Blog

On Saturday, October 22nd, almost 300 book lovers joined authors and publishing professionals for Hachette’s annual Book Club Brunch --- now in its fifth year. Boasting a variety of authors, books and snacks, this event is highly anticipated by readers and sells out nearly every year. The Book Report Network staffers were unable to make it, but we had seven generous readers share their experiences with us, including which authors they connected to most, which books they can’t wait to read, and how the discussion of Min Jin Lee’s PACHINKO --- which readers were given the opportunity to read before the event --- played out in such a large group.

This month (and every month) at ReadingGroupGuides.com, we're particularly interested in the dynamics of your book group. We know that --- for longterm groups especially --- it can be hard to evaluate how your group is doing and get back on track. That's why we think groups will benefit from a Book Group Checkup: It gives your group an opportunity to do a self-check to be sure its goals are still being met. Pick a month that you are going to do this and make it an open forum where people discuss a number of questions, or you can have people write their comments anonymously. We've been asking readers to share some thoughts and tips for optimizing meetings, which you can check out below.

This weekend, Bookreporter.com's Carol Fitzgerald, our intern Maya Gittelman and I all met up in beautiful Morristown, New Jersey, for what has become one of our most highly anticipated events of the season: the Morristown Festival of Books. Held during the first weekend of October, this fabulous festival brings authors, readers and books together for a full day of exciting programming --- at no cost!

Longtime reader Denise Neary provides her book club's perspectives on Jodi Picoult's new novel SMALL GREAT THINGS.