A new reviewer...welcome, Melody!

Melody is an avid and thoughtful reader on many subjects...she is a true friend of librarians (which is how we became roommates before we happily found more permanent arrangements in blissful matrimony to our sweethearts). I have been trying to persuade her to contribute her insights to LiterariTea, and so here is one of her submissions:

The Mother-Daughter Book Club: How Ten Busy Mothers and Daughters Came Together to Talk, Laugh, and Learn Through Their Love of Reading by Shireen Dodson

This club started with a mother’s worries about the growing lack of communication with her 10 year old daughter. Since both mother and daughter loved to read, the mother broached the idea of starting a book club with the daughter’s friends and their mothers. They met once a month on Sunday afternoons and discussed a book that they had all read. The biggest benefit of the club mentioned again and again was the improved communication with the pre-teen. The book discussions allowed the girls to talk about someone else’s problems and family, thereby discussing issues without talking about “me and you.” Moms were able to say things that would have seemed like preaching had it just been the one mom and her daughter. Another side benefit of the club was moms and daughters brought together for a purpose other than school, homework, and chores. The Mother-Daughter Book Club instructs readers how to start their own club, how to run it, gives book suggestions, and activity suggestions etc. I also loved the book recommendations in the margins scattered through-out the book.