The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

Visibly scarred from a childhood car accident that killed her parents, smart and solitary Ruth has decided that she can’t depend on anyone but herself and her young-at-heart grandmother, Rae. After a potential workplace romance goes sour, Ruth, an L.A. screenwriter, leaves her television gig and freelances for a while, helping teens write college-entrance essays and ghostwriting online dating profiles. When her pitch for a sitcom gets picked up, she ventures back to the world of television only to find that her vision—a comedy featuring a quirky Everygal and her sassy grandma—gets derailed at every turn, from bad casting to bawdy rewrites. Weiner herself has... For the full review, see Booklist Online.

Reading Women: A Book Club Guide for Women's Fiction

Any book-group leader who ever despaired of finding a discussable romance title at the suggestion of a member need fret no longer. Hill has compiled an admirable list of women’s fiction, chick lit, and romance titles suitable for discussion. Women’s fiction, as defined by Hill, is an umbrella term encompassing titles that appeal to female readers by addressing the important issues in women’s lives. The understated yet standout feature of this resource guide is the blend of titles with an emphasis on the humor, lightheartedness, and hope found in many women’s-fiction novels—no Oprah’s Book Club literary depression here. Hill has thoroughly examined each title and provided title-specific discussion questions (beware that some contain subtle spoilers) that facilitators will find quite valuable. Each entry also lists brief biographical background, a short annotation, website and readers’-guide URLs, and read-alikes. The majority of the 90 titles listed...

For the full review (contributed by Kaite Mediatore Stover), see Booklist Online.

Good Women's Fiction for Book Discussion Groups

Before I became the full-time Editor for Reference and Collection Management at Booklist, I contributed to one of their wonderful blogs, Book Group Buzz.  Most of my posts revolved around good women's fiction choices for discussion, so I thought I would round them up here!

Possible Pick: The Debutante

Possible Pick: Water Wings

Possible Pick: The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard

Women’s Fic Pick: The Last Girls by Lee Smith

Possible Pick: The Good Daughters

Possible Pick: Elegies for the Brokenhearted

Women’s Fic Pick: The Ten-Year Nap

Women’s Fic Pick: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

Possible Pick: Keeping the House

Possible Pick: The Map of True Places

Women’s Fic Pick: Bird in Hand

Authors You Should Try: Louise Shaffer

Authors You Should Try: Joshilyn Jackson

Possible Pick: All Is Vanity by Christina Schwarz

Women’s Fic Picks: Katherine Center

Women’s Fic Picks: Allison Winn Scotch
Authors You Should Try: Jean Hegland

Authors You Should Try: Carol Goodman

Keepsake by Kristina Riggle

 
Riggle’s fourth novel (after Things We Didn’t Say, 2011) is a sensitive portrayal of a dysfunctional family struggling to make peace with their pasts. Trish thinks of herself as just a distracted, messy housekeeper—but when her young son, Jack, suffers a broken collarbone after a pile of papers falls on him, Child Protective Services comes calling, forcing her to deal with the fact that she has inherited her mother’s hoarding habits. Trish’s estranged sister, Mary, is the complete opposite—when her white carpet gets a footprint on it, she spends an hour with a scrub brush trying to get it clean. Much to Trish’s chagrin, Mary comes to help her get her house (and life) in order so that Jack is not removed from the home. Meanwhile, Trish’s ex-husband and her older teenage son....
For the full review, please visit Booklist Online.


This review was originally published May 15, 2012 in Booklist.

In the Bag by Kate Klise

Professional chef Daisy is heading to Paris with her teenage daughter, Coco. On the same flight are Andrew and his son, Webb, en route to Madrid to oversee the installation of an art exhibit. When Andrew accidentally spills wine all over Daisy, he impulsively slips a flirtatious note in her bag, offering to pay for the cleaning and take her to dinner. When she finds it, she is not impressed and fires back a raging e-mail. Speaking of bags, Coco and Webb happen to be traveling with identical black duffels, which get switched at baggage claim. They find each other’s contact info in the bags and start an e-mail courtship, which leads to...

For the full review, please visit Booklist Online.