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Summary
Summary
There are more than fifty thousand new books published each year. Choosing what to read can seem overwhelming. A Year of Reading relieves the anxiety by helping readers find just the right book for each month of the year.
Aimed at individuals and reading groups, A Year of Reading provides five fiction and nonfiction selections for each month with thorough summaries in the following categories: Crowd-Pleasers, Classics, Challenges, Memoirs and Potluck. This book also makes reading more fulfilling by providing additional selections, plus questions about the selections to stimulate thought and discussion.
Also included is information on authors, reviews, video and Internet resources and annotated lists of related reading. And if you still think reading is too passive, try one of the many activities suggested, such as author readings, visits to museums, nature hikes and more.
The appendices focus on book clubs, from the basics of starting your own to improving a group that has been together for some time.
Author Notes
Elisabeth Ellington grew up in Georgia and graduated from Vesalius College in Brussels, Belgium, in 1995. She has taught at Brandeis University for several years. Her forthcoming doctoral dissertation focuses on biographies of eighteenth-century women writers. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Danny Wouters, a dog, two cats, and ten chickens. Her Seacoast New Hampshire book group has been together for seven years.
Jane Freimiller grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from Haverford College in 1987. After earning a Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston College, she taught at a university for several years. She has also been a sales clerk, office temp, and Web designer. Jane currently lives in London with her husband, Kevin Connolly, and is a member of a neighborhood book group as well as one sponsored by the National Gallery in London.
Reviews (1)
Booklist Review
The authors have fashioned a blueprint for a delightfully varied year of reading, reflection, and discussion. Whether it be for the member of an established book club, a novice attempting to launch a reading group, or an independent reader looking for suggestions, this guide offers something for everyone. It is organized around the calendar year; five titles designated as crowd pleasers, classics, challenges, memoirs, or potluck options are provided for each month. In addition to selections centering on appropriately seasonal themes, there are brief descriptions of each book, thought-provoking discussion questions, information about the authors, video and Internet resources, and lists of related readings. Literary discussion groups will welcome this invaluable resource. --Margaret Flanagan
Table of Contents
Introduction |
Chapter 1 January |
Winter's Tales |
Crowd-Pleaser |
Skating to Antarctica: A Journey to the End of the WorldJenny Diski |
Classic |
My AntoniaWilla Cather |
Challenge |
Winter JourneyIsabel Colegate |
Memoir |
After and Before the LightningSimon J. Ortiz |
Potluck |
Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern LandscapeBarry Lopez |
Chapter 2 February |
In Honor of Black History Month: Family Legacies |
Crowd-Pleaser |
KindredOctavia Butler |
Classic |
PassingNella Larsen |
Challenge |
Middle PassageCharles Johnson |
Memoir |
Pearl's Secret: A Black Man's Search for His White FamilyNeil Henry |
Potluck |
The Farming of BonesEdwidge Danticat |
Chapter 3 March |
In Honor of Women's History Month: |
New Life in the New World |
Crowd-Pleaser |
JasmineBharati Mukherjee |
Classic |
Bread GiversAnzia Yezierska |
Challenge |
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two CulturesAnne Fadiman |
Memoir |
To See and See Again: A Life in Iran and AmericaTara Bahrampour |
Potluck |
Becoming American: Personal Essays by First Generation Immigrant Women editedMeri Nana-Ama Danquah |
Chapter 4 April |
Spiritual Gardening |
Crowd-Pleaser |
Mean SpiritLinda Hogan |
Classic |
The Good EarthPearl S. Buck |
Challenge |
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place |
by Terry Tempest Williams |
Memoir |
Dakota: A Spiritual GeographyKathleen Norris |
Potluck |
My Garden (Book):Jamaica Kincaid |
Chapter 5 May |
Women and Family |
Crowd-Pleaser |
Amy and IsabelleElizabeth Strout |
Classic |
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen |
Challenge |
The HoursMichael Cunningham |
Memoir |
And I Don't Want to Live This LifeDeborah Spungen |
Potluck |
The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her FamilyElisabeth Bumiller |
Chapter 6 June |
Men and Family |
Crowd-Pleaser |
Before and AfterRosellen Brown |
Classic |
The Rise of Silas LaphamWilliam Dean Howells |
Challenge |
Native SpeakerChang-Rae Lee |
Memoir |
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering GeniusDave Eggers |
Potluck |
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in HeavenSherman Alexie |
Chapter 7 uly |
Women's Journeys |
Crowd-Pleaser |
On Pilgrimage: A Time to SeekJennifer Lash |
Classic |
Travels in West AfricaMary Kingsley |
Challenge |
Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya StarkJane Fletcher Geniesse |
Memoir |
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into BhutanJamie Zeppa |
Potluck |
Talking to High Monks in the Snow: An Asian |
American OdysseyLydia Minatoya |
Chapter 8 August |
Catastrophic Reading |
Crowd-Pleaser |
The Fireman's FairJosephine Humphreys |
Classic |
A Night to RememberWalter Lord |
Challenge |
MatigariNgugi wa Thiong'o |
Memoir |
The Last Voyage of the Karluk: A Survivor's Memoir of DisasterWilliam Laird MacKinlay |
Potluck |
Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon FireJohn Maclean |
Chapter 9 September |
Back to School |
Crowd-Pleaser |
Bee SeasonMyla Goldberg |
Classic |
Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë |
Challenge |
MooJane Smiley |
Memoir |
Dangerous Minds (previously published as My Posse Don't Do Homework)LouAnne Johnson |
Potluck |
The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in HarlemDeborah Meier |
Chapter 10 October |
Scary Stories |
Crowd-Pleaser |
The Haunting of Hill HouseShirley Jackson |
Classic |
FrankensteinMary Shelley |
Challenge |
Lives of the Monster DogsKirsten Bakis |
Memoir |
On Writing: A Memoir of the CraftStephen King |
Potluck |
NeverwhereNeil Gaiman |
Chapter 11 November |
Comfort Food, Comfort Reading |
Crowd-Pleaser |
She Flew the Coop: A Novel Concerning Life, Death, and Recipes in Limoges, LouisianaMichele Lee Wes |
Classic |
The Gastronomical MeM.F.K. Fisher |
Challenge |
The PassionJeanette Winterson |
Memoir |
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the TableRuth Reichl |
Potluck |
Stand Facing the Stove: The Story of the Women Who Gave America 'The Joy of Cooking'Anne Mendelson |
Chapter 12 December |
Heartwarming Classics |
Crowd-Pleaser |
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith |
Classic |
Little WomenLouisa May Alcott |
Challenge |
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive EditionAnne Frank |
Memoir |
The Story of My LifeHelen Keller |
Potluck |
Watership DownRichard Adams |
Appendix A FAQs for Book Group Beginners |
Appendix B Twenty-Five Ways to Build a Better Book Group |
Index of Authors |
Index of Titles |
About the Authors |