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

A new crop of memoirs has emerged this spring that will leave book groups with mouths watering, especially if foodies are among their numbers. Grant Achatz is the chef at Alinea, the highly praised Chicago restaurant that has done so much to popularize the science fair meets inside joke approach of molecular gastronomy. In his memoir,  Life, on [...]

THIS is the book party I want to go to next year. The Minnesota Book Awards. I blogged about these awards and the short list of nominees some weeks ago and this past Saturday, April 16, the big awards were announced at a biblio-blow out. Here’s a list of all the winners, but the big [...]

Another nonfiction book group favorite is not faring well under close scrutiny. Greg Mortenson, whose books Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools have inspired book groups everywhere, has not provided good answers so far to questions about the veracity of his books and the conduct of his organization. The extent of his guilt [...]

Dear Book Group Buzz fans, as you read this, I’m finishing off a vacation in Orlando. I’ve paid the good folks at Disney and Universal for the right to check my brain at the gate for a few days. You’re probably stuck at home, and for that I’m sorry. I didn’t even get you a [...]

You probably know Nancy Pearl as the role model for the librarian action figure with real shushing action. In reality, she’s a giving person who is more likely to listen to you than shush you. I’ve just finished a leisurely tour through her latest book, Book Lust to Go. It’s the third in her series of Book [...]

Here’s a fun theme for an upcoming meeting: Ask each reader in your group to select a book that represents the year of his or her birth. For added fun, bring food or drinks that were typical of the era, memorabilia, a copy of the bestseller list, or a list of events that occurred during [...]

Life in North Korea may be more unusual than that in any country in the world. That’s the conclusion I can’t help but draw while reading Barbara Demick’s extraordinary book Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Demick interviewed six defectors to get a look at a country to which few outsiders have access. The result [...]

Last week I listed the top ten other narrative nonfiction titles in my 2010 Megalist. Today, let’s take a look at the biographies and memoirs that have received the most mentions in best-of-the-year lists and awards. 1. Just Kids, by Patti Smith (34 votes to date) We know them as a rock goddess and a [...]

The fourth, and near final update of the 2010 Megalist, my compiled spreadsheet of all the major best-of-the-year lists and awards nominees, was posted for download today. The Megalist now includes 121 different sources and 1,925 different books. Download a copy (in Excel) to see which sources voted for each of these titles. Today, I’d [...]

The Millions has a great preview of books due out in 2011 that describes 76 different forthcoming titles. There’s plenty to look forward to: Alexander Theroux’s biography of Edward Gorey, a writer and illustrator whose twisted Victorian stories helped me develop my taste for the tartness of black humor, is out for the first time [...]

(Note: I usually gravitate toward puns in the titles of my posts. There were so many to use here with Mary Roach, but they would all just be wrong.I’m just sayin’… We now return to our regularly scheduled post.) Mary Roach is an author I turn to when I want to be both educated and [...]

My favorite English professor is back. Thomas C. Foster is also admired by blogger Misha Stone. We’re both big fans of two of his other books, How to Read Literature Like a Professor and How to Read Novels Like a Professor. We like his breezy, accessible writing-style and his keen intellect in analyzing literature for [...]

The Guardian online has a book club, facilitated by John Mullan. I look at the Guardian site frequently, but somehow didn’t stumble across the book club page until recently. The Guardian’s Book Club has been going for some time, and because of that, there is a wealth of resources available on the titles they have [...]

I’ve continued to update my 2010 Megalist, my annual compilation of best-of-the-year lists. This week’s additions included some big players, such as the New York Times and The New Yorker. The 2010 Megalist is up to 60 sources, with more to come, and can be downloaded from my other blogging home, Blogging for a Good [...]

I’m always looking for something fun to share with my book groups and Literary Hoaxes: An Eye-Opening History of Famous Frauds by Melissa Katsoulis is the latest. Katsoulis takes this subject seriously as she examines the financial, cultural, and professional effects literary fraud can have on an author and the publishing industry. The James Frey [...]

The National Book Critics Circle announced their nominations for the 2010 Award finalists in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction last night. Four of the five fiction titles should look familiar for turning up on other Best of/award lists. Comedy in a Minor Key is the dark horse title. Written in 1947 by Hans Keilson, it was [...]

This year I will be sitting in for one of KCPL’s favorite book group leaders of one of KCPL’s most lively book groups. Gayla wanted to take a little break and I was happy to step up and handle biblio-chat duties for her. Our Tuesday night group is Women Who Dare and these readers like [...]

You don’t have to consult more than one source to get the results of all of the best-books-of-the-year lists in one spreadsheet. For the third consecutive year, I’ve been compiling all of the results, counting up all the votes, from all of the major review sources into one “megalist.” So far, I’ve compiled about 50 [...]

Either I’m getting to know the right publishing reps, they’re getting to know my reading tastes, or it’s just going to be a bumper crop of good stuff for reading groups in 2011, take your pick. But I violated my cardinal rule of “thou shalt not cart home conference swag cause it hurts your back [...]

I facilitate three book groups and guest facilitate at many others in the library’s community. This means I have to plan my reading carefully. I’m on a boot camp reading schedule that rivals that of any drill sergeant. Here’s the new discussion list for The Kansas City Public Library‘s Downtowners reading group. We meet at [...]