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Welcome!
Dear Readers,
We're thrilled to introduce the new look for the Reading Group Center, which was created entirely with you in mind. And we didn’t stop there—the RGC is now easier to navigate, more functional, and filled with great content and resources for your reading group. So browse around and let us know what you think!
And watch out for more exciting features to come!
Your Friends at the RGC
One Book, One Community
Community-based reading initiatives are a growing trend across the country, and we're pleased to support these programs with a wide range of resources.
Read an Exclusive Excerpt From Joan Didion’s Blue Nights
In Blue Nights, Joan Didion has created a work of stunning power and frankness. Richly textured with memories from her own childhood and married life with her husband and daughter, Blue Nights is an intensely personal and moving account of her thoughts, fears, and doubts regarding having children, illness and growing old. Read on for an exclusive, extended excerpt from the book.
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Recipe by the Book: Maine Lobster Salad
Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan is a book that perfectly evokes the joy of summer’s long, lazy days on the beach. In our search for the perfect lobster recipe to compliment Maine, we turned to the venerable Julia Child. Her book, Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, is an indispensible compendium of advice for the home cook. Read on for the recipe, and treat your book club to a taste of summer by the shore!
More >Author Chats
Request a Phone Call with
Meghan Daum
Or invite another one of our authors to your next book club meeting!
Click below to see who's available.
Group Talk
Enter to Win An Advance Reading Copy of Penelope
A laugh-out-loud depiction of college life, Penelope by Rebecca Harrington announces the arrival of a deliriously funny new writer. We’re giving away 25 Advance Reading Copies of this hilarious new novel—read on to find out how to enter!
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Great Summer Reading For 2012
The sun is high and the beach is calling—time to pack your bag (or eReader!) with some great summer reading. Share our picks with your book club and keep the conversation going all the way through fall!
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Armchair Adventurer: The Fascinating World of 1Q84
Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious novel yet, 1Q84 is available now in a deluxe three-volume paperback boxed set. Set in Toyko in 1984, the world of 1Q84 is complex: although there are familiar landmarks in the book, the line between fantasy and reality is thin. In this month’s Armchair Adventurer, we take a look at some of the real-life places that Murakami has incorporated into this beautiful novel.
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Queen Elizabeth’s Astronomer: John Dee and Prophecy
Heresy by S. J. Parris introduced us to Giordano Bruno,a fugitive Italian monk who finds himself employed by Queen Elizabeth on an undercover mission. The character of Bruno was based on a historical figure—although the real Bruno probably didn’t solve mysteries for the queen. Now, Bruno is back in Prophecy, a thriller laced with black magic. Prophecy introduces a new character: John Dee, the queen’s astronomer, also based on a historical figure. Read on to find out more about the real John Dee!
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Meg Howrey’s Five Favorite Backstage Novels
The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey is the story of Kate Crane, a soloist in a celebrated New York City ballet company who is struggling to keep her place in a very demanding world. At every turn, Kate is haunted by her close relationship with her younger sister, a fellow company dancer who has recently suffered a breakdown and returned home. In honor of her behind-the-curtain novel, we asked Meg to come up with a list of her five favorite backstage books.
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Video: Maeve Binchy Discusses Minding Frankie
Maeve Binchy’s Minding Frankie is the story of a motherless girl collectively raised by a close-knit Dublin community. When Noel learns that his terminally ill former flame is pregnant with his child, he reluctantly agrees to take care of the baby girl—but as a single father battling demons of his own, Noel can’t do it alone. In the following video interview with Maeve, she discusses the book’s colorful characters (including Emily, Noel’s American cousin) and reveals what she likes most about Minding Frankie.
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Read Sandra Smith’s Introduction to Jezebel by Irène Némirovsky
Jezebel by Irène Némirovsky is a stunning novel about mothers and daughters, vengeance, and an aging, still beautiful woman on trial for shooting her lover. In her introduction to the novel, translator Sandra Smith discusses the parallels between Jezebel’s main character and Irène Némirovsky’s own mother. Read on for Smith’s introduction as well as an excerpt from the novel.
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Get Swept Away by Girls In White Dresses
Everyone loves a wedding. The dresses, the champagne, the romance—who can resist? But for Isabella, Mary, and Lauren, weddings are no longer a special occasion. It seems like everyone they know is getting ready to the knot. Bridal shower after bridal shower they coo over toasters and eat minuscule sandwiches. Amid the celebration these women have their own lives to contend with. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close is a witty, wry novel that perfectly captures the wild frustrations and soaring joys of modern life.
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