Muse Notes offer you everything you need for a fun and satisfying book discussion. Of course, you may just want to read our featured books on your own and enrich your reading with our Muse Notes. Every couple of weeks we feature a new book in the What to Read Next section of the home page, and each feature has its Muse Notes.

To find out which Muse Notes we have on the site so far, click on "muse notes" under Sections in the left column. Or search by title, author, or keyword if you're looking for a particular book or author. You can also go to the Category column to find books (and their Notes) by category or genre. If you don't find Notes on a particular book, we may still have a Reader Review on it.

All the books we choose will lead to stimulating discussions. So that we may provide both breadth and depth on the site, we offer two kinds of Muse Notes: Mini Muse Notes and Muse Notes .

Mini Muse Notes include brief reviews of our recommended books, with engaging lists of suggestions for reading and topics for discussion. Muse Notes Plus are detailed reviews of books chosen for their range in era, genre, voice, audience, etc. They include seven interlinked subjects:

1. Overview--a brief look at the plot and feel of the book.
2. Topics for Discussion--things to think about while reading the book and ideas to spark discussion.
3. BookMuse Commentary--our reviewer's take on one aspect of the book that we think you'll find fascinating and thought provoking.
4. Literary Criticism-a summary of media reviews, or, for older books, a brief history of interpretation.
5. Further Reading--brief descriptions of some books you might also like, and why.
6. Author's Bio--some history and anecdotes from the author's life.
7. Leader's Tips--ideas for book group leaders. You may want to do further research on some of these topics or just use them to deepen your discussion.

The Notes are flexible enough to tailor to your group's desires, though we do have some general suggestions. We recommend that you read the first two sections before, and the rest of the sections after, reading the book. Discussion group leaders may want to print and distribute the first two sections about a month before a discussion. (Each Muse Notes Plus section is separately printable.) Then the leader can read all the sections and use the Notes to lead a well-informed discussion. Another approach is to have all the group members read all the sections of the Notes before attending the meeting. Whatever works best for your group is the right way.