Reviews of Reading Group Journal by Martha Burns

Book Summary

This charming fill-in journal will be an invaluable resource and keepsake for anyone who already belongs to a reading group, and an inspiration to anyone who wants to join or organize one.

This charming fill-in journal will be an invaluable resource and keepsake for anyone who already belongs to a reading group, and an inspiration to anyone who wants to join or organize one.

Reading group members show up at meetings with their books highlighted and dog-eared. Some carry battered spiral notebooks; others dig through their handbags for scribbled notes. Reading Group Journal now offers a handy and handsome alternative. Filled with useful information and stimulating quotes, this attractive notebook also provides ample space to record all the practical information needed to participate in a reading group.

An introduction providing tips about how to make the group both pleasurable and productive is followed by inspiring lists of recommended reading and winners of important literary prizes, from the National Book Award to the Booker. Additional pages provide places to jot down names and addresses, meeting schedules, and information about the next book to read. Each book read by the group is allotted several pages for note taking and record keeping, with plenty of room for personal reflections and group observations. And finally, there are fill-in pages for the reader to use in creating a personal record: a list of books to read, a log of books already read, a record of books lent, a compendium of interesting words, and a selection of memorable quotes.


(192 pages, 7 inches square, spiral bound - with room for 18 books.)


From the Authors
My sister and I live on opposite sides of the country but we did not let that stop us when we came up with the idea for our journal for reading group members. The actual idea come to us while we were attending the Southwest Writers Workshop Conference in our hometown of Albuquerque. We couldn't wait to get back to our respective coasts to get to work on our project which we knew we would name, "Notes in the Margin."

We knew that readers have a need to articulate where a book has taken them and we knew that countless people were getting together in reading groups and could use a journal to keep account of their groups, their meetings, their reading list and their reflections.

So we set out to create a place where the avid reader could keep track of all their book related information. But more importantly, we wanted to create a place for the reader to keep track of their reflections on a book read and a book shared. We think that in keeping the journal the reader becomes the writer and the journal becomes a keepsake.

In "Smillia's Sense of Snow" Peter Hoeg wrote, "You can learn a lot about your fellow human beings from what they write in the margin." We agree and we also believe that a person who reads, shares, and then writes comes to a fuller understanding. We believe that "Notes in the Margin" allows the reader to more fully participate in the reading circle. We wish you each the joy of a book read and a book shared.