Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

Last week my book group discussed Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.  It’s a powerful book, evoking a desolate, post-apocalypse America where there are few survivors, and even fewer who haven’t thrown human decency out the window to survive.  A man and his son are at the center of the story.  The boy was born into this world of [...]

I’m not trying to be contentious. Far from it. I welcome ALL readers to my book groups. Especially those who haven’t finished the book or never even heard of it. But after flipping through this morning’s news, I’m wondering: If someone brings this to the book group with an e-book on it, is the Library [...]

It all boils down to just one big nasty question. Why talk about reading when you can be reading instead? A conversation composed of addicted readers is a room full of people who aren’t enjoying their addiction. For moderate readers, socializing is a pleasant break from solitude, but for reading addicts who need their hundred [...]

When I conduct workshops on leading book discussions, one of the things I ask my students to think about is how they would like the book discussion they are preparing to lead to actually turn out.  You can’t tell if you’ve achieved success with a project unless you have an idea of what that project [...]

Misha’s last posting about the great new graphic covers that Penguin is putting on classic books reminds me of the joys of graphic novels and their potential for book groups. I hope I don’t have to convince too many of you that these books are real literature worth the time of serious readers.
If readers in [...]

In the most recent Libraries Unlimited Readers’ Advisor News newsletter, a colleague, Abby Bass, wrote a great article about book covers and readers’ advisory. It’s called “Today’s Cover Story: New Trends in Book Cover Design and Their Impact on Readers.” 
In the article, she mentions Penguin’s “Graphic Classic” series–updated covers for some old classic titles.  And [...]