Blog
Today's blog is written by the terrific trio of Sonja Somerville, Robin Beerbower and Elizabeth Hughes of the Salem Public Library in Salem, Oregon. They've teamed up to offer their thoughts on Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife --- and share some of the questions that kept them talking about this gripping debut novel.
In a review of Change of Heart, Bookreporter.com's Kate Ayers wrote that it's Jodi Picoult's "most thought-provoking novel to date. You may not believe in the death penalty, or you may scoff at religion, but you cannot deny the astonishing power this story holds. It will force you to look at the issues from all sides."
The descriptive copy for Chris Cleave's novel Little Bee is intentionally vague. It says in part: "We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.... Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it.
Today, Judith Ryan Hendricks offers her take on how reading groups are beneficial to writers --- and why she's looking to book clubs to help her answer the question, "What is your novel about?" Judith's most recent novel is The Laws of Harmony, and she is also the author of The Baker's Apprentice,
Carolyn Turgeon's new novel, Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story, is about the fairy godmother from the classic tale, who is living in present-day New York City and longing to return to her otherworldly homeland.
Occasionally we highlight news articles about reading groups and related topics. This month's round-up features a mother-daughter book club in Dublin, a graphic novel group, the Dining Divas and more.The Arlington Advocate: Getting GraphicIn Lexington, Massachusetts, a graphic novel book club --- made up of both die-hard fans and those new to the genre --- discusses selections ranging from "the latest trends to the more obscure."
Yesterday reading group members shared stories of hard-to-find books. Today some RGG.com readers offer advice on how to avoid the book-finding dilemma.Book Club in a Bag
In last week's newsletter to RGG.com registered book clubs, I wrote about a friend who had been all over Manhattan trying to get a copy of his group's next pick: The Invention of Curried Sausage by Uwe Timm. It came out 10 years ago. No bookstores stocked it, not even the Strand, which has an astounding 18 miles of new and used books. Also, the entire New York City library system has only three copies of it, all of which were checked out and with a 35-person waiting list.
It's a new year of book club visits for novelist and creative writing professor Joshua Henkin.
