A sublime comedy of contemporary manners, this is the novel Jane Austen might well have written had she lived in twenty-first- century California. Nothing ever moves in a straight line in Karen Joy Fowler's fiction, and in her latest, the complex dance of modern love has never been so devious or so much fun. Six Californians join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements...

The Reading Group follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books. Over the course of a year, each of these women become intertwined, both in the books they read and within each other's lives. Inspired by a shared desire for conversation, a good book and a glass of wine-Clare, Harriet, Nicole, Polly, and Susan undergo startling revelations and transformations despite their differences in background,...

Eschewed by her wealthy Smith College classmates, a former scholarship student reluctantly volunteers to join a group of graduates who travel to Europe to help World War I French civilians before finding herself surrounded by desperate families in villages decimated by German bombs. A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith's Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation....

In the midst of a bad drought, the shores of a local lake recede to reveal an old abandoned car. Megan is intrigued by the Depression-era jalopy and puzzled when her fellow amateur sleuths would rather get back to discussing Agatha Christie. Then bodies start popping up all over town, ritually murdered, and current crimes take precedence over old secrets. It's Megan who discovers the corpses, making her the prime suspect. To clear her name, she'll...

Offers advice on starting and running a successful book discussion group and covers how to organize meetings, select books, stimulate discussion, and attract new members.

You're no idiot, of course. You know that people across the nation are getting together, swapping ideas, and sharing their love of literature. You also know how enjoyable it is when you and a friend have read the same book and spend hours discussing it. But when it comes to actually starting or joining a reading group, you feel like you can't tell a metaphor from a simile. Don't go on reading in solitude! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting a Reading...