For book clubs looking for guidance on memoirs, there is a great resource at hand --- Read On…Life Stories: Reading Lists for Every Taste, which offers brief descriptions of nearly 450 memoirs, from classics like The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin to recent bestsellers like Julie Andrews' Audition. Today we talk with librarian and author Rosalind Reisner about how she selected the titles included in Read On...Life Stories, the top three memoirs she thinks will spark interesting discussions and much more.


ReadingGroupGuides.com: Read On…Life Stories is comprised of "annotated reading lists organized with serendipity in mind," you write in the Introduction. Why did you organize the titles by themes, such as "Marching to Their Own Drum: Unique Individuals" and "Outside the Box: Interesting Occupations"?

Rosalind Reisner: There are so many memoirs published --- especially in the last few years --- that it's overwhelming for readers to figure out what to read next. The lists are designed to help you sort through what's out there and find the memoir you'll love based on the subject and the writing --- what librarians call the "appeal" of a book. So I have lists of memoirs that are strong on character --- where authors really bare their souls, like the list called "Identity Papers: Discovering Our True Selves." Or, there are lists where the story is most important, like the list titled "Living to Tell the Tale: Near-Death Experiences." Other lists focus on the setting, like "Far Out: Travel to Unusual Places" or the mood, like "Backward Glance: Nostalgic Memoirs." There are 55 lists, covering a wide range of subjects, appeal and writing styles.

Readers can also look up a favorite title in the index and then see other, related titles in the list. I was also hoping that the lists would make the book fun to browse, that list names would pique people’s interests and help them expand the range of their reading.


RGG: There are nearly 450 titles featured in Read On…Life Stories. How did you decide which books to include?

RR: I looked for titles that were well-reviewed, won awards, or were listed on "best" lists. I also included some older personal favorites, like Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain and A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey, both classics in England and Australia, respectively. While I was working on the book, people would sometimes ask me how I found the titles to include and I would laugh --- my problem was making a selection out of so many wonderful memoirs! I often felt overwhelmed by the number of glowing reviews I'd read each week and race off to the library, bringing home armloads of books. I'm sure the staff at my local library wondered if I spent every waking minute reading memoirs!

That’s also why I started the website AReadersPlace.net as an ongoing resource. I wanted to have a way to continue writing about great memoirs and narrative nonfiction for readers, discussion groups, and librarians.


RGG: What are the top three memoirs you think will make for especially great discussions?

RR: I think Here if You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup would be my first choice. It's a spiritual memoir about a woman who became a chaplain in the Maine Warden Service after her husband died. Braestrup deals with life’s important questions, and her story is thought-provoking no matter what religion you practice. She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan would be a good choice for a book that would stimulate discussion and controversy, too, in some groups. It's a riveting memoir about a woman who always knew she was meant to be a man --- funny, insightful and beautifully written. It's hard to stop at just three, but I'd say House of Happy Endings by Leslie Garis would be another good choice. Garis grew up in a household of well-known writers --- her grandparents wrote The Bobbsey Twins series --- whose personal demons ravaged the family.


RGG: For book clubs that have never read a memoir, which one do you recommend as their first selection?

RR: The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway would be a good place to start. It's a classic coming of age story with an unusual setting: a sheep ranch in the Australian outback. Conway's account of her struggles to find her way to successful adulthood is wonderfully told and there’s lots of food for thought --- and discussion.


RGG: What are some lesser-known memoirs that book clubs might want to know about?

RR: I loved Drawn to the Rhythm: A Passionate Life Reclaimed by Sara Hall and can't figure out why it's not on every book group list. It's a wonderful, inspirational story about a woman who seized the opportunity to remake her unhappy life. Also The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa, by Josh Swiller, a remarkable story about a young, deaf Peace Corps volunteer who had a very unusual, life-changing experience in an African village. And I would also recommend First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood by Thrity Umrigar one of the most insightful coming of age memoirs I’ve read in a long time.


RGG: This year a popular memoir has been Julia Child's My Life in France, inspired in part by the movie version of Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. For those who enjoyed reading about Child's life abroad, what other memoirs would you recommend?

RR: I loved My Life in France, and I'm a big fan in general of books about experiencing other cultures. I'd suggest the following titles: Almost French: A New Life in Paris by Catherine Sanderson, about a young Australian woman who moves in with her French boyfriend and discovers that French culture is very different from what she expected. Another great title is
The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah, about renovating a wonderful old house in Morocco and in the process learning about the house's human and spiritual guardians and enemies. Also, Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr, about a writer who moves from Idaho to Rome with his wife and infant twins and falls in love with the city.

Labels: Read On...Life Stories, Rosalind Reisner

Kicking off today on Bookreporter.com is the festive feature Author Holiday Blogs: Stories About Giving & Receiving. More than 50 authors will be sharing stories of gift giving and getting, books that have enhanced their lives and holiday traditions they love. First up is Beverly Barton, who describes two very treasured copies of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.

Stop by daily between now and December 25th if you need a dose of holiday cheer or a respite from the hectic pace of the season. We hope you end up discovering an author's work you want to read --- and some ideas for your gifts lists.

The Bookers of Henrico, North Carolina, celebrated their 20th anniversary this past September. As part of our series of interviews with members of long-running book clubs, we talk with Carol Weigel about what has kept them reading and discussing for two decades, why The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus made for a memorable discussion...and why they felt compelled to change their group's name.

Previous Book Club Longevity Interviews:
V&C (Vulture and Culture)
Farmington Woods Book Group
Thursday Night Book Club


ReadingGroupGuides.com: How long has your book club been meeting, and how was it formed?

Carol Weigel: We are an activity group of the Lake Gaston Ladies Club. (The Ladies Club has many activity groups.) Bookers was formed when a member put out a clip board and asked others whether they would like to form a book club. Only two other people showed up for the first meeting. They decided to not just read books at this book club. They wanted it to cover literature and arts and education. One of them had just received the music to the "new" Broadway hit The Phantom of the Opera and an old black-and-white video film. The next meeting had more in attendance. They watched and listened to the film and music and discussed that and the book. Ever since, the meetings have been eclectic.

The mission statement for Bookers is: The purpose of the Happy Bookers is to share a mutual love of books and reading, as well as other aspects of cultural arts and education. Here are the words of one of the organizers: "Originally, after we really became organized, the group decided to call ourselves 'The Happy Bookers' as a play off of a popular book of the day, Happy Hooker. Later some ladies objected to that, although we had a lot of laughs from everyone who heard us tell them our book club name. So we are now just Bookers."


RGG: To what do you attribute the longevity of your book club?

CW: The versatility of the group. There is something for everyone. Some members used to perform elaborate plays. Sometimes they wrote the plays, sometimes they adapted books into plays. They would perform for the Bookers and also for the whole Ladies Club. It became so popular, they had an off shoot group start. The activity group is called Stage I, and they still perform one play per year for the Ladies Club. It did not break our group apart. They now have different members with still some Bookers in their group. We still perform skits in Bookers by adapting books, but we don't take months to prepare and produce.

We also don't demand that they read one book title only and discuss it. We actually only have one general book discussion during the year. We have a variety of programs dealing with literature. If we want to have a single title book discussion, people stay after the program to do so. Last year our general book discussion was "Living British Women Authors" in tribute to Doris Lessing winning the Nobel Literature award. The discussion groups were broken down by category of fiction, romance, chick lit, children's, mystery. This year we are going to do immigration literature, specifically immigrants to the USA, in recognition of the 2010 census.


RGG: What advice do you have for other groups who would like to make it to the 20-year mark (and beyond)?

CW: Have a strong planning committee. Each time we have had a good coordinator, they've had a good planning committee. We have had some years that weren't well done and membership dropped. We currently have 67 members. Some have actually been with the group for 20 years which is so exciting to have that experience to draw from and get advice.


RGG: Tell us about a memorable book discussion or meeting.

CW: We discussed House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus last year. We felt that all the main characters had some mental illness or were suffering from depression. Well, that led to the most intimate and special book discussion. People really shared their home and family experiences with mental illness. And we didn't forget about the book, but wove the discussion into the questions we were answering.

Another meeting 12 years back was wonderful for all of us. We have always tried to have one theatre event in the yearly schedule. For that meeting we went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, which was about two hours away. We saw a play in the theatre within the museum, had lunch in the members dining room, and then visited the galleries and had a talk with one of the curators (who had worked with one of our members). It truly represented what our mission statement conveys.

When Judy Silver's book club launched, she and her fellow members were new mothers...39 years ago. "We're now grandmothers who still love good literature," says Judy. "We are still going strong in 2009!"

Today we talk with Judy about the Thursday Night Book Club, which meets in West Hartford, Connecticut --- what kinds of books they read, how the group is structured, the reading selection process and more.

Previous Book Club Longevity Interviews:
V&C (Vulture and Culture)
Farmington Woods Book Group


ReadingGroupGuides.com: How was your book club formed?

Judy Silver: Our Thursday Night Book Club is in its 39th year! I was approached by the president of the Hartford chapter of Brandeis University National Women's Committee to begin a book club. I was fairly new to the Hartford area but had enjoyed leading book club discussions in St. Louis previously. Notice was sent out to members about the formation of this new group. Through the years we have had people come and go as they moved in and out of town. However, some of my closest friendships have developed through our book club. We now have about 23 people on our roster with the average number attending each month about 18.


RGG: To what do you attribute the longevity of your book club?

JS: We read excellent literature (rarely read something from the bestseller lists unless it is a remarkable book like The Kite Runner). We read a cross-section of authors writing about many different cultures and time periods. We have a high level of commitment to the group. The people in the group are serious readers.

We have one half-hour of refreshments, and then we sit down to business. Our rotation of homes, book discussion leaders and titles selected are all planned at a Pot Luck Supper
in June for the following year. Having the process carried out in an organized, fair manner lets everyone know this is a book club for the truly interested reader.


RGG: What advice do you have for other groups who would like to make it to the 20-year mark (and beyond)?

JS: Our selection process follows these guidelines:
1) the book must be in paperback
2) the book has to be of good quality literature that lends itself to discussion; this is not necessarily a "beach book" or an "airplane book," but one for which the reader is willing to stretch herself to read and discuss
3) each member can nominate one or more books, preferably having read them or have good credentials for them; the entire group then votes on nine titles for the year out of the ones "nominated." The nine getting the most votes make it to the list.

Having the above method of choosing books has kept the level of book selection high, making this a desirable book club in which to continue.

Members register for this book club at the beginning of the academic year and pay a nominal registration fee (all of which goes to our national organization of Brandeis University). Those registering for the book club must be members of the organization. A guest may visit one time before joining.


RGG: Tell us about an especially memorable book discussion or meeting.

JS: We have had so many: Magister Ludi and the Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse (many years ago!), works by Kurt Vonnegut, stories by Tillie Olson, Blindness by Jose Saramago. A personal favorite discussion of mine was when we discussed Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway one month followed by The Hours by Michael Cunningham the following month.

In this round-up of book club news, members share anecdotes, advice and recipes. You'll meet a group that thinks not finishing a reading selection is just fine, another that finally decided on a name after meeting for two years, one that has an interesting method for selecting books picks and more.


Attleboro Sun Chronicle: A Men's Book Club? You Bet
An all-male reading group --- strangers when they first gathered a year ago at a public library in Norton, Massachusetts --- discuss Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Very Small" Book Club Shows that Size Doesn't Matter
Find out how members of the vsbc (Very Small Book Club) use a “Genre Jar” to make book selections --- and why members "aren’t in trouble if they didn't finish the book" and actually think it enhances the discussion

Lexington Herald-Leader: Club of the century: Books Optional in 100-Year-Old Reading Group
The members of the 100-year-old Country Book Club in Versailles, Kentucky, "exist to learn, to revere books, to support each other, to laugh and to tell each other about their lives. Not always in that order, but always with those priorities."

MinnPost.com: Author Visit Do's and Don'ts
Considering having an author join your book club discussion? Here are some etiquette tips from Audra Otto of MinnPost.com's Book Club Club.

The News Enterprise: My Kitchen, Your Recipe: Members of The Ultimate Book Club Share Their Recipes
Mary Alice Holt reveals how her two-year-old reading group in Kentucky recently decided on a name --- and serves up recipes for Ultimate Book Club Pizza and other dishes.

Press-Register: Book Clubbers Share Great Reads, Friendship
The founding principle of the Carpe Diem Book Club in Alabama is "good friends sharing good books." Their reading selections have ranged from autobiographies by President Obama and Senator John McCain before last year's presidential election to recent choices by Southern writers like Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees) and Cassandra King (The Same Sweet Girls).

The Villages Daily Sun: True Crime Book Club Members Take a Break from Reading to Play Detectives
A Florida book group, which reads solely true crime tales, took a break from page-turners and put their deductive powers to the test with the sleuthing game "Crack the Case."

What makes a reading group stay together for an incredible two decades...and often even longer? Earlier this week we introduced V&C (Vulture and Culture), the first of several book clubs we'll be profiling that have done just that.

Today we talk with Mary Healey, who attributes diversity as one of the factors keeping the Farmington Woods Book Group of Avon, Connecticut, reading and meeting for 24 years.


ReadingGroupGuides.com: How was your book club formed?

Mary Healey: Although we hold our meetings at a library, our members and facilitators are from our condo community. Some have been members the entire time. We average 20 members in attendance each month.


RGG: To what do you attribute the longevity of your book club?

MH: Diversity. That is what has kept the Farmington Woods Book Group going for 24 years. The differences lie in many areas: in the age of our members, our backgrounds, our interests and our selection of books. When it was first formed the members all came from our gated condo community, but as we meet at the Farmington Library monthly everyone is welcomed. A few of the original members still come faithfully each month.

The members came to Connecticut from many areas of the country. Their experiences and travels take them to many places of the settings of our book selections, and the tidbits they offer enhance the discussion. When reading a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, it was enlightening to have a personal friend of the First Lady tell intimate stories of their times together. It added to the interest of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time to have a woman from the Middle East join in the discussion and tell of her family still living there and to treat us to a cup of the tea from the book's recipe.


RGG: What can you tell us about meeting at a library?

MH: The books for the following month are waiting for us as we arrive. That certainly doesn't stop us from buying the book, as often the very books we read are the ones we purchase for gift giving.

Holding our meetings in a library sets the stage for a more formal discussion. Our members take turns facilitating from the list of books we selected by voting. Each month the facilitator researches the author and creates her discussion questions. The 28 women all take part. Everyone is respectful and yes, as in old school days the facilitator recognizes our raised hands.

Not for you, you might be thinking. Too formal and restricted? You should hear the laughter at our meetings! The humor is great, the discussions lively and afterwards lunch at a nearby restaurant is rewarding and more personal stories are shared at that time.


RGG: What advice do you have for other groups that would like to make it to the 20-year mark (and beyond)?

MH: My advice to having your group become a long-lasting one is to invite new members, to diversify. And very important is the book selection. The popular old and new books may be great reading, but we always ask, "Is it discussable?" We recommend that no one suggests a book without reading it first themselves. A different opinion always makes for a great discussion. All opinions are respected and everyone is treated with courtesy.


RGG: What do you enjoy most about being part of a book club?

MH: Reading groups open to us books we would never pick up on our own. What a great way to be entertained and educated at the same time.

Over the next couple of weeks we're going to be introducing some remarkable book clubs --- ones that have been meeting for at least twenty years. We've asked members to share their insight on how they've been able to keep the momentum going and what recommendations they have for other groups that would like to make it to the two-decade mark...and beyond.

First up is an interview with Marion Miller, whose book club, V & C (short for Vulture and Culture) in Far Rockaway, New York, has been in existence for nearly 35 years. There are still five original members in the group.


ReadingGroupGuides.com: How was your book club formed?

Marion Miller: My book club started as an offshoot of a study group that I belonged to. I found that the members preferred talking about books rather than issues, i.e. the welfare system. Our first meeting was held on a cold winter's night in front of a roaring fire. We all arrived in our pajamas and bathrobes. This was a group of about four or five neighborhood women. We were friends and acquaintances. However, at each meeting another neighbor asked to join. Since this was more than 30 years ago we were able to meet by day, as we were all stay-at-home moms. As time went on most of us returned to the workforce and so our meetings returned to an evening format. Due to various circumstances (relocation, death, etc), we've had to add new members.


RGG: To what do you attribute the longevity of your book club?

MM: We all belong to a Sisterhood at our local Jewish Center, so finding new members is not difficult. At one time there were at least three different book clubs, but now we are down to one group of nine.


RGG: What advice do you have for other groups who would like to make it to the 20-year mark?

MM: My advice to book clubs is to give everyone a chance to talk unless they veer from the topic at hand. For this problem you need a sergeant-at-arms! When we first started there were always a few people who did not read the book, and they would try to divert us from the topic at hand.


RGG: Tell us about an especially memorable book discussion or meeting.

MM: One of our most memorable meetings was when one of our members, a science teacher, suggested we read Lives of a Cell. She thought it was great, and we hardly understood it and had a hard time keeping straight, serious faces. Another time someone suggested the first book of the Old Testament. This too was a problem. When we tackled Dante's Inferno we invited a professor friend to do the review.

We meet about 10 times a year and go out for dinner once a year. When you are the hostess for a meeting you choose the next book. In this way we do not waste time arguing about a book. At the next meeting the person who chose the book gives a summary and info about the author and then a discussion is opened. This works for us.