The following blog post was written by Great Group Reads Chair Rosalind Reisner, and originally posted on her blog, A Reader’s Place, on October 14th.
For the past several years I’ve chaired the reading committee that selects the titles for the Great Group Reads list that comes out in September in time for National Reading Group Month (October). There were 22 readers this year and we read like fiends all spring and summer. It was fun and exhausting at the same time and I really appreciate the readers’ efforts. We put together a great list of books.
National Reading Group Month is sponsored by the Women’s National Book Association—the other WNBA—and to celebrate NRGM all the chapters around the country have author programs highlighting the Great Group Reads books and other wonderful new books that will provoke lively discussions.
The New York WNBA chapter program is this Wednesday evening—October 17—at the Strand Book Store in their classy Rare Book Room, and I’m moderating the panel of 5 authors. For me, this is the high that comes at the end of the hard work: the chance to talk to authors of novels and memoirs, to find out how they wrote those wonderful books, what they were thinking about when they wrote them, how they write, and maybe even why they write. If you’re in NYC, come to the Strand for the 7 pm program. It’s only $10 and for that you’ll get a $10 Strand gift card—can it be possible that there’s a book you want to buy?
The authors on the panel are:
Alix Kates Shulman, whose current novel is Menage (Other Press), a wicked sendup of modern marriage. Shulman’s name ought to be familiar to you as the writer of the iconic feminist novel Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen.
David Maine, author of An Age of Madness (Red Hen Press), a devastating psychological study of a woman doctor whose family life has gone horribly wrong. I was delighted that this title made it onto the Great Group Reads list.
Elizabeth Nunez will be there too, author of Boundaries (Akashic Press), a lovely cross-cultural story of a woman coping with competing demands of family and career.
I’m eager to meet Ben Ryder Howe and hear more about his hilarious and heartfelt memoir, My Korean Deli: Risking it all for a Convenience Store (Picador). I listened to this one and laughed out loud often. It’s more than just humorous—it’s a great New York story with lots of food for thought about who we are and the choices we make for the ones we love.
Marisa de los Santos will be there to talk about Falling Together (Wm. Morrow Paperbacks), a novel about three college friends who find that despite their close friendship, they’ve been blind to some important truths.
So come to the Strand if you can and say hello. There will be time to ask questions of the authors and talk to them after the program.
