Ann@BooksontheTable

Author Archives: Ann@BooksontheTable
- Year Two: Talking Books with Alice & Ann
  
  Posted at 2:14 pm by Ann@BooksontheTable, on July 12, 2022
  
  I want to thank you both for opening me up to new books.
  
  I really love the depth of discussion you bring and the types of books you choose.
  
  My daughter and I really enjoyed the discussion last night . . . I think you have done a great job with book selection and your discussions are comprehensive and provide a lot of food for thought.
  
  I love your format, insights and book choices.
  
  The first year of our literary subscription series, Talking Books with Alice & Ann, has been a success, with over 100 readers joining us for conversations about a wide range of books. We started in October 2021 with a modern classic, Crossing to Safety, moved on to The Mercies, historical fiction with a feminist twist, and then immersed ourselves in This Is All I Got, narrative nonfiction about a young homeless mother in New York City. Our next book, Leonard and Hungry Paul, which could be categorized as “uplit”, explored the deep friendship between two lonely men and how it helped them join the wider world. We jumped into magical realism in The Enchanted as we imagined the lives of condemned criminals in a stone prison, and next month we will discuss a book in translation, The Shadow of the Wind, a historical mystery that pays homage to the power of literature.
  
  We hope you’ll subscribe for another year of exciting reading and stimulating conversations. Every other month, beginning in August 2022, subscription holders will receive a surprise title in the mail and a link to a 60-minute “live” edition of “Talking Books with Alice & Ann” – to be held the first Monday (at 7pm CST) the following month. During the virtual, Siskel & Ebert-style conversation, Alice and Ann will discuss, dissect, and debate the work. Participants can submit questions and make comments via chat. The dates of the conversations are October 3, 2022, December 5, 2022, February 6, 2023, April 3, 2023, June 5, 2023, and August 5, 2023. If you miss the live discussion, no worries — all discussions are recorded.
  
  Subscription fees:
  
  6-month subscription (3 books + 3 talks) – $150
  
  12-month subscription (6 books + 6 talks) – $225
  
  To subscribe, please pay via Venmo (@alice-moody) or Zelle (alice.moody@comcast.net). Let me know if you don’t have access to either, and we’ll provide a mailing address to send a check. You can reach us by email at bksonthetable@gmail.com or phone/text at 847.843.6321.
  
  We hope you’ll join us for more engaging, enriching literature as we embark on Year Two of what has been a labor of love.
  
  | 1 Comment
- Talking Books with Alice & Ann
  
  Posted at 10:31 am by Ann@BooksontheTable, on July 12, 2021
  
  Introducing a New Literary Experience!
  
  For book lovers who can’t commit to a book club or are just looking for something more.
  
  Alice Moody and Ann Walters, co-founders of Between the Covers Book Discussions, in partnership with The Book Stall of Winnetka, are excited to offer a first-of-its-kind literary subscription series.
  
  Every other month, beginning September 2021, subscription holders will receive a hand-selected title in the mail and a link to a 60-minute “live” edition of “Talking Books with Alice & Ann” – to be held the first Monday (at 7pm CST) the following month. During the virtual, Siskel & Ebert-style conversation, Alice and Ann will discuss, dissect, and debate the work. Participants can submit questions and make comments via chat.
  
  Does the subscription fee cover more than one person?
  
  Yes! The fee covers an entire household.
  
  What if I’ve already read the book?
  
  No worries. Sometimes on second reading, you discover new things. Also, books make the best gifts! While we try to choose titles that have flown under the radar, feel free to pass along the selection and still join us for the Zoom discussion.
  
  Can I purchase the subscription as a gift?
  
  Absolutely. Talking Books with Alice & Ann makes an excellent birthday or holiday present!
  
  What if I’m not available to watch the discussion?
  
  All discussions will be recorded.
  
  To subscribe or learn more, contact:
  
  bksonthetable@gmail.com or call Alice at 847.843.6321.
  
  COST
  
  6 month subscription: $125 (3 books + 3 talks)
  
  12 month subscription: $200 (6 books + 6 talks)
  
  | 3 Comments Tagged Between the Covers, book club
- New Book Discussion Series — Please Join Us!
  
  Posted at 8:20 am by Ann@BooksontheTable, on September 3, 2018
  
  We know that New Year’s Day arrives on January 1, but we’ve always felt that back-to-school time is when a new year really begins. That’s why we decided to start our Book Discussion Series in the fall.
  
  Many readers have told us that they don’t want to join a book club but would love to participate in book discussions. Some book club members have mentioned that they’d love to supplement their get-togethers with professionally led discussions. In response, we’ve created a Book Discussion Series, starting this October.
  
  We’ll meet on Tuesday mornings, 10:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., alternating between the cozy living rooms of our Lake Bluff homes. We do all the work — you just show up and enjoy an enlightening conversation. (Well, you do need to read the books!) Here’s the schedule and book selections:
  
  October 2 Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
  November 6 Educated by Tara Westover
  January 8 The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
  February 5 Dopesick by Beth Macy
  March 5 Less by Andrew Sean Greer
  April 2 A Deadly Wandering by Matt Richtel
  
  The cost will be $125 for the six sessions. Please contact us to register, or with any questions. We can’t wait to discuss these terrific books! And if you don’t live in the Chicago area, we hope you’ll enjoy the recaps of each meeting we’ll post on the Between the Covers website.
  
  | 0 Comments
- Celebrity Book Clubs
  
  Posted at 10:45 am by Ann@BooksontheTable, on May 17, 2018
  
  The first selection of Oprah’s book club.
  
  It all started with Oprah Winfrey. In 1996, she launched a book club that made an enormous impact on readers, authors, and publishers. For fifteen years, Oprah’s choices became worldwide bestsellers. During the heyday of her club, Oprah’s power as a recommender, often called the “Oprah Effect” in the publishing world, was unparalleled. Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said in a USA Today article that Oprah “didn’t originate the idea of book clubs, but more than anyone, she has spread the idea of reading a book as a shared community.” Nora Rawlinson, who’s been the editor of Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and now EarlyWord, citing surveys showing that “friends’ recommendations are the top reasons people buy a book” says that “Oprah is the ultimate friend to her audience.”
  
  A lot of readers must think they’re friends with actress Emma Watson, because her feminist book club, “Our Shared Shelf”, has 294,000 Instagram followers and 215,000 Goodreads group members. (I’m glad I don’t have to supply the wine and cheese.) Watson, who became famous through her portrayal of brave and brilliant Hermione in the Harry Potter movies, is a United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador with a special interest in gender equality and its benefits for both men and women. UN Goodwill Ambassadors are celebrity advocates, drawn from the “worlds of art, music, film, sport and literature to highlight key issues.” Recent selections include The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore.
  
  Actress and producer Reese Witherspoon has even more friends than Emma Watson — she shares monthly book recommendations with more than 13 million Instagram followers. Here’s what she had to say about her most recent pick, You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld:
  
  This month, we’re reading ‘You Think It, I’ll Say It’ by #CurtisSittenfeld… it’s her first book of short stories! I really loved all the characters in this book. They’re so complex and interesting, and in every story, you’ll find them going through these pivotal moments in their lives. Oh, and my company @hellosunshine is developing a TV series based on this collection of short stories. Can’t wait to hear what you think!
  
  This is what I think: I loved You Think It, I’ll Say It too. (Book clubs, don’t be afraid of short stories! This collection would inspire terrific discussions.) I’m thrilled that Reese is getting on her celebrity soapbox to encourage reading and to support books she loves. I also think that Reese has pretty good taste in books. The cynic in me notices that many of her choices are books that she’s bought the film rights to — so not only does she love them, she has a financial stake in their success. Her “book club” doesn’t seem to engender much meaningful discussion; typical comments on her Instagram posts from her adoring fans are: “She always reads awesome books!”; “Have to get this one!”; “Love this selection. Love love love!”; “Thoughts on reading short stories? Never read a book like this! But it will be a TV series.” These comments are a far cry from Oprah’s hour-long, in-depth televised interviews with authors. But maybe the commenters will read Reese’s selections and discuss them with their book clubs.
  
  As Doubleday publishing executive Todd Doughty points out, celebrity endorsements reach a much larger audience than TV or radio interviews or newspaper reviews: “In previous times, you would have the Oprah or Daily Show bump. Now you have the Reese Witherspoon bump from Instagram.” An hour-long author interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air reaches a million listeners, while a photo of Reese holding a book reaches many millions of potential readers. “It’s absolutely something we think about,” says Miriam Parker, an associate publisher at Ecco Books. “We try to get books to people with big social-media followings and are strategic about it.”
  
  Vogue magazine calls Witherspoon the “new patron saint of literature”, describing her posts as the “equivalent of an Oprah’s Book Club stamp for the social media generation.” What do you think? Does a celebrity endorsement make you more interested in reading a book?
  
  | 1 Comment
- Why YA?
  
  Posted at 11:46 am by Ann@BooksontheTable, on March 22, 2018
  
  Not too long ago, adults who enjoyed reading books written for children and teenagers were a little embarrassed. Harry Potter changed all that, and now grown-ups don’t mind admitting they love kids’ literature. In fact, the publishing industry estimates that well over half of the readers of young adult (YA) books, marketed for twelve-to-eighteen-year-olds, are real adults. (We all know that a twelve-year-old isn’t an adult, young or otherwise; an eighteen-year-old . . . maybe).
  
  Industry expert Michael Cart thinks of the current era as the “golden age” of YA literature: “With the dawn of the new millennium, YA began evolving at a dizzying pace, spinning off a near surfeit of trends.”
  
  YA isn’t a genre — YA novels encompass a variety of genres, from fantasy to mystery to historical fiction to contemporary realism. Like adult fiction, some YA fiction is high-quality and some isn’t. What all YA fiction has in common is a teenage protagonist coming of age. “To come of age is perhaps the most common ground there could be among readers,” says Virginia Zimmerman, professor of English literature at Bucknell University in an article in the Atlantic (“Why So Many Adults Love Young Adult Literature”).
  
  Many YA books are great choices for book clubs — well-written, character-driven, fast-paced, and full of topics that will stimulate interesting discussions. Last week, I facilitated a discussion on Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, which has been on the New York Times YA bestseller list for over a year, claiming the #1 spot for several weeks. I’ve discussed some great books with this group (Nutshell by Ian McEwan, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan), but one of the participants said at the end of the meeting, “This was our best discussion yet!”
  
  The Hate U Give is, on the surface, an “issue” novel, focusing on the Black Lives Matter movement. Our discussion didn’t focus on this issue, but on the novel as a literary work. How did the author bring complexity into what could have been a predictable story about police brutality? How did she bring the characters, both major and minor, to life? How would the book have been written differently if it were intended for an older audience? There was so much to talk about that we ran out of time before we ran out of topics.
  
  Consider adding a YA novel into the mix when you’re making your book club selections. We’d love to facilitate your discussion!
  
  | 0 Comments
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