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

The long list for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, one of literature’s premier prizes, was announced earlier this week. Although most of these titles are still awaiting American distribution, book group leaders should seek them out in hardback in preparation for forthcoming release in more club-friendly formats. These are likely to be among the year’s most buzzed-about books. [...]

Back in February I mentioned some Twitter feeds I follow for book news and possible selections for book groups. Here’s another small batch of book tweeters who post pithy tweets about book groups, reading, book news, and other items of interest to readers. EarlyWord @earlyword– is the twitter handle for the favorite website of many [...]

Every book group in which I’ve ever been involved has gone through cycles. In the boom times, every discussion is fascinating, every book choice clicks, and the readers turn out in droves and get along swimmingly. But then perhaps a couple of books in a row will prove to be unhappy choices, a couple of [...]

In yesterday’s Booklist webinar “Book Group Buzzing,”  moderator/panelist Rebecca Vnuk discussed trends in reading groups. One of them was the growing number of participants  attending book group with an e-reader in hand. I know I’ve seen a growing number of my book group attendees bring e-readers to the discussion. Recently Reading Group Choices released the [...]

During yesterday’s Book Group Buzzing webinar, a question came up asking for  good websites for book discussion groups.  I promised that I would address that here on the blog.  I’ve compiled a list of recently mentioned websites from my fellow BGB bloggers, as well as added some of my personal favorites.  I hope they are [...]

Is your book group looking for something new and different and, well, cheap? Why not try selecting and discussing some short stories online? My colleague Jared Mills started a book group called The Seattle Futurians Book Club and for their first meeting they discussed three short stories available online. Kij Johnson’s “Ponies,” “The Other Amazon” [...]

I have no doubt that many authors have horror stories similar to Nancy Lauzon‘s experience as a visiting author to a book group. However, I do hope that subsequent book group visits were more pleasant and the conversation more stimulating for both Nancy and any other author who suffered a less-than-stellar discussion. Nancy, author of [...]

Has anyone ever thought of “twinning” your book discussion group? According to  Opening the Book, a library consultant group in the UK, twinning is when you “twin with a local group and exchange opinions on books by email/post/library courier; twin with a national or international reading group and talk about reading habits and preferences by email [...]

Many book groups have discovered the special qualities of Rebecca Skloot’s prize-winning book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It has a riveting story, complex and realistic characters (including the author), and a lively pace in spite of all the science. Not to mention numerous angles that make the book a great fit for most [...]

This time I am borrowing a post title from Kaite! And in this case a crystal ball prediction is rather appropriate. One of the books with the most buzz at BookExpo this year was Erin Morgenstern’s debut The Night Circus. A couple of colleagues of mine let me know that it was a highly anticipated [...]

I’ve been updating some lists of classic authors at my library, and using the Julian Patrick-edited 501 Great Writers to do it. This is the kind of book that I enjoy bringing to a book group occasionally just to pass around the room. It may lead to ideas for which writers to try next, or [...]

It’s easy to find possible reading selections online, thanks to the vast number of library groups who make sure to put their current (and past) selections online for all to peruse.  While searching around recently, I came across a list of recent picks from Inkwood Books in Tampa, FL. I realized I’ve never actively sought [...]

We were halfway around the table and halfway around the world when I curtailed my first post on this subject last week. Let’s look at other interesting titles that made the trip at this meeting of Williamsburg Regional Library’s staff book group. Barbara from our Outreach division had two books. The first was Michael S. [...]

A number of random things are coming together right now as I write this.  My library meeting room is full of children enjoying our theme, One World Many Stories, by watching an Irish dance troop.  The international theme had me thinking about different cultures and feeling like I should read something from a foreign land.  [...]

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about men and reading – Ted’s post asking why so few men join book groups dovetailed with a lively discussion about boys/men and reading at an author interview last month, so it’s been on my mind. To that end, I’m skipping my usual “Women’s Fic Pick” this month and [...]

Every librarian must know their own weaknesses, blind spots and areas for improvement. This summer, I am making a concerted effort to read more science fiction and fantasy, which I have always enjoyed but have crowded out in recent years in my penchant for reading too much ‘literary’ fiction (a term I am feeling increasingly [...]

The staff book group here at Williamsburg Regional Library took on the theme of travel in a meeting today. One thing that I love about thematic discussions is that they allow consideration of books and ideas that wouldn’t work as single book discussion titles. It makes for a much more diverse meeting, as our travel [...]

The Tiger’s Wife is a recently published novel by a young author named Tea Obreht, and it is quite simply one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time.  Obreht has been named to The New Yorker’s list of “20 Under 40″ — the magazine’s choice of the most exceptional young [...]

What is it about sociopaths that make me want to read their confessions?  My excuse will be that they also make good book discussion titles. My latest accomplishment is Young Adam by Alexander Trocchi.  This novel, first published in Paris in 1954 under the pseudonym of Frances Lengel, was the first book written by a [...]

Last week my book group discussed Mary Karr’s third memoir, Lit. For all but one of us, Lit was our introduction to Karr. It was interesting to note that we were meeting to discuss a memoir for which most of us had not read the ones leading up to it. But we agreed that no [...]