Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

I’ve never read anything quite like it. That, in itself, is saying something. Domenico Starnone’s First Execution starts out like a Mediterranean crime noir by Jean-Claude Izzo and then four chapters into the story the author stops the novel and removes the sequence you’ve just read. From then on, you’re not only reading a crime [...]

To my surprise, the light-as-air, slim, charming, comic autobiographical novel, Tokyo Fiancee by Belgian author Amelie Nothomb, triggered quite a passionate discussion at the University Book Store’s monthly book club meeting. I had feared the opposite, that it was so utterly likeable that there might not be enough discussion, that everyone would agree it was [...]

Yahoo news reports that the Washington Post is dropping its Book World supplement, joining the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times as major papers that have eliminated book supplements and reduced coverage of books in an effort to cut costs. Do any book supplements survive beyond the New York Times?   I know the budget difficulties for [...]

I just read Winifred Watson’s winsome Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. The book is fabulous, delightful, a veritable confection. It has been called, and rightly so, an adult fairytale. It sparkles with wit, panache, glamour and wish-fulfillment. It is the ultimate Cinderella story. When Watson wrote Miss Pettigrew, she had never been to a [...]

Since 2007, the RUSA Reading List Council honors the best titles in adult genre fiction.  These titles might make good books for your book discussion group.  Here is the third list of title, just announced: Adrenaline: Blue Heaven, C.J. Box (St. Martin) Horror: Sharp Teeth, Toby Barlow (HarperCollins) Mystery: The Garden of Evil, David Hewson [...]

Looking for some good books for your book group?  Why not check out this list of the best from last year just announced.  Since 1944, the goal has been to list 25 great works that are readable. The website for this list is http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/awards/notablebooks/index.cfm.    FICTION Alameddine, Rabih. The Hakawati. Knopf Publishing Group 9780307266798. Aslam, Nadeem. [...]

 I am poetry impaired. However, there is one poet who I was introduced to who has captivated my heart.  I used his poem The Dead in a PowerPoint I put together for my family about the death of my father, and his unknowing contribution to that work never fails to make the whole room cry. [...]

  It feels so good to write those words! President Obama is a reader, as this recent New York Times article by esteemed critic Michiko Kakutani attests. Perhaps I should qualify that with a President who reads and even talks about books. The article mentions that Bush read quite a few books, too, but I [...]

Now that I’ve started blabbing, it’s going to be hard to stop. Though I’ve only read the first sixty pages, First Execution by Domenico Starnone has been such a startling literary experience that the urge to discuss the delights of this new novel are huge. Cleverness leaves me cold, I have no fondness for novelty [...]

I like when my opinions are validated.  Hopefully so does Jen Baker because in a review of Mr. White’s Confession by Robert Clark in the September 15, 2008, issue of Booklist, Baker wrote “this slow-burning stunner of a suspense novel came and went without much notice.”  That is a true statement despite the fact that [...]

Much as we like to gather with our book groups, every once in a while we book group leaders like to convene without you, dear reader.  We need to. We need to hear what our fellow facilitators are up to and the idea sharing is invaluable. Recently I journeyed to one of the far flung branches [...]

Rosebud is a sled, Darth Vadar is Luke’s father, and Bruce Willis is one of the dead people. And the caretaker Mr. MacGillicuddy would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you crazy kids and your mangy mutt Scooby Doo. If you’ve been around book groups for long, you’ve encountered two awkward scenarios. [...]

Stop right there. If you’re interested in modern Italian literature, don’t read one word farther. I’m serious. Surprise is important. And if you read any farther, you’re going to learn the very first surprise of Domenico Starnone’s First Execution, and a literary surprise is not something to be given away lightly. Okay, I tried to [...]

I had heard about Elizabeth Taylor some time ago. No, not that Elizabeth Taylor. The Other Elizabeth Taylor; Elizabeth Taylor, the writer. Virago Press has been reprinting many of her works, which also predisposed me to give her a try. So I finally picked up one of her novels, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont. Mrs. Palfrey [...]

For the past two weeks, the Fiction Department, with the assistance of our Teen librarians (I should also mention that our colleagues in the Arts and History Departments have also been working on a nonfiction booklist, and on supporting programs), has been feverishly working on pulling together various documents for the Reading Group Toolbox for [...]

  I picked it up twice, and twice put it back down again. The reason was simple. If you opened the book and fluttered through the pages, far too many mathematical equations were interspersed in the dialogue. Not an encouraging sight. No, thank you. I read for pleasure, and math problems are certainly not pleasure. [...]

Dunshee House was dark. Not a sign of life. My heart sank – not a good omen. Wednesday evening, an hour before book club, and it looked closed. Had everyone given up and gone home? No, wait – was that a light in one of the upstairs windows? This was the place that in one [...]

The 2009 Edgar® Award Nominees are… Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television and film published or produced in 2008. The Edgar® Awards will [...]

Libraries that promote the development of book clubs in their communities may have already discovered one effective way of accomplishing their objective is to provide book discussion kits.  The kits typically include multiple copies of a highly discussable book, along with discussion questions and author information, and perhaps a canvas bag for easier carrying.  This [...]

Last week my book group met to discuss Nicole Krauss’ The History of Love. I had read it a couple of years back, and remembered being impressed with Krauss’ ambition and style, as well as her ability to inhabit an older, male character. The group had an interesting conversation about the book. The novel focuses [...]