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Reading Group Choices Interview with Melanie McManus

April 30, 2018 Author Interviews, Bookmark

One of our recommended books is Thousand Miler by Melanie McManus

Melanie McManus’s debut, Thousand-Miler: Adventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail, highlights her passion for the outdoors.

Melanie McManus recently visited Reading Group Choices to read and discuss her work with an audience. Melanie also kindly took the time to answer our questions after she shared part of her inspiring book.

Reading Group Choices: What books are currently stacked next to your bed/on your desk/in your pile-to-read?

Melanie McManus: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, The House at Sugar Beach by Helen White and The Year of Living Biblically by A.J.

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Adding a Touch of Poetry to Your Prose

April 25, 2018 Bookmark, Themed Book Lists

Memoir and Novel Selections for National Poetry Month

It’s National Poetry Month! But book groups may be asking: what does that have to do with us? Here’s an idea that involves adding a bit of poetry to your prose reading—without the rhyme schemes.

Poetry has a reputation for being difficult to understand: too much concentration for too little reward. And book groups might struggle to know where to begin when discussing poetry, because the things they usually talk about—plot, character, theme—may not appear so directly. Besides, how do you begin to discuss a collection of dozens of poems?

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From Literature to Real Life: Angie Thomas and The Hate U Give

April 20, 2018 Bookmark, Featured Books, RGC Events

Since its release last year, Angie Thomas’ debut young adult novel The Hate U Give has become a #1 New York Times Bestseller, gathered starred reviews, earned a National Book Award nomination, and is currently in film production. And its success comes for good reason. The book grapples with important, timely issues surrounding racial injustice and police violence, and what it means to be a teenager in the contemporary world.

The novel tells the story of 16 year-old Starr Carter, an African-American teen who witnesses the fatal shooting of her unarmed friend Khalil by the police.

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Reading Group Choices Interview with Mary Sharratt

April 06, 2018 Author Interviews, Bookmark

One of our recommended books for 2019 is Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt

Mary Sharratt’s latest novel, Ecstasy, explores turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna.

Mary Sharratt recently visited Reading Group Choices to read and discuss her work with an audience. She also took the time to answer our questions about her favorite books and music, and growing up in the Midwest.

Reading Group Choices: What book changed your life?

Mary Sharratt: When I was a teenager I read Nor Hall’s book, The Moon and the Virgin, which I treasure to this day. It opened me up to the living reality of myth,

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Reading Group Choices Interview with Cynthia Swanson

April 06, 2018 Author Interviews, Bookmark

One of our recommended books is The Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson

Cynthia Swanson’s latest book, The Glass Forest, is a gripping literary suspense novel set in the 1960s.

Cynthia Swanson recently visited Reading Group Choices to read and discuss her work with an audience. She also took the time to answer our questions and shared influential books, meaningful places, and living in Wisconsin.

Reading Group Choices: What book changed your life?

Cynthia Swanson: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollen. It taught me (and my husband, who also read it) how to make more mindful choices about what we eat and feed our family.

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Reading Group Choices Interview with Min Jin Lee

April 06, 2018 Author Interviews, Bookmark

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is one of our book group favorites for 2018

National Book Award Finalist Min Jin Lee’s latest book, Pachinko, charts the saga of four generations of a poor immigrant Korean family.

Min Jin Lee recently visited Reading Group Choices to read and discuss her work with an audience. Lee took the time to join us for an interview, sharing life-changing books and the best part of giving readings.

Reading Group Choices: What book(s) changed your life?

Min Jin Lee: Middlemarch by George Eliot and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

RGC: What book(s) are coming out this year that you’re looking forward to reading?

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