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ReadingGroupGuides.com Newsletter |
November 2004 |
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Bookish Movies and an Enhanced Read |
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One of your favorite book club selections --- THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN --- hits the small screen on December 5th when the movie version of the book airs on ABC. Mark your calendars now. It stars Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn, Jeff Daniels, and Michael Imperioli. Check your local listing in December.
Hitting movie theatres next week is the movie adaptation of THE POLAR EXPRESS, which is one of my favorite books. I had the opportunity to interview Chris Van Allsburg last month. Read more about the book below. For those of you looking for a light read for November or December, may we suggest this? Also, what a great book to read and discuss with the children and grandchildren. For the record, I still hear the bell!
Just out this week ---The Special Illustrated Edition of THE DA VINCI CODE. Even for those who have read the book already, this is a treat. There are photos, drawings and pictures that enhance the reading experience. My mom's book group met on Wednesday to discuss THE DA VINCI CODE and she brought this book with her. Their conversation dug deeper into the book by having the visuals to share. Click on the cover above to learn more.
My column in Pages magazine for November/December has ideas from book clubs --- maybe even yours --- about celebrating the holidays with your group, as well as a list of Book Club Pet Peeves! Pick up a copy and check both out.
Thanks to all of you, last month we had our biggest month EVER on ReadingGroupGuides.com with more than 117,000 readers coming to visit. Please continue to share this website with your friends who are in book clubs.
We just posted our 3rd Annual Reader Survey at Bookreporter.com. If you visit that website, take a look and weigh in with your reading habits. We will have the ReadingGroupGuides.com Reader Survey for you in early January. Click on the link below to access it.
Happy reading...and Happy Thanksgiving too. We truly give thanks for our readers --- each and every one of you.
Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected]) |
Click here to answer the Bookreporter.com's 3rd Annual Reader Survey.
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Special Feature and Contest: Win Copies of EMMA, Featured in THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB |
Ever thought about making your book club a Jane Austen Book Club? Given the success of the bestseller THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, by Karen Joy Fowler, we're sharing with book clubs what they need to make this happen. Between now and April, each month we will publish a discussion guide that Fowler has written expressly for book clubs for one of the six Jane Austen titles mentioned in the book. Our first selection is EMMA.
To make this Austen celebration even more fun, we are selecting 5 groups to each win 12 copies of EMMA for their discussion. Interested? Send us your name and mailing address by writing [email protected] by November 30, 2004 to be eligible to win. See complete list of rules at the link below. |
Read more about how to make your club a JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB here, as well as details on how to enter the contest.
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A Book Club Choice to Read With the Kids: THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg |
Many parents write telling us they would love ideas of books to read with the kids. While this fits that bill, it also could be a fun read for your group in December. Think about adding a trip to the movies to see the film, which opens on November 10th.
A magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa.
Since its publication in 1985, Chris Van Allsburg's THE POLAR EXPRESS has touched the hearts of millions of readers, young and old. It's a heartwarming story about the power of belief that resonates across generations and cultures. |
Read more about THE POLAR EXPRESS here.
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For Registered Book Groups: Special Author Chat Offers |
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Groups that are registered with ReadingGroupGuides.com as of Friday, November 12th are eligible for our next Exclusive Registered Book Club mailing, which will go out on November 17th. Please note that if you have registered your group already, there is no need to do it again. If you have not, please click on the link below to get your group signed up. Please note that in order to stay registered for offers, the group member who is registered must alert us if she or he changes their email address. Here is what we will be offering:
Margot Livesey, the author of BANISHING VERONA will be available to speak with three book clubs in January. These groups also will receive 12 books for their discussion. Some of you may be familiar with Livesey's earlier work, EVA MOVES THE FURNITURE.
Jan Goldstein, the author of ALL THAT MATTERS will be available to speak with three book clubs in January. These groups also will receive 12 books for their discussion.
Click on the covers above for more information about these books. |
Click here to register your group.
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TRUE FIRES by Susan Carol McCarthy |
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In the idyllic town of Lake Esther, Florida, little is allowed to ripple the surface calm --- which is just the way Sheriff Kyle Deluth likes it. But when Deluth "removes" two young children from the local school because of the color of their skin, the sheriff's senseless act of cruelty sparks a fire under the women of Lake Esther that will scorch the lives of all involved. In their pursuit of justice, an indomitable heiress, a revered journalist, and a fading Southern Belle will forge an unlikely alliance across the racial divide. One that will change the face of the town --- and their lives --- forever. |
Read the guide for TRUE FIRES here.
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THE END OF DETROIT by Micheline Maynard |
For groups who read nonfiction, here is a title you may enjoy, the New York Times Bestseller, THE END OF DETROIT by Micheline Maynard, which is an in-depth, hard-hitting account of the mistakes, miscalculations and myopia that have doomed America's automobile industry.
In the 1990s, Detroit's Big Three automobile companies were riding high. The introduction of the minivan and the SUV had revitalized the industry, and it was widely believed that Detroit had miraculously overcome the threat of foreign imports and regained its ascendant position. As Maynard makes brilliantly clear, however, the traditional American car industry was, in fact, headed for disaster. |
Click here to read a guide for THE END OF DETROIT by Micheline Maynard.
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Book Club Interviews |
This month we bring you the following book club interviews:
Teresa M. Caruso of "Reading Between the Wines" from San Diego, CA
Jude Fricano from Ballston Spa, NY
Mary Methvin of "Food for Talk" from New Iberia, LA
Bobbi G. Furst of "Beautiful Minds" from Lyndhurst, OH |
Read our Book Club interviews here.
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This Month's Poll |
Do you get together with members of your book group outside of your meetings?
All of them
Some of them
None of them |
Answer our poll question here.
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Newest Guides |
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
Banishing Verona by Margot Livesey
The End of Detroit by Micheline Maynard
Five Men Who Broke My Heart by Susan Shapiro
The Fool's Tale by Nicole Galland
Four Souls by Louise Erdrich
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi
Not Fade Away by Laurence Shames and Peter Barton
The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Serving Crazy with Curry by Amulya Malladi |
See the Newest Guides here.
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This Month's Contest: Win FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART by Susan Shapiro |
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 FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART by Susan Shapiro for his or her entire reading group.
Here is a description of the book:
In this honest, hilarious, fiercely intelligent memoir, journalist Susan Shapiro dares to do what every woman dreams of: track down the five men who'd broken her heart and find out what really went wrong. Between the ages of thirteen and thirty-five, Susan had plunged into love, heart-first, five times. One bad breakup was more hurtful and humiliating than the next.
With insight and daring, Susan chronicles her six-month-long journey back down a road strewn with romantic regret. Although for years she'd blamed her boyfriends for their flagrant infidelity, ludicrous faults, and immature foibles, to her shock she can now suddenly pinpoint the exact moment where she herself screwed up each relationship. |
Read contest details here.
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Do you like what you see here, and want to forward it to a friend? Then click our link on the bottom of the page to do just that!
Happy reading. We'll see you next month.
Don't forget to visit our other websites from TheBookReportNetwork.com: Bookreporter.com, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com, FaithfulReader.com, AuthorYellowPages.com, Teenreads.com, and Kidsreads.com.
Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])
The Book Report Network
250 W. 57th Street - Suite 1228
New York, New York 10107 |
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