December 2011

This is the time of year when “Best Of” lists are everywhere. While we could compile one for ReadingGroupGuides.com, we prefer to hear what YOU have to say about this topic. So we are asking "What was the 'best' book that your group read this year?" Share your picks (you can name up to three) between now and January 31st by filling out the form found here. We’ll share the results in February. Please share this link with the members of your group as we want as many folks to weigh in as possible.

When we think back on books that captured book club attention in the past year, The Paris Wife immediately springs to mind. Paula McLain's debut novel has received a ton of acclaim, including a spot on the New York Times bestseller list (print or extended) EVERY week since it was published back in February. That is staying power! The story of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson, The Paris Wife is a rich love story that gives great insight into Hemingway's work --- a wonderful book club choice even for groups that usually do not read historical fiction. We are happy to share that it’s also our Newsletter Contest book this month, and everyone subscribed to this newsletter is eligible to win up to 20 copies for their group. Reading online and not signed up yet? Then click here to do that.

We've been having fun with the Kristin Hannah contest for Night Road. Books have been shipped to the 600(!) winning groups, and we have gotten more than 100 emails from winning groups sharing their delight about this. I am so looking forward to reading the comments about it after these groups read it in January or February.

And thus I am happy to share we have THREE terrific contests this month. Two are for books I read and enjoyed that have not yet been published; the third is for a book that was published to great reviews and will be available in paperback on December 27th. We love the opportunity to get books into your hands early so you can discuss reading them with your groups.

First up is a contest for Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell, a paperback original that will be in stores on January 31st. It's about a girl caught in a moral dilemma when the man who has rescued her from trouble kidnaps a pregnant teenager. I read this book last weekend, and the view of the situation from Madora, the protagonist, was so well done. There are many victims and heroes in this story, and it will surely promote some interesting group discussions. 200 readers will win copies of this provocative story. The deadline for entries is Friday, January 6th at noon ET.

Our second contest is for Carry the One, Carol Anshaw's novel, which will be in stores on March 6th. It opens with a group of men and women who, while drunk and sleepy after a wedding reception, accidentally hit and kill a local girl. From there, we follow these people over the next 25 years. This night haunts them each in different ways, and following the impact it has on their lives makes for great reading. I found myself thinking about them all, even when I was not reading. We are giving away 50 copies of the book to those who enter the contest. The deadline for entries is Friday, January 6th at noon ET.

We are also running a contest for A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. The book tells the tale of a young scholar and descendant of a long line of witches, who discovers a long-lost enchanted alchemical manuscript. With her leading man, a vampire, she launches on a fantastical adventure that she (and you) will never forget. 10 readers will have the chance to win a copy of this mystical read. The deadline for entries is Friday, January 6th at noon ET.

And we add more guides this month, including one for The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards, who you know as the author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter, which is now available in paperback. Also, we have a guide for The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje, which is in stores now.

We also have a new update to our What to Read Next? Suggest a Book for This Group feature. Click here to see what the recommendations were for The Fourth Tuesdays Book Club, the East Meadow Readers and Mom's Reading Group. And see what The Great Apes Reading Group, Fabulous Ladies and Books (FLAB) and The Afternoon Fiestas are reading and make suggestions for them. If your group needs a suggestion or two, send your information to [email protected] and you will be considered for this feature.

Our poll asks how contentious your book club selection process is. Click here to weigh in!

We have three ways for you to get into a holiday frame of mind. Confession here: I have not bought ONE present! Cue the elves. And the way I see it, books are great presents for everyone!

Our Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature is a great resource for gift-giving ideas. As part of the feature, on select days we will be giving away the titles on the list. Keep checking the site to see when the contests are running --- each only lasts for 24 hours! If you fear you will forget, sign up for our special Bookreporter.com Holiday newsletter here.

Also, on Bookreporter.com we are featuring a special What to Give, What to Get Gift Guide, a great list of books to use as a resource for everyone on your holiday list --- including yourself! The feature is divided into six categories --- Accessories for Book Lovers, eReaders for Book Lovers, Eat, Drink and Be Merry, Faces & Places, Great Choices for Book Lovers and Holiday Spirit --- to make browsing quick and easy.

Also back on Bookreporter.com for a fourth year are our Author Holiday Blogs. Every day throughout the holidays, we will be featuring a new blog post from an author about one of his or her favorite holiday memories ---- more than a dozen have committed to write for us! So far we have heard from Kim Edwards, Alyson Richman, Teresa Medeiros, Keija Parssinen, Charles J. Shields, Alan Bradley, Caroline Leavitt, BJ Daniels, Denise Hamilton, Robyn Carr and Shelley Shepard Gray. Stay tuned for more great pieces by authors like Mira Bartok, Nancy Jensen and Susan Wiggs!

Bookreporter.com isn’t the only one of our sites with new holiday features. Teenreads.com is hosting its sixth annual Holiday Cheer Contest and Feature this year. As part of the promotion, five lucky readers will win big bundles of Holiday Cheer that include a number of cool titles, as well as some special holiday treats. So if you know any teens, let them know about this! Also, we're giving teens the chance to vote for their favorite books of the year. They can nominate up to five books from 2011, and the five titles that are mentioned most frequently will serve as the nominees for the Teen Choice Book of the Year. The winner will be announced in May.

Are you excited for the new Girl with a Dragon Tattoo movie? It’s hitting theaters on December 21st and should be a wild ride. I am a huge Daniel Craig fan, and thus he is the draw for me to see this. I have seen all three films in their Swedish versions, so now it will be time to compare those as well as the book. Did any of you read the Stieg Larsson series with your group or on your own? Our current Bookreporter.com poll asks whether you plan to see the film, and our question asks why you think the books are so popular.

Well, I think that’s a wrap for this year. Here’s wishing you all the very warmest of holiday seasons, filled with old traditions and making new memories. We will see you next year.

Thanks, as always, for reading and being a part of ReadingGroupGuides.com.

Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])
 

We are celebrating the forthcoming release of Carry the One by Carol Anshaw --- a powerful novel about the lifelong consequences of one night that goes horribly wrong --- with a special contest. 50 readers will have the opportunity to each win an advance copy of the book, which will be in stores on March 6th, for their group. The deadline for entries is Friday, January 6th at noon ET.

More about Carry the One:
Carry the One begins in the hours following Carmen’s wedding reception, when a car filled with stoned, drunk and sleepy guests accidentally hits and kills a girl on a dark, country road. For the next 25 years, those involved, including Carmen and her brother and sister, connect and disconnect and reconnect with each other and their victim. As one character says, “When you add us up, you always have to carry the one.”

-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to visit Carol Anshaw’s Facebook page.
-Click here to connect with Carol Anshaw on Twitter.
 

From the author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter comes her second novel, which is now available in paperback.

At a crossroads in her life, Lucy Jarrett returns home from Japan, only to find herself haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago. Old longings stirred up by Keegan Fall, a local glass artist who was once her passionate first love, lead her into the unexpected. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family's rambling lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that first appear to be useless curiosities, but soon reveal a deeper and more complex family past.
 

When we think back on books that captured book club attention in the past year, The Paris Wife immediately springs to mind. Paula McLain's debut novel has received a ton of acclaim, including a spot on the New York Times bestseller list (print or extended) EVERY week since it was published back in February. That is staying power! The story of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson, The Paris Wife is a great and true love story --- a wonderful book club choice even for groups that usually do not read historical fiction.

More about The Paris Wife:
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet 28-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness --- until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group --- the fabled “Lost Generation” --- that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage --- a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

-Click here to read a review of The Paris Wife.
-Read parts one and two of an interview with Paula McLain on the ReadingGroupGuides.com blog.
-Click here to read Bookreporter.com's interview with Paula McLain.
 

At long last, Stieg Larsson’s international bestseller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be in US theaters on December 21st.

Hoping to distance himself from the fallout of a libel conviction, journalist Mikael Blomkvist retreats to a remote island in Sweden's far north where the unsolved murder of a young girl still haunts her industrialist uncle 40 years later. Ensconced in a cottage on the island where the killer may still roam, Blomkvist's investigation draws him into the secrets and lies of the rich and powerful, and throws him together with one unlikely ally --- tattooed, punk hacker Lisbeth Salander.
 

At Bookreporter.com, we kick off the holiday season in style with our Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature. As our gift to you, on certain days we will spotlight a book and give five lucky readers a chance to win it. You have to check the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter the contest. Some days may even feature special bonus prizes, including gourmet treats, holiday items, or some of Carol Fitzgerald’s Bets On picks from throughout the year. If you think you will forget to check, no worries: we also send a special newsletter to announce the day's title.

Our next prize book will be announced on Monday, December 12th at noon ET.

-Click here to sign up for our Holiday Cheer Daily Featured Book and Contest alerts.
 

All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson: Duncan Jepson’s novel transports us to a China on the brink of revolution, and witnesses this colorful, tumultuous world through the eyes of a woman forced into a life not of her choosing and driven to seek a bitter revenge.
Carry the One by Carol Anshaw: This stunning, break-out achievement has been hailed by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room, for presenting “passion and addiction, guilt and damage, all the beautiful mess of family life. Carry the One will lift readers off their feet and bear them along on its eloquent tide.”
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness: In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and the descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library.
The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards: The bestselling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter now gives us the story of a woman's homecoming, a family secret, and the old house that holds the key to the true legacy of a family.
Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell: An intensely emotional and provocative story, Little Girl Gone explores the secret hopes and fears that drive good people to do dangerous things…and the courage it takes to make things right.
The Third Reich by Roberto Bolaño: This new gem of a novel from the 2008 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award is the story of a German war-games champion who meets his match while vacationing on Spain’s Costa Brava.

Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler: This international bestseller has a frustrated detective resorting to hypnotism to help crack the case of a brutal triple homicide.
The Other Life by Ellen Meister: Happily married and pregnant, Quinn Braverman has an ominous secret as every time she makes a major life decision, she knows an alternate reality exists in which she made the opposite choice --- not only that, she knows how to cross over.