Book Club Update

Posted by Dana on 01.14.2010 at 3:49 pm

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged about the Better World Book Club and a lot has happened since August!  We’ve been reading some great books and we are starting some live meetings at participating Whole Foods Markets in the Atlanta area.

We’re now announcing books a month ahead of time so that you can participate in our online and local discussions.  Our newest pick – which we’ll be discussing the first week in February is THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz.

Stay tuned for details on a twitter discussion – and also feel free to comment right here on the blog!

Our January pick is AWAY by Amy Bloom and the local discussions are taking place tonight at 7PM participating Whole Foods Markets.

Previous picks include:

OUTCASTS UNITED by Warren St. John
THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Have a book you’d like to suggest? Want to set up a live local meeting near you? Email me at bookclub@betterworldbooks.com.

Have your say » | Tagged Better World Book Club, Amy Bloom, Annie Barrows, Atlanta area, Away, Better World Book Club, Junot Diaz, Mary Ann Shaffer, Outcasts United, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, Warren St. John, Whole Foods Markets

Better World Books Podcast: Warren St. John

Posted by Dana on 10.07.2009 at 11:14 am

Did you ever have one of those days?  The kind where everything comes together and you know you are doing what you are meant to be doing?

That’s how I felt when I finished reading OUTCASTS UNITED and knew that I would have the opportunity to meet and interview author Warren St. John and help get the word out about this great book.

The book tells the story of coach Luma Mufleh the soccer team of refugee boys she founded and the town of Clarkston, Georgia that wasn’t sure they wanted them… or their families.

Once I finished reading the book, I knew it would be a perfect fit for The Better World Book Club.  And once again that perfect day stuff starting happening.  I think they call it serendipity.  When I called Warren to let him know his book had been chosen for the December 2009 read for The Better World Book Club – now going live at Whole Foods Markets in Atlanta, he let me know how perfect that was, as he had written a good bit of the book IN the Whole Foods Market at Ponce.  I think I actually got chills. Read more…

Interview with Warren St. John [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2463)

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, Atlanta Book Club, Better World Book Club, Clarkston, dana barrett, georgia, Luma Mufleh, Outcasts United, The Fugees, Warren St. John, Whole Foods Markets

Better World Book Club: The Shadow of the Wind

Posted by Dana on 08.20.2009 at 11:44 am

Don’t forget to sign up for the Better World Book Club.  Discuss the monthly pick with us here on the blog or take it back to your neighborhood book club.  We set you up with everything you need for your meeting…. a synopsis of the book, discussion questions and even a great recipe.  Sign up by going to manage subscriptions now.

Our Latest Pick

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

If your book club has ever read a book where you struggled to find something to talk about, you will really appreciate THE SHADOW OF THE WIND.  There is so much to talk about with this book, I barely know where to begin.

From its Russian doll  – book within a book style to its use of religious imagery to the often parallel lives of two seemingly unconnected characters you will not run out of conversation.  I promise.

Our book, THE SHADOW OF THE WIND is about a book that Daniel Sempere finds in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books Read more…

4 Comments » | Tagged Better World Book Club, Baked Goat Cheese in Tomato Sauce, Better World Book Club, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Discussion Questions, THE SHADOW OF THE WIND, Whole Foods

Better World Book Club: The Accidental Bestseller

Posted by Dana on 06.19.2009 at 8:12 am

Don’t forget to sign up for the Better World Book Club.  We pick a new book each month that you can discuss with us here on the blog or take back to your neighborhood book club.  We even set you up with everything you need for your meeting…. a synopsis of the book, discussion questions and even a great recipe.  You can sign up by going to manage subscriptions now.

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog.

Our Latest Pick

THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER by Wendy Wax

Last month I promised you a great beach read for June…so here it is.  To me a beach read is not necessarily all lightness and fluff, but rather a page turner where you care about the characters and are left feeling upbeat or hopeful at the end.  Wendy Wax’s latest doesn’t disappoint.

The Accidental Bestseller does for (or to) publishing what The Devil Wears Prada did for fashion mags:  gives you an under the covers look into a world you wouldn’t otherwise get to see.

Wendy uses the backdrop of the publishing industry to explore friendship, marriage and career and introduces us to four unique women who struggle with all of it.

Here’s a couple of questions the book brought up for me:

Does you career define you?  What would you do if you woke up one morning and it was over?

Do your friends have to know everything about you in order for them to truly be your friends?

How much would you risk to help a friend?

And here’s some trivia for you…there’s a character named after me somewhere in the book.  The first person to comment here on the blog with the page number I appear on gets a $25 gift certificate!

For more discussion questions and a tasty summer recipe, check out the book club email and feel free to leave some comments and let me know what you thought of the book!

– Dana

2 Comments » | Tagged Better World Book Club, Beach Read 2009, Better World Book Club, Summer Read 2009, The Accidental Bestseller, The Devil Wears Prada, Wendy Wax

Better World Book Club: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Posted by Dana on 04.20.2009 at 5:35 pm

Still not signed up for the Better World Book Club Newsletter?  Our monthly book club email includes a synopsis of the book, discussion questions and even a great recipe.  You can sign up by going to manage subscriptions now.

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog.

Our Latest Pick

HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford

As you can imagine, I love books and authors and love to do what I can to help promote them.  It’s not just my current and former life as a bookseller that makes me feel this way — I have always loved books.  So, when I come across a debut novel like this one, I am especially happy to be able to help get the word out.

Jamie Ford’s HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER & SWEET has officially become one of my new favorite books.  Ford paints a personal picture of race, culture, family, love and loyalty in the 1940s in America.  He shows us, through the eyes of children, a time we, as Americans, would rather forget; when Japanese Americans were rounded up and forced to live in internment camps.  It is a politically important story for sure, but it is the personal story that sweeps you up and makes you unable to stop turning pages.

I loved Henry, both as a child and as a man.  He is loyal, brave and young Henry seems wise beyond his years.  What did you think of his quiet disobedience of his father?  What about his father’s rule that he could only speak English at home when his parents only spoke Cantonese?  Keiko and her family were so very American and worldly and open.  Read more…

4 Comments » | Tagged Better World Book Club, Better World Book Club, book club, dana barrett, fiction, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford, Japanese internment camps, World War II