January 17, 2014

• Discussion Guides Linked from Bookreporter.com: If a book is featured on Bookreporter.com and a discussion guide is available, you will see it on the menu of information on a book page where we include other links, like About the Book and excerpts. Reading is often a solo experience, and we like offering this opportunity for you to read through these questions to see how they may spark more thoughts about the book.
• Printing Guides via PDF: Many book groups have asked for the capability to print guides to bring to meetings; this feature also is available on any book page that has a guide available. We’ve been getting RAVES about this from readers this week.
• Rate Books for Book Groups --- No Need to Be in a Book Group to Participate: This is a brand-new monthly feature, where you can rate the books you’ve read with 1-5 stars and let us know if you think they would be good selections for book groups. You can add books that you have read personally or with your book group. Please note that all submissions will be reviewed before they are posted at the beginning of each month, thus your post will not appear immediately.*
• “What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?” Contest: We have been running this feature on the site for a while, but this new format will give us the ability to share this information on a monthly basis so you can see what other groups around the country are reading. Again, here your post will not appear immediately.* Oh, and if you enter your book group’s selection, you will be entered to win one of three sets of 12 copies of that month’s featured title. For January, the prize book is AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF US by Aria Beth Sloss, which was one of my Bookreporter.com Bets On selections last year.
• Search by Title, Author or Genre: We have three convenient ways for you to search for books. By Title »| By Author »| By Genre »
• Guides for Other Books by an Author: When you are looking at a guide, you will see links to other titles by that author that we have discussion guides for in the right-hand column.
• Other Book Suggestions: When you are looking at a guide, you will see suggestions for other books in the same genres as the title you are looking at, in the right-hand column. This is so you can explore other books that may be of interest to you.

And as we ring in 2014, we’ve been asking our ReadingGroupGuides.com readers to reflect on their reading from last year. What were some of your favorite books that your group read in 2013? We know it’s difficult for many of you to pick just one title, so feel free to select up to three. All you have to do is fill out the form on this page by Friday, January 31st at noon ET, and we’ll aim to share the results in February!

The following guides are now available on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

APPLE TREE YARD by Louise Doughty (Psychological Thriller)
Suspenseful, erotically charged, and masterfully paced, Louise Doughty’s APPLE TREE YARD is an intelligent psychological thriller about desire and its consequences by a writer of phenomenal gifts.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF US by Aria Beth Sloss (Fiction)
A confession of hopes long forgotten, Aria Beth Sloss's AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF US is an achingly beautiful portrait of a decades-long bond and the victories, sacrifices and defeats of a generation.

FOR TODAY I AM A BOY by Kim Fu (Fiction)
FOR TODAY I AM A BOY is a fiercely assured debut novel about four second generation Chinese sisters, one of whom happens to be a boy.

THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR by Barbara Claypole White (Romance)
Award-winning author Barbara Claypole White delivers a poignant new story of hope, healing and the solace two strangers find in mending each other’s broken worlds in THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR.

NETHERWOOD by Jane Sanderson (Historical Fiction)
Two remarkably different worlds --- one of wealth and privilege, the other of poverty and desperation --- are about to collide in one shattering moment in this mesmerizing tale of high drama, forbidden love, and families fighting to hold on to what they have.

THE PURSUIT OF MARY BENNET: A Pride and Prejudice Novel by Pamela Mingle (Historical Fiction)
A tale of love and marriage, society balls and courtship, class and a touch of scandal, Pamela Mingle's THE PURSUIT OF MARY BENNET is a fresh take on one of the most beloved novels of all time, Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

RADIANCE OF TOMORROW by Ishmael Beah (Fiction)
When Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A LONG WAY GONE, was published in 2007, it became an instant classic that turned the world’s attention to the plight of child soldiers on the front lines of Sierra Leone’s civil war. With RADIANCE OF TOMORROW, Beah brings us an astonishing novel of postwar life in Sierra Leone.

A RELIGION OF ONE'S OWN: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World by Thomas Moore (Self Help)
Create an amplified inner life and a world of great purpose, meaning and reflection with the New York Times bestselling author and trusted spiritual adviser, Thomas Moore, in this follow-up to his classic CARE OF THE SOUL.

SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS: The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives by Becky Aikman (Memoir)
In this transcendent and infectiously wise memoir, Becky Aikman --- a widow, too young, too modern to accept the role --- forms an unlikely group with five other young widows, each seeking a way forward in a strange and disquieting world.

SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE: A Novel of the Great War by Jennifer Robson (Historical Romance)
In the dark and dangerous days of World War I, a daring young woman will risk her life to find her destiny in Jennifer Robson’s debut novel.

TAYLOR'S GIFT: The Courageous Story of Giving Life and Renewing Hope by Todd and Tara Storch, with Jennifer Schuchmann (Memoir)
Todd and Tara Storch tragically lost their 13-year-old daughter in a skiing accident. Their decision to donate Taylor's organs would help save the lives of five desperate people who were anxiously awaiting a miracle.

WHY I READ: The Serious Pleasure of Books by Wendy Lesser (Literary Criticism)
Drawn from a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing The Threepenny Review --- one of the most distinguished literary magazines in the country --- Wendy Lesser’s WHY I READ explores our cultural relationship to books in all their variegated forms, from Victorian poetry to contemporary thrillers.


Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI by Helene Wecker (Historical Fantasy)
THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI is a marvelous and absorbing debut novel, a combination of vivid historical fiction and magical fable, about two supernatural creatures in turn-of-the-century immigrant New York.

NEWS FROM HEAVEN: The Bakerton Stories by Jennifer Haigh (Fiction/Short Stories)
From Jennifer Haigh, the bestselling author of FAITH and THE CONDITION, comes a collection of interconnected short stories centered on the fictional mining town of Bakerton, Pennsylvania, the setting for her previous, award-winning novel, BAKER TOWERS.

PERFECT by Rachel Joyce (Fiction)
Byron Hemmings wakes to a morning that looks like any other. But when he, his mother and his sister leave home, the morning takes an unmistakable turn. In one terrible moment, something completely unexpected happens. While his mother seems not to have noticed, 11-year-old Byron understands that nothing can be the same. Over the days and weeks that follow, Byron’s perfect world is shattered. Unable to trust his parents, he confides in his best friend, and together they concoct a plan. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE POLARIS PROTOCOL: A Pike Logan Thriller by Brad Taylor (Thriller/Adventure)
Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill are in Turkmenistan with the Taskforce --- a top-secret antiterrorist unit that operates outside US law --- when Jennifer gets a call from her brother, Jack. Working on an investigative report into the Mexican drug cartels, Jack Cahill has unknowingly gotten caught between two rival groups. His desperate call to his sister is his last before he’s kidnapped. In their efforts to rescue Jack, Pike and Jennifer uncover a plot much more insidious than illegal drug trafficking. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE EXECUTION: A Jeremy Fisk Novel by Dick Wolf (Thriller)
It’s United Nations Week in Manhattan, and Jeremy Fisk can’t let grief over a devastating loss keep him from safeguarding his city. Complicating matters is the startling news of a mass murder in nearby Rockaway --- and the arrival of a disturbingly beautiful and assertive Mexican cop. To have a chance at finding an assassin responsible for 23 beheadings on the US border, these uneasy allies must learn to work together and fast. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE LAST DEAD GIRL by Harry Dolan (Mystery/Thriller)
A chance encounter on a lonely road draws David into a romance with the enigmatic Jana Fletcher, a beautiful young law student. David would like to know her secrets, but he lets them lie --- until it’s too late. When Jana is brutally murdered, the police consider David a prime suspect. But as he sets out to uncover the truth about Jana, he begins to realize he’s treading a very dangerous path --- and that her killer is watching every move he makes. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

WHAT I HAD BEFORE I HAD YOU by Sarah Cornwell (Fiction)
Olivia was only 15 the summer she left her hometown of Ocean Vista. Two decades later, on a visit with her children, her nine-year-old son Daniel, recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, disappears. Olivia’s search for him sparks tender and painful memories of her past --- of her fiercely loving and secretive mother, an erratic and beautiful psychic, and the discovery of heartbreaking secrets that shattered her world. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE IS ME: A Memoir of Amnesia by David Stuart MacLean (Memoir)
On October 17, 2002, David MacLean “woke up” on a train platform in India with no idea who he was or why he was there. Soon he could remember song lyrics, but not his family, his friends, or the woman he was told he loved. All of these symptoms were the result of the commonly prescribed malarial medication he had been taking. Upon his return to the States, he struggled to piece together the fragments of his former life. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

RED 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach (Psychological Thriller)
When three red-haired women receive chilling letters in the mail from a killer known only as the Wolf, their lives are upended as they spend every waking moment fearing that their lives could be snuffed out at any time. The Wolf is stalking them, biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to complete his master plan. Yet the one thing this cunning and devious killer didn't plan for is the Reds discovering each other. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE TENTH CIRCLE: A Blaine McCracken Novel by Jon Land (Thriller/Adventure)
Blaine McCracken pulled off the impossible on a mission in Iran, but his work has just begun. Returning to the US, he faces another terrible threat in the form of Reverend Jeremiah Rule, whose hateful rhetoric has inflamed half the world, resulting in a series of devastating terrorist attacks. But Rule isn’t acting alone. A shadowy cabal is pulling his strings, unaware that they are creating a monster who will soon spin free of their control. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

HUNTED by Elizabeth Heiter (Psychological Suspense)
FBI rising star and criminal profiler Evelyn Baine knows how to think like a serial killer. But she's never chased anyone like the Bakersville Burier, who hunts young women and displays them, half-buried, deep in the woods. As the body count climbs, Evelyn's relentless pursuit of the killer puts her career --- and her life --- at risk. And the evil lurking in the Burier's mind may be more than even she can unravel. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

SECRETS OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR: A Chronicle 1129-1312 by Susie Hodge (History)
SECRETS OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR is the compelling chronicle of the warrior monks and their fight to defend the Catholic faith, and of their participation in the efforts to vie for control of the Holy Land with the Muslim armies of Kurdish military genius Saladin and his successors. Informally organized in 1119 to protect pilgrims on their journeys to visit the Holy Land, and officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church in 1129, the medieval Knights Templar grew into an elite fighting force that played a central role in the battles of the Crusades. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

Tell us your current reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from January 10th to January 24th, FIVE lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of ANDREW’S BRAIN by E.L. Doctorow, THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley, and MRS. LINCOLN’S RIVAL by Jennifer Chiaverini.