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

Listen to the Book Club Chat with Victoria Lustbader Now!

Here's tonight's discussion with Victoria Lustbader about Stone Creek. It was a really wonderful conversation, thanks so much to everyone who called in and sent in questions for Victoria! Click on the widget below to listen.

Reminder! Our Book Club Chat with Victoria Lustbader, author of Stone Creek is this Wednesday, July 23rd at 7 PM EST

Those of you who signed on to participate will have already received an email reminder about our book club conversation this Wednesday night with Victoria, but the call is open to anyone who has read Stone Creek or is interested in discussing this compelling novel!

Set your reminder for the show here and return to that same link to listen to the show live on Wed at 7 pm EST. You can call in to the show to ask ask a question at this number: (347) 835-6149. As people call in, I'll identify them by the last four digits of your phone number. If I say your phone number, remember to turn down the volume on your computer when you ask your question. If you can't call in, but have questions for Victoria, please put them in the comments to this post, or you can send in questions while you're listening to the show via the Chat function on the show's page. But if you plan to do this, I recommend you register on the site beforehand. Make sure you enter your questions via "Chat" and not "Comments" so that I'll see them during the live show.

If you're not sure what to ask, but want to participate, check out the reading group guide to the book as well as a Q&A with Victoria from the back of the book, for inspiration. Hope to hear from some of you on Wednesday night!

Announcing My Next Blog Talk Radio Show with Victoria Lustbader, author of Stone Creek

As those of you who listened to my most recent book club show with Laurie Viera Rigler know, my next show, scheduled for July 23rd at 7 pm EST is with Victoria Lustbader. Lustbader is the author of Stone Creek, a novel many of you had the opportunity to read a bit of and commented on last month. In Stone Creek, Lustbader tells the story of two wounded people searching for love, and finding it in an unexpected place. Lily is happily married but finds herself newly unhappy with the decision she and her husband made years earlier to not have children. Danny is grieving for the sudden tragic death of his wife while caring for his 4-year old son. When Lily and Danny meet, the connection between them is palpable. Stone Creek is a moving meditation on love and loss and how love can be found with more than one person. As such, there is a lot to discuss! I look forward to talking with Victoria and with many of you about the book. To find out more, visit Victoria's website, check out the reading group guide and browse inside the book.

Set your reminder for the show here. The first 10 people to comment on this post that they'd like to participate in the show will receive a copy of Stone Creek.

Listen to the Book Club Chat with Laurie Viera Rigler Now!

Listen here to tonight's wonderful book club chat with Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. Thank you Laurie for talking to us and thank you so much to everyone who called in and sent questions in to the show! Do check out Laurie's site, where you can not only see her dancing at a ball, but you can also watch a great campaign ad for Jane Austen running for president!

The next Book Club Girl On Air show is scheduled for Wednesday, July 23rd, with Victoria Lustbader, author of Stone Creek. Set your reminder here. The first 25 people to comment on today's show with Laurie will receive a copy of Stone Creek to read before the show!

Book Club Panel Held Today at NY Public Library

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

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

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

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

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