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In celebration of National Library Week (April 13-19), we've invited librarians to share their insights about book clubs. Today, Robin Beerbower, a Library Associate and Readers' Advisor at the Salem Public Library in Salem, Oregon, tells us about her take on an annual tradition.Librarians love lists. Everyone knows it. And librarians love books. So, of course, they love book lists best of all.
In celebration of National Library Week (April 13-19), we've invited librarians to share their insights about book clubs. We owe a big thank you to ReadingGroupGuides.com contributor Nora Rawlinson of EarlyWord.com, who introduced us to this week's guest bloggers. Today, Barbara A.
In celebration of National Library Week (April 13-19), we've invited librarians to guest blog over the next five days. ReadingGroupGuides.com contributor Nora Rawlinson of EarlyWord.com introduced us to these marvelous librarians, who will be sharing a wealth of insights and reading suggestions.
April 11, 2008

An Author's Oo La La

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Guest blogger Gayle Brandeis is the author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write and the novels Self Storage and The Book of Dead Birds. Here she muses about the decadent pairing of books and food.When I started to receive invitations to visit book groups, I knew I was in for a treat. I hadn't realized that this treat would often be literal.
April 10, 2008

Book Club Activism

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Sometimes book clubs can make a difference, as Debra Linn shows in this post. After reading Edwidge Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying, her group was inspired to take action.
April 9, 2008

An Author's Book Club Discovery

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Debra Dean is the author of the novel The Madonnas of Leningrad and the story collection Confessions of a Falling Woman.
In this post, Jennifer Hart reminisces about the books she read when she was young, from Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret to Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy Ray series --- and why the allure of YA literature is still just as great and perfect for book club discussions.
April 7, 2008

Approaching Authors, Dead and Otherwise

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In his debut novel, Finn, Jon Clinch imagines the life of Huckleberry Finn's father. Here he talks about drawing on one of Mark Twain's most beloved works, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, for the seeds of the story, the risk he took in writing the novel --- and how books spark a conversation between reader and writer.
April 4, 2008

Regroup Your Book Group

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Last week at the Public Library Association Conference in Minneapolis, I had the pleasure of lunching with ReadingGroupGuides.com blog contributor Nora Rawlinson and librarian extraordinaire Nancy Pearl. Here Nora shares some of Nancy's tips for book clubs, including how to get the conversation flowing and the question one should never ask. --- Carol Fitzgerald
April 3, 2008

Decisions, Decisions

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Last month Jennifer Hart shared how her book club makes reading selections --- several titles are presented monthly by the current hostess and voted on in two rounds, which she likened to the presidential primary and general election. Shannon McKenna Schmidt's book club uses a very different method. Here is their story.