International Book Club

Before I started this blog, I was participating (still am) in an online book group, International Book Club aka IBC, since 1999. The group interacts via email only.

The reading group was formed originally at women.com (an onelist mailing list group) which then became part of Geocities and now is part of Yahoo Groups.

The name for the group, IBC, was created based on the fact that the women who joined were from different parts of the world rather than the types of books read. The founding list owner was living in Norway and the co-founder was in New York. At the time, I was in Connecticut. When the founders left the group, I stepped in to co-moderate the list in the latter half of 1999.

The group is composed of about 40 women with 5 to 10 active during a given month. Also, depending on how a book impacts our worlds.

The books we've read have always been selected via nomination then vote by members. The only rules are that the books be fiction and in paperback. Below is the list of books we've read to date.

more details here

When I started this blog last year, my interaction with IBC was decreasing. Blogging about other books started to take over. I was falling behind in reading the monthly selections which I have always been good in keeping up with. Boo-hoo. Not good. :-(

Because I love IBC and want to continue to be a part of it, I've decided to incorporate it into this blog. So, another monthly feature on this blog will be the books read for IBC. I guess this could be counted as an ongoing challenge for me.

~~2011
December - tba
November - Whaleboat House/Amagansett by Mark Mills
October - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
September - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
August - Old Filth by Jane Gardam
July - Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
June - Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg
May - The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
April - Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah
March - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
February - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
January - Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter:A Novel by Vargas Llosa
~~2010
December - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
November - Molokai by Alan Brennert
October - The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
September - Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
August - Little Bee by Chris Cleave
July - The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
June - The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
May - The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
April - The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther
March - How to be Good by Nick Hornby
February - Night of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
January - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

~~2009
December - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - my review
November - Still Alice by Lisa Genova
October - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - my review
September - The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry - my review
August - Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
July - The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
June - Enchantment by Orson Scott Card - my review
May - Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
April - The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
March - The Shack by William P. Young
February - Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
January - The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett

~~2008
December - Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
November - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
October - Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
September - Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
August - Abundance, A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund
July - Disturbances in the Field by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
June - The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
May - The Savage Garden by Mark Mills
April - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
March - Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors
February - The Keep by Jennifer Egan
January - The Spirit of Sweetgrass by Nicole Seitz

~~2007
December - Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
November - The Quality of Mercy by Faye Kellerman
October - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
September - Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert
August - Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
July - Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
June - Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
May - Kindred by Octavia E Butler
April - The Twelth Transforming by Pauline Gedge
March - The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day
February - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
January - The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

~~2006
December - Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
November - The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
October - Any Bitter Thing by Monica Wood
September - Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
August - P.S., I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
July - The Rice Mother by Rani Manika
June - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
May - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
April - A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi
March - My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
February - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
January - Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

~~2005
December - The Christmas Quilt by Thomas J. Davis
November - A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris
October - Silk by Allessandro Baricco
September - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
August - The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
July - The Shadow in the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
June - Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
May - Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg
April - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
March - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
February - Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
January - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

~~2004
December - The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
November - Life of Pi by Yann Martel
October - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
September - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
August - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
July - Dreaming Water by Gail Tsukiyama
June - The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
May - Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
April - Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan
March - Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
February - White Teeth by Zadie Smith
January - Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

~~2003
December - Three Junes by Julia Glass
November - These Is My Words by Nancy Turner
October - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
September - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
August - Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
July - The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve
June - Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
May - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
April - The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
March - Apologizing to Dogs by Joe Coomer
February - Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
January - Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding

~~2002
December - Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
November - I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
October - I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
September - The Rose Grower by Michelle de Kretser
August - This Body by Laurel Marian Doud
July - White Oleander by Janet Fitch
June - The Drowning People by Richard Mason
May - Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier
April - What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg
March - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
February - Shopgirl by Steve Martin
January - Moo by Jane Smiley

~~2001
December - Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
November - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
October - Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
September - Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
August - Chocolat by Joanne Harris
July - Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
June - The Dress Lodger by Sherri Holm
May - One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
April - The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingslover
March - Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
February - The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
January - Plainsong by Kent Haruf

~~2000
December - Literary Murder by Batya Goor
November - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
October - The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte
September - The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas
August - Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
July - The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
June - Winterkill by Craig Lesley
May - Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
April - The Cider House Rules by John Irving
March - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
February - Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God by Joe Coomer
January - Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover

~~1999
December - Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane
November - Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
October - The Honk & Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts
September - Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
August - Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas
July - none
June - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
May - Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
April - Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
March - Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
February - Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
January - Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler