I want to start a book club.

Wow, that was easy – one sentence. I usually fret and fuss over my first paragraph while listening to several CDs and eating half a bag of red licorice. Today is different. I’ve started my low carb diet so I’m munching on cheese and listening to my green Shuffle. My forever favorite stuffed bear, Mr. Stuffings, is sitting on my desk and he agrees with the whole book club thing. Actually, he’s propped up against a desk lamp and he always agrees with what I say or want to do. Now . . . where were we, oh yeah . . .

I want to start a book club.

I have reasons. I love to write, read and listen to music. I write nonfiction for BellaOnline.com and I read and write fiction for teens. My music collection is eclectic and I’ve discovered many artists and bands by reading teen fiction.

I discovered Patty Griffin after reading David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy, and reacquainted myself with Frank Sinatra after reading C.D. Payne’s Youth In Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp. Music is a big part of life and sometimes for teens, it’s a way to show independence and find answers.

My passion for teen fiction is where I’m going to begin in our new book club. I want to keep music as the theme and look at fiction titles that are about teenagers who use music to define their lives as well as plots that are about teen success and/or failure in the music business.

The book club will officially open for business on July 1st and our first book will be Sarah Manning’s Guitar Girl. After that, we will look at David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy and Sarah Dessen’s Just Listen. That will take us to September.

We are working a bit backwards at first. I’m going to post my first review (Guitar Girl) on July 1st. There will be a link for you to purchase the books I review if you wish, but you should also be able to find the titles in your local library.

There will also be a thread in our forum for each book where we can discuss it in more detail. I promise to be careful not to write “spoilers” in my reviews. There will be a brief synopsis of the plot and the book’s connection to music.

I hope that you will read along and comment in our forum. If you would like to suggest titles, please do so, or if you’re an author with a book you would like reviewed, please feel free to contact me.

Have a great week!
Chel