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Archives - May 2009

Author Cathy Holton knows all about book clubs --- she has been a member of one for 20 years. Today she shares with us what she enjoys about being in a reading group, how she came up with the idea for her novel Beach Trip, and what she anticipates her reading group might say about the story when they discuss it.
May 12, 2009

Janelle Brown: Fact Versus Fiction

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A popular question readers like to ask authors is whether their novels are based on their own lives. When Janelle Brown met with her mother's book club to discuss her debut novel All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, the question took on new meaning...
Today's guest blogger, Donigan Merritt, reports on his experiences attending the Buenos Aires Book Fair. His travels have taken him from his roots in Arkansas to Africa and Europe, and he currently resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, a diplomat.
May 8, 2009

Lynne Griffin: Sharing the Love of Reading

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In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, Lynne Griffin, the author of Life Without Summer, writes about how she's shared her love of reading with her daughter over the years.
With Mother's Day coming up this weekend, we asked Julie Peterson, founder of the Booking Mama blog, to tell us about the mother-daughter book club she started. Along with sharing what both she and her daughter have gained from discussing books together, Julie shares some reading suggestions for those who might be thinking about doing something similar.
In the memoir High, Brian O'Dea candidly recalls his years as an international drug smuggler in the 1980s --- and how, after he had quit the business and was working with recovering addicts, his past caught up with him. In today's guest blog post, he shares how writing saved his life.
Today, C.W. Gortner talks about how books can change both readers and writers. He holds an MFA in Writing with an emphasis in Renaissance Studies and is the author of The Last Queen (now available in paperback), in which he imagines the life of Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country's throne.
Here at ReadingGroupGuides.com we're celebrating the release of The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide with a special contest. 85 readers will have the opportunity to each win one advance copy of The Household Guide to Dying, which is now available in stores, for their group.
May 4, 2009

Author Visits to Book Clubs

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Writers Plot: A Blooming Good Blog has a great post by guest blogger and writer Beth Groundwater about her book club's experiences having a local author join their discussion --- and why they were nervous about it. She also offers tips for making a visit by a scribe whose book you're talking about less intimidating.
May 1, 2009

DEBORAH JOHNSON: Transcending Race

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Today's guest blogger, Deborah Johnson, shares some insight into her novel The Air Between Us. In Revere, Mississippi, in the 1960s, blacks and whites rarely mix. Or so everyone believes.