Welcome - APOOO

As you know, we live in a time when you can just about anything virtually. Email, chat rooms, wireless technology...all make it possible for you to connect with people with mere tap on a keyboard or keypad. In recognition of that, this month's book club feature introduces a "virtual" book club: APOOO Books. I interviewed the clubs' founder and president, Yasmin Coleman, and she shared how they get things done virtually.

Welcome to Urban Christian Fiction Today, Yasmin. Tell us about APOOO. APOOO (A Place of Our Own) is an online book club and author and reader community dedicated to advancing African American literature. Our mission is to expose readers of all ages to a good book in any genre; to support African American authors, books, literary events and book clubs; to provide marketing resources, tools and tips to authors; and, to promote literacy within the African American community.

With the encouragement of fellow amazon.com review friends, APOOO Books was founded in 2000 by Yasmin Coleman as a book club for friends and fellow reviewers who wanted ‘A Place of Our Own’ to release, relate, relax and fellowship in a comfortable environment while discussing a good book. Because we enjoy discussing books openly and honestly with like-minded individuals, the book club is by invitation only and limited to 30 members.

Since inception, APOOO Books has grown from a book club to include a review team, bookstore and promotional/publicity arm. APOOO is an authority on book recommendations for all African American genres and is known for our ability to read, discuss, and critically dissect a book. Need the 411 regarding a good book? Look no further than APOOO. We can offer recommendations for a good book in any genre.

I have always loved the name of your book club. Tell me why you selected the name and what it means to you. APOOO stands for A Place of Our Own. Over 10 years ago, I had the vision to open a book store and I needed a name. I went to my sorority sisters and asked them to help me come up with one. I told them that I wanted something that would represent us—African Americans and that the book store I had in mind would be an old, Victorian styled home with various rooms (i.e. kids place, meeting room, reading room overlooking the river). Hence, APOOO/A Place of Our Own was born.

Are you exclusively online or are there local chapters? We are exclusively online…and this is a lot of work. Not sure I could handle overseeing local chapters. LOL.

How does your club have its “virtual” book club discussions?
The Book-of-the-Month (BOM) discussion begins the fourth Sunday of the month. The facilitator for that month starts the discussion with a question or list of questions and for a week or so members chime in with feedback/comments via the e-mails. Occasionally, we’ve discussed books via online chats as well as with authors via phone and online conversations.

How do you make your book selections, and how can an author get your club’s attention? Each member has a chance to nominate one book that they would like to read for a given month. Books nominated are entered into a poll. Book with the highest number of votes becomes the BOM. If an author is interested in having us consider their book as a BOM, we ask them to follow the link below to have their book reviewed by the review team. Books that we’re partial to reading as a group include literary fiction, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, fantasy/sci-fi, mysteries and a few non-fiction books.

Tell me a Christian Fiction book your club enjoyed last year? What made it standout? One of my favorites that I read and reviewed at the end of last year, but it’s actually a 2009 release, is The Someday List by Stacy Hawkins Adams. It stood out because it was well-written, creativity crafted, possessed strong character development, steady pacing, realistic without being preaching and the ending didn’t wrap everything up in a pretty, little neat package. And, it make me think about what I would include on my own ‘Someday List.’

APOOO does book reviews, a valuable resource for authors and the African-American reading community. Tell us about your review service. We have a team of 15 reviewers and review all genres including poetry, non-fiction, street-lit, erotica, Christian fiction as well as all the other genres. And our services are still FREE. If an author is interested having their book reviewed by APOOO, they can click on the link below for more details.
http://www.apooobooks.com/authors-lounge/book-submissions/

We ask author’s to note the disclaimer below:
Please note that at APOOO, we do not believe that reviewers can serve two masters–authors and readers. We honestly have to choose and decide who we want to direct our reviews to as well as whom we want to influence with our reviews. While we respect authors, and it is not our intent to flame any author, APOOO’s first priority is to readers. With that in mind, we aim to continue to write reviews that will help readers decide which book is best for them. We look forward to providing reviews for authors who are looking for open and honest feedback.

Yasmin, you obviously have a passion for reading, please share anything else you’d like us to know about APOOO and its commitment to African-American literacy. Rhonda, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to discuss APOOO. Our motto is ‘promoting our voices, showcasing our stories’ and APOOO is always willing to give authors a platform…many times at no charge other than a couple of books for giveaways. I invite readers and authors to visit us at http://www.apooobooks.com/ to get to know us better, to keep abreast of what’s going on in the African Literature Diaspora and to find out APOOO can better serve you.

Welcome Phenomenal Women Book Club

Today we have our monthly book club feature and I'm pleased to introduce the lovely ladies of Phenomenal Women Book Club. I had the pleasure of meeting some of these ladies in Florida last summer. After visiting their website I knew I wanted to know more about them. I interviewed the club president, Makeda Peterson.

Welcome Makeda. Tell us about Phenomenal Women book Club.
Phenomenal Women Book Club is based in the Greater New Orleans area in Louisiana and we currently have 21 local members and 2 out of town auxiliary members. We have been meeting since October 2007 once per month, on the second Saturday of each month. Our meetings usually last 2-3 hours to discuss the book of the month, socialize, and cover club business (community service, fundraisers, outside literary events, upcoming books to discuss, any new info). Our members usually try to incorporate foods, themes, settings or something from the book into the discussions. We have held meetings in restaurants, member’s homes, and even in a battered women’s shelter that we were holding a book drive for. We originally began meeting after everyone had returned from Hurricane Katrina as a way of entertainment and to bond with female family and friends. Most of us have settled lifestyles and don’t go out to clubs and since most of us are readers and tend to discuss books whenever we see one another it seemed that a book club would be the perfect solution.

Our members range in age from 21-53; it creates a wide variety of responses and opinions about the books and questions. We also have a few ladies interested and attempting writing careers and the group makes a great critiquing audience. PWBC is also dedicated in performing community services and has also started a non-profit to promote literacy, other necessities and literary events in our community. We are committed to encouraging and promoting good books by providing book reviews on amazon.com and our website of books the group discusses or books that are sent to us by authors for review.

Wow! What an awesome introduction. I had no idea you has so many members and did so much community service.

I see that your group is a Brian Smith fan. Tell me what you enjoy about his writing? Brian W. Smith is a native of New Orleans and was the first author we contacted to meet with. He fully embraced Phenomenal Women Book Club and our community service efforts. His books are always quick reads that are entertaining from cover to cover. They are usually about controversial subjects that tend to split the members responses to them in many ways. It is also a plus to have an author willing to come in to speak with readers to discuss their books.

Tell us about a Christian Fiction selection you read last year and what you enjoyed about it? “Soul Matters” by Yolonda Tonette Sanders was the only Christian Fiction book we read as a group last year. Sanders created flawed funny characters with personalities familiar to all of us. In “Soul Matters” we found parts that made us feel sad, mad, happy, thankful and blessed. We were focusing on reading different types of genres our first year but will be reading a number of books including Christian poetry, Christian self help and more Christian Fiction titles this year.

Anything you’d like to see more or less of in Christian Fiction?
Christian Fiction short stories and anthologies are two things we don’t see a lot of that readers could benefit from.

How do you make your monthly book selections?
Each month two members volunteer to be book captain and co-captain of the month. The book title and genre is usually picked by the book captain. We try to read different genres to give each of our members an opportunity to read their favorite types of books and to enlighten others to a variety of new styles. We have collectively decided not to read Sci-fi; none of the members seem to enjoy that particular genre. We also focus on reading books by or about blacks. PWBC also chooses books based on if an author offers to meet with us.

You made the journey to the Faith and Fiction Retreat in Destin Florida last summer. I enjoyed meeting you ladies. You have a contagious energy. Tell us why you chose to make the trip. The Faith and Fiction Retreat of 08 was the first out of town event we decided to attend. We were just wrapping up a big book drive when we received an invitation to the retreat from author Tiffany Warren. We were all in need of a break but only 5 of our members were able to attend. We had also already selected Christian Fiction book “Soul Matters” by Yolonda Tonette Sanders (an author who was scheduled to be a panelist at F&F 08) as our book of the month for August. It seemed that He was leading us to the Faith and Fiction retreat, so we went with it.

What was the best part of the retreat? Can I expect to see you this year?
We were not in attendance for the entire retreat but truly enjoyed every event we were present for. It was great to network with the authors, staff and fellow readers. The group attending the event all seemed genuinely open and friendly. I’m not sure yet how many PWBC members will be attending the retreat this year, but we will be represented by as many as possible. We have two out of town events planned that are almost back to back (The Faith and Fiction retreat and the National Book Club Conference) so most members will only be attending 1 of the events. I (Makeda Peterson) have been asked to be a moderator for one of the authors and will be attending the retreat with my family and PWBC members.

Sounds great, I’ll look forward to seeing you again.

Anything else you want to share about your bookclub?
We are a phenomenal group of ladies who enjoy reading, writing, networking with other book clubs and authors, being in fellowship together and serving our community. PWBC plans to be around for a very long time and recently made 5 year goals for our future. It is our hopes to be able to provide scholarships to students studying the Arts, host a book festival in New Orleans, meet with some of our favorite authors and encourage and promote PWBC members pursuing careers in writing. We are willing to attend literary events, be a part of community service efforts by other clubs and individuals, and network with authors and clubs. Our website is http://www.phenomenalwomenbookclub.com/ and we can be contacted by email there.

1st Anniversary Picture

You certainly are a phenomenal group of women. Love that gold!

Thank you so much for sharing your book club with the readers at Urban Christian Fiction Today.

This lovely book club is featured on Oprah's book club listing...click here

Reader's Paradise Book Club

Today I welcome Reader’s Paradise for my monthly book club feature. Laverne Brown aka Missy to avid readers and writers all over the Internet graciously agreed to answer my questions.

When I asked for the name of the president of Reader’s Paradise, she said “All members take ownership of the group, but my our co-founders is Melody Vernor.” I thought that was a particularly cool statement. So let’s find out more about this tight knit group of sisters.

Welcome Missy. Tell us about Reader’s Paradise Book Club. Reader’s Paradise is not only a book club but a sister circle. We take pride in nurturing our circle and being autonomous. We actually started with two and no more for a long time.

After church Mel and I would sit around and just talk about everything. But our conversations were always centered on books; the ones we read those we wanted to buy and some we’ve collected. After several chats we realized we enjoyed many of the same authors and genre, except Mel is a huge fan of mystery while I have an affinity for inspirational reads. One Sunday after church Mel said she was starting a book club and I told her to count me in. We had our first official meeting October 8th, 2006, and at that time we were called “Fat Gurrl Book Club” affectionately named after Mel’s business.

After a few months I told a few friends and I told more friends and so on and so on. Then in August as a book club we went to the “Soul Expression Tour “and met someone who practically joined that day. Rewind just a little bit; in April 2007 we were four strong and decided to change the name to reflect all members of the book club and we took a vote and came up with “Reader’s Paradise”. The name came from us truly escaping into that book and it becoming our paradise until the last page. Fast forward beyond August 2008 currently Reader’s Paradise has 7 members; 4 of which are active.

Each member take turns hosting our BOM discussions; the host plans the food, theme, discussion and location, and as a group we vote on the book of the month. We meet on a monthly basis preferably the last Saturday of the month. During the holidays we prefer to meet the week before.

When I invited you on the blog, part of your response included, “…we are small but we’re here.” Chicago is a big city, tell me why you remain small? Every year I create a survey and ask all active members to complete it. Each year when the results are returned the majority says “I rather keep it 10 and no more”. We enjoy the intimacy of a small group and blessing other book clubs with our presence. In October this year we had our second year celebration at a café in the Hype Park section of Chicago and invited another book club to join us named Kreative Readers and we had a blast! We also invited 2 Chicago authors D.J. McLaurin and Phylydia Hudson. We shared a meal, our thoughts, and some personal things about us. One of the benefits of keeping it small is space, all of us have small homes so trying to host a BOM at home works. (smile) We recently opened our membership to serious readers in the Chicagoland area. But we will keep the number under 10. Prior to joining the member will have to attend 4 meetings and be able to meet on Saturdays for 2-3 hours for the discussions. The prospective member must also have email, and check it daily much of our communications are done online.

Tell me about a Christian or inspirational book your group recently read and enjoyed and what you liked about it. I would have to say “Conversations with God”: a true story by Neale Walsch. We watched the DVD and was truly inspired by it. Sometimes many of us walk around wondering is God speaking to us if He is why can’t I hear Him, How is it that she can hear Him and I can’t. Mr. Walsch believes that communicating with God could be a feeling, or those voices you hear while asleep, and that in fact it is audible. We just have to fine tune our receivers, absolutely a spiritual reawakening.

Anything you’d like to see more of in Christian Fiction? Less of? I’d like to see fewer stories about characters losing faith and more of Christians dealing with life and the struggles. How we call on the Lord and journey with one another while trying to live righteous.

You’re an avid reader and book reviewer, tell us about your process for reviewing books. I love to read and will read a cereal box or label because of my affinity for reading. I began reviewing with RAW SISTAZ in 2000 and APOOO shortly after that. I really didn’t know I had anything to say about a book I thought I just enjoyed books. But once you get started you find yourself with a unique opportunity; the chance to revisit the characters and the plot all over again and share that with others. (simply outstanding!)

While reading I keep a note pad with me at all times. I jot down things I think I might want to add to my review, locations, events, characters words and my feelings. I also look within the book to find out if the author tells us what he or she is attempting to do with the book. If it is listed I will mention whether I felt the author succeeded or not.

Does Reader’s Paradise have any special plans or goals for 2009? 2009 we’ll be planning our annual retreat for 2010; also we are partnering with a ministry in the Chicagoland area to do some Outreach and mentoring. I’m very excited about this because I have always wanted us to be more than a book club. In the last 2 years we have grown and our circle continues to grown closer and I am grateful to God for each and every member and what they add to Reader’s Paradise.

Anything else you want to share about your book club? I would like to say Reader’s Paradise is a fantastic book club and the nucleus of our group is our Lord & Saviour. I don’t think a business can flourish unless you go through some things and it is then that you know what you KNOW! Stay in His grip ladies of Reader’s Paradise!

How can readers and authors find out more about Reader’s Paradise? If you are interested in more information about Reader’s Paradise you can stop by my inbox anytime at readersparadise4u@yahoo.com or visit use 24/7 at www.myspace.com/readersparadise

We also have a presence on Shelfari c’mon stop by and stay current on the book we are reading, we you can spot us and what authors will be blessing us.

Great Interview, Missy. Thanks for stopping by!

Women of Character Book Club

This month our book club feature shines the spotlight on an awesome group of ladies in sunny, Orlando, Florida. The Women of Character Book Club is another group dedicated to reading books that uplift and grow them spiritually. I interviewed the group's president, Jenelle.

Welcome to UCF Blog, Jenelle, tell us about how the Women of Character Book Club Inc. come to be? I was introduced to Christian fiction in 2004 by an angel in disguise, Pamela, who suggested that I read Jamellah Ellis’ book, “That Faith, That Trust, That Love”. This novel was given to me at a time in my life when I was going “THROUGH”, both spiritually and emotionally! It was as if the Lord spoke directly to me through this novel. Soon after, I began reading so much that it had become like oxygen; I needed it to survive. This divine intervention caused a newfound interest in Christian fiction, which was very empowering and inspirational because I was able to see myself in many of the characters with a spiritual lesson being revealed in each one. I believe that because of the seed that was sown into my life, it is now my ministry to share the word of God by blessing others with the opportunity of experiencing God’s love through Christian fiction.

Our mission is to provide women an arena to fellowship, encourage and empower each other by discussing personal experiences as it relates to the Word of God through Christian Fiction. The “Women of Character Book Club” has a sincere desire to be used as a vessel to enable a passionate discovery of each woman’s destiny, to share the Word of God, and to advocate for women with compassion

The Women of Character Book Club is located in Orlando, Florida and was “born” in 2005, with the makings of eight women. The interest and excitement of the group members sort of fueled a reading frenzy and is continually growing by word of mouth. We are a group of women of all ages from different backgrounds, but share a common bond- we love the Lord and enjoy reading Christian Fiction. The fellowship and new friendships that have been formed have really been a blessing.

Romans 1:12- “When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.”

Great history and mission. Tell me, what format do your meetings take place?
We currently meet on the 3rd Saturday every other month at a member’s church. We always open up in prayer for the Lord to lead our discussions. When we have women that are visiting, we discuss our mission statement and review the importance of confidentiality. A designated member will open up with an Ice Breaker. This is a time for them to share a word of inspiration, empowerment and sister-building.

It is through the story lines portrayed in the novels that sometimes hit really close to home, which allows an opportunity for self-discovery in a supportive and compassionate environment. Our discussions are based on real-life experiences as it relates to the word of God.
We have had the opportunity to talk with authors such as Kendra Norman-Bellamy, Stacy Hawkins Adams, Victoria Christopher Murray, Sherri L. Lewis and ReShonda Tate Billingsley via speakerphone. We were blessed to have met Patricia Haley at a book signing for “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”. We have also been blessed to have Tia Collors visit us as our guest as we discussed “The Truth about Love”.

Women of Character with Author, Tia McCollors.

We have open membership at this time. For more information, please e-mail Jenelle at jb@womenofcharacterbookclub.com.

Tell us about a recent Christian Fiction book that I have recently enjoyed and why? Wow…that is a tough one. I would have to say that I really enjoyed, “Dance into Destiny” written by Sherri L. Lewis. This novel has a little bit of everything; love, how past relationships can affect current ones , finding true friendship, Christian dating and a lot more. The way that Sherri wrote about what it means to build a relationship with God and how she used the characters to explain it was very realistic and inspirational. If you have ever asked yourself,” Why was I created?” or “What is God’s pre-ordained purpose?”, then this novel will definitely get the creative juices flowing.

What would you like to see more and/or less of in Christian Fiction?
We are enjoying the realistic issues. Please continue to keep it real. May God continue to inspire the authors of the Christian Fiction genre. I am sure that whatever the Lord puts on the authors heart to write will be a blessing to someone.

Any aspiring writers in your group?
Yes, there is a couple that I am aware of. Ellena who has started a writing blog called www.blogspot.com/amengirlfriends, she is also in the process of writing a book. There is also Shawn who feels that she will be finished with her book by the end of the year. I can’t wait for the world to see what these ladies have in store.

As you know, book clubs come and go, how does the Women of Character Book Club stand the test of time? I feel our book club has lasted as long as it has mainly because God has always been the center of every decision made .In the beginning the majority of us came together with mostly one thing in common, and that was our love of reading. Over time a bond was formed from the discussions and personal testimonies. So over the years it has become about more than reading a book. We are excited to see each, to encourage, and be encouraged in our daily walk. We are a small intimate group that truly love each other.

The WOC is also a safe haven, a place where members can share their joy’s and sorrow’s, it’s a sisterhood built on faith bound by our desire to go beyond the boundary of books and see what God is speaking into our hearts and minds. It is for this reason that I think we have been able to maintain and grow. WOC has allowed me to experience sisterly fellowship with women who understand that we are all “Water Colored Pearls” (a novel written by Stacy Hawkins Adams that was our 2007 book of the year).

Please share anything else you’d like to know about your book club.
There is something special that I enjoy doing for the women that attend our book club discussions. I make bookmarks to remember the novel that was discussed. These bookmarks have a biblical scripture relating to message in the novel. I also send the author one as well.

The W.O.C. will be participating in our 3rd Annual “Girls Night Out (sleepover).This is time when the members of the Book Club come together for a night of fellowship, food, games, movies and most of all sisterhood. The morning after, we have our book club discussion over breakfast.

In 2007, members of the W.O.C. participated in the first “Crusin For Christ” Cruise hosted by Kendra Norman -Bellamy. This was my first experience on a Cruise, and I must say, the participants were truly blessed.

Since the Faith and Fiction Retreat will be in our hometown next year, the members of the W.O.C. are making plans to participate in this event.

Here we are on the Cruising For Christ trip, doing what we do best!

Jenelle, I enjoyed learning more about you ladies and I look forward to seeing you in Orlando next summer.

Thanks for giving the Women of Character an opportunity to share with you why we love our book club. We ask for your prays and your continued support, and when you need a break…grab a good book, kick back, let go, and let God!!

Book Club Feature - Sistahs in Harmony and Sistahs in Conversation

Today I welcome Sistahs in Harmony and Sistahs in Conversation Book Clubs. I found out about this club through my fellow sistahs of the pen, Anointed Authors on Tour. When Tia McCollors shared she was going to Stockton, California, I visited their website and found that the book club hosting them was sponsoring a scholarship luncheon.

Welcome, tell us about the Sistahs in Harmony and Sistahs in Conversation. Our journey with ten Christian women began five years ago with the purpose of reading Christian Fiction Books. We decided on the name Sistahs In Conversation Christian Book Club. Our first meeting was held in my home. As the news spread throughout the community, a need developed for another book club, thus, Sistahs In Harmony was formed. We now have 22 members between both groups. We meet every six weeks.

So are you one book club with two chapters? We are two separate book clubs under the same leadership. We both read the same books. We also share the same objectives, which is to Honor the Lord with what we rea, to offer readers fresh, contemporary and entertaining yet scripturally sound fiction and nonfiction by talented Christian authors; and assist believers and nonbelievers in discovering the relevancy of the Bible in our contemporary, everyday lives.

What types of books do you like to read and how do you make your reading selections? Our groups enjoy reading Christian Fiction. Suggestion for selection of books are done by each member of both groups. When selecting books members must always look for books that will lead you back to hope, truth and inspiration found in the word of God. These books should show us one or more saved characters in the readings. I am always looking at books to help out with the selection. Authors will sometimes send me a copy of their books to read and we often select from these books. Authors that would like for us to consider their books please email me at sistahdjm (at) yahoo (dot) com

What format do your meetings take? Most of our meetings are held in the members home sometimes we meet at other venues. It really depends upon who is hosting and where they would like for us to meet. We always start our meeting out with a word of prayer inviting Our Lord Jesus Christ to take charge for the evening. The facilitator for the evening takes over with discussion and questions. The questions are used from the readers guide and from the facilitator herself. Meetings are usually held on Friday. Refreshments are served before we have our book discussion.

Tell us about a recent Christian Fiction book you’ve enjoyed and why? We have just had the opportunity of reading five great books from The Anointed Authors on Tour. The stories that they have written let us all know that all things are possible through Christ. One of the lessons learned was through Divas of Damascus Road by Michelle Stimpson This story show how the women all shared faith, hope, strong family bond and forgiveness. The Truth About Love by Tia McCollors shows us how powerful prayer and sisterhood can be in our lives.

What types of stories would you like to see more of in Christian Fiction? We would like to see more family stories with more of the story line including children. Stories of Redemption.

You recently held a scholarship event. Tell us about it. This scholarship luncheon began five years ago with both book clubs getting together for a yearly celebration. We began having a small dinner with our members and their invited guest. Then we decided to host a luncheon and invited 50 women and featured a bestselling author Victoria Christopher Murray. Our first luncheon was so well received that we had to expand and look for larger locations. God gave us the vision to focus on our graduating youths from high school bless them with a scholarship from the proceeds.

This year we featured the Anointed Authors on Tour. Norma L. Jarrett, Kendra Norman-Bellamy, Tia McCollors, Michelle Stimpson and Shewanda Riley. These ladies blessed us with their anointed literary works.

The number of book clubs in the African American community has grown by leaps and bounds. Tell me why you think that is? The love for reading and the awareness of African American Authors.

Please share anything else you'd like us to know about your book clubs. We are constantly thanking God for his favor upon our book club ministry and upon our events. This year we had a sold out event and women are asking when our next event will be. Please email Donna at sistahdjm (at)yahoo (dot)com if interested in our Annual Scholarship luncheon.

Thanks so much Donna for your time. Your group is truly awesome and I’m so glad I learned about you through the Anointed Authors Tour. It does my heart good to know there are so many readers out there who not only want to be entertained, but would like a story with some sustenance. Thanks for joining me and I pray God’s abundant blessings on each and every member of your groups and your future scholarship luncheons.

Virtuous Woman Book Club

Today I have the pleasure of featuring the awesome ladies of the Virtuous Woman Book Club. I interviewed the club's president, Tashala K. Quick and she told me about this exciting group who is not only virtuous, but has awesome vision and is doing great things.
Welcome to Urban Christian Fiction, Tashala. Tell us about the Virtuous Woman Book Club. Our book club’s first meeting was held on October 22, 2005 in my living room. We started with about 6 women who attended consistently. Starting a book club was a brand new experience for me as I had never attended a book club meeting. However, God gave me instructions and I simply implemented what He was leading me to do. We now have about 40 to 50 official members around the United States. We meet at private venues or restaurants in the metro-Atlanta area. We have three organized chapters in three states. The founding chapter is right here in Atlanta, while the other two chapters are in Birmingham, AL and Richmond, VA. All chapters meet monthly and we all usually read the same selection. This year we implemented a Wild Card Month which allows individual chapters to vote on their choices. This was great fun for us. Because we have women who read along with us and are not official members of a chapter, we publish a quarterly newsletter called EMPOWERED to keep everyone in the loop. It also allows our members who enjoy writing to develop and showcase their gift.

That's awesome, we certainly live in a time when we need to EMPOWERED and it's a wonderful newsletter. What types of books do you like to read. Our group enjoys reading Christian Living and Christian Fiction books. However, we are open to read any book with a solid, inspirational message. Our rule of thumb is that our reading selections must uplift and empower.

How do you make your book selections and how can an author get your attention? We receive suggestions from our members and I personally go book shopping quite a bit. However, if we have a book we are unsure of we will allow our advanced reading group to read it and provide us with feedback. If an author would like for us to consider a book, he or she should e-mail me at t.quick@thevwbookclub.org

Tell us about a recent Christian Fiction title you enjoyed and why? Our group has enjoyed so many great Christian Fiction titles lately; however the group is still talking about Sherri Lewis’ My Soul Cries Out.

My Soul Cries Out was an awesome story. A real breakout novel in my opinion. What types of stories would you like to see more of in Christian Fiction? I personally would like to see more stories that deal with family and marital issues. A good mystery novel might be exciting as well.

Oh, you'll love my novel Secrets and Lies, but we can chat about that when it comes out.

You host an annual retreat. Tell us about that. Each year we retreat with a great book to a really cool destination. The book is usually a Christian Living book that inspires us to be better women. The first retreat our book club went on was to Pura Vida USA in Dahlonega, GA and our book selection was by Dr. Bridget Hilliard, Grace for Dream Fulfillment. There were only five of us, but we had a blast. We had a great view of the mountains, brain-numbing spa treatments, and major bonding time! We discovered that weekend that we had some writers in our group. Last year we retreated to Wild Dunes Island Resort in Charleston, SC with about 35 women from all over the US. Our book selection was Women Risktakers by Dr. Patricia Bailey. During the trip, we were reminded that a risk is required to fulfill our dreams and walk in our destiny. We left encouraged and excited. We are planning our 2009 Retreat for Gatlinburg, TN and are renting a huge cabin for our group.

I want to go!!!

Please share anything else you’d like the readers to know about your book club. We are hosting an Author’s Appreciation Luncheon to celebrate our book club’s Third Year Anniversary. We are honoring Natasha Munson, Kesha Nichols, and Yolanda Marshall. We appreciate all authors who write inspirational books that uplift and empower the reader. Without inspirational authors our book club would have nothing to read. Therefore, we have chosen to celebrate them on this special occasion. More information and ticket purchases on our website: http://www.thevwbookclub.org/ or contact Tashala at t.quick@thevwbookclub.org

You can also visit the website and click on "Our Publication" to access EMPOWERED and subscribe. It's a very well done newsletter.

Thank you so much Tashala for stopping by and telling us about Virtuous Women Book Club.

KC Girlfriends Book Club

Book clubs are everywhere these days. The growth has been explosive over the last ten years. I thank God for book clubs, not only because I'm an author, but because book clubs promote literacy and fellowship in the African American community. They also provide a opportunity for networking and sisterhood or brotherhood depending on the make up.

One of the best experiences I've had this year has been getting to know book clubs. In March, I attended a book club meeting where author, Michelle Larks was being hosted. Last week at the Faith and Fiction Retreat I had the chance to spend some time with various book clubs and attend chats about several books. I enjoyed this tremedously. So with that, I've decided to feature a book club on my blog every month.

The lovely ladies of K.C. Girlfriends Book Club have the honor of being first up. I listen to K.C. Girlfriends' radio show on blogtalk radio a couple times a month and have gotten to love the president like family. It's been a great learning listening to their discussions.

I interviewed TaNisha Webb, the president of K.C. Girlfriends.

Welcome to Urban Christian Fiction, Tanisha. Tell us about K.C. Girlfriends Book Club. The KC Girlfriends Book Club was established in 2002 when a group of “girlfriends” decided to share their love of reading with each other by forming a book club. At that time the book club was known as the Girlfriends Book Club In 2003, the book club was reduced to 2 members. In the beginning of 2004, the book club was revitalized by inviting women from around the Kansas City Metro that had the same passion for reading. We grew from 2 members to 40 members within 1.5 years and are now at 25 members. Our name was changed to the KC Girlfriends Book Club during this period. We read books written by AA fiction authors that are mostly new authors.

The number of book clubs in the African American community has grown by leaps and bounds. Tell me why you think that is? I think that there are many people that just love to read and find that they are not alone in their passion. People love to share what they’ve read with each others and in turn decide to take the extra step to form groups where their love is shared by like-minded people. I also feel that some groups find it a way to be more connected in their own communities.

Several members of your book club recently attended the National Book Club Conference in Atlanta. Tell us about NBCC and why it’s the event not to be missed by book clubs. The NBCC represents what being in book clubs are all about, just on a bigger scale. This is the one place that you know that you’re going to be surrounded by many different book clubs that are doing wonderful things within their book clubs and communities and are able to come together once a year to share their thoughts and ideas. It is also a time where book clubs are able to actually meet many of their favorite authors in one place and because the environment is so intimate, you are able to really get up close and personal with the authors and learn more about them in their sessions. There are also powerful panel discussions that occur throughout the conference. The NBCC is like a huge family reunion for many that attend. I know for my book club personally, it has helped us become more focused and actually shape a more defined platform for how we want to proceed as a book club.

You were awarded the community service award at NBCC. What an honor. Tell us about what your book club does in this area. We are very proud to have been recognized for our community service that we’ve done upon our return from the 2006 NBCC. After our first experience at the NBCC, we were literally on the plane sharing the changes that we would like to make not only for our book club but within our own community literary-wise. We have since donated books to a local group that helps youth stay on the right path, we have helped support a mentoring group for girls as well, and we have helped a 70 year old man by giving him books to learn how to read for the first time. We have also created a radio show where we can help further support new authors, book clubs, literary resources and events. We recently began supporting book signing for new authors in our community and will begin sponsoring well-known author’s book signings beginning next year. We are also planning to bring all the local black book clubs together at least once a year for a luncheon where we will bring in authors as well.

How do you make your book of the month selection? And what can an author do to get your book clubs attention? Our books are strictly chosen by our book club members. We rarely take requests by authors because we do not want the process of reading what we like to be saturated by outside sources. Generally, we just run across books either online through an eblast, online book stores, or regular book stores that appeal to us. I would say to authors to promote and market your book so that we can be aware of them. Most books that we come in to contact with are because of the great marketing that authors choose to utilize or by word of mouth from other individuals or book clubs.

You recently read Sherryle Jackson’s Soon and Very Soon from Urban Christian Books and rated it very good. Tell me what you enjoyed about the novel. I felt that Soon and Very Soon represented real women in our society. Now that more women are pursuing careers, sometimes it’s hard to balance careers and a relationship. I also felt that Sherryle really stayed true to the characters and was able to deliver the story without feeling like she had an agenda, which is sometimes an issue for readers being able to relate to Christian Fiction books.

How many Christian Fiction books do you usually choose a year and do you see that increasing with the growth in Christian Fiction? Although some book clubs actually do choose books selections per month by genre, we do not. We choose books solely based off what catches our attention, predominantly written by new AA fiction authors. I think it’s definitely possible that we will choose more Christian Fiction books in the future based on what is written.

Please share anything else you’d like my readers to know about your book club? We realize that our book club is truly whatever we make it. We’re very proud of where we’re going and hope to grow even more literary-wise within our community and also within the literary community. Everyone will have to definitely keep up with what we’re going to do next!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Tanisha congratulations on the NBCC community service award. Kudos to you on the young adult chapter, also. You lades are doing awesome things. I look forward to meeting you when I come to Kansas City!

You can learn more about K.C. Girlfriends at the following contact sites. Their biweekly radio shows are lively and entertaining discussions that often educational.

Contact information: Website: http://www.kcgirlfriendsbookclub.com/
Radio Show Website: www.blogtalkradio.com/kcgirlfriendsbookclub
Contact person: TaNisha Webb tlwebb@kcgirlfriendsbookclub.com