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| Bonus Issue with More News |
| Right after we mailed our December newsletter we realized there was more news to share. Instead of holding it till January, we thought we'd drop you a second newsletter.
One of our sponsors on ReadingGroupGuides.com is Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. The program pairs gifted young artists with renowned artists in their fields, allowing them to working closely together over the course of a year.
If you were an aspiring author, wouldn't you love the chance to be mentored by a Nobel Prize winning author? Julia Leigh, an Australian author had this opportunity as Toni Morrison worked with her over the past year in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. See details below and explore the link to the program's website, which details the program, the participants and gives a look at the closing ceremonies held last month in New York.
We thought you would be interested as we know that Toni Morrison is a real book club favorite. To celebrate her this month, we are featuring the guide for her new book, LOVE, as well as PARADISE and THE BLUEST EYE.
Also, we have news about our newest website, FaithfulReader.com, a site for Christian readers. Check it out and then please share the URL with friends that you think may enjoy these books.
As we know you all love to read, we also are sharing our What to Give/What to Get A Booklover feature. This may have gift ideas for the "to me/from me" category, which is my personal favorite!
We also have a Holiday Book roundup that was not available when we wrote you on Wednesday. For those of you who enjoy reading holiday books with your group, there are ideas here of books to explore!
And don't forget to shop Amazon.com by using the link below to support ReadingGroupGuides.com!
Hope you enjoyed this special bonus issue. Have a great holiday season...and Happy 2004.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
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Visit Amazon.com by clicking here.
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| Julia Leigh is Toni Morrison's Protégée in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative |
Literature may soon have a new star. She is Julia Leigh, a 33-year-old Australian novelist who has just completed a year as the Protégée of Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Launched in 2002, this international philanthropic programme pairs extraordinarily gifted young artists with renowned artists in their fields, allowing them to working closely together over the course of a year.
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Read more about the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, and Toni Morrison's Protégée here.
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| LOVE by Toni Morrison |
May, Christine, Heed, Junior, Vida-even L: all women obsessed with Bill Cosey. The wealthy owner of the famous Cosey's Hotel and Resort, he shapes their yearnings for father, husband, lover, guardian, and friend, yearnings that dominate the lives of these women long after his death. Yet while he is either the void in, or the center of, their stories, he himself is driven by secret forces-a troubled past and a spellbinding woman named Celestial.
This audacious exploration into the nature of love-its appetite, its sublime possession, its dread-is rich in characters, striking scenes, and a profound understanding of how alive the past can be.
A major addition to the canon of one of the world's literary masters.
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Read a guide for LOVE by Toni Morrison here.
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| PARADISE by Toni Morrison |
| It is the 1970s, and the tiny, self-sufficient all-black town of Ruby, Oklahoma, has reached a crisis of conviction. Tracing its origins to the efforts of a strong and spiritual community of ex-slaves, Ruby prides itself on its uncompromising independence from the larger world. But the vicissitudes of the Sixties, from the Civil Rights movement to the Vietnam War, the counterculture to the generational conflict, inexorably touch Ruby and disturb its self-imposed isolation.
In the scrubland outside of Ruby is an old Convent in which five women live, each seeking refuge and deliverance from a grim past. As the townspeople begin to lose their own convictions and succumb to the uncertainties of the times, they come to identify these unknown women with evil, and to use the Convent as a scapegoat for the anger and conflict that have overtaken their town. Tensions between the two communities rise, culminating inevitably in an act of violence; yet Paradise, finally, is a story of redemption, of forgiveness, and of renewal. In the intensity of its portrayal of human complexity and motivations, in the sweep of its historical scope, in the beauty of its language and in the generosity of its vision, Paradise is a boundless treasure of a book, a masterpiece.
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Read a guide for PARADISE here.
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| THE BLUEST EYE by Toni Morrison |
The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature.
It is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove--a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others--who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning and the tragedy of its fulfillment.
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Read the guide for THE BLUEST EYE here.
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| What to Give/What to Get A Booklover |
What is the best present you can give to a bibliophile this holiday season? A book, of course, or multiple books. But this year is extra special because a number of books are available that talk specifically about books --- the authors who write them and the people who purchase and collect them. The New York Public Library has even created a kit that allows individuals to take charge of their book collection to find any book instantly. You can be sure that the bibliophiles in your life will appreciate --- and treasure --- these thoughtful and very appropriate gifts.
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See a list of What to Give/What to Get a Booklover.
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| Holiday Books |
Many groups have told us that they enjoy reading holiday books and discussing them. With that in mind we assembled the following list of holiday titles for you to peruse and enjoy:
SHEPHERDS ABIDING: A MITFORD CHRISTMAS STORY by Jan Karon (Fiction)
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby
Jan Karon's loveable characters combined with the sweet background of the Christmas season make this full-length novel one that is sure to delight her loyal fans.
CHRISTMAS, PRESENT by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Fiction)
Reviewed by Joni Rendon
Jacquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN, has written a poignant, uplifting and deeply moving Christmas story about love, loss and letting go.
And we have a roundup of nine additional titles that you will want to both give and get including MAGGIE'S MIRACLE by Karen Kingsbury.
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Read our roundup of Holiday Books here.
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| This Month's Poll |
Has your group ever discussed more than one book during a meeting either relating them together or covering a theme?
Yes
No
No, but that sounds like a great idea.
Other
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Answer our poll questions here.
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| FaithfulReader.com |
We recently launched FaithfulReader.com, the 7th website in The Book Report Network. This website, which is edited for Christian readers, has many of the same features that you have come to appreciate on Bookreporter.com --- reviews, author interviews, a monthly poll, question and even Word of Mouth. Check it out when you get a moment --- and may we ask you to forward the link to friends who you think may enjoy this website? Thank you!
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Go to FaithfulReader.com
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| This Month's Contest: Win EARLY FROM THE DANCE by David Payne |
A subscription to our newsletter is all you need to be entered in our monthly contest. This month, one lucky reader will win enough copies of EARLY FROM THE DANCE by David Payne for his or her entire reading group.
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Read contest details here.
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Do you like what you see here, and want to forward it to a friend? Then click our link on the bottom of the page to do just that!
Happy reading. We'll see you next month.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
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