In This Issue

Summer 2010

Summer reading brings up images of relaxing in a hammock softly swaying to a gentle, warm breeze. While that’s rarely the reality for me, it’s my goal every summer. My daughters have better success at relaxing this way, and their favorite prep is to head to the library and load up on an armload of books before heading to our back yard.

This issue of the Mother Daughter Book Club.com newsletter focuses on the pleasure of summer reading and includes:

• Summer Blast Book Giveaway
• Suggestions for Your Summer Reading List
• News from Pen Pal Connections
• Mother-Daughter Book Club news

I hope you find plenty of inspiration to keep you turning pages until September, when the next newsletter will find it’s way to your inbox.

Summer Blast Book Giveaway

My bookshelves are getting crowded with titles I’ve collected for readers. To make room for more I’m giving away one book appropriate for moms and daughters each week between now and Labor Day week, which ends on September 10. Each Monday I’ll post the newest book I’m giving away, and each Saturday morning I’ll choose a winner from the comments made through midnight the night before.

Titles are appropriate for different age groups, which I will be sure to mention in the description. A link will connect to a complete review. Be sure to visit each week to get your name into the drawing for titles such as:

• The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
• The Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry (signed)
• The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss
• Shock Point by April Henry (signed)
• The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
• Poetry Speaks Who I Am edited by Elise Paschen
• The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
• Lips Touch: Three Times written by Laini Taylor, illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo (signed)
• Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French
• Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme

Look for more titles to be added as summer goes on for a total of 14 books given away.

Check Out These Titles This Summer

Here are a few suggestions you may want to add to the summer reading list.

Ages 7 to 8

The Tighty Whitey Spider by Kenn Nesbitt

Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch by Lauren Barnholdt and Suzanne Beaky

Boy by Roald Dahl

Piper Reed, The Great Gypsy by Kimberly Willis Holt

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

Ages 9 and 10

The Year of Goodbyes by Debbie Levy

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Water Steps by A. LaFaye

This is Me from Now On by Barbara Dee

Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning by Danette Haworth

Ages 11 to 13

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Kimchi and Calamari by Kathleen Kent

How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart

Nissa’s Place by A. LaFaye

Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme

Ages 14 and up

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan

Restoring Harmony by Joellen Anthony

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor and Jim Di Bartolo

We Hear the Dead by Dianne Salerni

Adult

When I Married My Mother: A Daughter’s Search for What Really Matters and How She Found it Caring for Mama Jo by Jo Maeder

Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo by Vanessa Woods

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh

Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood by Melissa Hart

Pen Pals Connect Across Distance, Language Barriers

Have you considered signing up for a pen pal mother-daughter book club? Check out the list of clubs who have found connections on the Clubs Connect page at Mother Daughter Book Club.com. Here’s what Erin Fitzpatrick-Bjorn of West Orient Middle School in Gresham, Oregon, had to say about their pen pal activities with a club in Brazil.

“My girls wrote/made cards twice, and they received cards/letters one time.  The cards and letters they received were lovely and I think it was very exciting to get letters from so far away.  They were very impressed with the girls’ English and their handwriting, which was amazing! We also exchanged photos via email several times, and I think that was fun for everyone.”

Erin says she thinks the girls in the group really enjoy it. “It was great to have them make a connection with girls from another part of the world. And to be tied together by a reading group, I think is fabulous. “

You Can Help!

Is Book by Book in Your Library?

If not, please recommend it. Book by Book is a great book for libraries to carry, as it lets even more moms have access to a tool that will help them start their own book clubs. Thanks for helping to spread the word by talking about Book by Book with your branch librarian the next time you visit.

Like What You Read Each Month in the Newsletter?

Tell your friends. Now anyone can easily sign up to receive the newsletter by entering an email address in the box that says “Sign Up for Our Newsletter” on the right column of Mother Daughter Book Club.com.The more subscribers I have the more interactive our community is likely to be.

Your review of Book by Book written at your favorite online book site would be welcome:

Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble.com
Powells.com

Thanks for reading at Mother Daughter Book Club.com

Cindy Hudson
Author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press, October 2009)