About Care’s Online Book Club… 
WHO is “Care”? Care is just my nickname. I shorten it when I write letters of correspondence, signing off with “Love, Care” because it’s quicker to write.
I love to read and I love to talk about what I read. My favorite conversation starter is “Have you read any good books lately?” Not many questions get people’s eyes to light up like that one.
WHAT is this Online Book Club? So I started this blog originally as an idea for me and my Mom, my Aunts, and my Cousins to have a long distance book club. It didn’t work. It barely got off the ground. You can lead people to blogs but that won’t make them drink the water. Or is it the koolaid? Anyway, I met so many wonderful and fabulous readers who blog that this has grown into a passion: to read books, participate in challenges, make friends, discuss books, trade books, win and giveaway books, meet blogger friends in real life, and be silly.
I read what I want to read and rarely ever accept books for review. I buy and borrow and bookmooch my books and get a few from the library.
I can be found as bkclubcare on goodreads.com and you can find me in bookmooch.com as bkclubcare, too. Same for Twitter.
Contact can be attempted via bkclubcare [AT] gmail.
Mostly I talk about books and bookish things here in the book blogging community. I rate my books but am usually quite nice – I do not review for technical stuff just how a book makes me feel or how it makes my think. I like most genres, fiction and nonfiction, old or new. Please NOTE that I intend to embrace my rights to stray off the book-&-reading theme and will yap about family stuff, my awesome dog (&/or go to whpgtherapy.wordpress.com), and just RANDOM stuff.
PS I live south of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
H
Good idea, Care!! I am currently reading an oldie but goodie. Leon Uris’s QB VII about a court case where a doctor was libeled in a book written about the holocaust. I am almost done and found it to be very interesting. Course Leon Uris is great but this was one that I had never read. Also for a very fun easy pick up book, try Miss Melville Regrets by Evelyn E. Smith. Think I bought it at a used book sale at the library for 10 ¢. Later………
Care – Thanks for the invitiation to participate in your book blog. I’ll share with you what I’m reading and read recently. I guess that’s the way this is supposed to work, right?
Right now I am reading ‘Middlesex’ and enjoying it. Came to learn that my Mom Loretta read this book last year and she enjoyed it too. It is an interesting story about three generations of the Stephanides family. The story is told by the granddaughter…who traces the actions of her family and how it led to her discovery that she is a he….in other words, a hermaphrodite. Much of the story takes place in Detroit Michigan…and at the time that I was growing up. So, being from Michigan myself, I have some identification with the locations and events described….at least the times during the 60’s and 70’s. I am only half way through the book, but it getting more interesting each page.
Another also read is ‘The Pull of the Moon’ by Elizabeth Berg about a woman approaching 50 who takes a sabbatical from her marriage and goes on a road trip. The story is a diary of sorts on the things that she faces and the emotions she deals with during this time. It was a pretty fast read….a day or two at most. My friend gave it to me because she found it compelling and paralleled her own life….since she and I are both approaching 50…she thought I’d enjoy it. It was okay, but not my favorite type of reading.
The last book I’ll reference today is ‘Water fo Elephants’ by Sara Gruen. Enjoyed this one…about a traveling circus and a young man who accidentally found himself working on the circus. Takes place during the depression….always such an interesting period and I am fascinated by how people struggled through these times.
That’s it for now. I will enjoy seeing what others have submitted as good reads.
Leslie (P.S. I love Philippa Gregory too!)
I was just waiting till someone jumped in! Liked the comments. I have also just finished Middlesex. Certainly a different subject matter! I understand Oprah had several persons on her show with this condition, but I missed that. I thought it was slow going at the beginning, and then ended in a rush at the end.
Also read Water for Elephants- Wonderful. Another I’d reccomend is “The Last Town on Earth”, about the flu epidemic in the WWI era. This one was written by Thomas Mullen.
My book club is reading “Suite Francaise” this month-written by a Jew in France at the beginning of WWII. Haven’t picked it up from the Library yet-it has good reviews. We have also read “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. I was the only one in the club who liked it..it was rather depressing…but really an ultimate love story of a father & son.
Thanks Mom!
My real life book club meets this Sunday to discuss “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer and “1000 White Women: The Journals of May Dodd”. Normally we wouldn’t have 2 books to discuss, but this month was a weird one (long story). For our next meeting we will read “The Other Boleyn Girl” by Phillipa Gregory. Really looking forward to that!
How would this online book club work? Would everyone read the same selection, then “discuss”?
http://www.lisamm.wordpress.com
Lisamm, Q: “How would this online book club work?” A: Well, I’m really not sure. This started somewhat as an idea for my family who lives ALL OVER THE COUNTRY could find one spot to come together and read the same books and then comment. I would write about a book, and anyone who’s read it could chime in with their opinion, etc. OR… for example, with my Doris Lessing challenge, no time limit but it would be fun if we did read the same book or just discuss Lessing’s worthiness as an ‘winning’ author.
Then, the this blog sort of took a life of its own and has become MY PLACE to track books I have read and books I want to read. I’m just rollin’ with it…
I will visit you on the link thing – I had the same problem and I KNOW how to fix!
Hey Care, Just wondering what you’re currently reading. If you are ‘between books’, you might want to pick this one up: The Other Boleyn Girl. WOW it is AWESOME.
Soooooooo… what are you going to read next? Maybe I should look under “Present tense”??
Hi Lisa, Funny you should mention this book because I was in a bookstore TODAY! and picked this book up and held it for awhile… Then I put it back and decided I needed to get a few more of my already-in-my-possession books moved to the DONE shelf! This is definitely on my list….
Goal for end of October: Charlemagne(nonfiction) and The Sweetest Dream by Doris Lessing… and THEN I want to get to The Other Boleyn Girl.
Thanksgiving reading. Hello Care-
Finished MIddlesex, and agree with Marjie’s comments…it did take a while to get going. But still enjoyed it. Picked up a few other books and currently working on Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and The Search for Captain Zero by Allan C. Wiesbecker. The second book is on loan from my boss who loves this memoir about an aging surfer searching in south america for a long lost friend…and his surfing experiences along the way. Not much of a surfer myself, but being a So Cal woman, I have experienced the surf culture.
Have read 3 of Philippa Gregory’s books and liked The Other Boleyn Girl the best. I was so enthralled by her writing that I went to the library and picked up a few history books about Queen Elizabeth. Philippa’s writing of the history of that time was very accurate. This period of time is fasinating. I have heard that they are going to make a movie of The Other Boleyn Girl…so you better read the book soon. I always prefer to read the book before seeing a movie.
Anyway…happy Thanksgiving weekend. Leslie
Spoke with Carrie recently and she reminded me to check the book club site again. Have not read any of the books discussed but soon. I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and found it very depressing but made myself finish it. (HE is author of The Kite Runner which I thought was great.) Just opened up Gap Creek by Robert Morgan (an Oprah pick some time ago) and know I will enjoy it. I did read Pillars of the Earth (Oprah’s latest pick) a couple summers ago and think it is the best book I have ever read. It is long and keeps going and going but held my interest. Happy Advent Season.
Thanks for commenting on my blog. I think the reason you couldn’t link the other day from my name was because I wasn’t signed in correctly (I couldn’t remember my password so I just signed in with a “nickname”).
Hopefully, this will work better.
I love books! They are such little treasures. I’m in a book club here in Texas and we’re having our seasonal party Sat. night. We’re doing a book exchange (we all bring a book off our shelf that we don’t want and wrap it and then exchange and see what we get).
I’m giving “Middlesex” because I hated it and only read 2/3 of it. That’s saying something.. I don’t think I’ve ever not finished a book. Sorry ladies, but it didn’t interest me at all. Ironically, I just finished “Trans-Sister Radio” by Chris Bohjalian (about a transgendered woman) and loved it!
HI Crystalgable! Thanks for stopping by! I loved Middlesex but hey – that’s what makes bookclubs fun! if we all agree, BORRRIIINGG… I think I’ve heard of the TransSister Radio book – must be obvious what it is about, huh? -Care
Good morning from snowy Maine. Just went out to see if I could shovel but it is much too heavy for me to move.
Books – I just finished a very short feel good message about Christmas by Max Lucado – a religious writer of note. The book was a gift to my daughter-in-law who left it here for me to read. Just a nice message.
My son gave me The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama which I am enjoying very much. He has such a positive attitude and would be so good for our country in my humble opinion.
I received Ken Follett’s World Without End for Christmas and that book will be a project. Not only is it HEAVY to hold, it has many words……..
Carrie is keeping her entries short (ahem) and I am finding them so much fun to read – also her pictures are amazing.
Happy New Year and happy reading.
THX Auntie! Thanks for stopping by and don’t worry abou the shoveling. It’ll melt in June, right? Happy New Year to you, too. love, Care
Hi,
I wanted to invite you and your book club to the video webcasts I’m doing live from my home office. I’ve done a small handful and they were very successful — I had viewers from England, Australia, and all across the US — and so I’m doing a bunch more in conjunction with the release of my new historical novel, The Romanov Bride.
Is this the start of a new way of book promotion? I don’t know…viewers can see and hear me, and I can answer their questions in real time…so at least it’s something different and I hope you can join me starting April 16. Go here for info and the schedule:
The Romanov Bride, a novel by Robert Alexander: Live Book Club
Al best, Robert (Alexander)
I enjoyed my visit here…it was like stepping into a quaint little book store..and I mean that fondly!
A bookstore and more!
Love the picture of you and your dog! My dog Ringo has appeared on my blog..in fact, he helped me write a few posts and then wanted a blog of his own. hee, hee.
I love to read..I confess, I do not have time to read like I would like. It is all I can do to find time paint!
Thank you for sharing your world with us!
thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment… living in New England, you know how hard it is during the winter time up here, and what a long, difficult winter we face with the price of home heating oil skyrocketing. Glad that you like to talk about some good reads as I rarely find the time to read anymore, so busy with home, work, family-I miss curling up with a good book. I think I will have lots more time to read this year though, as most of my going out spending cash has gone to the oil companies… I love to hear about a good book, so I can put it on the must reads list… thanks again for stopping by to say hello!
Oh, I really like your blog, Care!
I used to live near Kansas City…I have relatives on the Kansas side. I supposed IF I move back to the States, I’ll probably look for work there, first.
Hi Care! I know someone who’s trying to get a hold of you. Please e-mail me at PlanetBooksWorldWide@gmail.com and I’ll tell you who it is and we can go from there.
Hope you are well!!
XOXO-Karen
Hi Carrie,
Found your blog by accident…it is great. I miss your perky face and ideas, so I’ll pop in here for a visit!
Love the summer weather!
hugs,
D
Hi Care,
I was curious what you might think about this site. It kind of reminds me of a book club, but people are discussing the show Saving Grace instead of a book: http://www.embraceyourgrace.com.
Embrace Your Grace was created by TNT as a community site for discussion of their show. TNT hired 6 influential women to head up the community as bloggers: a novelist, a comedian, a musician, a journalist, and the creator of the show, Nancy Miller.
These women provoke discussion of topics that arise in the show by writing daily posts and posing discussion questions for users to answer. Users can blog on the site too and contribute to forums.
Anyway, the type of questions and responses remind me of a book club. Would be interested to hear what you think…Do you think that discussion of a show can be as lively and community-building as discussion of a book?
Anna
Uh, sure. Yes, tv show discussions are happening all over the place. I don’t watch this show but I do love Holly Hunter. (she’s in that, right?)
Hello! We thought you and your readers might like to receive a free full-length novel, Jumble Pie, a heartwarming story about two women, a friendship, and a pie. The author has two published novels (Penguin/NAL) and is providing this as a thank-you to readers!
http://www.melanielynnehauser.com/JumblePie
Hope you are having a great summer!
Um, thank you for the great-summer good wishes but … I seriously have to question any marketing efforts that cannot spell the word ‘publicity’.
Darn those auto-fill fields…flub it once and it haunts you forever! Jumble Pie is a great book, we promise
Yea! I’m laughing WITH you and appreciate your coming back to leave another note. I admit, I like pie so I’ll give this book a little more look-see. Thanks again.
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Hey I have been looking for a book club to join. I love the challenges (we are both doing the Lit Flicks Challenge), but I would love to discuss other books with people too. I requested you as a friend on Goodreads.com as well…
Great! I’m on my way there now.
Finally, I made it here! Love the blog and look forward to making it one of my go to sites in 2009.
Care,
What can I say…it’s a pleasant site. Talk about the dog. It’s fine with me bro. I might mention my cats now and then though.
I’m actually looking for appropriate avenues (spam free) to bring attention to my soon to be released narrative, “The Narrow Gate”. Of course, I will be hitting the road all over New England for starters (I’m originally from Gloucester). But I’m testing the waters with blogging too. I’ll be posting a link soon. The story is one of self-discovery and is spiritual all the way to interdimensional experiences with a parallel life. Escalates to revealing a repressed memory. A bit of a cliffhanger.
Thx so much, Joe
Hi Joe, I suggest a website or blog of your own? Then you can post where you will be when, promoting your book? Many bloggers are willing to read ARC, but I’m not too comfortable with that responsibility. Good luck to you.
Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. I’ve enjoyed your reviews (the pie rating is great!) and plan to look around some more.
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