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Have I mentioned to you lately that I am a guy? I know that male attendance at book discussions is a constant concern for organizers and leaders.  This is a hard concept for me to get my head around personally because I have been in a book discussion or two since 1976.  While most of [...]

Here’s the third entry in my series on ways to create some needed variety in a stagnant book group. 8. THE PAGES OF MY LIFE Sometimes the best solution is to dig a little deeper. Presumably, you’ve all joined a book group because at some point books made a difference for you. Spend an evening [...]

Last week my book group met to discuss Don Carpenter’s Hard Rain Falling. I was a little nervous as this was a book I requested for purchase to the Book Group Collection. It is not your typical book group book either, so I was not sure what my group would think. A week prior I [...]

How many times have you read a book in a book discussion that was so good you said you were going to read another book by the same author? How many times have you never read another book by that author? That pretty much describes me.  I take the pledge and then fail to take [...]

A search for “Guernsey” shows no fewer than 15 posts here on Book Group Buzz about Mary Ann Shaffer’s and Annie Burrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. What can I say, I’m slow. Here’s sweet sixteen. There were certain words that kept popping up in descriptions of Guernsey that kept me at [...]

Last week my library book group discussed Ann Patchett’s first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars.  The main reason we decided to examine this book is that several members of the group had greatly enjoyed reading and talking about Bel Canto, another of Patchett’s novels.  (Many of you may be familiar with Bel Canto, since [...]

Hopefully by now, you’ve all had a chance to view/listen to the Book Group Buzzing webinar from last week.  As I went through it, I realized one of the questions at the end was specifically asking for websites with advice for starting a book discussion group. Here are some that I think will be helpful: [...]

This is the second post in what will be a long weekly series about ways to shake up your book group with variations that keep that not-so-fresh feeling at bay. 4. IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR Take a time machine to the year or decade of your choice for one meeting. Select books that [...]

I’m fascinated by the way books are used in art and sculpture and was captivated by this image of the Berlin Book Tower. Many of the author names will be familiar to book group readers and leaders. Which author’s masterworks has your book group read and enjoyed?