Just a reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday January 31st we'll be having our live chat with Conor Grennan, discussing his book Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal. During the show at 7pm ET, you'll be able to send your questions in via the chat session, or by calling in and talking to Conor directly! The call-in number is 347-945-6149. Be sure to register on the site before 7pm ET Tuesday night so that you can participate in the chat session from the beginning of the show. Check out the reading group guide to Little Princes in advance for question ideas. Can't wait to speak with Conor and all of you!
I'm thrilled to announce that Robert Barclay, author of If Wishes Were Horses, will join me to discuss his new novel, More than Words Can Say, on Book Club Girl on Air on Tuesday, February 7th at 7 pm ET!
From the author of If Wishes Were Horses comes a novel of long-buried secrets and self-discovery, showing us that sometimes what goes unsaid is more powerful than words. . . .
Chelsea Enright never expected to inherit her grandmother's lakeside cottage deep in the Adirondacks—a serene getaway that had been mysteriously closed up decades ago. This is no simple bequest, however, because when Chelsea finds her grandmother's WWII diaries, she's stunned to discover that they hold secrets she never suspected . . . and they have the power to turn her own life upside down.
Even more surprising is the compelling presence of local doctor Brandon "Yale, and Chelsea soon finds her "short stay" has stretched into the entire summer. She cannot put this cottage and her family's past behind her easily—and the more she learns about the woman her grandmother truly was, the more Chelsea's own life begins to change . . . and nothing will ever be the same again.
I have 10 copies of More than Words Can Say to give away to the first 10 people who comment that they can participate in the show on Tuesday, February 7th at 7 pm ET. Browse inside More than Words Can Say, set your reminder for the show and friend Robert on Facebook.
I’m so excited to welcome Conor Grennan to Book Club Girl on Air on Tuesday, January 31st at 7pm ET to discuss his memoir, Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal.
One Person Can Make a Difference
In search of adventure, twenty-nine-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.
Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations.
I have 10 copies of Little Princes to give out to the first 10 people who comment that they can participate in the show on Tuesday, January 31 at 7pm ET. Set your reminder for the show, browse inside Little Princes and check out the reading group guide. To learn more about Conor, become a fan on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, and visit his website and the Next Generation Nepal website.
Just a reminder that our Book Club Girl on Air show with Chandra Hoffman, during which we'll discuss her new novel, Chosen, is tonight, Wednesday, December 7th at 7pm ET!
Set your reminder for the show here and return to that same link live this evening to participate. During the show you'll be able to ask questions of Chandra by sending in questions via the chat session (you can also chat with other listeners in the chat session). Or you can call in and ask Chandra questions directly by dialing 347-945-6149.
Be sure to register on the site before the show so you can participate in the chat from the beginning of the show.
Check out the reading group guide before the show - we can't wait to talk to all of you and Chandra!
Just a reminder that our Book Club Girl On Air show with Anna David, during which we'll discuss her new memoir Falling for Me is tonight, November 21st at 7pm ET!
Set your reminder for the show here and return to that same link tonight to participate. During the show you'll be able to ask questions of Anna by sending in questions via the chat session (you can also talk with other listeners in the chat session). Or you can call in and ask Anna questions directly by dialing 347-945-6149.
Be sure to register on the site before tonight so you can participate in the chat from the beginning of the show.
Browse inside Falling for Me and check out the reading group guide. We can't wait to talk to Anna and all of you tonight!
I’m so excited to welcome Chandra Hoffman to Book Club Girl on Air on Wednesday, December 7th at 7pm ET to discuss her novel, Chosen!
It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her “signing paperwork” charcoal suit, paired with the beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It’s this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child’s domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of both adoptive and biological parents.
But the job that offers her refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland’s winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing—except the baby everyone wants. But when a child is kidnapped, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what went wrong…
I have 10 copies of Chosen to give out to the first 10 people who comment that they can participate in the show on Wednesday, December 7th at 7pm ET. Set your reminder for the show, read the first chapter of Chosen, and check out the reading group guide. For more with Chandra, become a fan on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and visit her website!
Just a reminder that our Book Club Girl on Air show with Sara Shepard, author of the bestselling Pretty Little Liars and Lying Game series, during which we'll discuss her new novel, Everything We Ever Wanted, is tonight, November 16th at 7pm ET!
Set your reminder for the show here and return to that same link tonight to participate. During the show you'll be able to ask questions of Sara by sending in questions via the chat session (you can also talk with other listeners in the chat session). Or you can call in and ask Sara questions directly by dialing 347-945-6149.
Be sure to register on the site before tonight so you can participate in the chat from the beginning of the show.
Browse inside Everything We Ever Wanted and check out the reading group guide. We can't wait to talk to Sara and all of you on Wednesday night!
Just a reminder that our Book Club Girl on Air show with Greg Olear, during which we'll discuss his new novel, Fathermucker, is this this Wednesday, November 9th at 7pm ET!
Set your reminder for the show here and return to that same link live on Wednesday evening to participate. During the show you'll be able to ask questions of Greg by sending in questions via the chat session (you can also talk with other listeners in the chat session). Or you can call in and ask Greg questions directly by dialing 347-945-6149.
Be sure to register on the site before Wednesday evening so you can participate in the chat from the beginning of the show.
I got a chance to see Greg read from and discuss Fathermucker at my local indie, Words in Maplewood, NJ, and I can assure you that this conversation is going to be a fun one. Browse inside Fathermucker and check out the reading group guide. Can't wait to talk to Greg and all of you on Wednesday night!
Fall is officially upon us (and in some parts of the country, winter has already reared its head). And what that's meant to me has been more knitting. I just finished a poncho for my 2 year old and am nearly done with a cowl for myself. Leg warmers for my teenager and scarves and hats for my son and husband are swirling in my head. With knitting so much on my mind, I've really been in the mood to read Rachael Herron's Cyrpress Hollow series - and the newest, Wishes and Stitches, is just out! Today Rachael reports on the National Reading Group Month that she participated in this past month at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, CA.
There isn't anything like a book to draw people together. You can be sharing a train car with a person who looks nothing like you (she might wear a different kind of clothing, and do her hair differently; she might be a different race or age) but if she is reading your favorite book, she is a friend. There's that lovely moment of recognition when a beloved book comes up in conversation: "Oh, you love that, too? Yes, I knew I liked you."
Reading groups celebrate books, and even more, they celebrate the communal aspect of reading. We read books at the same time and then get together to talk about them. It isn't important whether we loved or hated the book in question; the important thing is that we come together.
Last Sunday, a collection of people joined together at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, California, to celebrate National Reading Group Month (sponsored by the Women's National Book Association). I was lucky enough to get to read and sign my books along with fellow author Thad Nodine.
And the great thing? At first glance, you wouldn't think Thad and I had much in common. His novel is about a blind man making a journey across the country. My novels and nonfiction have knitting as the background music.
But as we read aloud, it became apparent that he and I write about the same thing: human connection. And while we were doing it, we were connecting to the listeners in the chairs arranged before us. At one point, I swear Thad was climbing over the chain link fence he was describing in his passage and at another point, the whole room was roaring as I described evading airport security while clutching my spinning wheel.
We were all together in one room, thinking about and listening to the written word. People had come to hear him, or they'd come to hear me, but they left having made a connection with both of us, and it was a lovely, gorgeous thing. It was an afternoon I am proud to have been part of, and it further affirmed my respect for the reading group as a useful tool of our community.
Browse inside Wishes and Stitches and check out the reading group guide. Visit Rachael Herron's website to learn more about her Cypress Hollow Yarn series, and follow and friend her on Twitter and Facebook.
Just a reminder that our Book Club Girl on Air show with Adriana Trigiani, on which we'll discuss her newest book in paperback, Don't Sing at the Table, is tomorrow night, Tuesday, November 1st at 7pm ET! Set your reminder for the show here and tune into that same link to listen and participate live tomorrow night at 7. During the show you'll be able to send questions in via the chat function, or call in and ask Adriana a question directly by dialing 347-945-6149. Be sure to register on the site before the show so that you can participate from the beginning and check out the reading group guide to Don't Sing at the Table. Can't wait to talk to you all tomorrow night!
Throughout the month of October, in honor of National Reading Group Month, we're offering 12 e-books by authors we've interviewed together on Book Club Girl on Air for just $2.99 from every place you buy e-books! Which means that you can get a year's worth of books for your book club for less than $36! For those of you who aren't familiar with the 12 books, I wanted to take the opportunity, over the next few weeks, to feature each of the 12 titles and authors to help you decide which book, or books, are right for your book club!
In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke
This is the way the world ends...
It was a fairy tale come true when Mark Dorn—handsome pilot, widower, tragic father of three—chose Jiselle to be his wife. The other flight attendants were jealous: She could quit now, leaving behind the million daily irritations of the job. (Since the outbreak of the Phoenix flu, passengers had become even more difficult and nervous, and a life of constant travel had grown harder.) She could move into Mark Dorn's precious log cabin and help him raise his three beautiful children.
But fairy tales aren't like marriage. Or motherhood. With Mark almost always gone, Jiselle finds herself alone, and lonely. She suspects that Mark's daughters hate her. And the Phoenix flu, which Jiselle had thought of as a passing hysteria (when she had thought of it at all), well . . . it turns out that the Phoenix flu will change everything for Jiselle, for her new family, and for the life she thought she had chosen.
From critically acclaimed author Laura Kasischke comes a novel of married life, motherhood, and the choices we must make when we have no choices left.
You can listen to our conversation with Laura about In a Perfect World below, share it with your book club and check out the reading group guide.
Throughout the month of October, in honor of National Reading Group Month, we're offering 12 e-books by authors we've interviewed together on Book Club Girl on Air for just $2.99 from every place you buy e-books! Which means that you can get a year's worth of books for your book club for less than $36! For those of you who aren't familiar with the 12 books, I wanted to take the opportunity, over the next few weeks, to feature each of the 12 titles and authors to help you decide which book, or books, are right for your book club!
Respected professor Jack Owens brought his son, Danny, to Gilbert, Indiana, to escape a betrayal too painful to endure anywhere but in this quiet Midwestern college town. After ten years, Jack believed they were safe. But on a seemingly ordinary day, the world Jack thought he knew and the future he anticipated abruptly comes apart at the seams, leaving him haunted by the questions why and what next. Redemption, however, could come with the arrival of an unexpected friend whose prescient understanding slowly helps Jack cope with the unacceptable. But with healing comes clarity -- and secrets best left unrevealed by the stark, glaring light of day.
You can listen to our conversation with Jamie about Light of Day below, and share it with your book club.
Throughout the month of October, in honor of National Reading Group Month, we're offering 12 e-books by authors we've interviewed together on Book Club Girl on Air for just $2.99 from every place you buy e-books! Which means that you can get a year's worth of books for your book club for less than $36! For those of you who aren't familiar with the 12 books, I wanted to take the opportunity, over the next few weeks, to feature each of the 12 titles and authors to help you decide which book, or books, are right for your book club!
The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel
Loyalty, loss, and the ties that bind: These are the ingredients of The Recipe Club, a "novel cookbook" that combines an authentic story of friendship with more than eighty delicious recipes.
Lifelong friends Lilly and Val are united as much by their differences as by their similarities. In childhood, "LillyPad" and "ValPal" form an exclusive two-person club, writing intimate letters in which they share hopes, fears, deepest secrets . . . and recipes—from Lilly's "Lovelorn Lasagna" to Valerie's "Forgiveness Tapenade." The Recipe Club sustains Lilly and Val's bond across the decades: through the challenges of independence, the joys and heartbreaks of first love, and the emotional complexities of family relationships, identity, mortality, and goals deferred—until the fateful day when an act of kindness becomes an unforgivable betrayal.
“A look at the difficulties of sustaining childhood bonds, it’s also a satisfying meditation on how nourishment for the body can replenish the soul.”—People
You can listen to our conversation with Andrea and Nancy about The Recipe Club below, share it with your book club and check out the reading group guide.
I'm so excited to announce that on Monday, November 21st at 7pm ET Anna David will be joining us on Book Club Girl On Air to discuss her new memoir, Falling for Me!Like most women, whether they’ve chosen the Fortune 500 career path or have had five kids by 35, Anna David wondered if she’d made the right choices. Then she came upon the book Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown, Cosmopolitan’s fearless leader from the mid-sixties to the late nineties. Immediately connecting with Gurley Brown’s unique message of self-empowerment combined with femininity, Anna vowed to use Sex as a lesson plan, venturing out of her comfort zone in the hope of overcoming the fears and insecurities that had haunted her for years. Embarking on a journey both intensely personal and undeniably universal, she becomes adventurous and spontaneous—reviving her wardrobe and apartment, taking French lessons, dashing off to Seville, and whiling nights away with men she never would have considered before. In the process, she ends up meeting the person really worth changing for: herself.
“Funny, smart, and compulsively likeable, Anna David is this decade’s answer to Carrie Bradshaw. There won’t be a single second you won’t root for her as she bravely tries to answer the resonating question: how can I be my best self?” says Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author of The Department of Lost and Found
I have 10 copies of Falling for Me to give out to the first 10 people who comment that they can participate in the show on Monday, November 21st at 7pm ET. Set your reminder for the show, read the first chapter of Falling for Me, and check out the reading group guide. Make sure to become a fan of Anna on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and visit her website.
I love this post from Heather Newton, author of Under the Mercy Trees, about Bibliofeast 2011, the National Reading Group Month event in Charlotte, NC last week. Read on to see why she enjoyed it so much and which other authors were featured at the event.
On October 10th, I had the pleasure of celebrating National Reading Group Month with the Charlotte chapter of the Women’s National Book Association. For “Bibliofeast 2011" the Chapter invited me and eight other writers to a moveable feast. Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant provided the feast (chicken piccata, ravioli, lasagne and chocolate cake--yum!). The authors provided the movable part, rotating among nine tables of participants to chat about books and whatever else came up in conversation. Sally Brewster, owner of Park Road Books (“Charlotte’s Favorite Bookstore”) was on hand to sell books.
Some guests were WNBA members, some came solo looking for a book club to join, some book clubs brought their entire group. The common trait? These people read. I was astonished at how many titles these ladies (and a few men) gulp down in a month. I came away with a great list of recommended reading.
Chapter President and event magician Susan Walker was nice enough to feed the authors before the participants arrived so our stomachs wouldn’t growl during the event. Over the stuffed mushrooms I got to enjoy the company of Ellen Baker (I Gave My Heart to Know This), Ann Hite (Ghost on Black Mountain), Marjorie Hudson (Accidental Birds of the Carolinas), Valerie Nieman (Blood Clay), Michael Parker (The Watery Part of the World), Drew Perry (This Is Just Exactly Like You), John Milliken Thompson (The Reservoir) and Marybeth Whalen (She Makes It Look Easy).
During dinner a woman at my table asked me whether I enjoyed events like this. My answer: “Are you kidding me?” My daily life as a lawyer is adversarial, with clients in crisis and parties mad at each other. It was a real treat to spend an evening with happy people who love books as much as I do. My deep thanks to the Women’s National Book Association for giving us National Reading Group Month!
Heather Newton's Under the Mercy Trees has been named a Great Group Read by the Women's National Book Association. See the complete list of Great Group Reads in honor of National Reading Group Month. Listen to Heather discuss Under the Mercy Trees here and check out the Under the Mercy Trees reading group guide. Visit Heather's website and friend her on Facebook. Look for more National Reading Group Month events throughout October here.
Throughout the month of October, in honor of National Reading Group Month, we're offering 12 e-books by authors we've interviewed together on Book Club Girl on Air for just $2.99 from every place you buy e-books! Which means that you can get a year's worth of books for your book club for less than $36! For those of you who aren't familiar with the 12 books, I wanted to take the opportunity, over the next few weeks, to feature each of the 12 titles and authors to help you decide which book, or books, are right for your book club!
Husband & Wife by Leah Stewart
Sarah Price has never regretted trading her MFA for a steady job so that her husband, Nathan, could write fiction. But at age thirty-five, her world is turned upside-down by a shocking revelation: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based on fact. Reeling from his betrayal, Sarah is plagued by dark questions. How well does she really know her husband? More important, how well does she know herself?
For answers, Sarah looks back to her artistic twentysomething self to try to understand what exactly has happened to her dreams. And so begins her quest to discover which version of herself is the essential one—the artist, wife, mother, or someone else entirely—an eye-opening journey that leads Sarah hundreds of miles away from her marriage and back to herself.
"Leah Stewart’s brilliantly written novel Husband and Wife is a deeply human book: funny, tender, smart, self-aware. When you read it you will laugh, you will cry, you will recognize others, you will recognize yourself.” — Elin Hilderbrand, author of The Castaways and Barefoot
You can listen to our conversation with Leah about Husband & Wife below, and share it with your book club, and check out the reading group guide.
Throughout the month of October, in honor of National Reading Group Month, we're offering 12 e-books by authors we've interviewed together on Book Club Girl on Air for just $2.99 from every place you buy e-books! Which means that you can get a year's worth of books for your book club for less than $36! For those of you who aren't familiar with the 12 books, I wanted to take the opportunity, over the next few weeks, to feature each of the 12 titles and authors to help you decide which book, or books, are right for your book club!
The Life You've Imagined by Kristina Riggle
Is the life you're living all you imagined?
Have you ever asked yourself, "What if??" Here, four women face the decisions of their lifetimes in this stirring and unforgettable novel of love, loss, friendship, and family.
Anna Geneva, a Chicago attorney coping with the death of a cherished friend, returns to her "speck on the map" hometown of Haven to finally come to terms with her mother, the man she left behind, and the road she did not take.
Cami Drayton, Anna's dearest friend from high school, is coming home too, forced by circumstance to move in with her alcoholic father . . . and to confront a dark family secret.
Maeve, Anna's mother, never left Haven, firmly rooted there by her sadness over her abandonment by the husband she desperately loved and the hope that someday he will return to her.
And Amy Rickart—thin, beautiful, and striving for perfection—faces a future with the perfect man . . . but is haunted by the memory of what she used to be.
Kristina Riggle's The Life You've Imagined takes a provocative look at the choices we make—and the courage we must have to change.
“A richly woven story laced with unforgettable characters….A beautiful book.”—Therese Walsh, author of The Last Will of Moira Leahy
You can listen to our conversation with Kristina about The Life You've Imagined and share it with your book club here, and check out the reading group guide.
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