A flub leads to book suggestions

The inspiration for this column came from clubs—and a flub.

The first is obvious: there are some interesting area groups that haven’t been mentioned, and should be. Because they may interest readers, I present them here.

The “flub” relates to a March 25 column which briefly mentioned a nonfiction book, “The Man Who Loved Books Too Much,” about a rare books thief. Unfortunately, the “thief” I named was Ken Sanders, instead a rare books dealer and former security chairman for the Antiquarian Booksellers Assn. of America—who actually helped apprehend the thief. Ah, dear. I put the mea in culpa, and couldn’t say “sorry” fast enough. I also asked Sanders, who says he’s had more than one chuckle about the mistake, to share some selections T&G area clubs might want to consider. His tips follow the club info.

The Spiritual Book Club meets in Westborough at Tatnuck Book Store, 18 Lyman St. Members are invited to meet beforehand for dinner, at 5 p.m. in the Tatnuck Café. They discuss their book from 6:15 to 7:45 p.m. in the events room. Members consider life-changing books that help readers gain insight on themselves, their relationships, and their spirituality. Members read one or more chapters during the meeting, then share insights and perspectives, eliminating the need to read at home. New members, both male and female, are invited, member Jacki Rose says. There are already some male members.

The group has begun Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Now,” with remaining discussions slated for Tuesdays, May 29, June 5 and 12, and again on Mondays, June 18 and 25. Next, the group will begin Lynne Robinson’s book on intuition, “Listen.”

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Leominster’s Reading, Sharing and Laughing meets at Chaibo, a Fitchburg coffee house. Toni Morrison’s writings will be the topic for the group’s 7 p.m., June 27 meeting. For specifics (or to join), contact Heather Munkacsy at: http://www.meetup.com/Reading-Sharing-and-Laughing.

Members meet the last Wednesday of the month, “except when we do field trips or movie night,” Munkacsy said. “We once read “Dark Tide,” about the molasses flood in Boston's North End. We took a tour of the North End, discussing the book while eating yummy Italian food at a North End restaurant.” They plan to read “Little Women” and tour the Alcott House in Concord, followed by discussion at a Concord café.

“We watched Eat, Pray Love at a member's house a few months after reading the book,” she said. “Attendees brought Italian, Indonesian or Indian food. We've also gone to see Water for Elephants and The Help, which we read prior to watching the movies.”

Summer reading is often light or funny in nature. An earlier read: ‘My Fair Lazy’ by Jen Lancaster (a funny account of escaping reality TV addiction).

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Northborough Metaphysical Book Club, formed last month, focuses on personal growth, spiritual beliefs and teachings. The group is reading Deepak Chopra’s “Seven Spiritual Laws of Success,” with a meeting scheduled for 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 5, in the Northborough Free Library, 34 Main St. For details, call the library, 508-393-5025, or contact organizer Harry Kroner at www.meetup.com.

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 And now, Ken Sanders’ list: “Here are just a few observations on books I've read the past few years that have stuck with me,” he writes. “No particular theme, or order; fiction and non-fiction intertwined. As I'm in the rare and used book business, I often don't stumble across an author or actually read a particular book until long after its pub (publication) date. In some instances, decades!”

Wendell Berry. “Kentucky poet farmer, essayist and novelist, Wendell Berry writes extremely well in any genre and is one of our most important authors.” He suggests: “Nathan Coulter,” “Hannah Coulter” (novels), “The Unsettling of America,” “The Gift of Good Land” (essays) and “The Mad Farmer Poems” and “Leavings” (poetry).

Charles Bowden. “Blood Orchid: An Unnatural History of America.” Blood Orchid is first in a trilogy as “original and hard-hitting examinations of America and Americans. Not for the faint of  heart.” Other titles include “Blues for Cannibals” and “Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing.” Sanders describes Bowden, a former Tucson-based journalist, as “the most fearless literary voice in America today.” He also suggests: “Killing the Hidden Waters,” “Red Line,” “Desierto,” and “Dreamland: The Way Out of Juarez.”

Peter Bowman. “Blood Red, the first anti-war novel published after the war in November of 1945. A prose poem really, this novel is written in two-page pairings, ending with an aphorism, and with each stanza intending to represent one minute in real time in a Pacific beach invasion during the war.” This book, he says, “makes Norman Mailer's ‘The Naked and the Dead’ read like a children's fairy tale. Despite being a Book of the Month Club main selection, the book has not been reprinted to date, and never appeared in paperback.” He calls it “a book ahead of its time.”

Scott Carrier. “Running After Antelope” and “A Prisoner of Zion.” Sanders says: “Quirky sometime-NPR  journalist (This American Life, The Friendly Man), has only published two slender volumes of stories, but they're worth seeking out. (He) has a voice and a viewpoint unlike any other in radio.”

Michael Chabon. “The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay.” “Although a Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Chabon's fictional account of the birth of the comic book industry in America, and the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930s and ’40s may well be the best history yet written on that subject.”

Carlos Ruiz Zafón. “The Shadow of the Wind.” A Barcelona-set biblio-mystery involving a ‘forgotten’ library and an even more obscure author and his forgotten novels. Old world, romantic, mysterious, brooding and intriguing.”

What’ is your group going to read next season? Share your choices by contacting me at ann.frantz@gmail.com.

This column, about  Central Massachusetts book clubs and books, is published the last Sunday of each month in the Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, Mass. Clubs are welcome to comment or ask questions here or to ann.frantz@gmail.com.

 

Good reads, sans Pulitzer

"I feel disappointment as a writer, indignation as a reader [and] manage to get all the way to rage as a bookseller."—Novelist Ann Patchett, on the 2012 Pulitzer Committee’s decision not to name a winner for fiction writing.

Patchett, short-listed for Britain’s prestigious Orange award for her latest, “State of Wonder” (which she won in 2002 for “Bel Canto”), and a recipient of numerous awards and nominations for her other writing, expressed indignation last week at the Pulitzer Committee’s decision to ignore all of the good work available—more specifically, three juried finalists they were given to consider. Patchett, a bookstore owner and a much-published writer, joins thousands who were left with their mouths hanging open after such a high-and-mighty decision.

The publishing world is aghast, publishers, along with writers and readers, are disgusted by the committee’s omission, especially at a time when publishing is in dire fear for its future. Readers may not agree with the judges about what makes a book really click, but they do use these awards to help identify books and authors with the potential to change lives. Such books are exactly right for book groups to discuss.

So let’s put aside the incapable Pulitzer committee, and go to other award-winning books for a selection of top 2011-12 reads which clubs may want to consider. (A good number of them seem morose, but don’t despair—they have redeeming qualities.)

Start with the three finalists a qualified jury chose from 300 nominees in making its recommendations to the Pulitzer crew, all of whom were ignored: the late David Foster Wallace, for “The Pale King;” Karen Russell, for “Swamplandia!” and Denis Johnson for “Train Dreams.”

“The Pale King” is Wallace’s final work—he killed himself in 2008 and his editor completed the end of the book from Wallace’s notes. Some also call it his finest. With typical humor and unique observation, Wallace fearlessly wrote about the value of human life, work and society. “The Pale King” suggests, finally, a new definition for heroism. Wallace’s fiction is stunning; his short story, “Incarnations of Burned Children,” is one of the most horrifying and brilliantly written I’ve read.

“Swamplandia!” is Russell’s first published novel and its premise seems fantastical at the onset: an alligator-wrestling family losing its cash cow is beset by a bucks-up competitor, and the family makes diverse adjustments to try to survive. Odd, yes, but a family’s struggle to stay in business, and together, the subject is handled in a beautiful, creative manner.

Finally, we come to Johnson’s “Train Dreams.” Johnson won the National Book Award for an earlier novel, “Tree of Smoke” (also a Pulitzer finalist). Johnson wrote “Train Dreams” as the story of a day laborer in the American West who loses his family and his dreams as he struggles to comprehend a changing vista in America and the disappearance of traditional Western life and livelihoods.  Accolades surround this short, lyrical book, originally published in The Paris Review (a worthy note of recognition).

Julie Otsuka's  “The Buddha in the Attic,” won this year’s PEN/Faulkner Award. It’s about a group of young women brought from Japan to San Francisco as "picture brides" nearly a century ago. The book follows the lives of these amazing women, journeying through hardship to wed strangers in San Francisco, then raising children who reject them and their culture. (Other PEN/Faulkner finalists: Don DeLillo, “The Angel Esmeralda;” Anita Desai, “The Artist of Disappearance;” Russell Banks, “Lost Memory of Skin,” and Steven Millhauser, “We Others.”)

Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award for “Salvage the Bones,” set in the 12 days leading to Hurricane Katrina and evolving around an impoverished, sexually confused teenager—with each chapter a vignette of her life. It is a novel of endurance and eventual salvation within a brutal reality. A finalist in this competition is Téa Obreht’s “The Tiger’s Wife,” rapidly tacking up positive reviews. Set in the Balkans, it’s the story of a young doctor and her grandfather, who tells her stories of a girl who befriends a tiger. But it is also, its author says, “a saga about doctors and their relationships to death throughout all these wars in the Balkans.”

Acclaimed British author Julian Barnes won the most recent Man Booker Prize for “The Sense of an Ending.” It’s the story of a man trying to understand a past he thinks he knows, but does not clearly recall, in the wake of a loss.

Lauren Groff’s “The Monsters of Templeton” earned a New York Times Editors’ Choice nod and has been short-listed for the Orange Prize for New Writers. (Her latest novel, “Arcadia,” is also winning notice.) Templeton is the name of Willie Upton’s hometown, where she goes to seek her lost father.

Andre Dubus III received widespread honors, from Indie Choice’s Book of the Year to multiple listings as the top non-fiction book for 2011, for his memoir, “Townie.” It’s his story, about a life spent fighting bullies, then boxing foes, as he grew up in mill towns along the Merrimack River. It’s a haunting, honest recounting of his life as he seeks recognition from his absent father, the famed writer Andre Dubus, while he learns to use his gifts, rather than his fists, to make his way in life.

The New England Society Book Award for fiction, 2012, has just been announced, and Chris Bohjalian has won for “The Night Strangers,” a creepy little story wrapped in family and friendships. Loved it.

Jennifer Egan’s 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner, “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” is due to become an HBO television series. It’s a compilation of short stories revolving around an aging rock music exec and his associates as they grow older and see their lives veer into unexpected directions.

Edith Pearlman’s short story collection, “Binocular Vision,” won the National Book Critics Award and was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Award. First-place honors went to Stephen King, for “11/22/1963,” the story of a time traveler who attempts to prevent JFK’s assassination, and Alex Shakar, for “Luminarium,” about the roles of technology and spirituality in shaping people’s reality. Both are novels.

Chad Harbach’s “The Art of Fielding,” was a nominee for First Fiction in the L.A. Times contest, won by Ismet Prcic for "Shards.” Prcic has also won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction. “Shards” is the story of a Bosnian who leaves his war-torn homeland and must reconcile to life in, of all places, California. But it’s not a comedy; it’s harrowing, brilliant and heartbreaking.

The Independent Publishing Industry, which covers everything from e-books to self-published books, recognized Rachel Levine for “Brooklyn Valentine;” “Daniel Bruce Brown of Westborough for “Roll Over Hitler!” and Bradford Tatum for “I Can Only Give You Everything” in its popular fiction category.

Boston’s Grub Street writing collaborative awarded its National Book Prize for Fiction to Eileen Pollack for “Breaking and Entering,” about a therapist who leaves his work after a patient’s suicide. His lonely wife, a school counselor, reaches out to their new community for comfort. Novelist Margot Livesey calls this “a compelling plot and resonant characters… a hugely enjoyable novel.”

How will your group meet to sum up the book club season (for those who stop in the summer)? Area book club profiles, input and questions are very welcome at ann.frantz@gmail.com. 

On the road to publication

The writers' critique group I attend in Lancaster's Thayer Memorial Library is less than a year old, and has six to eight members, fluctuating with the snowbird season! It's not the only writing group--the library offers about four, with additional one-shot writing sessions--but it's the first critique group.
Hollis Shore, a friend and fellow novelist, runs the group, with help from Paula Castner, a mother who put away her writing to raise three children, and has now found time to resume her work.
With the exception of Hollis--who meets regularly with a long-term group, we are all new to critique groups. Though I've attended workshops at Boston's Grub Street writers center, and reviewed my work with several agents, I had not previously had access to a critique group. (Well, O.K., I tried one before in a nearby town, but it was clearly not the one for me, and I didn't return. There is some kismet and personality fit to be considered in choosing a critique group.)
Today, we discussed how well it's been working out. In short, one has to build a group from the groundwork its writers are contributing. We have three people writing adult fiction, two to three writers of children's fiction, and a wry, entertaining fellow who is at work on his memoir. We discussed whether we were contributing enough, critiquing in a way that would help each other, making a serious enough commitment to the group, meeting too frequently or not enough.
Writers' lives are as busy as anyone else's. We're raising kids, minding grandkids, working other jobs besides fiction (it's important to consider writing a job and respect the time and energy it requires), volunteering, paying bills and participating in so many other creative endeavors. Many of us garden, for instance. Some are musicians or fine artists. Antiques freaks. Soccer moms. Housework--maybe not so much. Creativity is a year-round siren call.
But none of us take writing for a hobby. It's many things, but not that.
Additionally, we all belong to separate writing groups, where positive feedback and writing prompt exercises are performed. We write for 20 minutes, then read and critique at these sessions.
The critique group is geared primarily to writers with ongoing projects.
It's not the place for those madcap, quick-and-crazy short stories or the emotional venting we sometimes do when life overwhelms writing. (The two pair together quite well). Instead, we have books or short story collections under way, and are hoping to publish them one day.
But publication is an elusive goal, made easier for some by the trend toward self-publication, made harder for those who still want to pursue the traditional agent/publisher route.
It is very tempting to self-publish, and in some cases it's even the appropriate venue for one's work. But it's not the way to as well distributed or well known as Michael Connelly or Jodi Picoult. Self-publishing is a sure thing, if one has the money, but it requires a great deal of effort for smallish results. Sure, there are exceptions; they are few in number.
The same is true for e-book self-publishing. One has to be stubborn, prolific and smart about it.
I have wanted to see my writing in a book I could hold in my hands for far too long to settle for an e-book. There is something about traditional publishing that validates one's own judgement of one's writing. "This is great!" it says. "Read it!"
But to reach that point of success, our writing group members must pay their dues, crafting chapter after chapter of fiction that keeps to the right point of view throughout, has absolutely no errors or gaping holes, and contains that magical formula for mass appeal that unique stories can offer.
To borrow from (and paraphrase) poor Sally Field, the actress who paid the price of mockery for honestly expressing emotion at receiving an Oscar in 1985: We really, really want you to like us.
I know authors who spawn books prolifically, never hitting the bell with the hammer. It's a long road. We don't all have the talent or the fortitude to stick with it. But that--and really good luck--will get you there. Most of luck and success are due to hard work, no matter what one does. And writing means sitting down and doing it.
So the heck with the dishes.
I'm writing.

  

Get more from your book group

Want to bring more to the meeting than crackers and cheese? How about a little more prep for the actual discussion? One can easily obtain all sorts of information about books, authors, criticism and analysis by reading books or researching online. This collection of sources is mainly, but not exclusively, printed material—available through the interlibrary loan system (https://cmars.cwmars.org).

“Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those who Want to Write Them,” by Francine Prose, stands up well six years after its publication. Prose, a writing instructor and author of two dozen books (fiction, non-fiction and children’s), includes a list of challenging titles for reading groups, and reviews themes and aspects of writing we can look for while reading books. Citing examples from published work, she discusses such elements as storytelling, character, dialogue and style. This book is simply well written—not didactic or academic in style.

“Reading Group Choices” is an annual publication with selections for lively book group choices among titles published the year before. Written with book clubs in mind, this book offers questions to stimulate discussion and help in making selections. Editor is Charlie Mead. Writers run the gamut from Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Antonya Nelson and Barbara Kingsolver to Mary Kay Andrews, Rebecca Wells and Anchee Min, Ken Follet, Dave Eggers and Lorrie Moore.  (Just for fun: One book recommended in the 2011 edition is “The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective and a World of Literary Obsession.” I know, sounds like all of us. It’s a non-fiction look at John Charles Gilkey, who stole rare books—not to resell, but for his own collection. Author is Allison Hoover Bartlett.)

“The Reading Group Handbook,” by Rachel Jacobsohn, reviews what a book club can be from start to present. It covers choosing members, organizing the group, “Rachel’s Rules of Order,” the art of discussion, member-led vs. professionally led groups, locations and types of book groups, and more lists of “enduring books.” There are extensive reading lists. Jacobsohn, who says “Reading groups are not just all the rage, they are our hope for a better future,” includes many sources for review information and details on how to get books for the group at a discount.

“The Mother-Daughter Book Club,” by Shirleen Dodson, suggests ways to improve the mother-daughter bond through books that both will enjoy and share through discussion.

“The Book Lover’s Guide to the Internet,” by Evan Morris, reveals a proliferation of online connections for readers groups, including the American Library Association, bookwire.com, individual publisher and author pages, online library services, and links to criticism and magazine articles related to books. Many review publications are published online, some by subscription only. They include booklistonline.com (free), The Women’s Review of Books, Reader’s Advisor, the Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews (free).

“The New York Public Library Guide to Reading Groups,” by Rollene Saal, is also updated regularly, and features aspects of getting a group under way, finding good selections, and library resources. There’s also advice on how to read a book, how to have a lively discussion and how other reading groups are conducting their meetings. There are 38 lists to help select reading, by topic, including short stories, the Holocaust, classics, ethnic writers, “hip” writers, women’s interest, magic realism, science fiction, travel, ghost stories and much more.

This helps choose selections, by better informing readers about types of writing.

Women’s fiction, for example, tries to tell readers about a woman’s journey, offering a way to learn and grow, and to relate to others what it is to be a woman. Examples: “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, Sandra Dallas’, “Prayers for Sale,” and “Not My Daughter” by Barbara Delinsky.

Literary fiction (the kind that wins all the awards) focuses more on how the story is told, through techniques like style and narrative voice. Examples: “Atonement” by Ian McEwan, “Bel Canto” by Ann Patchett, Jonathan Franzen’s “The Corrections,” and “The Weight of Water” by Anita Shreve.

Magic realism involves a subject that, while based in situations and actions that are not quite believable, still manages to convince the reader of a greater truth—fantasy set in the real world, one might say. Example: “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.”

Read It and Reap is published monthly in the Worcester, Mass., Telegram & Gazette. Ann Connery Frantz writes fiction and would love to hear from book group members at ann.frantz@gmail.com.

Order in the Club? Probably not!

From the Feb. 26 T&G/Ann Frantz
Read It and Reap, for book groups and readers



What’s wrong with a little extra gossip during book group meetings?
Nothing—if it’s kept in check. But excessive side conversation and loud exchanges of opinion are liable to diminish attendance by those who actually want to talk about a book. Moreover, not respecting the need to LISTEN, then comment, more or less one at a time, denies readers a chance to talk about how the book affected them, and leaves quieter types out in the cold and unhappy.
Book groups are popular not only because people love to try new books, but because they like to get out and talk about them. Meetings are a great social outlet as well. And sometimes, frankly, the book stinks and no one wants to talk about it. That happens, so in that case, talk about why it’s so awful.
The group I attend is talkative, in part because of its large size. Still, I love it, especially when a book actually excites them enough to keep the topic going throughout the meeting. But more often, I’m afraid, our Off-Track Bookies get sidetracked from the book by related topics, or hold personal conversations in pairs while others are talking. We may have to do something about it—or not. Members are good old friends, avid readers and boisterous arguers—which can be an asset, or a distraction. And, says member Mary Pratt, of Clinton: “I … enjoy the socialization as much as the discussion questions. We are aptly named.”
Mixing conversation with book discussion does work, oddly enough. The ideas start to fly in all directions once the imagination gets going. But when a group gets seriously out of control, the leader has a number of options to keep it moving forward:
Serve taffy. Put it right in front of the worst offenders. Anyone with a mouthful of the stuff can’t talk too much. But spare the wine—it can work in the opposite direction.
If these low-down tricks fail, it’s time for sensible suggestions.
Stay in charge. “What works is a few ice-breaking minutes before the book discussion, and then some time after,” says Northborough book clubber Linda Boch. “We have the hostess lead the conversation. Seems to work pretty well.”
Talk about ground rules. Discuss—one at a time—what’s working, or not, about the group. Set up some basics for courtesy and discussion.
Don’t jump, just guide. Many times, the conversation goes off on a tangent—but that tangent may well bear on the topic. Be flexible about returning to the specific questions of the book when a conversation has actually stemmed from it. Just don’t let it go too far, or deny others a chance to talk about the book they’ve actually read in preparation for the meeting. The leader is responsible for encouraging the group to listen and allow quieter members to express their opinions.
Ask a pro to help. Some groups may want to consider asking a librarian to other professional—check at the bookstore, schools, etc.—to lead the conversation a time or two. An outside presence can help keep the focus on the book, and upgrade the conversation with questions and reflections.
If your group is too large, consider segmenting it. Some members may want to break off to try other topics, for instance, or meet separately from the main group one month, together the next. Whatever works is good.
Eat. It soothes the savage in all of us—especially when there are men in the group. As my cousin, Richard Connery of Guilderland, N.Y., puts it: “We have lunch. It fixes everything.”
Bell the cat. The “cat” being the conversation. If it’s really bad, place a small bell adjacent to your arm and give it a ring when people get out of control. After awhile, members will anticipate the ring before they take over the conversation.
Pass the bell. Members must agree in advance that the person holding the bell has the floor until his or her comment is finished. Then, hand it off to the next one. This could be very annoying, so it’s only a last-ditch suggestion.
Always have questions ready for the discussion—and e-mail them to members ahead of time if you can. That allows readers to focus more on the book and be ready to discuss it. Doing a little homework on the author or the subject can add interest to the talk. By the way, there are more and more readers’ guides available. Try specific author pages or publishing houses, and there are several online reading group guides. Here are a few sources to start with:
http://www.randomhouse.com/rgg/
http://www.harpercollins.com/Readers/readingGroups.aspx
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/bookclubs/index.html
http://www.readinggroupguides.com
http://www.bookbrowse.com

Area clubs:

The Book Club at First Parish in Concord recently read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” and is reading Emma Donoghue’s “Room” for March, to be followed by “Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography,” and Tina Fey’s “Bossypants.” The group meets Sunday evening and Tuesday morning, once a month. E-mail darien@smithquest.com.

“Reading, Sharing and Laughing” meets at Chaibo in Fitchburg for laughter and ideas. The group reads a variety of fiction and nonfiction. Meetings are the first or last Thursday night of each month. Book recommendations welcome. For info, look the group up at www.meetup.com/Reading-Sharing-and-Laughing/. The group is meeting March 1 to discuss Erin Morgenstern’s “The Night Circus.”

Shrewsbury’s New Earth Book Club meets at the Worcester Barnes and Noble at 7 p.m. on specified Friday evenings. This group has met faithfully since the start of 2008 to review a fairly eclectic and challenging list of books. Most recently: “The China Study” by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, at its Feb. 24 meeting. To join, find this group at http://www.meetup.com/newearth/

Please send your book club questions or notes to Ann Frantz, whose column also appears at www.readitandreeap.blogspot.com. Send into in an e-mail to ann.frantz@gmail.com.

Mark Twain's passion lives on at his Hartford residence

Mark Twain's former home at 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, Conn., is far more than a museum-like tribute to the famed author of "Huckleberry Finn," "Tom Sawyer" and a plethora of sharp-witted stories and essay.
The house is also dedicated to encouraging readers and writers to explore more of the literary field and, as such, it invites both those who scribe and those who read to visit for literary events.
MEMOIR: There's a memoir writing class there--an 8-week course that's in its third year. Participants meet Wednesdays, with the goal of exploring and writing memoir, and eventual publication on the Twain House website.
You'll have to register by Feb. 15 and cost is $600. It runs March 7 through April 25, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
To register, please send a brief letter or email of interest to Steve Courtney at steve.courtney@marktwainhouse.org or call 860-247-0998, Ext. 243.

DENNIS HORGAN: Also coming up soon is a visit by novelist and long-time Hartford Courant columnist Dennis Horgan--noted for a sharp wit right down Twain's alley. He'll speak on Feb. 8, at the unconventional hour of 5 p.m. (reading starts at 5:30). This is part of the Writing at the Mark Twain House events.
His newest book is Ninety-Eight Point Six ... and Other Stories, a series of stories relating to human identity, he says--how people are "defined by happenstance, by odd decisions and accumulations in their lives." He'll read from the book and discuss "Storytelling: Our New Golden Age." He's explored internet opportunities for writers, and likes the "razzle-dazzle" world he's found.
Sessions like these are always glad ones for writers and readers--who are often one and the same creature, in fact. It's free to attend--even the 5 p.m. reception. Horgan will sign books after his talk. He's clearly funny: "I was born in a Boston taxicab during a Thanksgiving snowstorm, which didn't quite make it to the hospital on time ... such a beginning is likely to shape how you look on the world."
His stories range from the tale of a grocery store manager who torments customers by moving items around, to the story of a woman who creates a new life for herself on Facebook. He's also written Sharks in the Bathtub and Flotsam: A Life in Debris, both essay collections, and the novel The Dawn of Days.
Check the marktwainhouse.org web site for details.
THE PLAY'S THE THING: On Feb. 10 and 11, the short play A Love-Chase, written by Twain's daughter Susy and originally performed in the house in 1889 by the Twain children, will be presented. This is part of a Valentine's Day-themed event that includes a concert by Israeli guitarist Shay Bachar, and a champagne and chocolate reception. Performances are at 7 and 8:30 p.m. both days, and tickets are $28 to non-members. Space is limited, so make reservations soon at 860-280-3130.

One interest or many, book clubs proliferate

If it were difficult to start a book club, there’d be fewer of them. But reading groups proliferate like squirrels at bird feeders. They meet in libraries and homes, churches, restaurants and bookstores. Oprah single-handedly launched thousands of isolated readers into shared experiences with books (and created best-sellers overnight). Professional organizations often have associated reading groups.

Still, I hear from T&G-area readers seeking a book group in their area. Usually, I point them to the library if I don’t already know of a group, since librarians tend to be tuned in to reading groups, and often help order their selections. So that’s where you start. You may even be able to leave a note on the library’s bulletin board.

Meetup.com has links to area bookclubs, listing selections, feedback and members. We found one for Leominster, as well as Worcester’s Wine and Dine and Page Turner book clubs; New Earth Book Club in Shrewsbury; an interfaith book group in Holliston, a history book group in Chelmsford, and even a dog-friendly group, the Sweet Wag Dog-Eared Book Club, in Framingham. A women’s issues book club meets at Barnes & Noble in Worcester. Many senior organizations sponsor clubs as well.

If you just want to launch your own, here are some recommendations:

·         Decide what you want to read—it may be a select genre, like sci-fi, history, hobbies, current events, women’s fiction, romance, or biographies. Most groups gravitate toward a mixture, to broaden their exposure to new writers.

·         It won’t take many people to make a book club, though seven to ten usually provides enough people to ensure a meeting with at least half that number. More than ten can be unwieldy, depending on the strength of the leader—there’s a bit of force needed in the art of keeping talkers from dominating and chatters from gossiping… all at once. Decide how many to start with, but be open to new members as word spreads—they’re the lifeblood of the group.

·         Establish a time for the first meeting—to organize selections.

·         Tell everyone you think would be interested. Tell the librarians. If it’s a special interest group, get the word out to likely readers. Post a flyer in likely places. Put a notice in your church, school or club news. 

·         At the first meeting, set a regular meeting time and location.

·         Always serve food, unless meeting in a bookstore. Then, for pete’s sake, patronize the store!! Stores need book groups’ support.

·         Don’t be too rule-bound: flexibility may work best for members, although your group isn’t likely to survive if you bend to whims. But democracy in book selection, discussion rules and food selection (just kidding) works wonders!

·         Someone needs to lead the discussion—and it may be you. Or someone who loves a particular book. Or a teacher-member. Avid interest is the key to a good group discussion. But, mainly: someone does need to steer the conversation so that it doesn’t veer into politics, gossip, health complaints or “the great movie I saw last night.” They don’t call our Lancaster group “Off-Track Bookies” for nothing.

·         Take the group’s temperature after a couple meetings. Is the discussion style working for everyone? Any second thoughts about the best way to discuss a book? Printed notes of the questions for discussion, if they exist, are helpful for some.

·         You may wish to vote on selections after a couple of meetings, once you have a gauge of members’ interests. Or, let the person hosting the meeting choose a book. Some groups allow one person to pick the selections, but that’s a risk should other members grow bored. Consider dedicating a year, or a portion of it, to the exploration of a single topic or author. Out of ideas? www.bookmovement.com offers plenty, along with opportunities to win the book your club wants to read.

·         Try not to contain book selection to one genre or time frame. New books are also available through libraries, websites like Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com, and on electronic readers at a lower price (which has begun going up—good news for writers). Second-hand stores and libraries often sell recent books at low prices; ask around.

·         Be creative. E-mail an author to see if he or she will give feedback to your club, or even visit. Invite an expert in the subject matter, or a local teacher, to give the discussion deeper layers. Above all, experiment with your new group and find out what works for you as a whole.

·         Consider a meeting at which each member brings in a favorite book, talks about it and lets the discussion flow around that talk. This works well with issue-oriented books in such areas as women’s literature, non-fiction, biography … and it stimulates new ideas for future reading.

·         What to discuss? Newbies can be intimidated by a club setting, so start off with set discussion questions. Here are some areas to talk about: writing style, and whether it worked for the reader, and how it affects the story being told; social issues arising from the book, such as “The Help,” with its view of 1960s color barriers between women and household help; how readers react to the author’s point of view; how strong are the characters, and how do we like or hate them? It’s endless, really.

If you belong to a large book group, or an unwieldy one, contact me. I’d like to know how you keep order! Ann Connery Frantz writes fiction and blogs about books at www.readitandreeap.blogspot.com. Book club members are invited to share their experiences, recommendations and problems—on a book club level, of course! Email ann.frantz@gmail.com