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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 [...]

The Millions has an excellent write-up of 66 of the most interesting titles coming between this July and April 2012. While most book groups prefer to wait for the possibility of paperbacks, these are titles worth putting on your radar and tracking in the upcoming year. Many of the titles have connections to past works [...]

This summer, you can battle for time in your reader’s busy vacation schedules, or you can try to find ways to fit into the season. Since summer is the time for road trips and vacation, why not try a meeting devoted to audiobooks? Long stretches in a car or lounging in a chair with a [...]

The 800s are a great place to look for little known resources for selecting books for reading groups. My most recent discovery is The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time by Daniel S. Burt. Of course, it’s a gargantuan task whittling such a list down to 100 titles. Burt points [...]

For Booklist’s Mystery Month, I wanted to remind all the book group leaders out there of some invaluable resources when it’s time to choose a mystery for discussion. First, our own Gary Warren Niebuhr, has written a guide just for this purpose. Read ‘Em Their Writes was published in 2006 and I’ve turned to it [...]

Recently the Downtowners Book Group at The Kansas City Public Library discussed one of my favorite book group titles, Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. This book has a compelling plot, realistic characters, and a solid pace. It would be a good choice for mystery book groups looking for something different. I’ve used this book in discussion [...]

It’s not that I’m fickle, it’s that I run across so many good resources that help me pick out titles for the plethora of reading groups I assist. My latest treasure is the newly published Read This Next by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark. The authors, both previously published novelists (but they didn’t include their [...]

Ellen Baker’s Keeping the House is a story-within-a-story, told with a deft hand and smooth pace.  Baker tells the story of a weathy Wisconsin logging family family from 1896 through the end of World War I, and the parallel story of a woman named Dolly bucking convention in the 1950s. Free-spirited Dolly doesn’t have anything [...]

In Amanda Davis’ Wonder When You’ll Miss Me, teenage Faith is haunted by the fat girl she used to be. This alter ego follows her around in her mind,  giving advice and a running commentary.  Faith is also haunted by the memory of a brutal sexual assault and her subsequent suicide attempt.  Unable to cope [...]

My book group discussed Muriel Barbery’s international bestseller The Elegance of the Hedgehog last week and I can’t get over what a wonderful discussion it was. I wrote about discovering the book some time ago. Between then and now I had spoken with a few people who really didn’t like the book, found the characters [...]

I just finished an advance copy of a book I think would be just right for some book groups and facilitators.  It’s Read This Next, by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark.  Due out in November, it’s a guide to an eclectic variety of books suitable for discussion – featuring plot summaries and nontraditional (think snarky) [...]

At a recent book discussion, it became very clear that no one present liked the book.  (I did have two no-shows who emailed me to say they enjoyed it… but that didn’t help at discussion time!) I wasn’t too bothered by this, even though the book was my choice.  After all, no one was attacking [...]

In a recent post, Neil reminded us of the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book is a great summer selection for a book group. It’s short, accessible, and most of us have read it at least once. There is also little likelihood that book group members [...]

The Internet is a fickle place, with this month’s regular stop often succumbing to a new favorite. Sites find a sweet spot and then fade away, capture our attention and then wither as we work through their best content or become tired of the format. As a writer on two blogs, I’ve come to appreciate [...]

During a recent visit to the Berwyn (IL) Public Library, I paused to look at the staff’s current display of favorite book discussion titles and picked up a handy-dandy list of the library’s favorite book discussion resources.  In addition to noting Book Group Buzz as a helpful choice, the list encourages prospective book discussion participants to check [...]

This is part two in an ongoing series about discussion questions. In the first post, I staked out the position that book groups will often succeed best when they write discussion questions for themselves instead of trying to use questions written by others. But which questions, then, are the most likely to result in a [...]

Sometimes the questions created by publishers for book discussion are a bit odd. They can read too much like essay questions from college literature classes. Often, they are so specific that they fail to inspire interest. Individual readers might well consider such questions to help clarify their thoughts before they attend book group, but for [...]

I just finished Edwidge Danticat‘s Brother, I’m Dying, her memoir about her father, the uncle who raised her and her homeland, Haiti, and I am literally breathless. This is one powerful story, told with a level-headed elegance that belies the heartbreak it must have been for Danticat to experience and write. From the very first [...]

Every time I canvas my book groups for suggested reading, at least half say they want to read more biographies or memoirs. Memoir is a nonfiction genre that is perennially popular with readers and one that BGBloggers enjoy writing about. Biographies, on the other hand, while just as popular with readers, are a little trickier [...]

I will come out and admit it – I tend to choose books for my groups by using titles that have reading guides available.  Even though 9 times out of 10, the discussion just flows and we don’t even use the questions!  I think it’s that I feel the need for a safety net. If [...]