March 2005

A More Robust Newsletter....

Our newsletter this month is 50% longer as we have added five new feature slots. As a result, I am keeping my opener short and sweet so you can get right to our news.

We have close to 2,000 registered book clubs. Is your group registered with us yet? Last month more than 160,000 unique readers came to ReadingGroupGuides.com --- yet another record.

Have a great March!

Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])

We're celebrating the release of THE READING GROUP
by Elizabeth Noble with a very special contest.

Here's a quick overview of the book:
THE READING GROUP follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books. Over the course of a year, each of these women become intertwined, both in the books they read and within each other's lives. Noble reveals the many complicated paths in life we all face, as well as the power and importance of friendship.
 
Enter the Contest to Win 12 Copies of 12 Perennial Paperback Titles
One VERY lucky group will win a Grand Prize of 12 copies of 12 Perennial paperback titles --- a full year's worth of reading. Additionally five groups will each win 12 copies of THE READING GROUP for your group. Send the 12 titles that your group read most recently to [email protected]

Read more about THE READING GROUP and our contest here.

PERFECT MADNESS by Judith Warner

Judith Warner became a mother while living abroad. Returning to the United States from France several years later with her two young children, she was shocked to discover the differences between the two cultures in regard to motherhood-with the U.S. coming up short. What she found here in the U.S. are mothers living lives of quiet desperation as they struggle to parent in an age of anxiety.

Regardless of race, cultural background, geographic location, or working versus stay-at-home moms, the mothering concerns of American mothers are largely the same. Warner, a writer and journalist, examines how we've gotten to this state of perfect madness-and where we're headed. She draws on her own experiences as both a stay-at-home and working mother, along with interviews with more than 150 women nationwide. She also evaluates the influences that popular culture, economics, politics, and psychology have had in shaping society's perceptions of mothers and motherhood.
 

Intelligent, frank, and entertaining, PERFECT MADNESS is an insightful look at modern motherhood, an illuminating history of a century of American culture, and an urgent wake-up call for the future of the American family.

Click here to read the reading guide for PERFECT MADNESS.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Featured in THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB

Ever thought about making your book club a Jane Austen Book Club? Given the success of the bestseller THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, by Karen Joy Fowler, we're sharing with book clubs what they need to make this happen. Beginning last November thru this April, we will publish a discussion guide that Fowler has written expressly for book clubs for one of the six Jane Austen titles mentioned in the book. Our fifth selection is PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

To make this Austen celebration even more fun, we are selecting 5 groups to each win 12 copies of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE for their discussion. Interested? Send us your name and mailing address by writing [email protected] by March 31, 2005 to be eligible to win. See complete list of rules at the link below.

In case you missed past month's selections:
Northanger Abbey
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Mansfield Park

Read more about how to make your club a JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB here, as well as details on how to enter the contest.

Invite the Author: Invite a Author to Your Next Book Club Meeting

Invite the Author brings book groups and authors together!

You love discussing books with your reading group . . . imagine the excitement of being able to discuss the book with its author! HarperCollins Publishers encourages reading groups to Invite the Author to their next book discussion. This month there are a number of great authors participating in Invite the Author, including Marya Hornbacher, author of THE CENTER OF WINTER.

For Registered Book Clubs: Our March Offerings

Our Registered Book Clubs will be invited to participate in two opportunities to speak with authors via telephone during their book club meetings.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón will speak to groups about THE SHADOW OF THE WIND.

Here's more about the book:
THE SHADOW OF THE WIND is a coming-of-age tale of a young boy who, through the magic of a single book, finds a purpose greater than himself and a hero in a man he's never met. With the passion of García Márquez, the irony of Dickens, and the necromancy of Poe, Carlos Ruiz Zafón spins a web of intrigue so thick that it ensnares the reader from the very first line. THE SHADOW OF THE WIND is an ode to the art of reading, but it is also the perfect example of the all-encompassing power of a well-told story.

Book Clubs registered with us by Wednesday, March 9th at noon ET will be eligible to participate.

ME & EMMA by Elizabeth Flock

In many ways, Carrie Parker is like any other eight-year-old-playing make-believe, dreading school, dreaming of faraway places. But even her imaginative mind can't shut out the realities of her impoverished North Carolina home or help her protect her younger sister, Emma.

Narrated with the simplicity and unabashed honesty of a child's perspective, ME & EMMA is a vivid portrayal of the heartbreaking loss of innocence, an indomitable spirit and incredible courage--a story that will resonate with readers of all ages and experiences.

For more about ME & EMMA, click on the link below and also make sure to check out Bookreporter.com's One to Watch feature.

Click here for the ME & EMMA reading guide.

The Jewish Museum of New York's New Exhibition -- The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and Their Salons

The Jewish Museum is presenting The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and Their Salons from March 4 through July 10, 2005. This landmark exhibition examines the significant role played by the salons of Jewish women in the development of art, literature, music, theatre, philosophy, and politics in Europe and America from the late 18th century through the 1940s. Much like book clubs of today, the salon guests assembled to discuss ideas, exhibit their artwork, perform their music, recite literary works and forge political alliances. The exhibition probes the role that private coversations in the drawing rooms of 14 influential Jewish women had in fostering the careers and fame of such celebrities as Felix Mendelssohn, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Gustav Klimt, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Greta Garbo, and others.

Read more about the exhibition of The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and Their Salons here.

Book Club Interviews

This month we bring you the following book club interviews:

Carla Rodrigues of "ADCH Book Club" of North Arlington, NJ
Delaine Fortenberry of "Second Sunday Book Club" of McComb, MS

The March/April Issue of Pages Magazine is Now On Sale

The March/April issue of Pages magazine includes a cover profile of Jonathan Safran Foer whose new book is EXTREMELY LOUD & EXTREMELY CLOSE. You may remember his literary debut, EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED.

Also in this issue:

Pearl Cleage, Meg Wolitzer, a piece about the relationship between biographers and the people they write about and much much more. My piece about book clubs can be found on page 31. This month I explore Historical Fiction and Irish History titles, among other topics.

Read more about Pages magazine here.

This Month's Poll: Talking Food Here

Does your book club meeting include food or a meal?
All of the time
Some of the time
Never

Has your book club ever considered centering your discussion on a cookbook?
Yes, we have done this.
Yes, we are planning it.
No, but this is a good idea.
Our group would not be interested in this.

If your book club selected a cookbook would you prefer to shape a discussion around it or just have a group dinner?
Shape a discussion around it
Have a group dinner
Not sure what we would want to do.
Our group would not be interested in this.

What kind of cookbooks do you think your group would be interested in? (Check as many as apply.)Healthy foods
Simple meals
Exotic cuisine
American
International
Organic
Family dinners
Appetizers
Desserts
Our group would not be interested in this.

Would your group be interested in an online or phone chat with the chef whose book your group cooked from?
Yes
No
Not sure

Do you also belong to a cooking club or a dine-around group where you each take turns cooking meals?
Yes, I do.
No, but that sounds like a good idea.
No, this is not of interest to me.

Anything else you would like to share on the topic of cookbooks, let us know.
Yes 
No

Oprah Winfrey Presents the World Premiere Television Movie Event of Their Eyes Were Watching God Starring Halle Berry and ABC on Sunday, March 6th, 2005 at 9 PM. Here's more about the book that the movie is based on:

THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, an American classic, is the luminous and haunting novel about Janie Crawford, a Southern Black woman in the 1930s, whose journey from a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence and substance has inspired writers and readers for close to 70 years.

This poetic, graceful love story, rooted in Black folk traditions and steeped in mythic realism, celebrates boldly and brilliantly African-American culture and heritage. And in a powerful, mesmerizing narrative, it pays quiet tribute to a Black woman who, though constricted by the times, still demanded to be heard.

Originally published in 1937 and long out of print, the book was reissued in 1975 and nearly three decades later THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD is considered a seminal novel in American fiction. THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD contains a foreword by Mary Helen Washington and an afterword by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Read more about THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD and a contest to win a copy of the book and the unabridged CD performed by Ruby Dee here.

A reader alerted us that we have been remiss in sharing our contest winnners with you. Below please find a list of winners in our 2005 ReadingGroupGuides.com contests. A list of winners in the Registered Book Club contests will be announced in the Registered Book Club newsletter, which will be mailed on March 14th.

Same Sweet Girls:
Judi from Spruce Grove, AB; Jeannine of Southern Authors Book Club from Winterville, N.C.; Margarita of Roundtable Book Group from Albuquerque NM
 
Dancing Naked At the Edge of Dawn:
Susan of Amazing Women from Atlanta GA
 
The Elegant Gathering of White Snows:
Laura of Journeys Through Words from Biloxi MS
 
Rosie Dunn:
Gregg of St. Andrew's Book Group from Barrington, RI; Mary Kay from Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Margaret of Broadlands Book Club from Powder Springs, GA
 
Sense and Sensibility:
Amy from Grosspoint Woods, MI; Allison from Palmdale, CA; Lynn W. Falcon Heights, MN; Shelley from St. Peters, MO
 
Northanger Abbey:
Elizabeth from Davis, CA; Beth from Brooklyn, NY; Barbara from Groton, CT; Susan from Kingston, NY; Mary Beth from Omaha, NE

Mansfield Park:
Julie from Gloucester, MA; Maria from Blauvelt, NY; Cindy from St. Maries, ID; Bridget from Belleville, NJ; Elyse from Oshkosh, WI
 
 

A subscription to our newsletter is all you need to be entered in our monthly contest. This month, one lucky reader will win up 20 copies of ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS by Ellen Sussman for his or her entire reading group.

Click the link above to see more about this book.