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October 24, 2016

Hachette’s 2016 Book Club Brunch

Posted by emily
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On Saturday, October 22nd, almost 300 book lovers joined authors and publishing professionals for Hachette’s annual Book Club Brunch --- now in its fifth year. Boasting a variety of authors, books and snacks, this event is highly anticipated by readers and sells out nearly every year. The Book Report Network staffers were unable to make it, but we had seven generous readers share their experiences with us, including which authors they connected to most, which books they can’t wait to read, and how the discussion of Min Jin Lee’s PACHINKO --- which readers were given the opportunity to read before the event --- played out in such a large group.
October 7, 2016

Book Group Checkup: Readers Share Feedback

Posted by carol
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This month (and every month) at ReadingGroupGuides.com, we're particularly interested in the dynamics of your book group. We know that --- for longterm groups especially --- it can be hard to evaluate how your group is doing and get back on track. That's why we think groups will benefit from a Book Group Checkup: It gives your group an opportunity to do a self-check to be sure its goals are still being met. Pick a month that you are going to do this and make it an open forum where people discuss a number of questions, or you can have people write their comments anonymously. We've been asking readers to share some thoughts and tips for optimizing meetings, which you can check out below.
This weekend, Bookreporter.com's Carol Fitzgerald, our intern Maya Gittelman and I all met up in beautiful Morristown, New Jersey, for what has become one of our most highly anticipated events of the season: the Morristown Festival of Books. Held during the first weekend of October, this fabulous festival brings authors, readers and books together for a full day of exciting programming --- at no cost!
October 5, 2016

SMALL GREAT THINGS: A GREAT Book Club Discussion

Posted by Maya
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Longtime reader Denise Neary provides her book club's perspectives on Jodi Picoult's new novel SMALL GREAT THINGS.
This year’s National Book Festival was held this past Saturday, September 24th, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Denise Neary, our longtime and intrepid reporter, attended with her husband Chris Kelly, and was more than willing to share her experience with us. Here, she discusses Festival highlights, including panels with Katherine Paterson, Geraldine Brooks, and --- by a serendipitous stroke of luck --- Stephen King.
Last Friday, The Book Report Network’s Carol Fitzgerald, Nicole Sherman, former intern Erin Siu and I made our way to Random House’s New York offices for their ninth Open House, a day when readers are invited to interact with both Random House staff and authors to go behind the scenes of their favorite new and forthcoming titles. Also with us were Bookreporter.com reviewers Vivian Payton and Matthew Burbridge and Carol’s friend, Beverley.
Last Friday, The Book Report Network’s Carol Fitzgerald, Nicole Sherman and I took some time out of our busy schedules to treat ourselves to a day at Random House for their Spring Open House event. My dear friends --- and avid Bookreporter.com readers --- Vivian Payton, Elena Payton and Mary Wegner were also in attendance, as was Carol’s friend, Beverley Wilson. This was my fifth time attending the event, and, as always, it did not disappoint.
A few weeks ago, we received a query from Noreen in Sarasota, FL: "Our book club will be exploring an author's study for February and March. We want to pick one author and two different works to compare them. Do you have any suggestions?  I'm sure other clubs must have done this before."
Last weekend hundreds of book lovers flocked to beautiful historic Savannah, Georgia, for the Ninth Annual Savannah Book Festival. With venues situated around Telfair, Wright and Chippewa Squares, the Savannah Book Festival welcomes both fiction and nonfiction authors and readers of all ages who would like to see their favorite authors and add new titles to their reading lists.
Over the past two months, we polled our readers to find out how you celebrate the holidays with your book groups. We listed four options, as well as an “other” options, because we know how creative our readers can be. You did not disappoint us!