Monday, June 7, 2010

Readers Groups

Thanks so much for being with us last time, Bella Andre! And congratulations to Booklover on winning Bella’s Wild Heat! I picked up my very own copy of Never Too Hot (with an autograph, whoohoo!) and had a luxurious evening reading in the tub last night! It’s great. For those of you who haven’t rushed out yet, get it right away!

Bella signed for my book group last week along with Anne Mallory. I’ve belonged to the group for over five years. It’s run by Ellen Higuchi at my local Borders in Los Gatos. Ellen is the BEST bookseller and the group is wonderful! Ellen hands out ARCs (advance reader copies) and we do reviews on them which are reported back to Borders Corporate. Plus we all do a lot of reading besides the ARCs, so we get lots of feedback on what everyone else has read during the month. And it’s all romance! Ellen compiles that list for us and sends it out after the meeting. Thank you, Ellen! As with Bella and Anne, many times we have guest authors signing their latest releases for us. I sign for the group when I’ve got a new book out, too. And LOL, the readers group meeting is my one night out every month! Here’s a few photos of the signing last Wednesday. The photographs are courtesy of Jackie Yau. I also picked up a copy of Anne’s Seven Secrets of Seduction. I can’t wait to read that, too! The group highly recommended both authors’ books. So many books, so little time!

So tell us, do you belong to a readers group? If not, where do you get your book recommendations? Leave a comment and your contact e-mail address and I’ll enter you in the drawing for Laura Griffin’s Rita-nominated Whisper of Warning. I loved the book! I’ll also add you to my newsletter for updates if you aren’t already a member.

Also, be sure to drop by the Tote blog tomorrow, 6/8, where I'll have more photos and a chance to win Laced with Desire. http://authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com/

14 comments:

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

Happy Monday!

Laney4 said...

I don't have regular book meetings with friends, but I DO share my books with girlfriends (and vice-versa). We email and gab in person about different authors and books all the time. I have the most books and read the most too, so it's always like Christmas when they visit me: they take home dozens and dozens of books each so that they too can read them and pass them on. Books are the gifts that keep on giving!

I used to only read back cover blurbs and that was it. Didn't have a list. Didn't care who the authors were.

Then I began blogging in June/09. I now read excerpts, etc. from blogs and author web sites. I "listen" to what other readers and authors write about those books. And I create lists. Lists and lists. Of books I want to read. Of authors I want to read. And then I read them. And blog about them. And email about them.

Thanks for "listening"!

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

You're so right, Laney, books are the gift that keeps on giving! I can't think of a more pleasurable way to spend an evening, too. Okay, I love watching movies with my husband, too. But great idea you have on reading blogs and visiting websites for excerpts to create your lists.

Estella said...

I don't belong to a book group.
I get recommendations from friends and family , and blogs.

Ina said...

Hi Jasmine!
I don't belong to a readers group... I'm living in Europe and most of my friends don't read English and therefore I can't read with them...
but I chat with others in a forum and I love reading all the blogs, where I got most of the recommendations :)
have a great day,
Ina

inale87 at gmx dot at

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

Recommendations from friends and family is great, Estella. My sister and I belong to the audio book library and we're constantly giving each other feedback. Though we do have some different tastes as she doesn't like romance as much as I do.

And the Internet forums and blogs are great for recommendations, Ina!

Happy Reading!

Fedora said...

I don't belong to a book club or readers' group, but with so many on-line friends, sometimes I feel like I already have a group who shares my reading tastes :) And because of it, my TBR and TBB are just gigantic! Glad you've got such a great group, Jasmine! And sad to have missed your visit to the Totes blog this month--I would love to have had the chance to win your latest anthology ;) Next time!

Happy June!

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

I'm sorry you missed Laced, too, Fedora! But I will definitely be having it up on Tote again, and I will try to remember to give you a personal heads up.

Booklover1335 said...

Love the new look!

I wish I had a readers group where we could get together and discuss great romance reads, but unfortunately it seems like the only readers groups I know about only discuss "literature" and frown upon romance :(

I get most of my book recommendations from authors and other reader blogs

Anne Mallory said...

It was great seeing you and attending the book club meeting last month, Jasmine! Looking forward to the meeting in July! :)

I mostly go by book recommendations from friends now - they are usually gold. But before I started writing I was like Laney used to be - it was all about picking up the book and reading the blurb in the store.

Bella Andre said...

Jasmine,

Wow, I love that you got the picks up from the book group meeting. What a fun night it always is!
:) Bella

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

Sorry your groups don't talk romance, Booklover. That's what I love about this readers group, it's really just for romance readers.

Thanks for stopping by, Anne and Bella! It was a fun evening and great to share the pics here on the blog!

I don't know if I mentioned that my method for finding books was buying at the thrift store. If I liked the author, then I'd go to the bookstore to find her/his backlist.

Laura Griffin said...

Hi Jasmine,
Thanks so much for giving away my book on your site! I hope your readers enjoy Whisper of Warning.

It is wonderful that you have a great local book store. I have heard of this Borders from book lovers across the country, and would love to visit it someday (I have relatives in the Bay Area). I always send ARCs to Ellen.

Happy reading to you guys!

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

Thanks so much for stopping by to say hi to everyone, Laura! Whisper of Warning is a great book.

So glad you've heard of our Borders group. If you're ever visiting, we'd love to have you attend. And ooh, I'll have to snap up the next ARC you send! I'm such a bad girl.

 

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