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Book Clubs at the King County Library SystemFind a book club at a library near you!
Resources for Book Clubs
Books and Reviews
Book Clubs
National Book Clubs
Book Group Resources on the Web
Discussion Group Guides
Helpful Websites
Online Book Buying
Resources for Book Clubs
Starting a Group
Four is about the minimum number for a discussion group. So if you and
a friend each invite a friend or two you are in business. You can also
place notices at the library, local bookstore, and your church, health
club, office, day care David Laskin author of The Reading Group Book
maintains that you need not worry about recruiting the right individuals
to join, that ultimately the membership sorts itself out.
When and where will you meet? Will there be food? Who will host? Who will keep records of books read? Who will be the discussion leader? Is membership closed or open? Can guests come?
Choosing the books
Decide if you want to read a particular kind of book - books by women authors, classics, contemporary literary fiction. Some groups ask each member to bring two or three books and audition them to the group; a vote decides the slate of books. Or each person can take a turn choosing the book and leading the discussion. If you expect members to buy books, make sure the book is in print. If you intend to borrow the book from the library, check to see that there are enough copies readily available. If its available in paperback but the library system doesnt own it, or doesnt own enough copies for your group, please email webmaster@kcls.org. There are funds available to supplement book club reading. Choose your books at least three months in advance so that everyone has a chance to get and read the book.
For further information try these sources:
The Book Group Book: a thoughtful guide to forming and enjoying a Stimulating
Book Discussion Group edited by Ellen Slezak, second edition, 1995
A collection of essays by members of book groups all around the country
on the how and why of how they do business. Includes extensive what to
read lists.
The New York Public Library Guide to Reading Groups by Rollene
Saal, 1995
Great practical tips on beginning a book group plus tons of suggested
reading lists.
Reading Group Book: the complete guide to starting and sustaining
a reading group, with annotated lists of 250 titles for provocative discussion
by David Laskin and Holly Hughes, 1995
This is a very readable and pragmatic guide with lists of provocative
titles.
The Reading Group Handbook: Everything You Need to Know, from Choosing
Members to Leading Discussions by Rachel W. Jacobsohn, 1994
The title says it all its all you need to know and more with lots of
sample reading lists.
The Reading List Contemporary Fiction: a critical guide to the complete
works of 110 authors edited by David Rubel, 1998
An easy to use guide to authors of contemporary literary fiction from
Paul Auster to Alice Walker. There is a brief biography of each author
and an annotation list of his/her books.
Now Read This: a guide to mainstream fiction, 1978-1998 by Nancy
Pearl, 1999
The titles in this book are grouped by appeal factors: setting, story,
characters and language. Other books to try are listed for each title.
A special notation is made for book group recommendations.
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Helpful Websites
King County
Library System - use the literature databases for doing research,
try the recommended web sites for book recommendations.
Reading Group Choices
offers great startup tips, hints for facilitating discussion, plus long
lists of suggested titles
Bookwire.com-
is a publishing industry website that gives lots of information on new titles.
Reading Woman -
This site speaks of being "a place for readers and book discussion
groups looking beyond the bestseller lists for their reading selections.
" Brief summaries and excerpts. Titles have a literary
bent.
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Discussion Group Guides
Beacon Press
Beacon Press is a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association
and features reading guides for authors you may not have heard of.
HarperCollins
Reader Resources
HarperCollins publishers offer discussion guides for many titles,
including works by Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Rivers Siddons and Rebecca
Wells.
Henry Holt
and Company
Henry Holt provides a small number of reading group guides that
include works by Thomas Pynchon and James Galvin.
Books @ Random House
Looking for discussion questions for titles by Margaret Atwood,
Elizabeth Berg or Tim OBrien? Check here.
St. Martins
Press
Site of reading group guides for authors Gail Tsukiyama, Brenda
Jackson, Sandra Dallas, Joan Medlicott and many more.
Time
Warner Books
Youll find works by Anita Shreve and Billie Letts in the discussion
guides included here.
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Book Group Resources on the Web
African American Literature Book Club
This site features on-line discussions and wide ranging information
about African American authors.
Book Group List
If youd like to participate on-line, you can join in the discussion
on this site. Otherwise, you can enjoy the many reading suggestions
and ratings about how these titles worked for discussion.
Generous
Books
Generous Books is an ad-free, cookie free service that will take care
of all those mundane book club chores. Bookclub information (password
protected) can include schedules, directions and review materials -- and
they will even e-mail meeting reminders.
Reading Group Choices
This site has a wealth of information for people wanting to start
a book discussion group, choose a title for discussion, or develop a list
of discussion topics to investigate.
Reading Group Guides
More advice on starting a group, choosing what to read and recipes!
Salon.com
This on-line magazine offers on-line discussion of a different
book each month through their virtual reading group.
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Books and Reviews
See the KCLS Online
Databases page for book-related databases.
Book Page Online
Many book reviews and author interviews.
New York Review
of Books
Select Table of Contents for current reviews, or search the Archive for
past reviews.
New
York Times Books
Requires a free initial registration. Contains over 50,000 book reviews
since 1980.
New
York Times Best-Sellers List
Book Clubs
Reading
Group Choices
Locate books that are good to discuss, plus discussion guides for hundreds
of titles. Includes advice for group leaders.
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National Book Clubs
Masterpiece
Theatre Book Club
KCTS is participating in the PBS project. Viewers are given the opportunity
to read and discuss selected books alongside their screen adaptations
presented on Masterpiece Theatre. The Masterpiece Theatre Book Club is
pleased to announce our first ever MYSTERY! Edition.
Spring/Summer 2005:
- Agatha Christie's The Murder at the Vicarage
- Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner
- P.D. James' The Murder Room
Oprah's
Book Club
Oprah has restarted her book club which will be devoted to classics.
2004 Selections:
- January - One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- April - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
- June - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2003 Selections:
- June - East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- October- Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Today
Show Book Club
On the first Monday of every month, a new novel is selected.
2004 Selections:
- January - The Breathtaker by Alice Blanchard
- February - The Sleeping Father by Matthew Sharpe
- March - The Photograph by Penelope Lively
- April - The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
- May - The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
- June - Bury the Lead by David Rosenfelt
2003 Selections:
- January - Mary Higgins Clark selects Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
- February - No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall
Smith
- March- Louise Erdrich selects Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
- April - Nine Horses: poems by Billy Collins
- May - John Updike selects Drinking Coffe Elsewhere by Z.Z.
Packer
- June - Anna Quindlen selects a novel by Carolyn Parkhurst, “The
Dogs of Babel,”
- July - Dave Barry selects The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-time by Mark Haddon.
- August - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus select Shadow Baby
by Alison McGhee
- September - Scott Turow selects The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
- October- Anita Shreve select The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
- November - Carl Hiaasen selects The Known World by Eward
P. Jones
- December - The Way the Crow Flies by Ann Marie MacDonald
2002 Selections:
-
July John Grisham selects: The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter
-
August Jonathan Franzen selects: You are not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
-
September- Elizabeth Berg selects: A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
-
October- Terry McMillan selects Raisng Fences by Michael Datcher
-
November- Helen Fielding selects The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady
in the Van by Alan Bennett -
December - Frank McCourt selects Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker
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Online Book Buying
AddALL
Provides price comparisons for over 35 online bookstores. Notice the separate
link for Used Books.
Alibris
Search for used, rare, and hard-to-find books. See the FAQ
file for information on how to search for autographs, letters, and
ephemera (vintage movie posters, magazines, newspapers, greeting cards,
maps, etc.)
BookFinder.com
A mega-search site for used, rare and antiquarian books as well as new
books. Go to the Booksellers
page to search their individual suppliers.
Last Updated: September 21, 2007