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The Year of Emily

Emily Dickinson didn’t become a household name in poetry until long after her death, and it seems like the world is trying to catch up with its attention. Given the number of new books, exhibitions, and opportunities out there celebrating the (now) famous poet, this year might be justly called the Year of Emily.

Why the renewed attention? First, because her work is considered masterful, bold for its time in structure and subject. And then there’s her staggering output: over 1800 poems, with fewer than a dozen published during her lifetime. But above all, Dickinson is surrounded in mystery.

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Back To School Books

BACK TO SCHOOL: 13 Books to Get You Back in the Mood for School

This collection of thirteen binge-able books—including novels, long-form reportage, essay, and history—will get you back in the mood for school.

Lit Up: One Reporter. Three Schools. Twenty-Four Books That Can Change Lives By David Denby

Can teenagers be turned on to serious reading? What kind of teachers can do it, and what books? To find out, Denby sat in on a tenth-grade English class in a demanding New York public school for an entire academic year,

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The August Spotlight Group Is …

August Spotlight:
The Night-en-gals

The August Spotlight Group is The Night-en-gals!

The Night-en-gals are a group of 8 nurses/friends that began a book club in January 2001 in Rochester, NY. They all worked together at the hospital and enjoyed talking about all the good books they had read. As of today, they’ve read over 200 books, have no plans to disband the group anytime soon, and look forward to new and exciting selections to choose from.

Four of The Night-en-gals are now retired while the other four continue to work in a nursing capacity.

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Our 2016 Favorite Books Winners Are…

Thank you to everyone who filled out our 2016 survey!
We hope you enjoy looking at the 2016 Favorite Books Lists!


The Winners of our survey drawing to win a gift certificate to a local bookstore and a package of RGC-recommended books for your entire group are. . .

Dunes West Book Marks
Charleston, South Carolina

Our group is the Dunes West Book Marks and we have been meeting for seventeen years. We meet one evening a month either at a member’s home or our neighborhood clubhouse.

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Icebreakers for Your Next (or First!) Meeting

IcebreakersMaybe your book group is meeting for the first time, or maybe you’ve had new members join (and others leave), or maybe you just want to inject some fun into your next discussion. Whatever the situation, an icebreaker activity can help!

Icebreakers can put members at ease with one another, making them feel more comfortable expressing their opinions and more likely to respect the comments of others. Plus, a bit of fun and laughter reduces awkwardness and the silences that can sometimes occur, especially at the beginning of a meeting or with new members.

Here’s one idea to get your next (or first!) discussion off to a great start: The Book Group Quiz.

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Book Group Divas

Book groups often bring together a mix of personalities. That’s part of the fun! But sometimes one person, the group “diva,” has a lot to say and makes it difficult for others to participate.

In fact, our recent survey revealed almost 2/3 of reading groups have had a member who has dominated a discussion or prevented others from speaking at some point. Some of the groups let it pass, and the problem went away on its own. But the rest found it necessary to take action so everyone in the group could have fun and participate in the discussions.

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