not your mama's list of book group books

Seems like there are certain books that are quickly typecast as book club books. Here's a list of  books (all now available in paperback) that are not yet regarded as standard picks for reading groups:

 20 Unexpected Books for Your Reading Group

here's an idea

BOOK CLUB TIP - Pot Luck Dinner Paired with Biographies

 An idea from The Ladies of Autumnwood of Grand Island, New York.

 From member Maryl Gavazzi:

"For a recent meeting, each of us chose a biography or autobiography and brought a dish pertaining to that author. Our host read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and prepared "Apple" cake and appletinis...clever. Another read a biography of Renoir and brought quiche. Someone else read a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt and brought angel food cake with strawberries -- Eleanor's favorite."

Guide - what not to say at book club

We love the reading. We love the company and conversation. We love the stuffed mushrooms and potluck pinot noir. But every now and then, somebody says something that we really, really wish they hadn't—especially, gulp, when that somebody is us.

Click here for the list of what not to say at book club via Oprah.

There must be 14 ways ...

to kill your book club

1. Think Outside The Book 
Liven up the discussion by reading plays or literary magazines that feature essays, art and short stories. 

2. Share The Busywork 
Leaving one person in charge for too long will lead to her burning out. Instead, every few months, rotate the responsibility of hosting and setting the date for the meeting. 

3. Seduce With Food 
A juicy three-cheese lasagna can help the discussion of the driest novel. 

4. And Yet: Never Serve Vegetarian Pâté 

Read more: 14 Ways Not to Kill Your Book Club

Top 25 Most Popular Group Picks 2010

From Reading Group Guides

The Top 25 Most Popular Reading Group Picks for 2010:
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
4. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
5. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
6. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
7. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
8. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
9. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
10. Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
11. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
12. Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
13. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
14. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
15. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
16. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin
17. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
18. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
19. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
20. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
22. South of Broad by Pat Conroy
23. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
24. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
25. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

* Titles our group has read are bolded

world's first book club

book club love

"I am a huge fan of book clubs because it means people are reading and discussing books. Mix that with wine and carbs, and you can’t keep me away."

~ Lisa Scottoline

Hometown reaction to The Help

CBS news anchor Katie Couric interviews members of a book club in Jackson, Mississippi.

Tonight - This I Believe

What was your favorite essay? Least favorite? Were you inspired to write your own This I Believe statement?

See you tonight at Christi's house!

Reading Group Guides presents

Reading Group Guides has compiled its Best of 2009 lists:

Twenty-five New Favorites

Twenty On-going Favorites

Twenty Enduring Favorites

Video - Book Club Dirty Little Secret #1

Cute video for National Reading Group Month:



What an innovative way to get the word out to book clubs about a new book!

Great Group Reads

It's time for the annual October celebration of reading groups, National Reading Group Month sponsored by the Women's National Book Association. One of the books we've recently read is on WNBA's list of Great Groups Reads 2009:

• Appassionata by Eva Hoffman
• The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
• The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë by Syrie James
  
• The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey
  
• Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz
• While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty
  
• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
• Cost by Roxana Robinson
  
• Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
  

Fall-Winter Reading Group Picks

Here's the long awaited Fall/Winter 2010 Top Ten Reading Group picks from IndieBound:

1. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford

"In 1986, Henry Lee happens upon the Panama Hotel in Seattle, where discoveries in the basement bring back haunting memories of the 1940s. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet tells of family pride, innocence, young love, jazz clubs, and internment. This novel will delight all ages -- it's good for reading aloud and great for discussions." --Barbara Theroux, Fact & Fiction, Missoula, MT

2. Mudbound: A Novel by Hillary Jordan

"Set in 1940s Mississippi, Mudbound tells the story of how World War II becomes a catalyst for change for those living on a Delta farm. Racism weighs heavily in the story, but Jordan's respect for the complexities of the character's lives, and her pragmatic honesty, build empathy and hope in the reader. This winner of the Bellwether Prize will become a book group favorite." --Dianne Patrick, Snowbound Books, Marquette, MI

3. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

"The book discussion we had about Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher in a little town in Maine, was one of the best we ever had. The reading group members were incredibly passionate about their love of the book and their love (and hatred) of Olive. We laughed and cried, and one member called us afterward and asked what we were going to read to get us that riled up again!" --Deb McDonald, Garden District Book Shop, New Orleans, LA

4. Still Alice: A Novel by Lisa Genova

"Still Alice tells the story of a 50-year-old Harvard psychology and linguistics professor in the year following diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Her struggles with the effect on her work life, and her family's attempts to cope, are compelling and entirely believable. Genova's doctorate in neuroscience lets information flow naturally as part of a tender story, perfect for book groups." --Carla Jimenez, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

5. The Gift of Rain: A Novel by Tan Twan Eng

"This is a coming-of-age book set in one of the worst times and places to come of age -- Panang, an island off the Malay Peninsula, just before the start of WWII. Sixteen-year-old Philip Hutton is torn between destiny and duty, but how do you choose when duty to country, family, friends, and mentor conflict? This is a lyrical, thought-provoking novel filled with many layers of loss and love." --Ann Carlson, Harborwalk Books, Georgetown, SC

6. The Help: A Novel by Kathryn Stockett

"We've been telling our customers who are members of book groups to read this story of race-ridden, 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Unforgettable characters live out a story that makes you rage against intolerance as you step into the lives of three Southern women who are committed to creating change." --Gail Wetta, Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, IL

7. The Well and the Mine: A Novel by Gin Phillips

"Young Tess Moore watches as someone throws a baby into a well. This starts a remarkable adventure through 1930s Alabama, in which two girls try to find out whose baby died and the Moore family just tries to survive. This has been our favorite this year and elicited a great discussion on class, race, and family." --Mary McHale, Fox Tale Books, New Durham, NH

8. The Lace Reader: A Novel by Brunonia Barry

"The Lace Reader is a suspenseful intense read that thoughtfully mixes New England history and lore with the present. This is a one-sitting, must-discuss-afterward type of book!" --Angela Rodman, Third Street Books, McMinnville, OR

9. The Outlander: A Novel by Gil Adamson

"The Canadian Rockies, described with intensity, are the stage for an outlaw heroine's improbable ride from vengeance, both her own and that of her victim's kin. Thrilling in the way an imaginative page-turner should be, the story is nonetheless hooked upon the barbs of real events and real personalities." --Neil Strandberg, Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, CO

10. The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel by Yoko Ogawa

"A young, single mother is dispatched by her agency as the tenth housekeeper to try to meet the unusual demands of tending house for a mathematics professor who's suffered a serious brain injury. She not only manages to meet the challenge, but she discovers a beautiful new world for herself and her son through their unique relationship with this extraordinary man. A very tender and absolutely delightful story!" --Linda Findlay, University Book Store, Seattle, WA

For more reading group picks click here. (scroll down)

Author Chris Bohjalian on book clubs

I am asked all the time whether serious books — the sorts of books a reading group is likely to read — are in serious trouble. And that is almost always the way the question is phrased. Serious books . . . serious trouble.

Sometimes, the prophets will trot out the specifics of gloom and doom: The end of leisure, and the way the Internet and the VCR have commandeered what little time a person has left to read; the statistics that show the paltry numbers of adults who ever buy books; or the figures that suggest the vast majority of us haven't the slightest idea what the insides of our local libraries looks like.

Yet the current renaissance in reading groups seems to me to be a wondrous indication that serious books are not in serious trouble at all. Book groups have reminded us all of a fact we try and teach our preschool and elementary school children all the time, but as grownups we all too often tend to forget: Reading is meant to be fun. It is capable of evoking from us the same conversational enthusiasm as movies and music and stage plays, if we only give the notion a chance.

See also: "The Book Club Hustlers" at The Daily Beast.