Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Books, Readers, and Beyond - #54 Social Networking Through Books

1. I have never been a member of a book club. Octavia Fields’ Read It and Eat It Book Club sounds fascinating though. I like the fact the members get to sample the recipes that are displayed in the books. If I were to join a book club, I would probably do it in person as opposed to online. I think it would be more entertaining in person, especially if I get to sample food!

2. I visited the Reading Group Guides website and they had some suggestions for implementing a book club in a library. They mention that an ideal group size would be between 8-12 people. Less than 8 people might lead to fewer discussions and more than 12 people may cause some members not to be heard. Members need to be dedicated and commit to attend the book club meetings. Notices on bulletin boards or word of mouth can trigger new members to sign up for the book club. A good title to discuss at a book club is The Break-Up Diet: A Memoir by Annette Fix. I found this book on the Reading Group Guides website, and they also provide discussion questions for the book, a big plus!

3. I searched The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks on the website Shelfari and it contained 618 reviews. They were mostly all positive and the majority of the reviewers gave the book very high remarks. But, many comments stated that the movie was better than the book. I also visited the Good Reads website and discovered that A LOT of people have read this book. The book received the following star ratings : 5*(by 11,089 readers), 4* (by 8,456 readers), 3* (by 5,169 readers), 2* (by 2,032 readers), and 1*(by 1,209 readers). So overall, The Notebook is a highly loved book!

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