Laura's blog

Hystera by Leora Skolkin-Smith is a finalist in the 2012 International Books Awards in the "Literary Fiction" category!

“In language with the wild power of accuracy, Hystera maps a path through the landscape of trauma and illness, the feverish news of the seventies, and a character’s own indelibly vivid imagery of alarm and comfort. An eye-opening novel."—Joan Silber, author of Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories, finalist for the National Book Award

In June’s LHJ Book Club pick, Next to Love, author Ellen Feldman tells the heartbreaking, but hopeful story of three women’s lives during the paradigm shift of the Baby Boomer generation—1944-1964, spanning WWII and the war in Vietnam.

Babe, Grace and Millie are young wives whose husbands have been drafted to fight in WWII. When the trajectory of their future is forever changed by war’s tragic events, their imperfect, yet steadfast, friendships prove the only constant in their lives.

In the excerpts from the book below, Feldman illustrates a woman’s instinct for survival—the ability to adapt to whatever twists and turns life may present.

Please welcome Ken Ballen, author of Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals, to On the Bookcase! Use this interview in our book club meeting to help your discussion by delving deeper into his research for his new book.

Author of Radio Shangri-La, Lisa Napoli promotes the READGlobal organization on her blog.

With Mother's Day right around the corner Alexandra Fuller's memoir Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness would be a great pick for a Mother-Daughter book club or a Mother's Day themed book club meeting.

"The Language of Flowers and Nature vs. Nuture"

Please welcome Jennifer Miller, author of The Year of the Gadfly, to On the Bookcase! Jennifer tells us how her novel was inspired by the ancient tradition of Sortes Vergilianae.

In honor of National Poetry Month here are some resources to have fun with poetry:

30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

Poetry Book Clubs

A Poetic Alternative to Book Club: The Poetry Party

How Poetry Readers Can Help Indie Bookstores

Poetry Mobile App for iPhone and Android

Reading Group Choices attended the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 24th. I, Laura Vianna, was a panel member for the Book Club workshop. I was able to inform the audience of a few tips that Reading Group Choices has gathered over the years from book clubs. A few included:

-Book Club Awards
-Book Group Website
-Charity Involvement
-Food by the Book
-Author Chats
-Field Trips
-Diversify group membership

At the end of the workshop, the audience was able to share what their book clubs do for fun as well as ask the panel questions and seek advice.

Reading Group Choices also gave away five boxes of books to five lucky winners for their book clubs. Maybe we will be at an event near you!

Quail Ridge Books & Music held a "Book Club Bash" at it's store on Monday, March 19th and Wednesday, March 21st. At this Bash, employees of the book store had chosen 2-3 books each to present to a crowd of local book club members. Each presented book was picked because it would lead to a lively book club discussion.  

Reading Group Choices came bearing gifts. Each day the bash was held, RGC gave away 5 boxes of books as a random drawing to different book groups that attended the Bash. We gave away about 120 books!