Blog

One of my favorite parts of my job is conducting interviews for REAL TALK: Publishing. I get to meet people with the most interesting jobs, and, like our readers, get a sneak peek into a side of the book industry that I likely know little about. Preparing for our upcoming REAL TALK interview with audiobook producer/director May Wuthrich was no exception, and actually, it was extra special, because it came with a field trip! May invited me to watch an hour of her recording session with Mozhan Marnò (“House of Cards” fans will recognize her as reporter Ayla Sayyad), who was narrating READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN author Azar Nafisi’s newest book, THE REPUBLIC OF IMAGINATION: America in Three Books. Here are a few of the most interesting things I discovered:

Last week, Lorenzo Carcaterra and his daughter, Kate, introduced us to the book group that they both belong to, The Red Table Book Club (which you can read all about here). Lorenzo mentioned that the group was visited by another author, Julia Dahl, to discuss her book, INVISIBLE CITY. Here, he shares what that experience was like, including how funny and sharp Julia was, why he loves being a part of his daughter's book group and how wonderful and supportive the writing community proves time and time again to be.

A few months ago, mystery writer William Kent Krueger had the honor of having his most recent novel, ORDINARY GRACE, chosen as a One Book-One Community Read in South Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. The One Book-One Community program seeks to promote family and community interaction through reading the same book. In this case, ORDINARY GRACE was the perfect choice, as Minnesota is not only Krueger's home state, but the setting for many of his books. We recently had the opportunity to ask Krueger a few questions about the event, from how his novel was selected to how he handled the community discussion and what comments surprised him most.

Last week, Carol Fitzgerald, President of The Book Report Network, was invited to join members of The League, a New York-based book group, as they met with author Daisy Goodwin and discussed her latest book, THE FORTUNE HUNTER. The event was hosted by St. Martin's Press, and was a wild success: "an easy, fun night." Here, Carol shares her thoughts on the experience, including some insight into Daisy's writing process, The League's book group background and feedback from the group about the book! Make sure to read all the way to the end to see The League's past reading list, as well as their "Reading Bank,"  a list of books that are suggested by members for more reading.

While we were going through submissions for our "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest, we were struck by some of your interesting book group names! One that caught our attention in particular was the "Armchair Travelers Book Club" --- we were inclined to take their name literally, and wondered whether or not all their books had to do with traveling. Member Mary Lee Olson was kind enough to enlighten us and share with us the origin of her group's name and some of the great books they've read and plan to read in the future.