Books, Readers, and Beyond #54

EXERCISE #1

I was a member of a book club at the previous library where I worked--Victoria Public Library in Victoria, TX. I was mostly a participant, but I did lead the group when the reference librarian was not able to attend. The group met at noon and was called The Brown Bag Book Club. People were welcome to bring their lunch as we discussed the month's book. I enjoyed the group. I have recently become a participant at my branch's Mystery Club, and have led it a few times. I really enjoy discussing books I've read, and socializing with other readers. I believe an online site would be helpful to decide if I wanted to read a book, but I would prefer an in-person book club. I guess I'm old fashioned that way. :)

EXERCISE #2

I think it would be great to have a book discussion group that focused on a different genre each month. The different genres could be mystery, coming of age, classics, romance, historical, inspirational, and even a teen and children's. This would be a good way to introduce people to different genres and discussions could center on the book and the aspects of the genre they like.
I would start off with a bildungsromans or coming of age novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This novel was listed as one of the top books of the 20th century in GoodReads.

EXERCISE #3

I looked for the rating of What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman in LibraryThing and Shelfari. Both gave it a rating of 3 1/2 stars. However, there seemed to be more positive reviews in Library thing. Several of the reviewers in Shelfari thought the book was terrible and should not be considered a mystery. I thought it was a great myster, and it kept me guessing until the end. I loved the book.