I have been a member of a very unique free online book club called "Dear Reader" for many years.
Suzanne Beecher, whose pictures is on the right, is the host, but she is more than that to me, she has become as close as a dear friend who sends me an e-mail every weekday that makes me smile. She has included me in her daily trials and triumphs, and all the celebrations and sorrows (luckily few!) of her life. She has given me some very good recipes, and she has sent me some wonderful prizes, although I haven't been lucky enough to win her famous chocolate chip cookies as yet! ( Hint hint, Suzanne!)
Suzanne's book club started in 1999, because Suzanne, who was a lifelong book lover, realized how many of the women who worked part-time for her software development company didn't have time in their busy lives to read. She decided to type in part of a chapter of a book and send it to her employees through e-mail. The next day she typed a little more and continued to send literary installments each day. After a few days, most were hooked on the book and wanted to read more! Suzanne realized her book sample was a great idea and "Dear Reader" was formed! Today it has over 350,000 members!
How does it work? You enter your email address at her website, and sign up for a "book club" -- such as nonfiction, fiction, mystery, classics, business, teen selections, good news, romance, horror, science fiction, audiobook, and even a pre-publication selection for a preview! You can sign up for one, or all of them if you so desire. Then, each morning for a week, you receive a sample of the latest book selection, which takes no more than five minutes to read. By Friday you will probably have read enough to know whether you like the book and want to read more, and then it is up to you to buy it or borrow it from your local library.
There is even a free Book Club Forum you can also join to keep track of the books you have read and to leave comments about them if you wish, and read other readers opinions. about the same or other books.
She also hosts Author Buzz where, as Suzanne says:
"... you can meet 3 to 6 authors a week who each have written special notes exclusively for you. It’s a way to get to know them and their novels in a very personal way. "
If you have a particularly busy week ahead of you can just delete her "Dear Reader" e-mails, or leave them for a more opportune time to read. But, truthfully, I almost always read my e-mails from Suzanne every day as she is a gifted writer herself, and she always preludes her daily book selection with an interesting daily tidbit about herself, or shares a thought-provoking comment, or sponsors a contest to enter to win a dozen of her home-baked cookies or a free author autographed book! She has even given away bubbles and "fun" things to help us celebrate our inner child. There is always a pleasant surprise from Suzanne awaiting all her book club readers every day.
If you'd like to sample Suzanne's personal daily e-mail "Dear Reader" comments you can read them all in her blog archives, but I hope you take a chance and join one of her book club selections and get hooked on reading again or find new books through her clubs.
Who knows? Maybe you'll be a lucky recipient of her chocolate chip cookies one day!
Picture source: DearReader.com
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11 comments:
Beecher and her book club are new to me. Thanks for the very interesting tip!
Hi Pat
The book club sounds like fun. I love to read, so I think I will check it out. Thanks for telling us about it.
It's a beautiful day here so I've left all my projects in my studio and have beeen out digging in the garden all day today. HAd a great time!
Rhondi xo
This sounds absolutely perfect. I am a reader, and I will definitely be following up this lead.
Thanks for sharing - I am so pleased to learn of this.
Hi Pat :)
Isn't it strange how people meet these days? 10 years ago, no one would've believed it LOL I'll have to go check it out :)
Thank you for all the sweet things you wrote about the farmhouse. We have looked at every option, but it comes down to the waiting game, because they won't deal with us until there's a sign in the yard. We've even had developer friends call and the answer is always "wait". So I'm waiting :)
Have a great night.
hugs,
rue :)
Hi Pat,
I so appreciated your comments on another post about Sunday's post. So confusing! I guess that disabling comments probably isn't working quite the way I had hoped. ;> Anyway, though I am not Catholic, I have been listening to some of the Pope's visit and have been very impressed with him. I love what I heard him say today about truth and relativism...just incredible things. I believe that his time here was a healing one for so many...he has a sweet, sweet spirit.
Wish that I might have done more background checking on the book I'm reading now. Oh my! This book club sounds very interesting.
That really sounds fun Pat! I'm going to pass this info. along to my Mom and Sister-in-law. It sounds like something they would enjoy also. I've never heard anything like it. Thanks.
This lady has come up with a good idea. I don't ever find time to read, especially now I own these blogs! This site is great for everyone whose main hobby is reading though. Perhaps I may be a little distracted with a plateful of chocolate chip cookies beside me, crumbs would end up in the crease of the book! x
I didn't know about this--what a grand idea! I read so much that I'm always looking for new suggestions. I'll pop over there and have a reading adventure. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Hi Pat! This sounds like fun. I love reading and have thought it would be fun to be in a book club, except that I wouldn't actually want other people picking out what book I had to read. This way, I could sample it then if I didn't like it, I could stop reading!
What a great post! I will have to look into Dear Reader.....thanks for the info!
Penny
You guys have to stop putting pictures of your dearly departed pets on your blogs....I get all weepy and I forget what I was doing!!!! How these little creatures hold our hearts is amazing, huh? I need a tissue....and I really love your blog...sniff, sniff....
M
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