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Last night, Sharon Kurtzman joined our book group discussion about THE LOST BAKER OF VIENNA via Zoom. She explained how a conversation with her mother about her mother's life after World War II in Vienna sparked her interest in writing this book. It was a story that she nurtured for a few decades before she wrote it.

Sharon walked us through her “on the ground” research where she visualized the story unfolding, as well as the long journey that it took to write the book. While the story had been percolating inside her, it took the COVID-19 pandemic to make her realize that she had to tell her mom’s story lest it be lost. While the book is not biographical, she talked about all of the ways her mother’s experiences guided her storytelling. (Note the family photos behind her, which she spoke about.)

Although it has been years since I had children headed back to school, I always see the weeks after Labor Day as a chance to reset. It’s a great time for your book group to stop and take a look at what you are doing. We call it the Book Group Checkup. It's an opportunity for your group to do a self-check to be sure that your goals are still being met. Years ago, we created some questions for a Book Group Checkup. You can find them here, along with feedback that a few groups shared in the past.