Viking Penguin Book Club Launches Online

Here is another online resource for reading groups that I have seen several news bytes on, including a piece in Shelf Awareness: Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade, "the free e-mail newsletter dedicated to helping the people in stores, in libraries and on the Web buy, sell and lend books most wisely."

Viking Press and Penguin Books have launched an online resource for
reading groups (click here) which includes regular posts from authors, editors and sales and marketing people at Viking and Penguin; a forthcoming blog where readers can post comments and reviews; a monthly newsletter; weekly news, awards, author tour updates and contests/giveaways.

Viking and Penguin plan regularly to feature one new Viking hardcover, one new Penguin paperback, and one Penguin classic. The site's archive, which currently consists of more than 100 titles, is being expanded. It includes titles by a range of authors picked to appeal to reading groups. It's designed to allow users to flip through titles as though browsing the shelves of a bookstore or library.

I plan to add this site to the other publisher sites I check for reading group choices and information. VP Book Club looks very attractive. So far the archive is full of 100 plus titles, but both the news section and the blog from the publishers are a bit scanty. No doubt they will fill up with comments soon! I might sign up for the e-mail newsletter.