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The Readers' Choice: 200 Book Club Favorites Paperback – July 25, 2000

3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
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Here are two hundred reader-tested answers to the question "What have you read that's good?"  The Readers' Choice is the first book to feature titles based on the recommendations of numerous book clubs.  Victoria McMains has collected two hundred favorites of more than seventy reading groups nationwide, ideal for book group members looking for a "good read," busy people seeking enjoyable books outside the bestseller lists, or anyone who wants to read more but isn't sure where to start.

Combining her skills as a book reveiwer and a veteran book group member, McMains provides brief, captivating profiles of a diverse mix of fiction and nonfiction.  There are love stories and war stories, fantasy and political intrigue, biography and nature-and much more.  Each profile highlights the unique traits of the book and ends with a few questions for group favorites as well as little-known gems that have been discovered and treasured.  Indexes organize the entries by title and subject matter, helping readers find books that appeal to their interest. For anyone wanting to learn the easy essentials of starting a book club, check out McMains's introduction.

Let The Readers Guide help you make the most of the precious time you spend reading?

 

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    270 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    William Morrow Paperbacks
  4. Publication date
    July 25, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.65 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0688174353
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0688174354
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

McMains has chaired the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association since 1997, and her column, "Book Club Favorites," is published monthly in the Press Democrat, a New York Times newspaper serving Northern California. Here, she combines her professional expertise with her experiences as a book club member to produce a handy new guide for book lovers everywhere. The 200 favorites included here were culled from the recommendations of more than 70 reading groups in California, Oregon, Colorado, and New York, and the resulting list is a good blend of fiction and nonfiction, classics, relatively unknown regional writers, and the occasional best seller. The collection is designed to start conversations, help form book clubs, and promote reading. The book's strength is that it reminds serious readers of books that they have loved and/or always meant to read. Look for a second volume. Recommended for all public libraries.DPam Kingsbury, Florence, AL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A handy new guide for book lovers everywhere. ...[contains] a good blend of fiction and nonfiction, classics, relatively unknown regional writers, and the occasional best seller. ...The book's strength is that it reminds serious readers of books that they have loved and/or always meant to read. Look for a second volume."--"Library Journal"

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; 1st edition (July 25, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 270 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0688174353
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0688174354
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.65 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

About the author

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Victoria Golden

Victoria Golden

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Co-author of the memoir, A Last Survivor of the Orphan Trains, Victoria Golden is also the author of Independent Photography with photographer Robert Foothorap and The Readers’ Choice: 200 Book Club Favorites. The latter was the first book to feature titles based on recommendations from multiple reading groups. She lives with her husband in the northern California wine country, where she is currently writing fiction.

Victoria's interest in writing was spurred by her father, a Broadway playwright turned public relations and marketing executive. However, while he turned from creative writing to public relations, she began her professional life with public relations and found her way to books.

A Last Survivor of the Orphan Trains seems the natural outcome of Victoria's several years as a volunteer in a group home for foster youth. In writing the life story of William Walters, who was sent West as little more than a toddler on an American Orphan Train in 1930, Victoria was reminded of the many modern-day children who've lost their birth families. For William, the fateful train ride away from home marked the beginning of an extraordinary trajectory through nine decades of U.S. and world history.

Customer reviews

3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3 out of 5
7 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

eliza
5.0 out of 5 stars why
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2012
Verified Purchase
I am pleasantly pleased with this book and it will be a great help in our new book club...some members having trouble choosing books so this will inspire us to review and choose. Thanks.
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N. Connelly
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2010
Verified Purchase
Where did the author get these books? I know that our book club members were so disappointed in this book. There were many great books that the author left out and it needs updating.
2 people found this helpful
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Delinda Lafleur
5.0 out of 5 stars A Ghostly Memoire by Debbie Lawson is a MUST read
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2021
Absolutely LOVED this book. So interesting and well written. Hard to stop reading it. So vivid in the story like I was there. So life like. Would and will continue to recommend the book to any reader who enjoys real life mysteries and ghosts.
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Mark G Chalpin
5.0 out of 5 stars "Photographic Memories A Story of Shinjitsu" Memorializes the Japanese Internment
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2020
Risa Shimoda and Bob Fleshner have created a riveting historical account of Risa's father's, Midori Shimoda, experience with internment. Midori Shimoda was a photographer who wanted nothing more than to pursue his career in New York City, but the US Government distrusted him and his motives. The Government interned him and only released him when they were finally convinced he did not pose a danger to the US. The book chronicles the paranoia, fear and distrust that led to a black mark in American history, the Japanese internment.
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Donald Mitchell
5.0 out of 5 stars Find Great Books You've Never Heard of!
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2001
"What have you read that's good?" We've all asked that question of our best-read friends. Now, The Readers' Choice lets you find out the answer to that question from a variety of book clubs in California, Oregon, Colorado, and New York.
The book is organized to provide around one page (often a little more) on each book. This information includes a brief summary of the book, its appeal, how it differs from the movie (if it is a novel), and the author's background. A section in italics at the end gives you questions to guide a book club discussion or to illuminate your own reading of the book.
In a separate section, Ms. McMains also describes how to start and run a book club, in case that appeals to you. As she points out, you like to visit your friends. A book club can give you more chances to do that, and something new to talk about.
The book has a helpful index so that you can locate books by subject, in order to more quickly locate titles that match your needs. About three-quarters of the books are novels.
Since I read a lot, I assumed that this book would not tell me much. Boy, was I wrong! Of the 200 titles, I had only read 7. I had only heard of another 4 more. So these are books I would never have considered.
As the author points out, these are well-written books that seldom reached a broad audience. They are for people who want high quality writing and thinking.
I checked out the 7 books that I have read, and found the material on them to be accurate and useful. So I have to assume that it is also for the other books on the list.
So I'm looking forward to reading many more outstanding books as a result of this valuable reource.
Since the book clubs who contributed these ideas are mostly in the western United States, you'll find many novels with western themes in them. If you are looking for that, you'll find the book all that much more helpful. If you are not, give one a try. You may find that you like western-oriented books.
If you are already so backlogged with reading that you won't get to another book for some time, obviously this resource won't do you much good.
Do realize that this book was published in mid 2000, and was based on reading that occurred before that. So the offerings will mostly be of books written in 1999 and earlier.
After you finish reading this book, I suggest that you think about why you read. Having understood that, are there other reasons to read? For example, can reading people who express themselves well make you a better communicator?
53 people found this helpful
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Sheila A. Dechantal
5.0 out of 5 stars One Persons Journey Through A World of Books Thoughts:
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2010
In my reading room I have one shelf dedicated to books such as this one. They are books that recommend must reads before I die, book club companions, how to organize and run a successful book discussion.... the titles go on and on. I am thrilled to add this one to that shelf. The Readers' Choice is 200 Book Club Favorites that have been the top picks from more than 70 reading groups nationwide.

I couldn't wait to pop my head into this one and see what other groups are reading and recommending!

It opens to information on how to start a bookclub answering questions as to how often to meet, how big, will you serve food, how will you choose books... All of this I love to read as even though my group has been meeting wince August of 2001, I am always interested in ways to tweek our discussions so we can get more out of them, with 18 active members now in our group - that tweeking becomes more important.

Here are a few of the book suggestions that were made:
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom(I have to agree, while I didnt read this with my book club, I can see where it would be a greta one to discuss with a group!)

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (this sounds good and uhhhh..... AWKWARD.... I havent read anything by this author yet!)

Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg (I have read Berg but not this particular book)

The Diary of Mattie Spencer by Sandra Dallas (Interesting... I have read this book and several others by this author and while I enjoy the reads, I would not have thought of this to be a top book club pick - it must be that this book reads like a fictional diary and the voice of our main character Mattie is done in a way that makes you want to believe it is non fiction.... )

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (On my shelf... still unread. A book about a soldier who decides to leave his hospital bed and walk home even as the war rages on.... )

Cleopatra's Sister by Penelope Lively (Hmmm... I have read Cleopatra's Dughter.... In The Readers' Choice this recommendation comes with a warning that it is easy to become a Penelope Lively addict... her book Heat Wave is also in this list of top book club reads)

The English Patient by Michale Ondaatje (would you believe I have not read the book or seen the movie?)

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (Translated from German this is another one sitting on my shelf waiting on....me)

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd (Oh! Yet another I have not read nor do I own...)

What I have put here in this review is only a tiny sampling of the recommended book club reads. While I have read probably a little more than a handful of the titles offered, sadly none of them were with my book club. As our group is so big we tend to stick to newer releases (unless it is classic month) so we are able to find enough copies for everyone without anyone having to work hard to find the book or pay a lot of money.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it as a gift to the reader in your life. As I read the book descriptions of the ones I was not too familiar with I was finding I wanted to read them, if not with my group then at least for me.
3 people found this helpful
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Gracie Monet
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this one before you go back to the bookstore!
Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2000
This useful guide of book club favorites was given to me by a good friend, and has really served me well. I loved the author's sense of intimacy with both her readers and the books.You can see that this is a person who really loves books as the imaginative creations that they are, and loves to share them with others. It empowered me at the bookstore recently when I was able to find new three books that I have since loved and shared, instead of spending hours looking for something of interest. With 200 reviews, I look forward to using this guide for quite a while. The author's book club group in northern California sounds like so much fun that I hope that one day maybe I could get an invitation ...
14 people found this helpful
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