The Reading Group Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Start Your Own Book Club
Information-highway types like to predict the death of the book, but more and more books are published each year. To accommodate the crush, Jacobsohn, founder and president of the Association of Book Group Readers and Leaders, recently published what became the bible of book discussion groups, The Reading Group Handbook: Everything You Need To Know from Choosing Members to Leading Discussions (Hyperion, 1994). This newly revised edition includes updated reading lists and bibliographies plus additional suggestions on group dynamics; organizational, administrative, and logistical issues; and discussion techniques garnered from extensive surveying of book groups. Jacobsohn covers everything from cookies and coffee to how you diplomatically deal with "the rambler." Appendixes include thematic reading lists, syllabi from existing reading groups, a glossary of literary terms, and sources for reviews, criticism, and author information. Libraries with the earlier edition may want to pass, but otherwise this is highly recommended.ADenise S. Sticha, Seton Hill Coll. Greensburg, PACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.