” and I have a feeling one of my competitors was robbed by a homonym, but neither these facts nor the lack of a crack in the floor to put my toes on can dull the thrill of spelling down a long line of contenders.  I look forward to defending my title at LauraPalooza 2012!

 
Erin spells! 

 

Erin Blakemore (left, in pre-LauraPalooza days) learned to hate Nellie Oleson and love the prairie in suburban San Diego, California. These days, her inner heroine loves roller derby, running her own business, and hiking in her adopted hometown of Boulder, Colorado.  Her debut book, The Heroine’s Bookshelf, will be published by Harper Collins this October. Follow Erin on Twitter, and learn more about The Heroine's Bookshelf.  

Dear Atticus, Dear Scout, Dear Boo....

If yesterday's anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird and all the ensuing hoopla has you wondering how you can participate, author Ben Greenman offers up this amazing opportunity - why not write a letter to your favorite character in the novel, and send it to his Letters with Character campaign?

Ben Greenman’s Letters With Character celebrates the art of letter writing as a form of fiction and in honor of the timeless classic, Harper Perennial and Ben Greenman are asking for your letters to your favorite character from To Kill A Mockingbird. Email your submission to LettersWithCharacter AT gmail DOT com and check the site to see which ones get posted!

The 50th Anniversary of To Kill A Mockingbird is being celebrated all summer long. Look for local and national happenings on the Facebook Page and official website.

Celebrate Margaret Wise Brown's 100th Birthday with a Walking Tour of Her NYC on Sunday, May 23rd!

Most of us either grew up on--or are currently raising our children on--a steady diet of books by Margaret Wise Brown. In addition to her classic Goodnight Moon (which, after 2 children, I know so by heart that I often have to make sure I'm turning the pages correctly as I recite it), she wrote (among many others) The Runaway Bunny, Big Red Barn and my particular favorite of late, The Color Kittens. Her books are, quite simply, pure poetry. To celebrate what would have been her 100th birthday this coming Sunday, May 23rd, her acclaimed biographer, Leonard Marcus, will lead a walking tour of her New York.

Find out where the glamorous author (and hello, check out that picture, she was gorgeous!) lived, wrote, taught 2nd-graders, had cocktails with Ursula Nordstrom and H.A. Rey, and just possibly hatched plans for The Golden Egg Book and Great Green Room! The fun starts at 2 pm, at the southwest corner of Fifth Ave. & 10th St.Tickets $20; reserve early by contacting Leonard directly at Leonardsma AT aol DOT com. (from the press release, except for my parenthetical shout out to her good looks).

Want to learn more about Margaret Wise Brown? Check out Leonard Marcus' highly praised biography of her, Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon.

Not going to be in NYC this weekend, but you will be at American Library Association meeting in DC in late June? Stop by the Harper booth on Monday, June 28th for some birthday cake! (I'll post a reminder and details closer to the date). 

Alice in Wonderland Opens Friday, March 5th - Enter to Win a Signed Lithograph from Camille Rose Garcia's Stunning New Edition

I have been entranced by the trailers for Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp that opens this Friday, March 5th and I'm sure many of you have as well. As Lewis Carroll's classic returns to our public consciousness, a new edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, gorgeously illustrated by the artist Camille Rose Garcia, is just on sale in a gorgeous hardcover edition. With one look at these illustrations, you'll see how beautiful it is. And I'm thrilled to report that I have three great prize packages to give away in celebration of Alice. The grand prize includes a lithograph of the below illustration signed by Camille Rose Garcia, a copy of the book and an Alice in Wonderland tote bag. Two first prizes include the book and tote bag. To enter to win, comment here about why you love Alice in Wondland. I'll choose the winners randomly on midnight, Thursday March 4th and announce them on Friday, March 5th, the day the film opens.

Browse inside Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, check out the below video where Camille Rose Garcia talks about her creative process, look for her on tour near you, and go here for downloadable Alice wallpaper.

The Roaring Twenties Weighs in on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as Part of English #101

You heard from Erica at the Olive Reader, now see what Kayleigh at the Roaring Twenties has to say about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And I would agree: never marry a drunk. Blog or tweet (using hashtag #english101) about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and you'll be entered to win next month's English 101 book, Brave New World!

English 101 Has Begun Over on the Olive Reader!

The first book report is up for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn at the Olive Reader and anyone who comments on it or tweets about it will be entered to win next month's book, Brave New World! Look for Kayleigh's review of A Tree Goes in Brooklyn on The Roaring 20s on Monday!

Masterpiece's New Emma Gets a Thumbs Up in Today's New York Times

I'm getting very excited for this Sunday's new 3-part adaptation of Emma by Jane Austen. First I took the quiz to see which man of Highbury I would marry (must retake that quiz) and then I read today's wonderful review in the New York Times. As I said earlier this week, I truly love Gwyneth's Emma, but I am definitely checking this one out. Plus, who can resist watching Jane Austen AND twittering? There will be a twitter party during the broadcast! Mrs. Elton would definitely NOT approve (which makes it all the more appealing).

Full ALA Update to Come, in the Meantime, Take the Bachelors of Highbury Quiz!

In celebration of this weekend's airing of a new Emma miniseries, PBS has a Bachelors of Highbury quiz on their site. Take it and see who you would marry. While I was aiming for Mr. Knightley, and looking to avoid Mr. Elton, I somehow ended up with Emma's father! And while I'm quite partial to the Gwyneth Paltrow/Jeremy Northam Emma, this Mr. Knightley doesn't look half bad....

Kenneth C. Davis Offers Up a Year of Book Club Recommendations

Don't know much about books, or book clubs? Does the prospect of choosing your club's books each month--or as some clubs do, for the entire year--leave you in fear? Well, Kenneth Davis, author of the bestselling Don't Know Much About Series comes to our collective rescue with his suggestions for an entire year's worth of book club reads (I particularly love his shout out to my baseball team ;)). Read on for some great recommendations, I will definitely be bringing this list to my next meeting!

When my friend, Book Club Girl, asked me to come up with a reading list for a year of book club reads, I thought, “Oh easy. I just wrote Don’t Know Much About Literature with my daughter Jenny Davis. I can come up with twelve great books.”

But then I started to think about the question and it became daunting. Should they be Great Books?  Must reads? My favorites?  I’m a historian–should it be a whole list of historical fiction? What if they hate everything I suggest?

In a panic, with the choices threatening to overwhelm me, I hit on some ground rules.

I had to love the books. And, I didn’t want them all to be historical fiction. But as a historian, I thought that some of them should have a little historical flavor.  I also tried to avoid the obvious, so I wouldn’t recommend anything that too many people have already read. And I wanted to keep them on the shorter side: all but two are under 300 pages. No War and Peace here.

Then I thought it would be fun to connect them to the calendar. So here are my twelve: Each book celebrates the birth month of an author, a holiday or some other event connected to that month. Like most such lists,  this one is very arbitrary. These are all among my favorite authors and books, with a mix of classic and contemporary. So, Book Club Girl, here goes--

January
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (born January 24, 1862).  When I was in school, Edith Wharton was not in vogue That has changed.  The Age of Innocence is as timely today as in 1920 when it first appeared and won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, the first won by a woman. Juicy buzz: I don’t watch “Gossip Girl,” but its creator reportedly modeled that series on Wharton’s novel of turn of the century New York society.

February
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (born February 2, 1882). Joyce’s semi-autobiographical novel is simply the most influential book I ever read. (Alternate: Dubliners, a collection of short stories including the great novella The Dead.)

March
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8).  The 1983 Pulitzer and National Book Award winner is the story of a woman in the 1930s Deep South, told through her letters and diary entries. One of the best books I have read in the last 30 years.

April
The Natural by Bernard Malamud (born April 26, 1914). April might be the cruelest month, as T.S. Eliot said. But it also means baseball season and Book Club Girl’s World Champion Yankees take the field. So it’s only natural to read one of the best novels set in the world of baseball.  (Alternate: Malamud’s The Fixer)

May
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is my birthday month, so as a present to myself, I will pick one of my favorite books that has nothing to do with May. Turned into a memorable Merchant-Ivory film, it is the story of a proper butler in a British aristocratic household in the years leading up to World War II.  A contemporary masterpiece.

June  
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. May closes with Memorial Day, a holiday inspired by the Civil War, and the battle of Gettysburg was fought over the first three days in July. That makes June a good month to read this Pulitzer-winning novelistic retelling of the events at Gettysburg in 1863.

August
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie.  No brief description does justice to a sweeping allegorical novel that commences with the births of some highly unusual children at the moment India gains its independence on August 15, 1947. One of the great books of our times, I had the privilege of reviewing it for Publishers Weekly as young, aspiring writer.

September
Ken Kesey (born September 17, 1935). A tossup here between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Sometimes a Great Notion. Go with Cuckoo’s Nest if you haven’t read it or only seen the movie.

October
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie (born October 7, 1966).  Born and raised on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Alexie is a highly praised poet, novelist  and filmmaker. This is a collection of his stories. (Alternate: Reservation Blues).

November
Blindness by José Saramago (born November 16, 1922)  Saramago is Portuguese and won the Nobel prize in 1998. This is his most famous book – the story of a city in which suddenly and without explanation, people go blind. It is dazzling. (If you have time, add this short story by Irwin Shaw: “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses,” a perfect story set in New York on a November day.)

December
Very torn here. Willa Cather was born this month. How about O, Pioneers? But there’s no Dickens. There should be Dickens. And I left off Of Human Bondage. But in honor of Christmas, I suggest reading Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory. And since that is so short, you can also read Capote’s Other Voices, Other Rooms.

What else did I leave out? No Updike, Steinbeck, Flannery O’Connor, Dos Passos. Oh well, wait until next year.

My Two Book Clubs - Guest Post from Christina Baker Kline

It's shaping up to be Guest Post Week at Book Club Girl! I feel so lucky to have all these great essays from such wonderful authors! Today's comes from Christina Baker Kline, author of the novels The Way Life Should Be and most recently, Bird in Hand. Not only do I enjoy hearing directly from authors, I especially love hearing about their book clubs, or in the case of Cristina, her two book clubs! I love how different book groups provide different things for the people in them, I feel that way about my own book club and our Book Club Girl on Air shows. Read on to hear about Christina's two clubs as well as the books they've read -- it's an impressive lineup, and number! 

I belong to two book clubs, and I love them equally for completely different reasons. The first is comprised of about a dozen women who came together more than a decade ago in my town of Montclair, New Jersey, when our children were in diapers. We were substance-starved new mothers, overwhelmed by life’s demands and delighted to have an excuse to get out of the house one evening a month to engage in real conversation about something other than our offspring (adorable though they were). 

The mandate of my Montclair club – never explicitly stated, but clear from the beginning – was to read the most talked-about books of the moment:  books we’d feel silly not knowing about at a party.  We tend to favor novels and memoirs, but occasionally choose books in psychology, economics, and current events.  From The Tipping Point to Eat Pray Love, we’ve read more than 150 books, often bestsellers and usually award-winners, with an occasional classic thrown in for good measure. (Our current pick, for example, is Olive Kitteridge.) We meet at members’ houses every fifth Monday (excepting holidays), eat cheese straws and grapes, drink sauvignon blanc, chat about our kids, our trips, and yoga, and eventually settle in to discuss the book.  For a while we had some rules: each person brought in three ideas and the group voted; the person who chose a book was responsible for introducing it, etc.  But that didn’t last long.  Now we come to consensus as a group, throwing out ideas and letting the conversation dictate our selections. If someone feels strongly about a book, we almost always read it.  Discussion focuses on the stories, the writers themselves, the hype surrounding the book, and, in the case of nonfiction, the true story, time period or historical event the book is based on. 

This group has survived the breakup of several marriages, illnesses including breast cancer, Crohn’s Disease, and chronic fatigue, falling outs between members, and many child-related heartaches (learning disabilities, anxiety attacks, broken limbs, and now, as our babies become teenagers, all kinds of nerve-wracking experimentation).  Over the years, some members have dropped out for a variety of reasons – for one thing, the urgent need to have an evening to oneself is gone, and with homework, sports and other pressures it can be hard to get away for a non-essential meeting.  But a hardy band of book lovers remains, and new members have come in to fill the gaps.

My second book club doesn’t call itself a book club.  It’s a group of about eight published novelists and memoirists, several of whom teach creative writing on college campuses. We live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey, and gather three or four times a year in NYC to discuss a writer’s work over dinner.  

The New York group is closer to a class, in some ways, except that we all lead the discussion.  We talk about books that have influenced us as writers, or that we’re embarrassed to say we’ve never read – books we consider significant for one reason or another.  After taking more than a year to read Remembrance of Things Past, we moved on to Sue Miller’s The Good Mother, Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and are now reading Chekhov’s short stories.  What we’re looking at, primarily, is how the writer does what he or she does. How does she pull it off?  We analyze craft and theme, characterization and pacing.  We pinpoint moments of change and look at how and why characters are introduced and discarded and where the climax originates.  We examine the arc of the narrative and look closely at moments that, to paraphrase Hemingway, teeter on the edge of sentimentality without going over. 

It takes a lot of planning to coordinate the schedules of eight busy writers in several states.  So after chatting over wine and cheese about our own latest books and other projects, we get down to business fairly quickly.  Conversations tend to be fast-paced and energetic; we push each other to dig deeper and explore further than we might have done on our own. Each book is a learning tool, a rich text brimming with ideas and inspiration.  I always leave these gatherings with a heady sense of having gained insights and connections that will help me in my own writing.  (I wrote about one of these moments of insight here.

My two book clubs serve entirely different purposes. The Montclair group provides a way to stay in touch with a circle of friends and read current books; it’s socializing with a literary excuse. And the writers’ group is equivalent to a welders’ convention – a place to exchange ideas about our trade.  It’s literary analysis with a socializing bonus.  I feel lucky to belong to both.   Because the truth is that sometimes I want to read for pleasure, to get swept up in the magic of a story.  And sometimes I want to learn from a book, to see how the magic tricks are done rather than simply delighting in their execution.

Christina Baker Kline's most recent novel is Bird in Hand, browse inside Bird in Hand, and check out the reading group guide.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week Begins with Short Story Mondays and a Giveaway!

As hosted by The Book Mine Set, the first meme I'm participating in for Book Blogger Appreciation Week is Short Story Mondays (and yes, it's barely Monday anymore, but there's still some Monday left on the West coast!). This was a hard meme for me to pass up, since at Harper Perennial where I work, we just spent the summer, and are now heading into the fall, celebrating the short story and since one of my favorite books of all time is Tim O'Brien's collection of stories, The Things They Carried. Part of the short story celebration included the launch of the website Fifty-Two Stories, where a new short story is presented every week of the year.

This summer saw the publication of short story collections by writers both classic and contemporary. These six classic short story collections from by Tolstoy, Cather, Dostoyevsky, Crane, Melville and Wilde feature fantastic new cover designs, and each includes a story by a new writer in the back. Read a classic--learn about a classic-in-the-making.

Among the contemporary collections published, there are two I believe are perfect for book clubs -- Lydia Peele's Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing and Simon van Booy's Love Begins in Winter.

In Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing, Lydia Peelle brings together eight brilliant stories—two of which won Pushcart Prizes and one of which won an O. Henry Prize—that peer straight into the human heart. In startling and original prose, she examines lives derailed by the loss of a vital connection to the natural world.

"Lydia Peelle has given us a collection of stories so artfully constructed and deeply imagined they read like classics. It marks the beginning of what will surely be a long and beautiful career," said Ann Patchett. Browse inside the book to see for yourself and check out the reading group guide.

On the verge of giving up—anchored to dreams that never came true and to people who have long since disappeared from their lives—Van Booy's characters in Love Begins in Winter walk the streets of these stark and beautiful stories until chance meetings with strangers force them to face responsibility for lives they thought had continued on without them.

"The stories of Love Begins in Winter are stylistically brilliant and emotionally beautiful. I found myself gasping, literally gasping, at surprises so perfectly attuned as to be inevitable. Simon Van Booy is an extraordinary writer, and this is a book to be read and reread again and again," said Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route. Browse inside Love Begins in Winter and check out the reading group guide.

I have a complete set of all these books to give away. Simply post a comment about your favorite book of short stories. I'll choose one random winner from all the comments received (US and Can only) by midnight Wednesday September 16th!

 

Happy 60th Birthday Sheltering Sky!

Paul Bowles' groundbreaking classic novel The Sheltering Sky celebrates its 60th annivesary this fall and Dwight Garner wrote a very interesting piece about the novel and Paul Bowles and what the book's publication meant in yesterday's New York Times. Reading the piece made me think it would be a great book to introduce at book club, and that reading it, one could discuss the time period in which it appeared as well and how it influenced books that came after it. Ecco Books is offering 5 copies of The Sheltering Sky to give away in celebration of its anniversary. To enter to win, tell me in the comments about a modern classic like The Sheltering Sky that your club has read, or if you've read The Sheltering Sky, tell me about that! I'll choose 5 entries from all those received by midnight Friday, September 4th (US and Can only). Browse inside The Sheltering Sky, check out the reading group guide, and learn more about Paul Bowles.

 

Don't Know Much About Literature? Give this Quiz a Try and Find Out

I was feeling a bit deficient after realizing I've only read 34 out of 100 of NPR Listener's Best Beach Reads Ever, so I thought I should take a crack at this quiz which I tweeted earlier today. How did I do? Well, I only had to text my 14 yo once for help...

I'm Accepting the Everything Austen Challenge!

Perhaps it's the new resolve brought on by the Game On! Diet, but I'm ready to sign up for another challenge -- this one set forth by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word--The Everything Austen Challenge. This is my first blog challenge, and I think it's fitting that I do one posted by the person who helped me so much in putting together the Book Blogger Panel at BEA. I love Stephanie and I love this challenge! How to participate? Well, check out the introductory post over on Stephanie's Written Word but the basic gist of it is that you commit to watching or reading six Austen themed movies, tv shows or books between July 1st and January 1, 2010. So, to that end, here are the six Austen themed things I'm going to do!

Read Laurie Viera Rigler's Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict (the sequel to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict which I loved, just listen to my interview with Rigler)

Watch Lost in Austen-- I never read the book, but watching the trailer on Stephanie's blog made me realize I've really missed something, can't wait

Re-watch Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow with my daughter - I absolutely love this movie (Jeremy Northam as "My Mr. Knightley!") and have been wanting to share it with my 14 yo ever since we watched Shakespeare in Love together

Read Mansfield Park -- it's the only Austen novel I've not read, or not read in its entirety, though I've read the others multiple times

Read Darcy's Story -- because seriously, we can't get enough of him

Watch The Jane Austen Book Club -- loved the book, missed the movie and have been interested to see how it was adapted

OK, that's it, I'll keep you posted as to my progress, and if I've inspired you, you can sign up to fill yourself full of Austen (and win fabulous prizes!) over at  Stephanie's Written Word!

Dickens' Old Curiosity Shop on Masterpiece Sunday Night

The Dickens adaptation juggernaut continues on Sunday May 3rd on PBS with The Old Curiosity Shop starring Derek Jacobi, who is well, one of the greatest actors of our time. Don't believe me? Check out I, Claudius.

Little Dorrit on Masterpiece Sunday Night Plus a Discount and a Winner!

Little Dorrit, one of Dickens's greatest love stories, premieres this Sunday, March 29th on Masterpiece Classic. Adapted by Andrews Davies, the film stars Matthew Macfayden as Arthur Clennam, Claire Foy as Amy "Little" Dorrit, and Tom Courtenay as her father. Watch an exclusive video interview with Davies and Foy here. Viewers and readers can also chat with Davies and Masterpiece producer Erin Delaney on the B&N Book Club Message Boards for the next two weeks, starting Monday March 30th. Book and film club questions for Little Dorrit are here. Check out the trailer below - look it's Mr. Darcy from the Keira Knightley P&P!

Save Money on the Masterpiece Literary Adaptations You Love!
Now through May 15th, you can save 20% on the Little Dorrit DVD and other products in the PBS store, enter the code MPTLD1 at checkout.

And...We Have a Winner!
Last but not least, the winner of the David Copperfield DVD and Book contest that I ran a few weeks back, is Karen from the great blog Bookin' With Bingo!

Now onto the trailer.....

Short on Time? Book Group Turns to a Classic Essay for Their Latest Discussion

I've talked at various points here on the blog about what you can do to change things up at your book club, especially when you might be short on time. For instance, this month my group is reading a lighter book to make up for the fact that we're meeting in three (rather than four) weeks time. I've also recommended reading a short story and discussing that (check one out on Fifty-Two Stories where you can get a new short story every week.) Here's another idea that I saw on Twitter that I just love. Everyone in Catherine's book group was feeling very busy and was worried that they wouldn't finish a full-length book in time, so they decided to discuss an essay. They chose E.B. White's Here is New York, a classic essay that enjoyed renewed fame, as it were, in the aftermath of 9/11, when many people turned to celebrations of NYC and its unique place in our country to help assuage their grief. I know many New Yorkers who purchased the lovely hardcover edition of the book in those months. Read on to see how their discussion of Here is New York went, and thanks to Catherine for this post. I encourage you to follow her on Twitter!

I joined a book club last summer at the invitation of my roommate. It's a group of about 11 girls who live in NYC, but there's usually only about 6 of us at any given meeting due to crazy schedules, which works out well because I like the intimate feel of it (plus 6 people can actually fit inside a NYC apartment ;-). There's a rotating schedule and whoever picks the next month's book hosts a get together at her place that involves some sort of food/snacks and wine (because what's a book club without wine?). Last time the hostess made truffle mac and cheese which was AmAzInG. She chose an essay for our March read: "Here is New York" by E.B. White. Up until now, our club has only read novels, so this was a fun new twist that was well received. We all loved it! Normally, there is a division of people who enjoyed the book and those who did not, but everyone liked "Here is New York." Granted, we all live in NY so that could have been a factor...

Anyhow, we had a lovely time comparing and contrasting E.B. White's New York to our own. It's funny how they are like two different cities. I mostly enjoy the similarities though, like how E.B. explains that even though you're only 18 inches away from the table next to you in a restaurant, you pretend as though there's a mile of separation - still true! and very relatable. On more than one occasion I've acted like I couldn't hear the woman to my right describing details of her love life to her dining partner.

Seems like throwing in a non-traditional read every now and then is a good idea - keeps things new and fresh and everyone engaged. Otherwise, I feel like we fall into a routine that leads to - ahem -laziness, demonstrated by the fact that in the previous few meetings there was always more than one person who didn't read the novel. Perhaps I'll pick a book of poetry when my turns comes in June, maybe a short story, or a fable? At least I have time to think it over. -- Catherine

My Book Club Met This Past Week

We met to discuss Colm Toibin's The Master, but the stars must not have been aligned for us this month, as less than half had finished the book. So the discussion part was fairly brief. We spent far more time debating our next choice. Because our next meeting is a mere three weeks away, we had decided to choose a lighter book this time around. Our hostess, an avowed chick lit expert, presented the following:

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer -- ok, not technically chick lit, but we thought YA might be a good change, I was so surprised to see how many people were still unaware of the entire phenomenon, teaching me that there are always more people out there to buy a book, no matter how many millions it's already sold
Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (I hoped this would be the one so I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone, so to speak (see radio show next month)
Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes
The Boy I Loved Before by Jenny Colgan -- this sounds v. appealing in a 13 Going on 30 way
and...Persuasian by Jane Austen -- the original chick lit

Voting was fierce and came down to an Austen vs. Keyes finale. Keyes carried the day, as the plot of Anybody sounded too good to resist: Anna wakes up one day in her mother's house in Ireland, very banged up from an accident and with no memory of what happened. She returns to NYC to try to figure out her life and as her past slowly begins coming back to her, she finds heself on an outrageous quest—involving lilies, psychics, mediums, and anyone who can point her in the right direction. I'm excited because Marian Keyes is one of my favorite authors, personally and professionally! (Plus check out this cover, I may paste it up on my fridge as inspiration in the ongoing lose-the-baby-weight campaign, I long for that flat stomach!)

Watch a Young Daniel Radcliffe in His First Role and Enter to Win the Book & DVD!

Catch Daniel Radcliffe in his first role as David Copperfield on PBS tomorrow night, Sunday March 15th! You can watch a new interview with Radcliffe and Ian McKellen who stars as Mr. Creakle here. And check out the Book & Film Club resources for David Copperfield on the PBS site. In honor of the occasion and thanks to PBS and Penguin Books, I have the David Copperfield DVD and book to give away! Simply post a comment about your favorite PBS literary adaptation and you'll be entered to win. I'll go first: my favorite, which I'm sure is shared by many, is the Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice. I've never looked at a man's white shirt the same way since ;).

 

Oscar and Oliver and Isabel!

For perhaps the first time in my life, I've seen none of the films nominated. Ahh, motherhood. There was a time when I'd win the office Oscar pool. I long for a return to those days. But I'll enjoy the show nonetheless. For those not Oscar inclined, tonight PBS airs the conclusion to their wonderful adaptation of Oliver Twist.

And don't forget that this coming Wednesday is our Book Club Girl on Air show with Isabel Allende where she'll discuss her bestselling memoir The Sum of Our Days. Tune in to the conversation, which you can participate in either via the phone or the chat section of Blog Talk Radio. If you want to participate via the chat, make sure you register on BTR first. Listen live here on Wednesday the 25th at 7 pm EST!