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Archives - March 2008

March 31, 2008

Men and Books: Why Men Aren't Joiners

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In this post, Andrew McCullough ruminates on why men and book clubs aren't a match made in heaven. He has, however, overcome that stereotype with the 18-member Man Book Club, which celebrated its first anniversary this month. Congrats, Andrew!
One of the questions that we are asked most often is, "How does a group decide what to read?" This post from Jennifer Hart, who writes the bookclubgirl.com blog, talks about how her group does this and how they enlist the help of their local independent bookseller in their selection process.
Guest blogger Heather Johnson founded the Storie delle Sorelle book club in 2005 in the greater Baltimore/Annapolis, MD, area. After trying unsuccessfully to find an existing group to join, she contacted every woman in her address book and found five like-minded souls. The club has since more than doubled in size, and here Heather shares some of their reading adventures.
As we pick up with Kathy L. Patrick and her Pulpwood Queens Book Tour they are driving onto Memphis, home of THE King to continue their adventures. Here's more about their glamorous life on the road as the tour starts to blur!
March 21, 2008

The Book Club Queen Hits The Road --- As An Author

Posted by carol
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Kathy L. Patrick is the owner of Beauty and the Book, the only Hair Salon/Bookstore in the country located in historic Jefferson, Texas. She also is founder of The Pulpwood Queens Book Club, which is the largest "meeting and discussing" book club in the world.
March 18, 2008

You Don't Have to Like the Book

Posted by carol
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I met Debra Linn a year ago when I was in Miami when she asked me to speak at a Book Club Mixer that Books & Books, one of my favorite bookstores, was hosting in Coral Gables. I leapt at the opportunity and found myself part of a fabulously fun afternoon with close to 200 book club members.
March 12, 2008

How the Internet Has Changed Book Clubs

Posted by carol
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Jennifer Hart loves book clubs. She is in two book clubs and writes a terrific blog called bookclubgirl.com. We get together whenever possible to talk books, book clubs and life. We have shared time on panels and at conferences and I always find these conversations enlightening. Her comments here are spot on about how the internet enhances the book club experience.
March 11, 2008

Not Your High School Classics Discussion

Posted by carol
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After our meeting this month, the members of my book club agreed: we had one of our best discussions in a long time, if not in our 12-year history. The book that elicited such an enthusiastic response? The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton's breakout 1905 novel about a well-to-do young woman who, after losing both of her parents and the family fortune, finds herself dependent on the benevolence of rich friends to remain in high society.
March 6, 2008

Taking A Book Club on the Road

Posted by carol
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Since 2002, Gina Wyszynski and the Chicks Picks Book Club from Houston, Texas, have made it an annual tradition to take a reading group getaway, and in this blog posting she shares some stories about their travels. Whether the destination ties in with a book's theme or is simply a fun, new backdrop for a discussion, as Gina and her fellow members have discovered, a change of scenery can be a book club boost.---Carol Fitzgerald
March 4, 2008

From English Teacher to Book Group Facilitator

Posted by carol
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I had the pleasure of meeting Esther Bushell last fall at a luncheon that was held for Alan Drew, the author of Gardens of Water. She told me that she was a longtime reader of both ReadingGroupGuides.com and Bookreporter.com.