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I think the happiness of a reader is beyond that of a writer, for a reader need feel no trouble, no anxiety: he is merely out for happiness. And happiness, when you are a reader, is frequent. --Jorge Luis Borges
Welcome to the second monthly issue of Amusements. The word on BookMuse is spreading so fast that you've more than doubled in number since the first newsletter! This issue tells you what's new, what's coming up in the next month, and what you've been asking about (Q & A and Classifieds).
What's New?
 Our current book features on the site are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, an all-time book group favorite, and Palace Walk by Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. Fifth graders on up will love the Sammy Keyes mystery series, our Kids' Corner feature; one reviewer said, ''move over, Nancy Drew--a new sleuth is on the scene.''
In our kids' book group interview, Chester Aaron talks about his book groups, the kids (''heartbreakers''), the books (you'll be surprised), and garlic farming (recently featured in Newsweek magazine). Read the interview and tell us about your book group.
Another recent addition is a listing of literary prize winners in the resources section. You've requested it, so here it is. What other literary prizes lists would you like to see?
New to the newsletter this month are BookMuse Classifieds. We've been getting lots of questions from you, some of which we can't answer. These we're putting back to you: please feel free to email your responses directly to the writer.
Reader Poll
Every month we'll ask you a question and publish your answers in the next newsletter. We still need more answers than we got to last month's question, so here it is again:
 What are the best and worst books your group has read? (only one of each please) Send responses to info@bookmuse.com.
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Coming Up
On April 9th look for our next feature, Dave Eggers's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. This phenomenal book is now at the top of the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list. San Francisco Chronicle writes, "By turns riotously funny and every bit as moving as the title suggests." Don't forget to buy the book through BookMuse's buy books page.
For younger readers, we'll be featuring the wonderfully
quirky story, The
Ink Drinker by Eric Sanvoisin (translated from French)
and the classic adventure survival story, My
Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. Older
kids will love Stargirl by
Jerry Spinelli, about tenth graders dealing with issues of
popularity and differences.
When BookMuse was still in its design stage, the founding
editor of a large web site for women told me to get this
site going as quickly as possible because ''as soon as you
do, you'll want to start changing it.'' She was right. We're
planning several enhancements to BookMuse, many in response
to your suggestions: a simplified reader review form for
kids and adults; more content; more in the resources section;
and a bookstore and library partnership program. Details
will follow in the next issue of Amusements. Interested librarians
or bookstore owners, please email us at info@bookmuse.com.
Book Group Tip
Try choosing your reading group books with a theme in mind.
If you choose books several months at a time, as recommended
in last month's issue, you can think about ways to tie your
books together. Discussions then include comparisons among
all the books you've all read, and are often more satisfying.
One year my book groups read all banned books (that was fun!),
and once we read female/male, non U.S. pairs. But the favorite
by far (I've done this three different years) has been consecutive
month pairings of a classic novel and a related modern novel,
such as Great Expectations and Jack Maggs by
Peter Carey, and Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea by
Jean Rhys. The downside of this last theme is that it involves
a lot of research by the book choosers. We'll be adding book
lists to the resources section soon, so check back. For now,
why not choose books from the prize lists for your theme? Sometimes
I stretch the theme a bit: this year my groups are reading
''Winners: books that have won literary prizes--or should have.''
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Dear Muse:
Selections of the questions you've asked us this month.
Q--I am a 7th grade teacher and was thinking after looking at your site that writing a review on the web would be a great project for my kids to do. But, I noticed that the email field is a required field. The kids don't have email addresses at this school and it presents a little bit of a security concern to give out their home emails. Also, can they use initials instead of whole names? Great site! Christie B.
A--We are in the process of redoing the reader review forms, including removing the email requirement for just the reasons you mentioned. In the meantime, please feel free to use your school's email. Initials or first names only are both fine. These are not required fields for entering the reviews.
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Q--Did BookMuse.com
launch recently? I'm clicking around your site and see
that some categories are empty. Is there a timetable for
filling some of these categories? What's there is good
stuff, though. Thanks, Jill.
 A--Thanks
for your inquiry. Yes, we just launched in February and
are working hard to add content. We feature a new book
every two weeks; soon we'll be adding Muse Notes for A
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, a compelling,
funny, sad memoir (currently an empty category). In the
near future, we also plan to add a new shorter version
of Muse Notes (overview and topics for discussion only)
that we will add to the site every week in addition to
the longer Muse Notes ''Plus.''
Also, feel free to write reader reviews--a good way to
let others know what you think about books you've read
and read what others have written.
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