Dear Readers:

Happy New Year!

Our update this month is coming to you a tad later than planned. We took a couple of days this week to tweak the design on the home page of ReadingGroupGuides.com. Look for more changes in the months to come as we try to make this website even more valuable for our readers. We added over 25 new guides this month!

Please note that our editor, Liz Keuffer, is on semi-leave these next few months due to an illness in her family. She is still reading and answering mail at Liz@ReadingGroupGuides.com, but please understand if she does not respond at her usual rapid-fire pace.

One piece of important news that we forgot to share last month. We heard your request to want to search our guides via author name as well as title. You can now do this at Reading Group Guides by Author.

Ask The Author:
In our ReadingGroupGuides.com Survey, many of you said that you would enjoy the opportunity to have an author involved in your group's discussions. We are very pleased to announce that Lynne Hinton, the author of FRIENDSHIP CAKE and THE THINGS I KNOW BEST will be the first author who will be available to ReadingGroupGuides.com readers and their groups. Lynne will interface via email and phone, as her schedule allows. Interested? Log onto LynneHinton.com and see the Ask Lynne section. In the months to come, we hope to bring access to many more authors to your group.



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Ice Bound by Dr. Jerri Nielsen
New in Paperback with a Bonus Chapter and Reading Group Questions

The dramatic and inspiring true story of Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the physician stranded at a South Pole research station who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer. Rescued by the Air National Guard under perilous weather conditions, her extraordinary return to safety made headlines around the globe.

This edition includes a reading group guide and a new chapter in which Dr. Nielsen considers the remarkable impact her story has had on readers and, in turn, how much their reactions have meant to her.

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We recommend three new titles this month:

Good Harbor By Anita Diamant

In Good Harbor, Anita Diamant, author of the phenomenal bestseller and book group favorite The Red Tent, explores the emotional lives of two mothers in present-day Cape Ann, Massachusetts. When these two women meet for the first time, they recognize an immediate kinship. As they take long walks at Good Harbor beach, they begin to bare their intimate histories and help each other to heal old wounds. As a natural and resonant storyteller, Diamant brings to life the passions, traditions, and turmoil of these two women and their families, exploring the tragedy of loss, the destructive and restorative power of secrets and the tenderness of friendship and love.

Slaves In The Family by Edward Ball

Edward Ball, descendant of a seventeenth-century plantation owner in Charleston, South Carolina, chronicles the lives of the people who lived in his ancestors' lands: the African slaves, mulatto children, and his own white landowning relatives. This is the story of black and white families living side by side through three hundred years. As Ball searches out descendants of the slaves his family owned, he confronts his own fears and prejudices about slavery and his family.

Rescuing Jeffrey: A Memoir by Richard Galli

On the 4th of July in 1998, teenager Jeffrey Galli dove into a friend's swimming pool and hit his head. His father Richard pulled him out and resuscitated him only to find that Jeffrey would be paralyzed from the neck down, be unable to breathe on his own, and be dependent on others for the rest of his life. With disarming honesty, Richard Galli confesses his determination to "rescue" Jeffrey again - this time by removing him from life support. In journal form, Galli emotionally records the progression of events entwined with the family's heartbreaking choice and the uplifting and life-affirming outcome of their decision.

In our Roundtable area:

Interview: Our interview this month is with the River Readers of rural Jacksonville, Oregon. Many thanks to Donna Epstein for sharing the experiences of her lively group with us!

Recipe: This month's recipe for Spiced Cider comes to us from Bethany Agnew of Syracuse, New York. It's sure to keep your guests warm as you discuss your January book.

January Question of the Month: Since we just updated our Top 10 Best Reading Group Guide choices, we'd like to know the name of the worst book your group has read. Which did you most want to throw across the room? Which were you sorry you let someone talk you into reading? Send your replies to Liz@ReadingGroupGuides.com.

Replies to December Question of the Month: Last month we asked how your group goes about the process of adding new members. Finding new members who fit in with an existing group can be a challenge, so read on for suggestions your group might consider.

Tip for January Meetings: Make a reading resolution.

Contest: A subscription to our newsletter is all you need to be entered in our monthly contest. This month, one lucky reader will win enough copies of Martyr's Crossing by Amy Wilentz for his or her entire reading group.

Martyr's Crossing is the story of an Israeli lieutenant and a young Palestinian mother, who is struggling to help her sick boy. Given the current state of the world this is poignant reading.

See you next month!

Carol Fitzgerald
ReadingGroupGuides.com
ReadingGroupGuides.com


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