WNBA Wednesday: Voracious Readers Needed!

By Roz Reisner, Chair, Reading Committee, Great Group Reads

“We are always looking for the book it is necessary to read next.”
–Saul Bellow

If you’re an avid fiction and memoir reader and a member of a book group, you may be the right person to join the 2013 Great Group Reads reading committee. Great Group Reads is part of National Reading Group Month, which is sponsored by the WNBA. Now that 2013 has arrived, we’re gearing up for the new round of reading, commenting, and voting.

As chair of the Reading Committee for Great Group Reads, I had the pleasure this past year of working with 22 dedicated readers, all WNBA members, who graciously put up with the bundles of books delivered to their doors and dove into our project. Each member of the committee read 25 books between April and August, thought about whether they could recommend the books for discussion groups, and posted their thoughtful comments on our private blog. We voted in August and the list was announced in time for National Reading Group Month in October.

You can view the 2012 GGR list of titles by clicking this link:
National Reading Group Month – 2012.

We are now heading into the fifth year of Great Group Reads, and interest in the program increases, as publicity expands and publishers become more aware of the value of their books appearing on the list. We’re anticipating that more publishers will want to submit books and become sponsors and more media outlets will want to publicize the list.  

Many of last year’s readers have indicated that they’d like to continue—a tribute to their stamina, but also to the excitement of reading and discussing good books! We would like to add a few new readers to the committee.

We are looking for thoughtful readers who:

1. Read widely, particularly in literary fiction and memoirs
2. Can commit the time to read up to 25 books in 4-5 months
3. Are currently involved in a book discussion group—and have a sense of what titles will spark discussion
4. Feel comfortable expressing an opinion about what they’ve read beyond “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it,” and posting it on a group blog

This is a “recommendation” and not a “review” task. We’re thoughtful readers, not literary critics.

If this sounds exciting to you, please contact Rosalind Reisner at roz@thereisners.net for more information and answers to any questions you may have about Great Group Reads and the reading committee.

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Member Monday: Member Updates

Susannah Greenberg, of Susannah Greenberg Public Relations, was a panel organizer and featured speaker at two panels at BEA 2012: Book Publicity for the Self-Published Author; and Book Publicity for Young Adult Books. Both were featured in Publishers Weekly Daily during the show. She was also a judge for the Audiobook of the Year. Susannah also authored a piece for Publishing Perspectives on a recent WNBA NYC event.

Amy Hill Hearth’s debut novel, Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society, has been chosen as the January 2013 Main Selection of the Pulpwood Queen’s Book Club, the largest ‘meeting and discussing’ book club in the world, with more than 500 chapters.

Lucine Kasbarian’s pieces read at the WNBA’s Open Mic Night at the KGB Bar appear in the Green Briar Review Literary Journal and the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project Blog. Her essay, Elixir in Exile, is published in r.kv.r.y. Literary Quarterly. Her folktale was named an Honor Book by Storytelling World Resources Awards. Check out her website at www.lucinekasbarian.com.

Joshua Kornreich’s debut novel, The Boy Who Killed Caterpillars, originally published by Marick Press in 2007, was reprinted in e-book format by Dzanc Books in September 2012.  His second novel, Knotty, Knotty, Knotty, is set for release by The Black Mountain Press in March 2013.  Read more at www.joshuakornreich.com.

Roz Reisner presented a webinar titled ‘Fresh Lit: New and Forthcoming Literary Fiction for Readers and Book Groups’ hosted by LibraryLink, the New Jersey Library Cooperative. Check out her blog at www.areadersplace.net.

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Member Monday: Meet Some of Our New Members!

This week, we’d like to introduce you to some of the newest members of the NYC chapter!

Pnina Moed Kass was introduced to the organization and NY chapter by Roz Reisner. You might call her a member “in absentia” as she lives in Israel. An ex-NYer, a children’s book writer (3 in the U.S., 9 in Israel), editor and translator, Pnina really enjoys keeping in touch with the book world, particularly what’s happening in NY. Of course she receives PW, BOOKLIST, etc., but the informality of being a “virtual” member is fun.  Visit her website (in English and Hebrew) at www.pninamoedkass.com.
	Liberty Schauf moved to New York from Houston this summer. She will be completing her MS in Publishing at Pace University this fall. Her career goal is to be an editor for YA fiction. She looks forward to meeting new people in her new city through the WNBA.
	Stefanie Lipsey, MFA, MLS, is a poet, teacher, and librarian. She has been a reader and workshop leader in libraries and bookstores in the NYC area for over ten years. Stefanie is the author of Sound Cliff: Twelve Words to a More Creative Life. Visit her online at www.stefanielipsey.com.
	Andrea Baron has worked in publishing for over 20 years, starting her career in printing and book publishing, and also working in magazine publishing and digital production.  She earned an MS in Publishing degree from Pace University, and has been teaching in the Publishing program for the past ten years. In addition to classroom teaching, Andrea has helped develop online courses reaching students all over the US and several other countries. As a travel enthusiast, she particularly enjoys her participation in the Pace China publishing exchange program.

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Feature Friday: WNBA-NYC Hosts Visiting Delegates from Kazakhstan

By Susannah Greenberg

The delegates from Kazakhstan in Books of Wonder. Photo Credit: Linda Epstein

At the invitation of the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Visitor’s program, the Women’s National Book Association of New York City held a Cultural Exchange Roundtable at the Books of Wonder independent children’s bookstore in New York, NY on June 12, 2012.  The international guests were a group of 4 visiting children’s book writers/illustrators  from Kazakhstan.

Speakers from the New York children’s book world at the meeting were:

• Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library’s Youth Materials Collections Specialist, who blogs for A FUSE #8 PRODUCTION hosted on the School Library Journal site
• Nancy Mercado, Editor at Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan)
• Lily Malcom, Associate Publisher and Executive Art Director, Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Leanna Renee Hieber, Author of the YA novel Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul

National WNBA President Valerie Tomaselli, New York Chapter President Jane Kinney-Denning, WNBA-NYC VP of Communications Linda Epstein, and WNBA-NYC VP of Programming Roz Reisner opened with remarks describing the Women’s National Book Association to the delegates. The store manager of Books of Wonder, Scott Wong, spoke about the history and mission of the Books of Wonder bookstore where this event took place.

The delegates from Kazakhstan were:

• Illustrator Ms. Evgeniya Kan
• Author Ms. Helena Kozlova
• Illustrator Ms. Dameli Sabitayeva
• Author, musician, journalist, Zara Yessenaman

They were accompanied by two gifted and lively interpreters, Mr. Yves Franquien and Ms. Varvara Olson.

For more information on the U.S. Department of State Cultural Visitors Program, visit their website here.

Susannah Greenberg is the President of Susannah Greenberg Public Relations, a book publicity firm, as well as the Publicity Chair of the WNBA-NYC Chapter.  You can learn more about Susannah from her Member Monday interview here!

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The Enduring Popularity of Historical Fiction

Here’s a sneak peak of the upcoming New York Bookwoman! Roz Reisner writes about the enduring popularity of historical fiction and some of what you’ll see at the April 26th Historical Fiction Panel. 

By Roz Reisner

In case you haven’t noticed, our historical fiction panel, coming up on April 26^th, is part of a literary trend that’s at full throttle this year.  Publishers Weekly recently called historical fiction “a nimble genre that works its way into all corners of the storytelling ecosystem.” If you don’t think there’s an interest in the past, just remember the excitement surrounding the new Downton Abbey series which was followed by a spate of books about the period, at least one of which made it to the Times’ bestseller list.  Many of the literary prize winners and shortlists this year have been dominated by historical fiction—just this past month, Julie Otsuka’s lovely novel about Japanese picture brides, The Buddha in the Attic (a 2011 Great Group Reads pick!), won the PEN/Faulkner Award.

So what’s the appeal of historical fiction for readers and writers? For readers, it’s the chance to learn history in an entertaining way, to gain insight into what life was like in another era, or to enjoy a new twist on familiar events or characters. I love the feeling of starting a novel and knowing that you’re in for an absorbing story. It’s like being taken on a trip where someone else is doing the work of packing, getting you to the airport, arranging the sightseeing, and providing a safe and satisfying return home. With historical fiction, there’s the extra bonus of time travel–you can’t get to that destination without the author’s imagination and research.

For writers, it’s the chance to re-write history, to give voice to people who didn’t make it into the history books, to imagine the interior life of a well-known person, or to satisfy a fascination with an era. I’m sure the authors at our panel—Carole DeSanti and Kathryn Harrison—will tell us why they chose France’s Second Empire and the final days of the Romanovs for their novels. I’ve been reading and enjoying both novels—Carole DeSanti’s The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R and Kathryn Harrison’s Enchantments—and I’m eager to hear about their process of imagining the characters and the setting. Since we’ll have an agent, editor, and reviewer on the panel as well, we’ll have a picture of what happens when that precious manuscript leaves the author’s hands and what it encounters as it makes its way to us.  RSVP to join us at 6pm on April 26^th at the Wix Lounge for a lively evening of discussion, networking, and refreshments.

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