http://marylandlearning.pbwiki.com/LitLovers
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Maryland Libraries Learning 2.1 .......and more 
October 13, 2008 at 10:44 pm |
http://asmalllibraryinasmalltown.blogspot.com/2008/10/litlovers.html
October 14, 2008 at 7:38 pm |
Although LitLovers probably took longer to discover than the other “Things” I have explored to date, I think I enjoyed it most of all, probably because it is directly related to the reading of books! This site is great for anyone participating in a book club or thinking of organizing one. Under the LitClub segment I especially liked the three monthly recommendations: 1) A Lighter Touch 2) Wonderfully Written and 3) Great Works. These show three completely different genres for all different types of book clubs. The Fun Icebreakers section was also a good idea for discussion groups to begin their sessions. Another feature I enjoyed was breaking down good books according to Brand New, Recent, Ongoing and All-time so readers know what’s hot both currently and in a classic sense. Sometimes the hardest part for a book club member is picking the book to read! I checked out the resources for The Good Earth and there was a lot of good information there including discussion questions, etc. The LitCourse I enrolled in was How to Read: Finding Meaning. I found it very enjoyable to read the short story provided and educational as well. I haven’t really taken a literature course since college. Finally, I can easily see how LitLovers can be very useful at our library. We sponser several book group discussions for general fiction, mystery lovers, stay at home moms and senior citizens where this site would be very helpful. Also we have patrons who have their own private book clubs and we could offer LitLovers as an option for them as well.
October 14, 2008 at 11:38 pm |
LitLovers has practical uses for a librarian. The book discussion resources are especially helpful in leading a book discussion group. The entire process of choosing a title to developing questions to lead a discussion are covered in-depth. What could be easier and more laborsaving than to tap into a lesson plan that has already been made for you? In regard to that, I like creating my own questions as I read; however, LitLovers offers many suggestions that could be useful in developing my own lesson plan for a discussion group. The generic discussion questions are an example. They could be used to provide a rough outline that could be filled in with specifics from my own analysis of the book. The “In Her Own Words” section of LitLovers gives the librarian a chance to read what the author has to say about the influences that dictated her choice of subject matter and portrayal of character. Insight such as this can facilitate a deeper discussion of plot and character. The authors chosen by LitLovers are of high caliber who write titles of literary merit, Steinbeck, Ayn Rand, and Annie Proulx to name a few. LitLovers offers reviews and reviews are always assistive in choosing a title. LitFun is a useful tool for providing games and novelties for something like the Winter Reading Reception. I especially liked the Icebreaker Game section. LitShop was something I could do without. I think trying to sell items cheapens the academic nature of the site by making it a commercial endeavor. Who needs to buy a tea press to be a well informed reader?! LitClique was another option I could do without for the same reason; it diminishes the academic and moves the site into the cutesy category.
I took the LitCourse, How to Read Plot and got a remedial lesson on foreshadowing, flashbacks and suspended revelation. Overall, this is a site I would use in my job and as a reader’s advisory for myself, as I am always looking for good books.
October 15, 2008 at 8:42 pm |
I really enjoyed exploring LitLovers, especially reading the reviews, which I thought were exceptionally well done. I chose to look at Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, which is the most recent fiction book that I’ve read, and really loved. The discussion questions were great. I have to say, though, that 90% of what I read is non-fiction and although some non-fiction books were mentioned, a majority of what is on the site is fiction. I think that is just the general nature of book clubs, though. One recommendation I would make for the site is to have a search feature, where you can type in a title or author. Or, in my case, I just wanted to see what non-fiction books were reviewed, and I wasn’t able to look that way. I thought the site was fun and easy, and I spent quite a bit of time reading reviews and exploring. I will definitely recommend it to my customers that talk about having book clubs. Oh, I also liked the featured book club on the main page.
October 16, 2008 at 12:44 am |
I thought “Litlovers” was great! I had alot of fun looking at that sight. The more places you can go to discover books the better! And being able to look at some of the different recipes that you only read about was a joy too. Just think you could read a story about someone making a dish and it sounds so good and now you have a receipe to go with the book. It almost makes you feel like your right in the story. I even took that little test and passed. Unforntately, when I printed my cerfificate it didn’t print it out correctly. Oh well, at least I passed! Even surprised myself.
October 16, 2008 at 4:34 am |
Exploring LitLovers made me think that it would be a good idea for the next training of this kind to concentrate not on the technology, but on Readers Advisory, and investigate all the wealth of resources that is available online. As far as this site goes, it would be a wonderful resource, especially for those who is thinking about starting a book club. It’s nice to have all the discussion guides, but what I find even more helpful is the list of the generic questions that can be adapted to any book. I got excited about the courses, and I started with the first course. At first I thought that I was not impressed by it. It was called Literature Matters: Why We Read, and made a distinction between formulaic and imaginative literature, but concentrated on formulaic fiction, all the while stressing its shallow characters and unvarying plots, which to me was not the answer to the question “Why We Read?” But as I started writing about it, I realized that the information was rather interesting (I didn’t know about the actual tipsheets that publishers provide on request to authors)and useful (it can be used to spot formulaic elements in books we discuss at the bookclub). The presentation was well done technically, and somebody put a lot of work into providing relevant examples and even a quiz. I was interested to see their LitTalk section, but I couldn’t find it as the link from the wiki didn’t work, and I didn’t see it mentioned anywhere on the LitLovers website.
October 16, 2008 at 6:25 pm |
Litlovers is really great fun and very useful for book discussion groups.
It took me longer to get through this excercise because it was just so enjoyable. The one I enjoyed personally the best was the LitFlicks with the book and movie. I looked at the book, Gilead by Marilyn Robinson. It gave a lot of info from reviews to interesting information about the author.
This is a site that I would use personally and also on the job.
October 16, 2008 at 8:21 pm |
LitLovers was fantastic! I have been trying to get information concerning book clubs. this was very informative on book suggestions. I will use this site often. I took the litcourse, found it to be very easy and a useful.
October 16, 2008 at 8:24 pm |
Although I’m not a fiction enthusiast,I appreciated the description of romance writing styles and can understand them better now.
“Formulaic”and “Imaginative” allow me to better understand romance writing.
October 16, 2008 at 10:41 pm |
As someone who runs a book group, I am always on the lookout for new sites. I really enjoyed this one. It was a lot of fun to do one of the courses & I followed up on one of the books for discussion that I will be doing in November – The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, and saw the reviews & questions. There are many sites out there that give readers this same information. readinggroupguides.com is one of them, Random House and others. I did think LitLovers had a good website though and I liked the generic questions, the courses and other features. It is a site I will refer to again & I would like to work through all the courses. I agree with previous comments about its usefulness for librarians & readers.
October 17, 2008 at 12:18 am |
I specialize primarily in nonfiction but I would recommend LitLovers as a useful supplement to the EBSCO NoveList readers advisory database. Some of the blogs are very well-designed and feature original reviews and author interviews. I couldn’t find the link in the Book Club Girl blog for an audio interview with Sue Monk Kidd that coincides with the opening in theaters tomorrow of the motion picture based on her New York Times bestseller, “The Secret Life of Bees.” LitLover’s list of reading group guides was OK, but I strongly recommend the ReadingGroupGuides website with over 4,000 guides. Go to http://www.readinggroupguides.com/. I took the 30-min. course about demystifying the art of the plot, which featured William Faulkner’s famous short story, “A Rose for Emily.” The course material reminded me of some English lit. classes I took in college discussing such heavy-weight matters as Structure (shape of a plot), Chronology (timeline of events), Conflict ( tension), and Revelation (release of information) – minus the lecturing professor. On a scale of 1-10, I give LitLovers a 9. Excellent resource for readers advisory and collection development librarians, book discussion leaders, and your library’s programming and marketing department.
October 17, 2008 at 9:11 pm |
very good site. ties lots of things together and a useful tool for readers advisory and reference desk questions. I passed the course catalog on to my 7 grader, because it seemed like a easy and effective way to get up to speed on all the appreciation of literature things they don’t teach in schools anymore.
October 17, 2008 at 10:59 pm |
Of the sites we have explored so far, this one is my favorite – of course, because it is most directly related to our job and mission. Also, it’s just cool to explore books for anyone who loves to read. I feel this is a great site to refer people in book groups. I read the reviews for “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” (a book I enjoyed) and was impressed by the insights. I also took the course about Themes, which didn’t completely clear up my confusion, but was very interesting.
October 19, 2008 at 1:08 am |
This site is a favorite! This is not just a book discussion site but provides so much more! LitCourse is a wonderful idea! I took the course “Why do we read?” and found it very concise, informative and easy to understand. It enticed me to take the other courses as well. The way the monthly recommendations (Light Touch, Well Written and Great Works) and the Book Club Favorites (Brand New, Recent, Ongoing and All Time Favorites) are categorized assists in choosing a variety of books to read and recommend. LitFlicks and LitFood add additional fun and ideas for a discussion group. This site is great for reader’s advisory as well as for book clubs…I have already recommended it to a few friends!
October 19, 2008 at 1:37 am |
I really liked the Litlovers site, it does have a little something for everyone and I went into Litkids and saw how it was broken down into grade groups and even had how-to on book discussions, activities; a definite step by step on getting projects and goals started. The Litcourse on Reading was also very nice to see, there are a lot of readers who secretly think and dream of writing their own works, and this may help them understand the fundamentals of writing “a good story”.
A book that seems to be all the talk right now is “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” by David Wrublewski, every patron that has returned it has been very impressed with it and always has something to say about it. I think this book would be a good title to add to a discussion group. I noticed the Litlovers even has a how-to on getting a discussion group started, neat!
I didn’t sign up for a course on Litlovers because I’m already doing an on-line course at another site.
Another site for avid readers is good reads http://www.goodreads.com/ it’s a really neat site to virtually shelve your books as well as joining like minded readers in discussion groups.
October 20, 2008 at 8:13 pm |
I liked how comprehensive the LitLovers site seems to be. It is easy to use and navigate. The book discussion tools definitely help a person new to starting groups as well as aid those that have been doing groups for a long time. It serves as a resource for ideas for a group on what to read next. I liked the tie-ins of the movies and recipes. It adds a bit of fun and other thinking. The course element is refreshing. The course I took “how to read: Plot” was concise while teaching (or reminding) elements not often thought of. Overall it is good to know LitLovers as a resource.
October 20, 2008 at 9:40 pm |
Lit Lovers was very interesting and the courses seem like fun. I did not attempt a course since I am still in graduate school and could not enjoy it at this time. The blog was informative and popular books gave me new ideas for good reads. I liked the idea of book discussions for young children. My girls would have loved this idea and I think it is a great way to encourage an active interest in reading. The book discussion questions and ideas were also a plus. We have discussions at our library, but at this time I am not involved. This would be a great help if I would be leading a discussion or choosing books for the discussion.
Peggy
October 21, 2008 at 10:46 pm |
I really enjoyed Lit Lovers. I have been hoping to begin a Teen book club in Caroline, but I am not sure if there will be interested kids. The site gave great tips on how to begin and have successful clubs. I would have liked some book suggestions though for Kids/Teens.
The LitCourses are also interesting. I often find myself just reading the words on the page and not taking in the whole book. The “How to Read” courses could prove helpful.
October 22, 2008 at 10:14 pm |
This site is one that more traditional library-types would probably find very warm and welcoming. It’s straight-forward and pretty user-friendly. I really like some of the helpful links, such as: how to start your own book club, recipes for meetings, ice-breakers, etc.
I looked at the resources for one of my all-time favorites, Pride and Prejudice. The discussion questions were pretty good and timely. It looks like some of the newer, most popular titles are offered, but there still aren’t too many titles to choose from. I wonder how long the site has been around, whether they archive titles, etc.?
The LitCourses were okay, but I wasn’t overly impressed by them. I thought that they were a little Web 1.0’ish. You just click through and read some text in some little boxes. However, they are free, I suppose.
Overall, I can definitely see how this site would be of interest to public library patrons, especially those who are new to book clubs or just starting their first book club.
October 22, 2008 at 10:14 pm |
OK, now we’re talking…I bookmarked this site so that I could go to it again and again. I looked up notes and information on “Loving Frank,” because that happens to be my book club’s selection this month, and I haven’t read the book. I printed out the information and really appreciated the fact that it includes stuff on the author, reviews, and possible discussion questions. Someone has really put some work into this site. So, although I could probably lie and claim I’d read it, after looking over the LitGuide, I will more likely just tell everyone about this site for their future use. I also took the literature course on analyzing what you are reading. Very basic, but useful for someone who hasn’t understood literary analysis.
October 22, 2008 at 10:27 pm |
This was an awesome site for anyone who deals with book groups. There were tons of suggestions for books and the questions were great. It is not something I would use but I know plenty of coworkers who would. One thing I did like were the lessons provided such as how to read irony. They seem very interesting and would probably be helpful to most people but again,time is my biggest problem. I don’t have enough of it!
October 23, 2008 at 1:29 am |
I really liked this site, and I have had patrons ask for suggestions about books to read for a book club. I looked up several books, including “The Color of Water”. I was thrilled to find out that the author is a fellow Obie (he graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory, I graduated from the college) and I liked the suggested discussion questions. As for the LitCourses, I was surprised at first by how minimal they seemed, but I enjoyed the course on character. I was unable to link to the suggested reading passage, but I did well on the quiz anyway based on their discussion of the book. Thanks for telling us about this site!
October 23, 2008 at 1:53 am |
Looks like I may be the only one who didn’t love LitLovers…
I blog about why that is here: http://postingsfromlibraryland.blogspot.com/2008/10/lit-picking.html
I may refer patrons to it, but only with the B&N caveat.
October 23, 2008 at 11:23 pm |
Well, let’s see…I printed off the 26 lit fun ideas for kids, I might use some of these in my Home School Book Group. As someone who lead book discussions before they were so popular I feel that this could have been very useful back then. But now there are so many different book discussion tools, I think it doesn’t really stand out too much among the others. It is in an easy to use format and very attractive. (I give it points for that) I might use it as an additional resource for patrons looking for book club help. I think it is fun how they have the online courses for lit 101 topics. I am glad to know about it.
October 24, 2008 at 4:34 am |
LitLovers was a pretty cool website. Anyone that likes book clubs would love this site!! It’s nice how it gives people many tips like questions to ask at the club and “icebreakers.” Some of the questions reminded me of the ones that we would use when I was in college to discuss the piece that we were reading that week…..time warp.
The Book Club Favorites part is really resourceful for people that are looking to start a book club because they can see which books are the most popular right now by other book clubs. I think libraries could even use this resource too to see what’s popular.
I think this site is not just useful for people in book clubs, but students as well. The discussion questions for a specific book are actually similar to some of the questions a student might see on a test, so the student can really familiarize themselves with the key points/issues that the book addresses. The LitCourses are also helpful since they introduce many of the literary themes and terms that students will need to have a grasp on when studying literature….the site is def. a good way for a student to get “ahead of the game.”
October 25, 2008 at 10:54 pm |
I spent more time on Lit Lovers than on any of the others so far. This is a great site! I especially liked the LitKids. We have recently started a TAG at my branch and book discussions will be coming up soon. This had the best ideas of what to do and how to do it. We have a “Chapter Club” for upper elementary school kids: it runs twice a month. It was really neat to see how ours compares to theirs. I didn’t take a course. Looking at the choices of topics and the book titles given, I came to the conclusion that I read for pure enjoyment. It may be selfish of me, but I don’t want to read for all the reasons that were shown: I don’t care about plots, protaganists, etc. If the book is a good read, I’ll read it! I’m not much of being told this is the book you HAVE to read. I checked out the reviews of “Running with Scissors”. It was written: The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock- therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing and bestselling account of an ordinary boy’s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances. (From the publisher.) I totally agree! The book was funny but with an underlying sadness. This is one site I’ll be coming back to a lot.
October 27, 2008 at 9:05 pm |
http://amysbloggertestblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/md-learning-21-thing-5-litlovers.html
Thanks!
October 28, 2008 at 1:46 am |
I really like this site. I share moderating a book club with another librarian, and this is a site that we can refer to for ideas on books, discussion questions and even different ways to get your group to be interactive quickly. I plan on coming back to this site often.
As ofr how it can be used in the library, we often have patrons ask how they can start a book club…this would be a good starting place. Perhaps this site should be under Reader’s Place on the library’s homepage.
October 28, 2008 at 2:09 am |
I thought this site offered a nice change of pace, and I enjoyed exploring the different sections. In Litclub, I found ideas for book clubs, including reading guides, lists of recommended or popular books for discussion, helpful tips for leading the discussion, suggested questions to stimulate discussion, pointers to keep in mind while reading a book, icebreakers, how to start up and lead a book club and much more.
I also enjoyed looking at the Litcourse offerings on topics like irony, symbolism, point of view, plot, character, and theme. Each class included readings and discussion and a little quiz. I took the first one. It was a short class but the content seemed solid and surprisingly informative. I particularly liked the readings. And I thought it might inspire an interesting book club discussion to compare and contrast the romantic version of love presented in the first reading with the more realistic version exposed in the second one by Kate Chopin.
LitFun showcased recipes and ideas for food from around the world (possible refreshments for book club meetings); Great Adaptations of books into movies; and LitKids, featuring helpful ideas for starting book clubs for kids of all ages, including Reading activities and Book discussion questions.
I don’t run book discussions, but frequently do reader’s advisory and the information here is a nice complement to other reader’s advisory tools like Novelist
October 28, 2008 at 8:24 pm |
I agree that out of all the different sites so far , I enjoyed this one the most and spent more time there. Actually after I explored it the first time, I had a patron come into work that invited me to join her bookclub and I gave her the site and told her that this might be a benefit for her also. The quizzes are very user friendly and some were (I thought) basic English Lit information. I enjoyed the “Lit Flicks” and also printed off some information in the “Lit Fun” area. Great site & I know I will go back to it in the future.
October 29, 2008 at 12:02 am |
I am sad to Say that reading is not what I get to do anymore. I listen to books, almost exclusively, when I get the chance. But I will certainly refer others to the site. I have had many reference questions regarding where to find good discussion ideas for specific titles. The courses could be helpful for overviews on “how to read” – but I don’t like clicking on pages – give me a slideshow! Overall – the site is pleasant to look at and easy to navigate.
October 29, 2008 at 10:05 pm |
It was nice to have an assigment that was just pure fun. I really enjoyed LitLovers and I liked that the site had such an upbeat tone. I took the literature and plot courses and they were interesting although they certainly weren’t equal to a freshman college level class as claimed. This is an excellent resource for librarians and others who run book discussion groups. When I was a book moderator I often found reading guides on the internet to share with my group. We can also suggest this site to patrons who participate in book discussion groups or want readers advisory suggestions.
October 29, 2008 at 11:01 pm |
Like everyone else, I enjoyed the time that I spent exploring the LitLover site. I chose “The Lovely Bones” as my book and was pleased with the information that was provided. The summary, author info, reviews and questions were very helpful. I especially liked the information about Alice’s non-fiction book, “Lucky,” and the explanation of the relationship between the two books. I would have been very disappointed if this info was missing. The fact that it was included gave me confidence in both the site itself and the information they are putting out there.
I enjoyed reading the list of favorite books and the 3 that LitLovers recommends monthly. I saw a lot of familiar titles and agree that many of them would make for great reading group discussions. I thought that the LitCourses sounded interesting and I plan on enrolling in a few to see what I can learn!
I think this site is a great resource at the library and at home. We can share it with patrons who are interested in reading groups or just reading.
October 30, 2008 at 10:17 pm |
I loved the lit lovers site!
I don’t have time to participate or start a book club, but if I did, this would be the perfect tool to utilize. I love the idea of book clubs or book discussion groups for kids; I think this would be a good idea for even pre-school ages!
I explored the guides for A River Runs Through It and Little Women – enjoyed them very much. Like the review features.
Took the course for point of view, and learned a few things I didn’t know before! Enjoyed that very much. Will be back to take the other courses in the future.
For library use, of course this site would be of immense use to someone in charge of book discussion groups, and I think, even for Story Time librarians – I bet book discussion could be incorporated in various ways, into a story time format, or possibly just a whole separate entity.
October 30, 2008 at 11:33 pm |
Now this is GOOD !! This is a site that I will immediately reccomend to our two very active book groups. They are frequently looking for a good book and would like some fresh resources. There are some good sources for info about the storyline of the book, the book’s authors, three reads from lighter touch to “Great Works”, and much more. I have even decided to “take a course” on character- mainly because I prefer character driven books to plot driven. I will report again on how useful the course seemed.
October 31, 2008 at 12:13 am |
I really enjoyed investigating Lit Lovers. I would like to see a larger selection to choose from which I am sure she will add as time goes on.
I think it would be very useful for parents or tutors to use to help students to understand English assignments using the concept of theme, point of view, etc. It was a good refresher for me and I especially appreciate the examples
It also gave me the opportunity to read some stories I might not have been inclined to read otherwise.
If I had a bookclub, I would definitely use this site.
November 2, 2008 at 12:52 am |
LitLovers would be a an excellent resource for a book discussion group leader. The ‘leading a book discussion group’ link would be especially helpful as well as the reading guide.
Litlovers blog? I just don’t care for blogs (though I understand the use of it here) and I don’t think they substitute for actual, in-person book discussions. In the ‘how to participate in book discussion group’ link, the following was stated “1. Avoid “like” or “dislike.” Those terms aren’t very helpful for moving discussions forward, and
they can make others feel defensive. Instead, talk
about your experience, how you felt as you read
the book.”
That would be enough for me not to participate in such a book discussion group. I’m not in favor of restrictions on speech when in a book discussion group or most anything else. How can you have an open dialogue when boundaries such as that are set?
November 3, 2008 at 3:53 am |
Lit lovers was a fabulous website. I had a great time reading reviews, learning about authors and looking at book club information. I will have to come back and look at it some more and take one of the courses they offer. This was my favorite “thing” so far!
November 4, 2008 at 2:29 am |
Forgot to post about this. My fave so far. I too have wanted to start a teen book discussion club and this would be a great resource. Have it bookmarked to explore more on my own. Definitely a site I would recommend.
November 6, 2008 at 2:57 am |
Well, as a “lit lover” myself, I had to bookmark Lit Lovers! This is an awesome site for both librarians and our patrons. So much to see and explore, with lots of good ideas. The Lit Courses are an especially great idea, and something I would like to try. I think our patrons would also be very interested in what Lit Lovers has to offer. Maybe we could link to it on Reader’s Place? (on the HCPL website)
What a great find! 🙂
November 8, 2008 at 1:01 am |
As I work soley in the children’s department, and since I do not really read anything anymore other than kids’ books, this site didn’t do too much for me. I liked the sample questions for leading a children’s book club, and I enrolled myself in the course on an Arthur Conan Doyle story. That was interesting. I would definitely recommend this to put on our website (HCPL)for our Reader’s Place link—I think A LOT of people would enjoy it.
November 8, 2008 at 3:22 am |
I spent more time here as well, again because I can see it’s practical applications to what we do in libraries and with the current popularity of community book clubs I can see anyone who runs or is in a book club using this source a lot. Liked that they had info for kids clubs for different age ranges. I could see using this for readers advisory as well. The lit courses were not what I expected though – just slides to click on. The blogs would be a time sucker for me, if I’m not careful. This is my favorite so far.
November 15, 2008 at 12:25 am |
Very useful. I am recommending this site to a few males (college grads) who do not enjoy reading, but would like to. If people are self-motivated to start a book discussion group or network their reading adventures or take a course this is a great tool. I find reading deeply interesting and look forward to finishing Babylon Revisited.
November 15, 2008 at 12:26 am |
Very useful. I am recommending this site to a few males (college grads) who do not enjoy reading, but would like to. If people are self-motivated to start a book discussion group or network their reading adventures or take a course this is a great tool. I find reading deeply interesting and look forward to finishing Babylon Revisited. Revised attached blog address.
November 15, 2008 at 1:35 am |
Loved Litlovers!! I especially enjoyed the litlovers recipes found on litfun/litfood. I will difinately try the ‘french onion soup’ recipe tonight. I also took the ‘The Novel: a Mirror of the World’ litcourse. It was different; but fun too-not as much though:| I now appreciate the importance of literary realism.
November 16, 2008 at 12:31 am |
Litlovers is a great guide for book clubs and more. This is a high quality site with lots of great information and extras. As a book club novice, I found the site wonderful. The courses provided just enough instruction, without being too much of a chore. I took the course on settings. (In order to print the certificate, go to advanced internet options and select “print background colors and images.”) The parts that interested me most were the fun extras. The site has expanded my idea of “what is a book club” to include games and movie tie-ins. Another new idea was a book club for the very young. Could we incorporate more discussion into our storytimes? Litlovers is a great readers advisory tool, too. The picks offer a wide variety of titles according to reading style (a lighter touch, wonderfully written, great works). Books I would consider for discussion are Animal, Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner. I added this site to our library delicious account.
November 16, 2008 at 12:44 am |
I was pleased to reunited myself with what LitLovers has to offer. Some time ago it had been suggested for me to take a look at this and I took a peek. However this time I was able to spend some time browsing through LitClubs, Litfun. I could see where librarians would have a wonderful way of utilizing this for book recommendations as well as Book Clubs.
I will definitely be taking more time to review it in hopes to enhance storytimes and recommend it to parents and colleagues.
November 19, 2008 at 12:32 am |
Being a lit lover, I love LitLovers! I really like all the book discussion guides, the suggested books, and especially LitFun, where you can go to find out film adaptations of books, food suggestions for a theme type of thing for a book club discussions and an option for kids also. I think it is a great resource for libraries wishing to entice readers to become more involved in their libraries – just get them in the door! I think that LitCourse is good to provide backup training to staff members who need some guidance in recommended reads for their patrons. I will be taking that on next! Thanks for directing us to this site, I have it bookmarked!
November 19, 2008 at 7:46 pm |
I guess you could say it has taken me weeks to explore this site (I’ve been poking at it for a while now). I must admit that I do like it. They offer so much helpful information for book discussions what with the background information, author information and questions. I think that those who currently run or want to start a book club would find this site very useful and it is a good website to know exists to provide an additional resource to those who need book discussion questions and the like. And, I love to read the blog!
November 25, 2008 at 3:57 am |
Great site. I can see the usefulness of it whether all of its resources are utilized or just some of them. The reviews and author information were very thorough. I can also see making use of Lit Lovers for reader’s advisory for individuals, not just book clubs. I really liked the courses – I don’t think you have to read the recommended books to benefit from them, though that would help – the courses are just good overviews to help the reader get the most out of his/her reading experience. In fact the whole site seemed designed to make participating in a book club as much of an experience and as good an experience as possible.
December 2, 2008 at 8:41 pm |
I’ve used Lit Lovers to find information for my book discussion groups and have found it to be a useful site. It’s one of my favorite 2.1 things so far, especially the LitFun part…anything having to do with food gets high marks in my book!
December 7, 2008 at 1:38 am |
Like everyone else, I found Lit Lovers to be a welcome break. It is easy to use and has a lot of appeal for anyone who likes to read and talk about books. I have a friend who struggles with her book group. The discussions often lag and I think the recommended titles and discussion tips and suggestions on this site who could be a big help. I also enjoyed the blog. I was disappointed in the course section. When I read about it, I thought there would be more diversity in the topics and the books used. It is possible that the courses themselves could be interesting, but when I saw what the choices were, I just moved on to other parts of the site. I have added this to del.icio.us and I expect to check it regularly.
December 16, 2008 at 2:00 am |
Litlovers seems like a good fit for libraries. The Book Club section offers a lot to boost ideas and content for library book discussion groups. It has also given me some food for thought about an adult reading group during the summer.
January 6, 2009 at 6:15 am |
This was a great site to explore. I presently work with an adult book discussion group at our library. We are always looking for great reads. The readers guides will be quite helpful. I will definitely pass this on to our group members and library patrons.
January 14, 2009 at 12:49 am |
Ah, a site to make a librarian’s (and humanities major’s) heart go pitter-patter! What useful content! Librarians and others who lead book discussion groups are always looking for reading ideas and jumping-off points (i.e. discussion questions), and there are so many gathered here. As someone who really enjoys getting into quick — but valuable, of course — learning activities, some of the course content looked like my cup of tea. I will need to give it more time and effort to get more out of it. This site has so much practical application for readers’ advisory work — another del.icio.us entry!
January 20, 2009 at 3:21 am |
LitLovers is a very fun site, even for someone just looking for a good book since titles book clubs pick need to be thought provoking in some way. Our library system has a number of book discussion groups who could take advantage of this. Even the courses look interesting. I skimmed through one of them – never realized the novel was such a “new” creation. All this and food, too!
January 31, 2009 at 11:45 pm |
I think Litlovers is terrific! It looks like it is great for starting/running a book discussion group and for selecting your next good book. I often encounter patrons who have been reading the same “popular” authors forever and want something meatier. They often express a desire to read a “real” book or something that classifies as “literature.” I think this a good place to start. Occasionally, I am asked to recommend something for a book discussion group and this is a good place for that also. I would have no problem recommending Litlovers to patrons and showing them what is to be found at this site.
February 10, 2009 at 9:00 am |
Talk about Kismet! I just found out that we have someone willing to moderate a Book discussion group at our branch and here is a one stop, everything I need to know to help her along. I really liked Litlovers. I have bookmarked it on my laptop so I can refer to the suggested list of titles to get us started.
October 21, 2020 at 7:08 am |
Your style is very unique compared to other folks I have
read stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you have
the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this site.