Welcome to our new readers! We've gotten many visitors this week from Shelf Awareness and the American Booksellers Association blog, Omnibus -- both very influential publications for the publishing and bookselling industry. Legendary bookseller Robert Gray, columnist at Shelf Awareness, wrote about us in his continuing discussion about men in book groups. And Sarah Rettger of the ABA not only quoted us, but called us "a couple of her favorite sales reps!" High praise indeed -- thank you, Sarah! (Our quotes are the last two in Sarah's post ... they make me laugh to see them pulled out of the original blog posts!)
I think we also gained some new readers from The Odyssey Bookshop's Celebration of Book Groups on June 10th. I had the privilege of speaking to about 60 avid book lovers, sharing my thoughts about some of the best books for reading groups. I shared the evening with two very inspiring authors: Roland Merullo spoke very touchingly about his book A Little Love Story, and Cammie McGovern read a passage from her novel, Eye Contact, that made me want to hear more. Both books sound like terrific choices for reading groups, and I urge you to check them out.
The best part of the evening for me was the open floor -- anyone who wanted could tell the group about a favorite book that their reading group had discussed. I love to hear what worked for book groups. And I was very pleased when a woman stood and spoke about how she had taken a recommendation from us at the same event two years earlier, presented it to her group, and everyone loved it: Above the Thunder by Renee Manfredi.
Manfredi writes a powerful story about family -- specifically, the people that we choose to be part of our family, whether or not they are related by blood. Anna is a lonely widow who pours her grief into her medical career. Flynn is her granddaughter, who she meets for the first time when ten-year-old Flynn is dropped on Anna's doorstep. Jack is a charming but bitter man that Anna meets in the AIDS support group that she runs. The three could not be more different, but come together to nurture each other in a way that only a family can. Loving, poignant, hopeful and tragic, this book resonated with me long after I read it, and there are topics enough for a long and provocative book group discussion.
I love to hear about readers' responses to books that we've recommended, even when they are not always in line with our own opinions of the book. Thank you to everyone who has left a comment, sent us an email, or posted on the GoodReads group. If you choose to read a book based on recommendations here at Books on the Nightstand, we are honored, and would appreciate it if you would let us know your thoughts. You can post a comment here, join in the discussion at our GoodReads group, or email us directly at comments@booksonthenightstand.com. If you're a new reader of Books on the Nightstand, we'd love to hear more about you. We love to hear from everyone, and will get back to you as soon as we can.
And if you are (or have been) a member of a book group, please tell us some of your group's favorite reading choices. I know I'd love to hear them, and I'm sure most of our readers would, too. Just click the "comment" link, below.
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