Reading Group Choices Newsletter
Weekend Escape for You and Your Group!
2011 Edition Now Available!
September 2010
Greetings!
Lots of chances to win books and prizes!
A weekend escape with authors and your friends in the luxury of Beverly Hills!
New discussible choices in Reading Group Choices 2011!

All this and more in this month's issue of the Reading Group Choices Newsletter!
In This Issue
Hot Off the Presses!!
Win a Free Copy of Your Next Book Group Selection
Author Posts and More in On the Bookcase
The TZT Quiz
Our Wine Coach Tele-Speaks!
Great Group Reads
Your Own Discussible Choices
Accolades for Authors
Literature's Best-Dressed Characters
Literary Escape in Posh Beverly Hills
Hot Off the Presses!
 
Reading Group Choices 2011: Selections for Lively Book DiscussionsWe are so excited to announce that Reading Group Choices 2011: Selections for Lively Book Discussions is now available! This is our 17th annual print edition, which once again includes reading recommendations of some of the publication industry's best authors. Reading Group Choices 2011 includes over 65 new titles for recommended reading and book group discussion. Titles by such reading group favorite authors as Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Syrie James, Barbara Kingsolver, Laura Lippman, Alexander McCall Smith, Anchee Min, and Ann Hood, 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 2011 - or other annual editions from 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, and 2004 - visit the store, email us, or call us toll-free at 1-866-643-6883.

Purchase a Copy for Everyone in Your Group  
Win a Free Copy of Your Next Book Group Selection
 
The Wave by Susan CaseyFrom Susan Casey, bestselling author of The Devil's Teeth, The Wave is an astonishing book about colossal, ship-swallowing rogue waves and the surfers who seek them out. For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently, scientists dis­missed these stories. They found their proof in February 2000, when a British research vessel was trapped in a vortex of impossibly mammoth waves in the North Sea.
 
As scientists scramble to understand this phenomenon, others view the giant waves as the ultimate challenge. The pioneer of extreme surfing is the legendary Laird Hamilton, who, with a group of friends in Hawaii, figured out how to board suicidally large waves of 70 and 80 feet. Susan Casey, also the new editor-in-chief of O, The Oprah Magazine, follows this unique tribe of peo­ple as they seek to conquer the holy grail of their sport, a 100­-foot wave. In this mesmerizing account, the exploits of Hamilton and his fellow surfers are juxtaposed against scientists' urgent efforts to understand the destructive powers of waves. 
 
Enter for a chance to win a copy.  One of the lucky winners will also receive a Laird Hamilton combo pack-of his new book and a DVD on one of his movies!
 
The Life You've Imagined by Kristina RiggleFrom Kristina Riggle, author of Real Life and Liars, comes The Life You've Imagined. Four women, all with different issues and crises, face the decisions of their lifetimes in this stirring and unforgettable novel of love, loss, friendship, and family. Anna, Cami, Maeve, and Amy, former high-school friends, are forced to examine what happened to their high-school dreams, which are now at odds with their grown-up reality. Is this the life you imagined? Have you ever asked yourself "What if?" The Life You've Imagined takes a provocative look at the choices we make-and the courage we must have to change. 
 
Russian Winter by Daphne KalotayIn Daphne Kalotaya's debut novel, Russian Winter, a mysterious jewel holds the key to a life-changing secret. When famed Russian ballerina, Nina Revskaya, decides to auction her remarkable jewelry collection, she believes she has finally drawn a curtain on her past. Instead, Nina finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland and of the events, both glorious and heartbreaking, that changed the course of her life half a century ago. Interweaving past and present, Stalin's Moscow and New England, the backstage tumult of the dance world and the transformative power of art, the novel captures the uncertainty and terror of individuals powerless to withstand the forces of history, while affirming that even in times of great strife, the human spirit reaches for beauty and grace, forgiveness and transcendence. 
 
Enter for a chance to win a copy 
 
Cleo by Helen Brown Cleo: The Cat Who Mended a Family is a memoir of happiness, heartache, changes and new beginnings. Author Helen Brown had no intention of adopting a pet when she brought her sons, Sam and Rob, to visit a friend's new kittens. But Cleo, the runt of the litter, was irresistible, and she was delivered to the Brown's house several weeks later. Tragedy strikes the Brown family, and Cleo the rambunctious cat becomes the glue that holds the family together.
 
Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt writes, "A remarkable memoir...I realized that Helen Brown didn't break my heart at all-she opened it." 
 
Enter for a chance to win a copy 
 
The Queen's Captive by Barbara KyleBarbara Kyle's The Queen's Captive takes the reader back to England, 1554. In the wake of the failed Wyatt Rebellion, a vengeful Queen Mary has ordered all conspirators captured and executed. Among the imprisoned is her own sister, twenty-one-year-old Princess Elizabeth. Elizabeth longs to gain her liberty-and her sister's crown. The young princess has loyal allies in Honor and Richard Thornleigh and their son, Adam. But while Honor is willing to risk her own safety for her future queen, aiding in a new rebellion against the wrathful Mary will soon lead her to an impossible choice.
 
Riveting, masterfully written, and rich in intricate details, The Queen's Captive brings one of history's most fascinating and treacherous periods to vibrant, passionate life. 
 
Enter for a chance to win a copy 
 
Goodness Gracious Green by Judy Pace ChristieIn this sequel to Gone to Green, Judy Pace Christie introduces us to Lois Barker's second year in Green. Scarcely has the year begun before Lois is wrung out. The former owners of The Green News-Item want it back. The mayor's dog bites her on the face. A series of fires threaten her. And while her friends blossom, Lois feels wilted. Although she finds fresh hopes turning stale in her second year in Green, in the midst of challenges and lessons, Lois's journey still explodes with possibilities!
 
Ane Mulligan, Editor of Novel Journey, writes "Sometimes the sequel to good book leaves the reader disappointed. Not so with Goodness Gracious Green."

Author Posts and More in On the Bookcase
 
On the BookcaseFind out where Julia Stuart, (The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise) gets her "books ideas."
 
Discover why Kate Ledger (Remedies) had to examine her own life before her understanding of her characters. 
 
Is your "outside" mismatched with your "inside?" Tanya Egan Gibson (How to Buy a Love of Reading) chats about her characters' mismatches. 
 
And check out this video regarding 10 Facts about Books You Won't Read in a Book about Books. And, what it says about book clubs!
The TZT Quiz
 
The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia StuartJulia Stuart's The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is filled with gentle, whimsy, and charming characters. Which character of The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise are you? Hebe Jones, the loyal friend;  Mrs. Cook, the Jones' 181-year-old tortoise;  Balthazar Jones, animal lover; or Reverend Septimus Drew, the Tower's lovelorn chaplain?
 
Find out in The TZT Quiz.
 
Enter to win a copy of the book - plus one lucky winner will receive a London travel book package! 
Our Wine Coach Tele-Speaks!
 
Laurie ForsterLaurie Forster, The Wine Coach®, author of The Sipping Point: A Crash Course in Wine,  and wine guru for Reading Group Choices' Wine by the Book, invites you to a free wine teleseminar, Tuesday, September 7 at 7 pm EDT (6 pm CDT, 5pm MDT, 4 pm PDT) After the long weekend, kick back, open a bottle of wine, and listen and learn the dos and don'ts of wine tasting. Your personal wine-o-night!

Register to attend
Great Group Reads
 
October is National Reading Group Month! The National Reading Group Month Committee has announced the 2010 Great Group Reads Selections. These books will give groups plenty to discuss!

National Reading Group Month Great Group ReadsThe 13 Great Groups Reads are: Blame by Michelle Huneven, The Blessing of the Animals by Katrina Kittle, Cheap Cabernet: A Friendship by Cathie Beck, Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi W. Durrow, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin, Room by Emma Donoghue, Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye, and Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson. Great book ideas for your 2011 reading list!
 
The National Reading Group Month, an initiative of the Women's National Book Association, aims to foster the values reading groups encourage: camaraderie, enjoyment of shared reading, and appreciation of literature and reading as conduits for transmitting culture and advancing civic engagement.
 
Your Own Discussible Choices
 
Book DotsCongratulations to Nonie and The Spenceola Book Group for winning the random drawing for this month's Discussible Book Choice!
 
"The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff.  There was so much to discuss.  The choices people have to make.  The ramifications of WWII.  How countries were different during that time in history.  We had to some our own conclusions about characters in the book, because the author never stated them.  Some called this the the best book we ever read."
Nonie, The Spenceola Book Group, Forest Hill, MD

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
Accolades for Authors

March by Geraldine BrooksAcclaimed journalist and author of Pulitzer-Prize winner of March, Geraldine Brooks won the $10,000 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement, the New York Times reported. "We are delighted to be honoring a writer whose skill, imagination, and unique background allow her to create vivid characters whose stories help people understand the vital importance of fostering peace throughout the world," said Sharon Rab, founder of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation
 
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda JanzenThree finalists have been selected for the 2010 Thurber Prize for American Humor. The winner, who will receive $5,000 and a commemorative crystal plaque, will be named at a ceremony in New York City October 4. The shortlist includes a Reading Group Choices' selection: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen (Holt): Judge Laurie Notaro said, "Rhoda made me laugh right out of the gate, first page. Atta girl! She's a skilled storyteller and mixes tragedy with gut-busting laughter like it was brownie mix from the box." The other two finalist are Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo by Jancee Dunn and How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely. 
 
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers Zeitoun by Dave Eggers was among more than a dozen winners of this year's American Book Awards, "given for literary works that cover 'the entire spectrum of America's diverse literary community,'" the Associated Press reported (via USA Today). Other winners included Sesshu Foster's World Ball Notebook and Victor Lavelle's The Big Machine.
Literature's Best-Dressed Characters
 
Who is your best dressed character in literature? Visit Flavorwire to see their choices!
 
Thanks for keeping the joy of reading alive,
 

 
Literary Escape in Posh Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills Literary Escape
 
Join us for a Weekend of Incredible Book Club Experiences! 
 
An intersection of literary culture and entertainment, The Beverly Hills Literary Escape brings together food, wine, and books, offering insider access to the country's most sought-after authors through experiences set amidst the luxury of Beverly Hills.
 
The Beverly Hills Literary Escape will kick off on Friday, October 22 with a cocktail party and "Moveable Feast" with authors, live music, and a chance to sample the best of Beverly Hills cafes, restaurants, and shops. At the cocktail party, a special section will be devoted to Reading Group
Choices
 authors to chat with book lovers and sign books.  Reading Group Choices will also have a special Book Club Lounge open throughout the Literary Escape weekend with lots of extra perks for members of book clubs that attend.
 
Book Club Passes are now on pre-sale for Reading Group Choices' reading groups. Bring yourself or some friends, or all the members of your reading group. Any group of readers with a minimum of ten registered members qualify for a Book Group Discount of 15% off select ticket prices. 
 
Reading Group Choices hopes to see you there along with confirmed authors Colum McCann, Joseph O'Neill, Abraham Verghese, Ethan Canin, Aimee Bender, Joyce Maynard, Gin Phillips, Dani Shapiro, Sylvia Boorstein, Karen Essex, Brando Skyhorse, Tatjana Soli, Thrity Umrigar, Heidi Durrow, Katie Arnoldi, Martha McPhee, and many more TBA.

Don't just read a book, experience it... at the first annual Beverly Hills Literary Escape October 22-24, 2010

This is going to be the Literary Event of the year - you won't want to miss it!
 
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