September 2012

My younger son is in his senior year, and thus September still feels like "back to the books" for me. Last night, I went to "Senior Night" where we were given marching orders on the myriad of details surrounding college applications. I have been down this road before, but I still think the level of abject anxiety in that room was pretty high. A friend once wisely told me that all we want for our children is that they are not disappointed. It's so very true.

My older son has his first taste of academic freedom this year. He called the Friday before Labor Day to tell me that classes had started that Wednesday, invoking a feeling that school REALLY is over for him. He's been flying through pleasure reading, clearly savoring time to read what he wants.

September also means the book clubs who were "off" for the summer are now back in the swirl of things, and groups who had some members off on vacation for weeks are now back to full attendance.

With that in mind....here is our September update...

Last month, we launched our “What Are You Reading?” Monthly Contest Feature. Let us know what your group is reading in September, and you’ll be entered in a giveaway to win multiple copies of a book for your group! Our latest prize book is Memoir of the Sunday Brunch, in which Julia Pandl looks back on her formative years, a time not just of growing up but, ultimately, of becoming a source of strength and support as the world her father knew began to change into a tougher, less welcoming place. We have 12 advance copies of the book, which will be in stores on November 13th, to give away to five groups. Enter here by Friday, October 5th at noon ET for your chance to win copies for you and your group members.

In addition, we have two special contests. The first is for The Unfinished Garden by Barbara Claypole White. James Nealy is haunted by irrational fears and inescapable compulsions. A successful software developer, he’s thrown himself into a new goal --- to finally conquer the noise in his mind. And he has a plan. He’ll confront his darkest fears and build something beautiful: a garden. When he meets Tilly Silverberg, he knows she holds the key…even if she doesn’t think so. 60 readers will have the opportunity to each win a copy of the book, which is now in stores, for their group. The deadline for entries is Friday, October 5th at noon ET.

Our other special contest is for The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, which won the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction. Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift and beautiful --- irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath. 30 readers will have the opportunity to each win a copy of the book, which is now available in paperback, for their group. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, September 25th at noon ET.

Among this month’s featured guides is Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon. Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe are longtime friends and co-regents of a used record store. But when ex-NFL quarterback Gibson Goode announces his plan to build a megastore nearby, the duo fears that it will mean certain death for their small business. What they don’t know is that this announcement marks the peak of a secret history, including a forgotten crime of the Black Panther era. How will the two make it through these trying times? Click here for the guide.

Please also note the Telegraph Avenue Enhanced E-Book is available wherever enhanced e-books are sold, and it includes eight original illustrations by acclaimed artist Greg “Stainboy” Reinel, exclusive videos of Michael Chabon discussing the book, an original theme song, excerpts of the audiobook edition of Telegraph Avenue as performed by Clarke Peters (of "The Wire" and "Treme"), and more.

We are also featuring The Cutting Season by Attica Locke. Caren Gray, the manager of Belle Vie, a beautiful and elegant southern plantation, learns that the body of a young woman with her throat slit has been found face down in a shallow grave on the premises. This shocking, violent crime could be linked to any number of things --- a statement about migrant workers or even someone protesting the Groveland Corporation that convinced the family to sell their farm to the highest bidder. Caren, though, discovers that this crime may be linked to a mystery that will cause her to probe into the plantation’s past. Could the killer be closer than she imagined? Click here for the guide.

In Tatjana Soli's The Forgetting Tree, Claire Nagy loves Forster Baumsarg so much that she is willing to give up her education to embrace the hardworking life of a citrus rancher. However, the land becomes so much a part of her that she cannot be pulled away by her son’s tragic death, her alienation from her daughters, or the break-up of her once-devoted marriage. Despite all of this, Claire’s greatest struggle comes when an illness threatens to take her from her land and also take her life. She picks Minna, a Caribbean-born woman, to be her caretaker. But can Minna be the darkest force of all? Click here for the guide.

We are also spotlighting Comet's Tale: How the Dog I Rescued Saved My Life. Forced into early retirement by a spinal condition, Steven Wolf reluctantly left his family and moved to Arizona for its warm winter climate. A lifelong dog lover, the former hard-driving attorney is drawn to a local group that rescues retired racing greyhounds. When Comet, a once-abused cinnamon-striped racer, chooses to “adopt” Wolf, he has no idea that a life-altering relationship has begun --- for both of them. Click here for the guide.

We have also posted some new and exciting articles on our blog that are worth a read. Marsha Toy Engstrom (known as The Book Club Cheerleader) and her colleague, Kay Hodges, have written about some of the current literary trends and compiled a list of books that were spotlighted at BookExpo America (BEA) in June. For those of you who aren’t familiar with BEA, it is the publishing industry’s trade show, and a terrific place (besides ReadingGroupGuides.com) to get the scoop on the upcoming books that will be great book club selections. Read more about what Marsha has to say here.

Also in June, we invited ReadingGroupGuides.com readers to receptions held in conjunction with the book tour for Robert Goolrick’s latest book, Heading Out to Wonderful, which you may remember as a BookReporter.com Bets On selection. Click here to see comments from some attendees, as well as photos on our blog!

Last but not least, we have an interview with Brian Freeman on his experience of doing book groups in a women’s prison. Click here to see what he had to say.

A few months ago, many of you answered a survey for a publisher about your interest in participating in a day for book group-themed events. I am happy to share that they took your feedback to heart, and ReadingGroupGuides.com will be partnering with the Hachette Book Group to host their first Book Group Day in New York on Saturday, September 29th from 10:30-3:30 at the New York Public Library that will be of interest to New York tri-state area book groups. Participating authors include Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me; Jami Attenberg, author of The Middlesteins; Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra; and Jill Shalvis, author of At Last.

Tickets cost $50 in advance or $75 at the door, and the ticket price includes lunch and a gift bag. Hear from Hachette's celebrated list of authors, mingle with fellow Tri-State reading groups, enjoy good food --- and, of course, take home books and advance reading copies!Reserve soon so you don't miss out on this terrific event. Oh, and I will be there too! I look forward to meeting our readers there. I already heard from some folks who plan to be there. Feel free to also bring along your non-book group friends who you think may enjoy this!

Speaking of reading, I spent close to two weeks on the Outer Banks in late August and early September in what was a really idyllic trip. You can read my blog about the dozen books I read while floating in the pool here.

Don’t forget to vote in our new poll. This month we’d like to know what time of day your book group usually meets.

As many of you know, fall is the biggest season for books, but did you also know that it is also one of the busiest seasons for films? Be sure to keep your eyes open for some of your favorite books coming to a big screen near you. For a list of upcoming book to movie adaptations, click here to see our bookshelf.

Whew....this is quite a lineup...so get clicking...and enjoy! See you next month.

We are celebrating the release of The Unfinished Garden by Barbara Claypole White --- a love story about grief, OCD and dirt --- with a special contest. 60 readers will have the opportunity to each win a copy of the book, which is now in stores, for their group. The deadline for entries is Friday, October 5th at noon ET.

More about The Unfinished Garden:
James Nealy is haunted by irrational fears and inescapable compulsions. A successful software developer, he’s thrown himself into a new goal --- to finally conquer the noise in his mind. And he has a plan. He’ll confront his darkest fears and build something beautiful: a garden. When he meets Tilly Silverberg, he knows she holds the key…even if she doesn’t think so.

-Click here for the reading group guide.
 

We are celebrating the release of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller --- a tale of gods and goddesses, kings and queens, immortal fame and the human heart --- with a special contest. 30 readers will have the opportunity to each win a copy of the book, which is now in stores, for their group. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, September 25th at noon ET.

More about The Song of Achilles:
Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift and beautiful --- irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

-Click here for the reading group guide.
 

Let us know what your group is reading this month (September), and you’ll be entered in a giveaway to win multiple copies of a book for your group! Our latest prize book is Memoir of the Sunday Brunch, Julia Pandl’s irreverent and open-hearted memoir that provides tender wisdom about the bonds between fathers and daughters and the simple pleasures that lie in the daily ritual of breaking bread. We have 12 advance copies of the book, which will be in stores on November 13th, to give away to five groups. The deadline for entries is Friday, October 5th at noon ET.

More about Memoir of the Sunday Brunch:
For Julia Pandl, the rite of passage into young-adulthood included mandatory service at her family’s restaurant, where she watched as her father --- who was also the chef --- ruled with the strictness of a drill sergeant.

At age 12, Julie was initiated into the rite of the Sunday brunch, a weekly madhouse at her father’s Milwaukee-based restaurant, where she and her eight older siblings before her did service in a situation of controlled chaos, learning the ropes of the family business and, more important, learning life lessons that would shape them for all the years to come. In her wry memoir, she looks back on those formative years, a time not just of growing up but, ultimately, of becoming a source of strength and support as the world her father knew began to change into a tougher, less welcoming place.

-Click here for the reading group guide.
 

As the summer of 2004 draws to a close, Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe are still hanging in there --- longtime friends, bandmates, and co-regents of Brokeland Records, a kingdom of used vinyl located in the borderlands of Berkeley and Oakland. Their wives, Gwen Shanks and Aviva Roth-Jaffe, are the Berkeley Birth Partners, two semi-legendary midwives who have welcomed more than a thousand newly minted citizens into the dented utopia at whose heart --- half tavern, half temple --- stands Brokeland. When ex–NFL quarterback Gibson Goode, the fifth-richest black man in America, announces plans to build his latest Dogpile megastore on a nearby stretch of Telegraph Avenue, Nat and Archy fear it means certain doom for their vulnerable little enterprise.

The Telegraph Avenue Enhanced E-Book, available wherever enhanced e-books are sold, includes 8 original illustrations by acclaimed artist Greg “Stainboy” Reinel, exclusive videos of Michael Chabon discussing the book, an original theme song, excerpts of the audiobook edition of Telegraph Avenue as performed by Clarke Peters (of The Wire and Treme), and more.
 

Belle Vie is a plantation of genteel beauty and manicured grounds that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. For some it represents the values of the South before the Civil War, while for others it’s a reminder of slavery’s dark legacy, a time when enforced labor fueled the economy. But when Caren Gray, the estate’s manager, learns that the body of a young woman has just been found lying face down in a shallow grave, her throat cut clean, it’s suddenly the site of a murder investigation.
 

When Claire Nagy marries Forster Baumsarg, the only son of prominent California citrus ranchers, she knows she’s consenting to a life of hard work, long days, and worry-fraught nights. But her love for Forster is so strong, she turns away from her literary education and embraces the life of the ranch, succumbing to its intoxicating rhythms and bounty until her love of the land becomes a part of her. Not even the tragic, senseless death of her son Joshua at kidnappers’ hands, her alienation from her two daughters, or the dissolution of her once-devoted marriage can pull her from the ranch she’s devoted her life to preserving. But despite having survived the most terrible of tragedies, Claire is about to face her greatest struggle: an illness that threatens not only to rip her from her land but take her very life.
 

September’s New in Paperback roundups on Bookreporter.com include the following highlights for book groups:

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
In a distant American future, Hannah Payne awakens after being infected with a virus that has turned her skin red. Chroming is her punishment for her crime of murder --- for terminating the pregnancy of her unborn child. Because of her refusal to identify the father or name the abortionist, she is forced to live in permanent disgrace.

Heaven Should Fall by Rebecca Coleman
Alone since her mother's death, Jill Wagner wants to eat, sleep and breathe Cade Olmstead when the golden, handsome and ambitious man bursts upon her life. Even putting college on hold feels like a minor sacrifice when she discovers she's pregnant with Cade's baby. But it won't be the last sacrifice she'll have to make.

American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar
Hayat Shah is a young Pakistani American in love for the first time. Mina is Hayat's mother's oldest friend from Pakistan. When Mina begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions force him to question all that he has come to believe is true.

We the Animals by Justin Torres
Justin Torres’ brief first novel tells the brutal, tender story of three brothers growing up on the edge of poverty. We the Animals is a stomach-grinding portrait of a family in turmoil and the toll it exacts on those boys.

-Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of September 3rd, September 10th, September 17th and September 24th.

 

Fall is not just a big season for books, it's also one of the busiest seasons for movies, as the race for the Oscars heats up. With some highly anticipated releases over the next few months, we compiled a list of 20 upcoming book to screen adaptations that we think you should have on your radar.

From crime thrillers like Gangster Squad to the long-awaited adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the conclusion to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II, movie-goers of all ages will get their fill.
 

We have a number of contests currently running on our other sites in TheBookReportNetwork.com. Please take a look at them below, and enter for your chance to win some fabulous books!

Bookreporter.com

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
We have 25 specially formatted early reader editions of Orphan Train to give away to readers who would like to preview the book, which releases in April 2013, and share their comments about it. The deadline for entries is Thursday, September 20th at noon ET.

The Good Woman: A Brennan Sisters Novel by Jane Porter
To celebrate the release of The Good Woman, the first installment in Jane Porter’s Brennan Sisters series, we’re giving 25 readers the opportunity to win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, October 2nd at noon ET.

Word of Mouth
Tell us your current reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from September 7th to September 21st, FIVE lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of Father Night: A McClure/Carson Novel by Eric Van Lustbader, Low Pressure by Sandra Brown, and A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child.

Teenreads.com

Enclave by Ann Aguirre
Looking for a great book that is sure to generate lots of discussion in your reading group? Then check out the post-apocalyptic novel Enclave, Ann Aguirre's first book for young adults. Teenreads.com is giving away up to 20 copies of the paperback edition to the winning book club. The deadline for entries is Friday, September 21st at noon ET.

Grab Bag of Books
Each month in our Grab Bag of Books contest, five readers are awarded a Teenreads.com signature tote bag filled with some of the hottest books --- and may even include a sneak peek at titles that haven’t been released yet! Winners of our latest Grab Bag of Books contest will each receive a copy of Over You by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus and The Raft by S. A. Bodeen. The deadline for entries is Wednesday, September 19th at noon ET.

Kidsreads.com

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
To celebrate the release of Splendors and Glooms, a Victorian gothic thriller from Newbery Medal winner Laura Amy Schlitz, Kidsreads.com is giving 15 readers the chance to win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is Monday, October 15th at noon ET.
 

Comet's Tale: How the Dog I Rescued Saved My Life by Steven D. Wolf with Lynette Padwa: Forced into early retirement by a spinal condition, Steven Wolf is drawn to a local group that rescues retired racing greyhounds. When Comet, a once-abused cinnamon-striped racer, chooses to “adopt” Wolf, he has no idea that a life-altering relationship has begun --- for both of them.
The Cutting Season by Atticka Locke: From the acclaimed author of Black Water Rising comes a heart-pounding thriller that interweaves two murder mysteries --- one on Belle Vie, a historic landmark in the middle of Lousiana’s Sugar Cane country, and one involving a slave gone missing over 100 years earlier.
The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli: From Tatjana Soli, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lotus Eaters, comes a breathtaking novel of a California ranching family, its complicated matriarch, and the enigmatic caretaker who may destroy them.
The Good Woman: A Brennan Sisters Novel by Jane Porter: Years of being “the good woman” have taken a toll on Meg Brennan Roberts. When her boss confesses his long-standing desire for her, an overwhelmed Meg suddenly questions every choice she’s ever made.
Love Bomb by Lisa Zeidner: An explosive send-up of contemporary dating and mating, part Tom Perrotta and part Lorrie Moore, with an original premise and an unusual cast of characters, Love Bomb is a tough, tender social comedy and a romance with guts, written with affection for all that it skewers.
Memoir of the Sunday Brunch by Julia Pandl: Julia Pandl’s irreverent and open-hearted memoir provides tender wisdom about the bonds between fathers and daughters and the simple pleasures that lie in the daily ritual of breaking bread.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: The Song of Achilles is a tale of gods and goddesses, kings and queens, immortal fame and the human heart.
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon: “The immensely gifted writer and magical prose stylist” Michael Chabon delivers another “bravura epic” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times) --- “an exhilarating, bighearted novel” (O Magazine) exploring the profoundly intertwined lives of two Oakland families.
The Unfinished Garden by Barbara Claypole White: Barbara Claypole White’s debut novel is a love story about grief, OCD and dirt.
You Are the Love of My Life by Susan Richards Shreve: For fans of Sue Miller, You Are the Love of My Life is a finely wrought novel of family secrets and the desire for sustaining love.

Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

The Barbarian Nurseries by Hector Tobar: The Barbarian Nurseries takes us beyond the glimmer of Hollywood and deeper than camera-ready crime stories to reveal Southern California life as it really is, across its vast, sunshiny sprawl of classes, languages, dreams and ambitions.
The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen: The death of a newborn shatters family members, and then teaches them to share one another's burdens.
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides: From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides comes this Austen-esque tale with Madeleine, an English major writing a thesis with the marriage plot as the centerpiece, stuck in the middle of her own love triangle.
The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani: The Shoemaker’s Wife is a breathtaking, multi-generational love story that spans two continents, two World Wars, and two oceans, replete with all the drama, sumptuous detail and heart-stopping romance.
Unmeasured Strength by Lauren Manning: When a wall of flame at the World Trade Center burned more than 80 percent of her body, Lauren Manning began a 10-year journey of survival and rebirth that tested her almost beyond human endurance.

The following new guides are now available for Christian book groups:

Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot: An itinerant carpenter and a young widow learn that Christmas is a time for miracles in this sweet romance set in 1882 Wyoming.
Love's Reckoning: The Ballantyne Legacy, Book 1 by Laura Frantz: The stage is set in this sweeping family saga set in late 1700s Pennsylvania when two sisters battle for the love of one man.
With Every Letter: Wings of the Nightingale, Book 1 by Sarah Sundin: A wartime correspondence between a World War II flight nurse and an army engineer takes an unexpected twist when she arrives to evacuate the wounded in his battalion.

 

What time of day does your group usually meet?

Weekday mornings
Weekday afternoons
Weekday evenings
Weekend mornings
Weekend afternoons
Weekend evenings
I am not in a book group.