Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

I’m not writing this simply to piggyback on Nick’s recent post. I legitamately woke up this morning thinking, “I know, I’ll write about non-fiction.” I have been feeling as though I have been mainly writing book reviews rather than exploring substantive book group issues for this blog, and awoke to find that Nick had scooped me.
But Nick brings [...]

It came up again Wednesday night. Right in the middle of our book club meeting, someone suggested using Randy Shilts’ The Mayor of Castro Street as a future book club selection. Not that it isn’t a superb biography, there’s no question about that. “But you’re discussing history, not the book,” said someone else. “You could [...]

I have been doing so much rereading right now—for my book group and other projects—that I was craving something fresh, short, and utterly delightful.
Why didn’t I think of Laurie Colwin earlier? I have always enjoyed anything I have read by her for their breezy brilliance, and this is no exception.
In Colwin’s A Big Storm [...]

Looking for reading ideas for your group? Louis Bayard is an author who ought to get your thoughts percolating. With Mr. Timothy, The Pale Blue Eye, and The Black Tower, Bayard has put together a string of three excellent historical mystery/thrillers. Normally, such plot-driven books make for a short discussion, but Bayard finds a true voice for his characters. He draws [...]

I have become absolutely spoiled with advance copies from publishers. I keep picking them up, only to find the same stack languishing on my desk months later.
I picked up The Sisters Mortland by Sally Beauman ages ago, because it looked good at the time, and then promptly forgot. But I picked it up again in [...]