Greetings!
Reading group favorite and author of more than 80 novels shares thoughts with you about reading groups and her new novel Not My Daughter.
Reading Group Choices celebrates Edgar Allen Poe's 201st birthday with some discussible mystery selections and 201st birthday party fare to tickle your group's palate.
And reading groups choose the best discussibles of 2009 in the new Reading Group Choices favorite discussible book survey.
All this and more in this month's Reading Group Choices newsletter.
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| VOTE! for YOUR Favorite Discussible Books |
 It's one-of-a-kind: a list of favorite DISCUSSIBLE books for book groups! Though there are many lists of books and many book awards, not all of the books on them make for the kind of lively, fun, interesting, thought-provoking, unforgettable discussions that reading groups crave. Well, here's your chance - join with thousands of other book group members to tell us which books did all that for your group in 2009. We'll compile and publish the list for you, and let you know how it compares to those chosen in previous surveys. In the last survey, you said you wanted to more author connections - we listened! (For example, see the article on the right.) Any other bright ideas? Reading Group Choices wants to know! How do you choose books to discuss? Does your group invite authors to participate? What do you and your group think of the e-books? The survey is up and waiting for these answers too, but it won't take long to complete - we know how busy you are! And when you complete the short survey, Reading Group Choices will enter your name into a random drawing for $75 to cater your next get-together! Complete the Survey You and your group can use the survey results to select some great discussibles that you may not have otherwise known about. To see what we mean, take a look at past years' lists. See Past Years' Favorites
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| Thorny Questions to Discuss |
 Barbara Delinsky's Not My Daughter deals with teenage pregnancy and the loss and heartbreak that come with it. But, also, the book tells of the love, the forgiveness, and the bond mothers and daughters share. As Ms Delinsky hints at one major discussion point in Not My Daughter on her On The Bookcase post, "What makes a good mother?" Perfect question for a lively book group conversation!  Or how about this mind-bending question - "What if the history of the transatlantic slave trade had been reversed and Africans has enslaved Europeans?" Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo is a provocative story on how that history would inform cultural ideas and attitudes. Follow Doris, an Englishwoman enslaved and taken to the New World, movingly recounting experiences of tremendous hardship and the dreams of the people she has left behind. An original and imaginative novel, Blonde Roots "boldly turns history on its head." ( Elle) |
| It's a MYSTERY! |
Edgar Allan Poe's birthday is January 16th - he would be celebrating his 201st! Here are a few mysteries for the mystery-only reading groups and for other groups that would like to shake things up a bit!  Zoë Ferraris's Finding Nouf is electrifying debut of taut psychological suspense that offers an unprecedented window into Saudi Arabia and the lives of men and women there. When a teenage girl is murdered in the desert, Nayir, a pious desert guide, takes it upon himself to discover what happened. To gain access to the hidden world of women, he must work with Katya, a woman bold enough to bare her face and to work in public. Can Nayir get over his deep-rooted beliefs to unearth the truth? Library Journal gave Finding Nouf a starred review, "Ferraris offers up a fascinating peek into the lives and minds of devout Muslim men and women while serving up an engrossing mystery ... Highly recommended."
Reading Group Choices' Food by the Book offers a Saudi-inspired feast to add to your conversation about Finding Nouf.  Jacqueline Winspear's Among the Mad is another novel in the Maisie Dodds series. Tapped by Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch to be a special adviser on the case, Maisie is soon involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge and the will to inflict destruction on thousands of innocent people. In Among the Mad, Winspear combines a heart-stopping story with a rich evocation of a fascinating period to create her most compelling and satisfying novel yet. "Maisie Dobbs is a revelation," comments Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series.  "There were thirteen crime-scene pictures. ... Hazel pinned them to the wall and stood back. It was a silent opera of ghosts." Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef can sense the dead trying to call out. But what secret do they have to share? And will she hear it before it's too late? In The Calling, Inger Ash Wolfe brings a compelling new voice and an irresistible new heroine to the mystery world. "The Calling had me from the first page and never let me go. I absolutely loved Hazel Micallef," comments Kate Atkinson, author of Case Histories. Whip up some hearty Canadian fare from the Gourmet Today cookbook to enhance the discussion. Find the recipies in The Calling's Food by the Book.  John Harwood's The Séance is a gripping mystery set in the heart of Victorian England -- a haunting tale of apparitions, a cursed manor house, and two generations of women determined to discover the truth. Publishers Weekly's starred review of The Séance states, "Harwood ... pays homage to such nineteenth-century suspense masters as Wilkie Collins and Sheridan Le Fanu ...Harwood invokes the hoariest clichés of supernatural suspense, from stormy nights to haunted houses, and effortlessly makes them his own." For your group's discussion of The Séance, Food by the Book has some recipes to induce the feeling and essence of Victorian England. |
| Emma on Masterpiece Theatre |
Masterpiece Theatre hosts a new production of Jane Austen's Emma. The three-part series starts on January 24th starring Romola Garai, Michael Gambon and Jonny Lee Miller. See a Sneak Preview |
| Your Own Discussible Choices |
Congratulations to Elizabeth and The Culture Club for winning the random drawing for this month's Discussible Book Choice!
"The Light of Evening by Edna O'Brien sparked a four-hour discussion of everything from immigration to our own writing proclivities...
More from The Culture Club
We enjoy hearing from book club members and sharing their choices with everyone. Please let us know about your group's discussible choices - you may win a book-related prize for every member of your reading group! More Discussible Choices |
| Reading Group Choices 2010 Now Available! |
Reading Group Choices 2010: Selections for Lively Book Discussions is now available.  The 2009 guide marks the 16th annual print edition, which once again includes reading recommendations of some of the publication industry's best authors. Reading Group Choices 2010: Selections for Lively Book Discussions includes over 75 new titles for recommended reading and book group discussion. Titles by such reading group favorite authors as Barbara Delinsky, Khaled Hosseini, Elizabeth Noble, Geraldine Brooks, Marilynne Robinson, Mary Anne Shaffer & Annie Barrows, and Dennis Lehane, as well as work from debut authors have been selected for inclusion. The guide also includes valuable resources available to reading groups and book clubs all over the world. To order copies of Reading Group Choices 2010 - or any of the other annual editions from 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004 - visit the store, email us, or call us toll-free at 1-866-643-6883. Purchase a Copy
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Thanks for keeping the joy of shared reading alive,
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| Delinsky Chats About Book Groups |
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Photo Credit: Tsar Fedorsky
Happy New Year! And, Reading Group Choices is starting 2010 with a bang! Barbara Delinsky, author of more than 80 novels, is the first guest author to write a little piece exclusively for the Reading Group Choices blog. Ms Delinsky reveals that November 2009 was a "momentous" month for her - her book group of 23 years read one of her books, While My Sister Sleeps! Her new book, Not My Daughter, releases this week. All Barbara's books speak to issues that affect everyone - family dynamics, social and world concerns, personal challenges, cultural differences - great themes for book groups to tackle and explore. Thanks so much, Barbara, for giving us some of your precious writing time. On the Bookcase will have MANY guest author posts throughout each month. Please stop on the blog regularly to connect with authors and maybe win a book! News of blog happenings will be posted on the Reading Group Choices Facebook Fan Page and Twitter. Become a fan and stay connected to all Reading Group Choices' activities. And, comment on the blog - the author and all of us at Reading Group Choices would be thrilled. Tell us what your reading group is doing, what books you will read in 2010 - start the conversation! See you On the Bookcase! ********* |
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