Book Ritual Updates

I love my bookish rituals each month.

You already know that I look forward to spending my Audible.com audiobook credits each month.

Let me catch you up on the other bookish rituals.

I love choosing a Book of the Month Club title each month.  For a while there, I was choosing more than one.  However, it's fair to say there is a BOTM Club pile-up on my shelves so those days are over.  I've also found that these are buzzed-about books that are often part of one-day ebook sales and/or easy to reserve at the library.  I'm currently enjoying Startup -- I'm not a millennial, a tech gal, or a New Yorker/Brooklynite, but it's fun to read about the scene and to have sympathy for the book's old lady (36, ahem) who's juggling career, kids, debt, and marriage woes. 

I also peruse the Literary Guild selections each month.  Though there are often books on offer that I would enjoy reading, my choices are rarely among the three curated monthly selections.  Those tend to be books that don't appeal to me (AT ALL) and the discounts for additional books don't kick in unless you start with one of those three selections in your box.  Makes it easy to click "skip my monthly credits" at the beginning of each month.  The selections refresh on the 15th of the month so I always check back.  However, a few months ago, a book I was super excited about was a monthly selection.  I boxed up Jennifer Ryan's The Chilbury Ladies' Choir and Jane Harper's The Dry.  Although I am very close to my saturation point with WWII novels (not forever, just for a bit), I did like Ryan's story of community, family, romance, and friendship set in the wartime English countryside.  It's told through letters and journal entries -- all of which are way too long to be believable, but which tell a good story.  Haven't cracked the spine of The Dry yet.

I get my fix for free when I choose my Kindle First selection each month.  I've mentioned this perk before:  if you have Amazon Prime, you can choose one free Kindle First selection each month (a month before the book is published).  To be honest, I don't always read these books in a hurry (or ever), but there's nothing to be lost (except five minutes of my time) by choosing one.  Last month, I chose Laura McNeal's The Practice House (which sounds kind of creepy but also kind of good).  I surprised myself this month by selecting A Small Revolution by Jimin Han.

BOTM -- January Selection Report

Still catching up after many weeks of no blogging.  I was very tempted by several of the January Book of the Month Club selections.  Lucky You--a Southern, female, buddy, fresh start story--really appealed to me, but it's not actually released until March and the idea of reading it early seemed risky.  I like to let the people speak a bit first.  When I went to read two of the books I had selected from summer BOTM offerings, I checked Goodreads and noted that each had under 3 stars (at the time).  It's sort of a bummer to crack the spine of a book you've paid for, knowing that many readers have been underwhelmed.  One of those books, The Fall Guy, I read anyway and liked well enough (3 star read for me).  The other one, Rich and Pretty, I still haven't been able to justify spending my reading time on.  Anyone want to sell me on it?

Back to January though.  I didn't place Lucky You in my book box, but it's on my radar.  I chose Janet McNally's Girls in the Moon and Kathleen Rooney's Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk.  McNally's book is about girls who sing, if I can recall.  I'll find out when I read it!  Rooney's Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk was perfect for me!  Lillian Boxfish walks around NYC on NYE in 1984.  Not the safest course of action for an eighty-five year old!  As she walks, reflections on her career and marriage are interspersed with her interactions with new/old friends she encounters.  Loved Lillian's wit and spunk and that Rooney pulled that off without writing a gimmicky "feisty old lady" book.  Plenty to think about here with regard to gender, motherhood, marriage, aging, careers, desire, city life, and more.  Rooney teaches at DePaul University so I imagine if I pay attention, I could probably attend a Chicagoland reading.

Here's the pic I snapped of my January BOTM box when it arrived.  Gillian Flynn's The Grownup was a bonus!  Note that I am still brightening my kitchen with arrangements I put together with grocery store bunches.

Are you a BOTM Club member?  What did you choose in January?  Report on February's selections coming soon.

Literary Guild -- Sure, why not?

Back around the turn of the century, I was a member of the Quality Paperback Club.  It was like the Columbia Record Club, only less intense.  I could accept/reject the monthly selections and then add/replace with my own choices.  As a young responsible working woman, I was good about managing my account, especially once you could do it online, and don't recall being stuck with any selections without my consent.

In fact, in perhaps the greatest box of books ever conceived, I ended up with Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary, a forever favorite of mine, and Nick Hornby's About a Boy.  I had read High Fidelity only months previous, thanks to the recommendation of my cool, hip, San Fran dwelling college roommate and was eagerly awaiting About a Boy, which I ultimately adored.  I have since read pretty much every word published by Fielding and Hornby.

Yes, I know some of my QPB books have since been placed in donation boxes, but I can look on my shelves right now and see some books from those days:  Joyce Carol Oates' We Were the Mulvaneys, Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, anthologies of Dr. Suess and Winnie the Pooh for the children who were not even a glimmer in my eye at the turn of the century, and Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible (one of those books I still haven't read, but totally mean to).  I can remember the papers graded, lessons planned, and small stuff sweated in those days to earn the paycheck that paid for extravagances like a QPB membership.

A couple of months ago, I got to wondering what had happened to the old QPB.  The web address directed me a new site, literaryguild.com.  Similar concept to QPB.  You can buy two credits each month that are good for books.  If you make a choice from featured selections, you can then bundle some additional selections at reduced prices.  Free shipping if you purchase two books.  If you choose at least one featured selection, chances are you can end up with 2-3 hardcovers for about $11-12 a piece.  Cheaper than Amazon and your bookstores, more expensive than the library.

I'm still testing it all out, so this is not really a sales pitch or endorsement (though, I've been pleased so far), just sharing in case anyone has a few dollars to spare and gets a thrill out of receiving brand new books on their doorstep.

Here's the box I received about six weeks ago ...

Anna Quindlen's One True Thing was once my favorite book.  Though I have not connected with her later works with the same intensity, I always think her writing is strong.  One thing in Miller's Valley pissed me off, one thing left me scratching my head, and then the reflections on community/home that came at the end of the book really resonated with me.  I won't tell you to rush to read it, but I certainly wouldn't stop you.

I mostly read The Widow by Fiona Barton at the pool.  I was intrigued by the character of the widow, liked the way the story was being told, but felt like the book kind of petered out instead of peaking.  I never really felt surprised.  It's a solid read, but not quite the intense page-turner I anticipated. 

Do I regret my first Literary Guild box?  Not really.  Both books are new releases I would have made an effort to read (via audible.com credit, library hold, eventual ebook deal, etc.).

I'm a little dismayed, however, to be among the "target demographic" of Literary Guild, at least insofar as that demographic is defined by the box's inserts:  Life Alert, lifelike baby dolls, AARP life insurance, hair removal, and a cat food sample.  Um, nailed it.

I made some June selections for Literary Guild last week.  I'll post a pic of the box when it arrives.