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The announcement for a new anthology of crime stories couldn’t come at a better time. As you may have gathered, May is Mystery Month at Booklist and Short Story Month everywhere. In August, fans of both can enjoy an anthology with a great title: Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense. [...]

If book groups haven’t been asking for Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katharine Boo yet, be prepared. They will. This book is a marvelous piece of narrative nonfiction that will appeal to many readers. It’s journalist Boo’s first book and unlike other journalist nonfiction, Boo adopts an unusual point of view to tell the story [...]

Lysley Tenorio’s debut collection of short stories, Monstress, explores the lives of Filipino Americans and Filipinos with a universal grace. Tenorio’s voice is gentle and strong as his stories delve into lives on the fringes. In the title story, “Monstress,” Reva and her filmmaker beau arrive in Hollywood to collaborate with another monster movie director; Reva gets to [...]

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 [...]

I recently read Tina Fey’s memoir, Bossypants, and I found it a fantastically funny, entertaining read. Told in episodic essays, Fey relays her unexpected rise in the ranks of theater to improv to “Saturday Night Live” to her show “30 Rock.” But what has stayed with me the most, and what has been much discussed [...]

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 [...]

If your book group has read any of the Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Girl Who Played with Fire; The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) you might be interested to know that in conjunction with its release of the films based on the novels, Music Box Films has made available [...]

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry is the story of Zee, a psychologist, who has just lost a bipolar patient to suicide.  This hits too close to home – Zee’s mother also suffered from bipolar  disorder and committed suicide when Zee was younger.  Needing a break from her life, Zee escapes to Salem, [...]

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 [...]

Sarah Addison Allen became a book club favorite with her debut novel, Garden Spells. Her follow up title, The Sugar Queen, followed suit and it will be no surprise if her latest, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, becomes equally popular. Allen writes magical stories of ordinary women with peculiar abilities in recognizable situations. Even [...]

Jean Hegland only has 2 novels, but they are both perfect choices for book discussion.  Interestingly enough, they couldn’t be more different from each other. Into the Forest is a post-apocalyptic story of two teenage sisters, Nell and Eva, who go through the end of the world with only each other to rely on.  It’s [...]

I recently finished an advance copy of Carol Goodman’s upcoming book, Arcadia Falls, and it reminded me of what a good choice her novels can be for most book discussion groups. You can find a list of Goodman’s books at her website, so I won’t go into plot synopses here.  What I can tell you [...]

I have a personal connection with the youngest of the writers I’ve seen on 2009′s roll of obituaries, which I’ll share as I consider that list (more ideas about how book groups should use such lists later this week, but this first.) I was fortunate enough to attend and occasionally read on some of the same [...]

Did you know that Joyce Carol Oates was born a conjoined twin? The tragedy of little Carol Joyce receives oblique references in most of her sister’s writing to this day. Or that Pat Conroy chose his pen name because he was with Elvis in the week that the King died? (Does “con roi” ring any bells, French speakers?) It’s [...]

The latest endeavor of the Adult Reading Round Table (ARRT) here in Illinois is a quarterly literary fiction book discussion organized by two members of the Steering Committee for the enjoyment and enlightenment of any of ARRT’s 100+ members who may care to participate.  You guessed it   – I’m one of the two organizers, and I actually [...]

My friends in book groups always ask me for something thought-provoking, contemporary, and discussable. The next time I’m prodded for a suggestion for a group that wants a story that will keep conversation flowing and offer a quick pace, I will be suggesting Anita Shreve’s latest novel, Testimony. Anita Shreve had been a book group [...]

It’s not the newest marketing trend out there, but it’s certainly one of the most inexpensive. I have a sense that many other authors and publishers will be taking note of Joshua Henkin’s “so simple why didn’t I think of that” method for promoting his titles. Henkin contacts book groups and readers directly and offers [...]

  For once the Booker judges got it right! We’re all shouting for joy at University Book Store. I’ve read The White Tiger twice. It’s my favorite novel of 2008, and has just been announced as the winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize.   The author is 34-year-old Aravind Adiga, a former correspondent in [...]

Those heavy, gray clouds outside my window promise rain any minute. That’s fine with me. I can deal with a wet Labor Day. It just means I’ll be peacefully reading alone, which is exactly what I want. Yesterday I helped a friend paint his room. Saturday I hosted a friend from out of town. I’ve [...]

Not everyone cries easily over fiction. I do. All it takes is a little too much caffeine in my system and a sad parting (like the sergeant saying goodbye to his beloved mule at the end of The Mule) or an unexpected moment of coming together (the bus stop blessing at the end of Gilead) [...]