ANNOUNCING: The Meltwater Book Club!

While every one else is talking about President Bush and the Academy Award nominations today, I'm going to do something different and launch a monthly book club. That's right Oprah, today you have new competition. Currently very minor competition numbers-wise, but competition nonetheless; and I'll put my selections up against the best of any of the book clubs out there. I'll even offer a money-back guarantee. ;-)

The first of every month I'll choose a new selection and post a short review on my blog. For anyone who wants to read the book, there will be a link on the Amazon.com section of the sidebar, and then we can read, debate, discuss, and analyze to our hearts content in weekly updates posted on the blog--but not in the conventional sense. While literary merit will remain a key criterion of the Meltwater Book Club Selections, there will be absolutely no pretension, no fluff, no popularity contest, no obscure hidden meanings at the expense of a great story; and the overriding criterion for me, and hopefully for you as well, will be personal relevance.

There is an amazing amount of good writing out there, and all of us read for a variety of reasons: escape, adventure, vicarious thrills, relaxation and more. But not only does the best writing do all that, it does so in ways that each of us can relate to and learn from. It's fine to read a book to escape, to be entertained, to relax, to learn, and even just to revel in the language of words and rhyme. But when a book transcends all that and the experience of reading and learning leads to a new way of thinking or an insight that we can capture for our very selves and call our very own, then I believe that the book becomes a classic for the ages.

To me, a book does not have to be a Pulitzer Prize or National Book Award Winner or a New York Times Notable Book or receive a starred review from Publisher's Weekly or Booklist or Library Journal to be that classic. To be that classic, the book just needs to resonate in the soul. And that is no short order. When a book does resonate in the soul and can move people in very personal and private ways, it's a moment to rejoice and celebrate. The books that I choose for the Meltwater Book Club accomplish just that, and so much more.

I'm excited about my personal journey of self-discovery this enterprise will take me on. Won't you take this journey with me? The very first selection of the Meltwater Book Club is The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates.

Thanks for reading.