Bookmark the Blog

Reading Group Choices Interview with Amy Stewart

December 21, 2020 Author Interviews, Bookmark

Amy Stewart interview for Dear Miss Kopp

Author Amy Stewart discusses Dear Miss Kopp, the latest addition to her bestselling series of historical novels!

For her interview with Reading Group Choices, Amy Stewart talks about how she captures her characters’ voices on the page, her family’s historical connection to the FBI, what Constance Kopp would think about gender equality and law enforcement if transported to our times, and more…

Reading Group Choices: Dear Miss Kopp is an epistolary novel, which is so fitting because letter writing was how so many people kept in touch during WWI.

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Best of the Best Books 2020

December 17, 2020 Bookmark, Themed Book Lists

Our “best of the best” returns for 2020! We’ve scoured the end-of-year best book lists out there and narrowed them down into one handy guide.

Overwhelmed by what to read from the past year? We’ve gathered the fiction, nonfiction, and young adult titles we recommended in 2020 that also appear on one (or more) of the favorite lists from:

BookRiot, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Women & Children First, New York Times, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal,

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Most Popular Books 2020

December 15, 2020 Bookmark, Themed Book Lists

We’ve gathered the most popular books in 2020 for a look back at the year! In each of our monthly newsletters, we share the top two most-viewed titles on the Reading Group Choices site for that month.

Here are the titles — a mix of fiction, nonfiction, and young adult — that caught our readers’ attention from January to December: the most popular books in 2020. Do you remember these great reads? See if they match your own group’s most popular books…

January

1.

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The December Spotlight Group Is…

December 04, 2020 Bookmark, Spotlight Book Groups

Book Club Girls Sparta is our December 2020 Spotlight on Reading Group Choices

December 2020 Spotlight: Book Club Girls Sparta

Our December 2020 Spotlight celebrates two years together and discusses two books every meeting!

We are a group of 24 women that range in age from mid-thirties to 70s who have been together for two years now (in November). We are out of Sparta, New Jersey, and call ourselves the Book Club Girls Sparta. We meet once a month and usually discuss two books. It is a wonderful group of women who have come together to share their love of books, wine, food, and friendship.

This photo was taken in January when we met for our first meeting for 2020.

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Reading Group Choices Interview with Ellen Alpsten

November 19, 2020 Author Interviews, Bookmark

Author Ellen Alpsten discusses her sweeping novel about the Russian ruler Catherine I, Tsarina.

For her interview with Reading Group Choices, Ellen Alpsten talks about what captured her imagination about Catherine I’s story, Russia past and present, the many sources of research and inspiration, and what’s in store for the sequel…

Reading Group Choices: You mention that you first came across Catherine’s story when you were 13, and knew you had to tell it. Did you have the notion to be a writer that young?

Ellen Alpsten: True – the fascinating story of Catherine I of Russia had never left me,

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Listen Up! Books About Music

November 11, 2020 Bookmark, Themed Book Lists

Let these fiction, nonfiction, and YA books about music become a soundtrack for your reading!

Biographies of iconic musician and influential groups. True stories of how music changed the world. Coming-0f-age stories with musical protagonists. Fictional legends of rock, and a heavy metal horror story. We’ve gathered an eclectic bunch of books about music for every type of reader, from the casual listener to the dedicated fan. Read one while playing your favorite tunes, and then discuss them afterward with your group!

Nonfiction

She Come By It Natural

by Sarah Smarsh

Dolly Parton’s songs for decades have validated women who go unheard,

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