October is National Reading Group Month

Celebrate National Reading Group Month (NRGM) throughout the month of October! An initiative of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA), NRGM promotes the joys of shared reading, strengthens the community of the book, and promotes a more literate, engaged community.

Book Group Buzz, a Booklist Online blog, is the official partner blog for NRGM. You can find a link to Book Group Buzz in the right sidebar of this blog. According to Book Group Buzz, their contributors, "Offer informative, wise, witty, and salutary posts, as well as links to a wide range of free book group-related guides, tips and other resources."

Random House Reader's Circle is also celebrating National Reading Group Month with a special month-long event: Book Club Fest. During the month there will be podcasts of author interviews, sweepstakes, recipes, newsletter sign-ups, and much more.

Look up our ReadersPlace for a list of good books for book groups.

Blogging fo a Good Book

Here is another blog to help you find something good to read:

Blogging for a Good Book: a Suggestion a Day from Williamsburg Regional Library

The reviewers just use their first names, though I suspect they are the Regional Library’s staff. The nice thing about this blog is that they have categorized the books reviewed. The categories are listed all down the right sidebar; so, that if you liked Nature Writing, for instance, you could click on that category and see reviews for more books.

Just a slight drawback for me – the recommendations are for all kinds of books, including books for children and young adults. I enjoy reading all kinds of things, but mostly I prefer books written for adults, so I have to be careful to check the level before I try and get the book.

New Book Group Blog

If you are reading this, you are at least somewhat familiar with the blogging phenomenon. According to Wikipedia: "As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs." Quite a few of those blogs provide, as does this one, commentary or news on the subject of book clubs or reading groups. I heard a couple of weeks ago about a new one sponsored by American Library Association Publishing and found on Booklist Online, and I thought I would let you know about it. You might want to bookmark it, or set up a feed, as it looks like a fresh new source of reading and book group meeting ideas.

BOOK GROUP BUZZ: A BOOKLIST BLOG

Enjoy a new (free!) one-stop book group resource from Booklist Online, "Book Group Buzz." This blog will entertain you as it keeps you up to date on all things book group. A corps of bloggers posts about books that worked well (or books that bombed), and provides organizational tips and read-alike insights. The blog also points you to Web sites that offer book club ideas, reading guides, and other helpful resources. Catch the Book Group Buzz