Of all the languages of earth in which the human kind confer
The Master Speaker is the Tear: it is the Great Interpreter
Ridgely Torrence

Like many of you, we here at BookMuse have been saddened, numbed, and distracted this week by the unfolding news of terror and war. We have been glued to our TVs, radios, and newspapers; we have been poring over online news and analyses. With you, we mourn those who have died and love all the more those who are still with us. With you, we turn to reading for sustenance, for escape, for learning, for consolation. Peace to you and yours.

What's New?

White Teeth by Zadie Smith and Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Making it in America by Barbara Ehrenreich are the current featured Muse Notes for adults and Nose from Jupiter by Richard Scrimger is the kids' feature. All three are fairly quick reads (though White Teeth is a long page turner) and very discussable.

We're trying a new section in this newsletter called What NOT to Read Next, so we can pass on even more of our opinions to you. We read many books that we don't choose to feature as Muse Notes and we'd like to tell you about those, too. You may disagree with us, and if so we'd love to hear from you and ask you to write your own reader reviews of the books.

Book Group Tip

For the next two or three newsletters, the book group tips will be about kids' book groups written by Anji, our Kids' Editor. Adult readers might even want to try some of our recommended kids' books.

Choosing books for parent/child discussions:

In many parent/child book discussion groups, adults assume the responsibility of choosing books. Parents often want children to read classics, serious books, or books that will spark the kinds of discussions they think should take place. These agendas, while imbued with good intentions, can bring lackluster results. If your book group is suffering from awkward silences, monosyllabic responses, or a lack of excitement about the next meeting, you might have overlooked the vital elements of relevancy and fun.

Does this mean you have to forsake all dreams of "good" literature and discuss the latest popular book, even if the writing is horrible and the plot soporific? We think not. But it may mean it is time to bring the children more into the book selection process. You can start by allowing them to choose the genre or time period of a book, or letting them vote on what book to read next from a list created by the parents. Consider reversing the roles, and let the kids present a list from which the adults make the final selection. Increasing the kids' participation in selecting books should go a long way toward reviving their joy in discussion.

Next month: How to find the good books.

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Coming Up

Beginning September 24, we will be featuring as a Muse Notes Plus Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel, Maus: A Survivor's Tale, Parts 1 and 2, a powerful depiction of the author's relationship with his father and his father's story of surviving the Holocaust. Timed to coincide with the Jewish High Holidays--a time of prayer, mourning, and introspection--this work speaks to us as well during this time of national mourning.

Next we'll feature Last Orders by Graham Swift, about four London working class men who set out on a journey to scatter the ashes of their friend. Also in October you'll find Muse Notes on The Hours by Michael Cunningham, another Pulitzer winner. This short, powerful, and surprising novel combines the lives of three women, one of whom is Virginia Woolf.

For kids, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan and The Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler, both for younger readers, offer strong role models and lots of ideas to talk about. In October, we'll feature Everything on a Waffle the quirky new novel by Polly Horvath and There Goes the Neighborhood: Ten Buildings People Loved to Hate by Susan Goldman Rubin, an engaging nonfiction book that will spark questions about the idea of buildings as art and their role in our lives.

In the next couple of weeks, BookMuse will be adding a section for authors to tell you about their books. As with most of our new sections recently, you'll find it in the resources section called "Author's Own." Check for it in late September.

What NOT To Read Next

Here are just a few of the books we've read that we decided not to recommend for your book groups. Disagree? Write a review and let us know what you think.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie--A messy, self-conscious book about uninteresting characters. Read Midnight's Children instead, a real masterpiece.

The Evidence Against Her by Robb Forman Dew--Great jacket picture and title, but both are, unfortunately, completely unrelated to the story. Boring.

The Fig Eater by Jody Shields--Lots of hype for this book, but we can't figure out why. Wonderful premise: murder mystery set in Vienna around the turn of the last century, but the author couldn't seem to figure out where to go with it.

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamillo--We'll get a lot of flack for this one since it was chosen as a Newbery Honor book this year, but we've read this story before and think your kids have too. Also, too gooey and sentimental. Kids often see through this stuff.

Orwell's Luck by Richard W. Jennings--The promise of a quirky and inventive fantasy is marred by preachy writing.

Question from a reader: I am doing my very first book review--on the book At Home in Mitford--and would like some feedback if you have it from other readers. GlobalMom@aol.com