Book Groups at Politics & Prose
October 2010
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In This Issue
Book Group Night
Your Suggestions
New in Paperback
Choosing a Book
Save the Date!

Book Group Night will be held on
Monday, January 31, 2011. Look for further  information in a future book group e-mail. 
How to Register Your Book with Us


1. Choose Your Book
   
This can be hard, we
    know.

2. Let us know!

    Call, e-mail, or come
    by the store. We  
    request a 3 week
    advanced notice for
    older titles.


3. Wait for us to call.
    When your books are
    in, we'll contact your
    group.


Upcoming In-store Book Group Meetings


 Classics
November 1, 7:30pm
Electra
by Sophocles

Travel Book Group

November 2, 7 pm
Slowly Down the Ganges

by Eric Newby

Futurist

November 3, 7:30 pm

 The Eerie Silence

by Paul Davies

 

Capital James Joyce

November 4, 7:30pm

Ulysses, Chapter 18

by James Joyce


Women's Biography

November 8, 7:30 pm

Personal History

by Katharine Graham 

 

Evening Fiction
November 9, 7:30 pm
The Fountain Overflows

by Rebecca West

Science Fiction & Fantasy
November 11, 7:30pm
Kindred

by Octavia Butler
 
Swarthmore
November 15, 7:30 pm
Narrative of a Life of an American Slave

by Frederick Douglass  

Incidents in the Life of a Slavegirl
by Harriet Jacobs

Spanish Language/Grupo de Lectura en Espanol
November 16, 7:30pm
La Ciudad de Los Herejes

by Federico Andahazi

Daytime
November 17, 12:30pm
In Fond Remembrance of Me

by Howard Norman

Fascinating History

November 18, 7:30 pm

Strange Death of Liberal England

by George Dangerfield

 

Graphic Novel

November 24, 7:30pm

Black Hole

by Charles Burns

 

 

 

  



Quick Links...
Join Our Mailing List
If you have ideas or suggestions for what you would like to see in the book group e-mail, please contact us at [email protected]. To unsubscribe, please use the link provided at the bottom of the e-mail.
What Are You Reading?
 
Has your book group read something they couldn't put down? What about a book that generated lots of discussion? Let others know!

We're looking for book groups to send us a brief description of a book your group loved and why it makes for a terrific book group selection. We'll post your thoughts, along with your group's name, in an upcoming book group e-mail. Send all selections to: [email protected].
New in Paperback, Perfect for Book Groups
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession
by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Unlike most thieves, rare-book thief John Charles Gilkey steals out of lust for books rather than any motivation for profit. Ken Sanders is the book dealer cum detective determined to catch Gilkey. Bartlett befriends both men and finds herself caught in a cat-and-mouse chase in this suspenseful, insightful, and humorous narrative.


Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
by Helen Simonson

Simonson re-imagines the quiet life of Major Pettigrew, one of the most irresistable characters in contemporary fiction. When his brother's death results in an unexpected friendship with the widow Mrs. Jasmina Ali, a Pakistani shopkeeper from the village, the friendship and love that spark between them challenges the village social norms. This quaint, enduring novel asks us to consider the risks one takes for love and happiness in the face of culture and tradition.

Paperback release date: November 30



The Museum of Innocence
by Orhan Pamuk

Kemal's eight-year obsession with a young girl and distant cousin, Fusun, is the center of this passionate, post-modern novel that offers a beautifully intricate portrait of Istanbul in the mid-1970's. The musem of the title refers to the objects of Fusun's that Kemal collects. The resulting monument to his unobtainable beloved becomes a catalog of a society on the brink of change.


The Best of Times
by Penny Vincenzi

When a semi-truck suddenly and violently swerves across five lanes of traffic on a London highway, the stories of the survivors are woven into a page-turning novel: a bridegroom frantically trying to make his wedding, a sixty-year-old widow traveling to meet the love of her life, the ER doctor waiting to receive crash victims, the truck driver responsible for the crash, an a mysterious hitchhiker who witnessed everything but has fled the scene. A fast-paced, conversation starting novel.
Staff Recommendations for Book Groups

   The Reluctant Fundamentalist
   by Moshin Hamid

   In this fast-paced literary novel, a young, 
   successful Muslim man in New York City finds
   his deepest convictions disrupted when two
   planes fly into the World Trade Center. Hamid
   taps into the fears that have gripped our world.
   -Sam Ramos



The Secret History
by Donna Tartt

The murder is on the first page, so this is no mystery. Instead, it is a gorgeously written, brilliant look into how a group of people could betray one of their own and what occurs when they do. - Conor Moran
How to Pick a Book for Your Group


Choosing a book for your group doesn't have to be a daunting challenge. We talked with a few of our in-store book group coordinators for suggestions on how they select books each month.



Overall, coordinators emphasized that there's no wrong way to select a book. As long as the selection method works for you and results in something your group would naturally read, then it's a good method.


Have one person select the book.
Some book groups hand the task of selection to one individual. This person can be the book group coordinator or the person hosting next month's meeting. This method works best for groups whose members prefer to read books selected from specific parameters, for example "Middle Eastern women's biography" or "Pre-WWII American history" and who rely on an expert in a topic to curate the selection process.

Select books as a group.
Mark LaFramboise, the coordinator for the Evening Fiction Book Group at our store, narrows the selections to a sizable list (approximately fifteen books). From this selection, the group picks their next six books. Mark recommends scheduling the books to mix up male and female authors and also to place shorter books in busy months like November or December. Mark admits, "It's an inexact science, to be sure, but it seems to work okay for our group." This method works best for groups who enjoy reading a broader range of titles.

Ask a bookseller for recommendations.
Don't know what to recommend to your group? From fiction to non-fiction, from the esoteric to summer reading, our booksellers have a range of reading interests and are always willing to suggest new and older titles that might fit with your group's tastes. You can also peruse written staff recommendations in our book group corner.