ReadingGroup.Com celebrates its Tenth Anniversary

ReadingGroup.Com is ten years old and they celebrated by having folks pick our their Top Ten Favorite Discussion Books. Votes were accepted from May through July 2010 and more than 12,000 people participated.

Listed below are those Top Ten Titles. Click on the link to ReadingGroup.Com and explore further. You can find a discussion guide for each of the books mentioned, and you can check out titles selected as the most popular in various categories, such as Memoirs/Biographies, Books Featuring Animals and even Selections You Might Not Expect.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer and Barrows

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

The Red Tent by Anitia Diamant.

Have fun reading. Meg

Join a Book Discussion Group at NPL

Do you belong to a book group? What was the best book your group ever read? The worst? Tell us a little bit about what you think makes a good book group. Would you like to be part of a Book Discussion group? The library has two really active Book Discussion Groups and they are both starting up again this fall.

The Thursday Evening Book Discussion Group begins this Thursday, September 17th, at 7pm in the Stride Room (lower floor of the library). The book they are going to discuss is The Girls by Lori Lansens. This is a novel about conjoined twins, and their lives together as they strive to be both sisters and individuals. Anyone who has read the book is welcome to attend.

After Thursday’s meeting, the list of book titles for the rest of the year will be decided. Stay tuned! If you have questions or want more details, email or call (847-8720, Ext. 103) Pat LaRose.

The Tuesday Afternoon Book Discussion Group alternates between reading classics and more modern works, often based loosely on a classic counterpart. Their first meeting was last week, September 8th, but they meet monthly and anyone is welcome to join. Their next meeting will be Tuesday, October 13th, from 1-3pm in the Stride Room. The book to be discussed in October is Foe by J. M. Coetzee. Foe is a reinvention of the story of Robinson Crusoe  If you have questions or want more details, email or call (847-8720, Ext. 208) Luke Owens.  Meg

Excellent Online Resources for Book Groups

Last Saturday I attended the Reading Across Rhode Island** Launch Conference for this “one state, one book, literally” program and came away with some wonderful memories (of author Ron Carlson almost getting choked up when speaking about one of the book's characters), and all kinds of resources and ideas for books and reading.

One workshop I went to was entitled “Reinvigorating Your Bookgroup.” The presentation was excellent and I came away with a sheet listing some really interesting websites that would be helpful to any book discussion group. I thought I would share a few of these sites with you.

BookMovement
This is an online resource that was set up in 2001 in order to give book clubs across the United States a way to communicate with each other, and to recommend and review titles on a national scale. You can view a Book Club Bestseller List and a List of Top-rated Books. There are over 16,000 Book Clubs registered.

Reviews of Books
This site offers full length book reviews and synopses of books from major, online media sites that are available without having to register or pay to read them. Includes books published since 2002 and books that have a mimimum of three reviews in online media such as NYTimes, Washington Post, Boston Globe, etc.

Also check out
Reading Group Guides
Reading Group Choices
and finally, Seattle Public Library’s discussion of Book Group “how tos.”

**The Reading Across Rhode Island selection for 2009 is Ron Carlson’s Five Skies. A sweet, short book about three broken and lonely men who meet in the badlands of Idaho and find friendship and healing. I highly recommend it. Meg

[The information contained in this post is thanks to Librarian Joyce May and her wonderful workshop on reinvigorating books groups.]