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

Former actress-turned-novelist, Louise Shaffer writes lovely family stories, often centered around creative spirits – writers, theatre people, and the like.  She’d be a great choice for a group that enjoys light fiction, women’s stories, or artistic stories. In her most recent novel, Looking for a Love Story, Shaffer mixes the contemporary story of Francesca, a [...]

Since the Seattle Gay Pride parade is gearing up just outside my windows, I thought I would write about a couple of books that I read recently that book groups might not know about. Last year, I saw Stephanie A. Brill, the author of The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals, speak at a conference on [...]

Two brothers who are locked in a bitter rivalry from their earliest years.  A beautiful married woman who becomes the object of a young boy’s sexual obsession.  A depressed mother who cannot endure her harsh environment and subsequently abandons her family. These are some of the compelling characters who inhabit Mary Lawson’s emotional 2006 novel, [...]

The best discussions I’ve ever taken part in find me with at least three more topics to discuss as readers are gathering their books and purses after 90 minutes of heated conversation, still talking on their way out the door and in the parking lot. Oh, and I haven’t done any of the talking, either [...]

The most recent Newbery Award winner was Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me. If you read it, regardless of your age, you’ll understand why.  It’s the story of sixth-grade Miranda, a New York City girl who is trying to come to grips with the unexplained desertion of her best friend Sal, with new realizations that [...]

PEN has announced the launch of a new online book group, PEN Reads. The inaugural title is The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector, and a post by Colm Toibin will kick off the discussion on July 6. PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world’s oldest literary and human rights organization, announced [...]

In a recent post, Neil reminded us of the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book is a great summer selection for a book group. It’s short, accessible, and most of us have read it at least once. There is also little likelihood that book group members [...]

At one of my recent discussions, as soon as I announced the next book, one woman whipped out her Kindle and immediately downloaded the title.  Everyone else,  of course, crowded around to start asking her questions about her Kindle and were fascinated that she had the book instantly, and could start reading it that evening. [...]

I just read this Seattle P. I. blog post, “The Book Club Dilemma,” by mystery author J. A. Jance about her “checkered past” with book groups. In the article Jance talks about her own relationship to book groups as a genre writer and how she feels about groups that insist they only read “literary” books. This [...]

Marghanita Laski’s Little Boy Lost is riveting reading. Reprinted by Persephone Books, it is one of those slim, perfect novels that would be a perfect book group discovery. In Little Boy Lost, Hilary Wainwright is a poet and intellectual, a man who now lives a life lacking in emotional attachment after his wife was killed [...]

For those heading to the ALA conference in Washington D.C., please join me for a program on Monday, June 28th. I’ll be presenting with author Cory Doctorow and professor Eric Rabkin on the topic “Science Fiction: Past, Present, and Future.” Dr. Rabkin will provide an overview of the history of the genre. The always controversial [...]

Those responsible for making the reading selections for their book groups will be happy to know there’s another huge resource at their disposal. The third volume in the “Now Read This” series was published earlier this year. Now Read This III is co-authored by Nancy Pearl and Sarah Statz Cords. Sarah is to nonfiction what [...]

I’m wondering if there is anyone out there in Book Group Buzz Land who is reading Nevil Shute.  In case you are unfamiliar with the name, Shute is an English author who later became an Australian citizen and who is best known for the novels A Town Like Alice and On the Beach.  He was [...]

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees starts with this quotation from Alcott’s Little Women: “Don’t laugh at the spinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragical romances are hidden away in the hearts that beat so quietly under their sober gowns.” Meet Louisa May Alcott-22, stubborn, head-strong, a dreamer, fiercely [...]

Joshilyn Jackson writes contemporary, Southern fiction featuring strong and/or eclectic women characters, not to mention some of the most dysfunctional of dysfunctional families ever. When booktalking her  first novel, gods in Alabama, I simply use this line from the jacket flap: “When Arlene Fleet headed off to college in Chicago, she made three promises to [...]

An evening with Oscar Wilde might be just the thing for your next book group. I’ve just finished Lady Windermere’s Fan, and while I’m not sure the plot has aged well, or that this was ever Wilde’s best work, it was still an entertaining read. Here are the ingredients I would assemble if to ensure [...]

Last week, I began a discussion the craft of making book recommendations. This week, I’d like to give some concrete advice on the subject. There’s a right way and a wrong way to make recommendations. Many Book Group Buzz readers are librarians, and if you are, I hope that you have at least passing familiarity [...]

I missed it this year, but I won’t next year. The KC Girlfriends Book Club held their third annual retreat yesterday. This dedicated group of readers organize a luncheon event to celebrate literacy. They invite their own members, all avid readers, and other book group participants to an afternoon of special guest authors for inspiring [...]

The staff book group at Williamsburg Regional Library dedicated last week’s meeting to the classics of children’s literature. It was a great topic for a sun-distracted summer month. Normally, I recap each book that our librarians present at these meetings for Book Group Buzz readers, but this time we all read multiple books, so I’ll [...]

If so, I’d like to promote a program that the RUSA CODES RA Committee is presenting:  Innovative Collection Centered Programs: Beyond the Book Group. Now, it might seem odd to promote going “beyond the book group” on a blog about book discussions… but, one of the pieces of the program actually has to do with [...]