Book Club Connection by Susan LoTempio

Weekend reading

What was The News Book Club reading a year ago?

  Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" was the April 2006 selection, timed for the release of the movie.

  It's not my favorite book - not by a long shot.

   Is it yours? Can someone please explain to me why people love this novel so much?  Yeah, the story is interesting. But does anyone really think Brown is a good writer?

Weekend reading

Jodi Picoult is out with a new novel, "Nineteen Minutes," described as a thriller that explores "what it means to be different in our society." I read her last book "The Tenth Circle," and have to admit I wasn't impressed.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact she's published 14 books since 1992 - which doesn't give her much time for thoughtful and creative writing. And get this, according to her Web site, she's written five issues of the "Wonder Woman" comic strip.

The one Jodi Picoult novel I loved is "My Sister's Keeper," which our Book Club featured in October, 2006. It's the amazing story of a family with one sick child, and a second child brought into the world to "save" her sister.

The plot is fascinating and takes you on a ride with all sorts of twists and turns. Thankfully, Picoult's writing is straighforward, sparing us the cloying approach another author might have taken.

I'll reserve any opinion on her newest novel until I read it (IF I read it), but I can't imagine it can in any way surpass the level of great storytelling that's found in "My Sister's Keeper."

The family that reads together...

... At least has something to talk about.
Speaking of which, has anyone read (or even heard about) "The Mother-Daughter Book Club"?
A copy landed on my desk this week, and the press material that came with the paperback says it's the revised 10th anniversary edition.
Somehow it missed me these past 10 years. But if I had known about it when when my daughter was a teenager,  perhaps we could have replaced the fighting with discussions on literature.
Uh, no.
Anyways, the subtitle gives parents some hope: "How Ten Busy Mothers and Daughters Came Together to Talk, Laugh and Learn Through Their Love of Reading." (It's published by HarperCollins, and sells for $13.95.)
The book seems to be a step-by-step guide on how to put this special kind of mother-daughter book club together. It's full of reading suggestions for books that promote discussion, books to "grow on" and books that are just plain fun to read.
The author - Shireen Dodson - comes with some impressive credentials: mother of three, special assistant to the director of the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of State.
Now, if Dodson has the time to read and discuss books with her daughters, so should we.
If anyone is involved in a mother-daughter book club, I'd love to hear from you.