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While I’m compiling the lists of discussion titles for the three book groups I work with, I’m recalling those titles that gave us the best discussions of the past year. Before I post our forthcoming reading, I’m going to take one look back at 2010 and the conversations that brought some new faces into my [...]

As a new year approaches, I always like to take time to ponder my reading habits and make a few resolutions for the upcoming year. Here are my reading resolutions for 2011: 1) MAKE TIME TO BE CAPTIVATED BY BOOKS As a professional book person, I have a dozen tricks to sneak a few extra [...]

I came across a copy of Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose at a library book sale. I have passed by copies of the book many times, but did not decide to read it until I bought a copy. I am a slow nonfiction reader typically, and I read this slowly, but I [...]

At the last meeting of my Edith Wharton study group, I learned that the famous American author had a love affair that influenced the writing of some of her novels — a relationship that she kept secret during her lifetime, not even mentioning it in her autobiography.  The affair, which ended unhappily, did not come [...]

I’ll play, too…although I’m glad I waited until the very end of the year, so I could add the book I just finished last week! Here are the best books that I read this year.  Most of them are probably not really good discussion books, (I like to read purely for entertainment.  Not to say [...]

The Greendale Public Library where I work just did our annual fall (or in this case, winter) book discussion and this year we decided to do The Great Gatsby.  We did not pick it for this reason but Gatsby is one of The Big Read titles from the National Endowment for the Arts.  One of [...]

I say this every year, but I mean it. I love Top Ten lists–books, movies, music, theatre, television, fashion don’ts, food, you name it, I’ll read the Top Ten list devoted to it. My favorite Top Ten lists (after Top of the List) come from those culture mavens over at Entertainment Weekly. This year, quite [...]

Or your e-reader devices. Same thing. The New York Times published a story that ponders (again, as if we haven’t been pondering all year) the impact e-readers will have on the publishing industry, readers, and reading. What’s notable is everyone quoted seems to be less panicked about the demise of a literate culture and more [...]

Here are the remaining titles from the Williamsburg Regional Library’s staff book group meeting. Our theme was works that involved winter settings. Cela’s first choice was unusual. Robert Masello’s Blood and Ice is a tale that blends historical fiction, horror, adventure, science, and vampires. A contemporary South Pole researcher and journalist discovers a man and [...]

A few weeks ago I wondered about the logistics of adding different book clubs to the roster of what you may already be doing at your library.  Then I came across this article on Patch which shows us another way to look at it. The LaGrange Park (IL) Public Library assists 40 different book clubs.  [...]

The staff book group at Williamsburg Regional Library met for our annual Christmas meeting, with the theme of books where a cold or icy setting played an important role. The resulting choices will induce shivers in more ways than one! Other book groups might experiment with some of the following titles of their own wintry [...]

EarlyWord posted the trailer to the theatrical adaptation of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, due in theaters in April 2011. After I watched it, I thought to myself, could Water for Elephants be the next Titanic? My book group discussed Water for Elephants two years ago, and when I read it I did not think [...]

In my last post, I posted some puzzles from one of my book group’s annual Christmas celebration. Here are the promised answers: The first list of items represented the Chronicles of Narnia in this order: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (a picture of Barry Sanders, a Detroit Lion for his entire career) The [...]

This month’s staff reader’s advisory training at my library was called Novels into Film.  I was the discussion leader so it allowed me to select the book Push by Sapphire and the film Precious.  It also allowed our staff to train on a genre we called Urban Fiction or Street Lit.  Our discussion included the fact [...]

Twenty-three members of the Williamsburg Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Group converged at my house last night for our 7th annual Christmas Party and Reindeer Games. I think it’s the sign of a healthy group when we get one of our biggest turnouts each year in the middle of the holiday season. These readers enjoy each other’s company, and [...]

I just heard a great idea for a year-end book group meeting. Book Swap. I won’t be doing a book swap this year since we have another activity planned, but it’s definitely on the calendar for next year and it doesn’t even have to wait until next December. Encourage everyone to come to the next [...]

I am wondering how different groups get the books that they read over the year. Does your group use your library’s collection? (Which also probably means it has to be a title that your library has in sufficient quantities and doesn’t have a very long holds list.) Does your group read the newest titles and [...]

My question to you this week, readers, is – Does your book discussion group have a name?  If so, tell us what it is and how you came to it. I’ve participated in groups with funny/cutesy names, library groups with descriptive names (“5 o’Clock Readers” pretty  much says it all, huh?), but mostly, groups with [...]

My lunchtime book group doesn’t spend too much time bemoaning the state of the book. They are a tolerant lot and welcome any reader with any device. I never know how Jenn is going to bring her book to the discussion, sometimes it’s on her nook, sometimes she brings the audio CD, but usually she [...]

The Trail Blazers book group has called the Trails West branch of the Kansas City Public Library home for almost ten years. They started gathering to discuss reading in April of 2001. This eclectic band of readers are open to almost any kind of books (not too fond of horror, they freely admit) and have [...]