Independent Newspaper in Madison Launches Book Club with Book Sense

Madison, Wisconsin -- famous for its independent spirit; community of passionate readers and thinkers; and great cheese.

The Capital Times, Madison’s afternoon daily, is covering all those bases with books editor Heather Lee Schroeder. Through her, the Capital Times is partnering with four Madison independent bookstores to start a quarterly book club with considerable input from Book Sense. The goal of the club, which will include author appearances and online discussions, Schroeder told BTW, is to "promote great literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry -- and to connect good readers with good books."

All books will be selected from the Book Sense 76 lists, which, Schroeder said, is "two steps above everything else." Schroeder is an ardent reader and advocate of independent reading and thinking, but she also knows her cheese. She joined the Capital Times after editing the Cheese Market News, a trade publication.

Schroeder and booksellers -- Canterbury Books, A Room of One’s Own, University Book Store, and Booked for Murder -- have structured the Capital Times Book Club to offer the stores and readers maximum benefits. Each bookstore will host an author event once per year, but all the participating booksellers will offer a 10 percent discount on the chosen book. On its book review page, the newspaper will run an author interview and review, along with discussion questions and a raffle coupon. The coupon will be entered in a raffle at the host bookstore, with a signed copy of the book among the raffle prizes.

"Madison has these wonderful independent bookstores, and we’re the independent newspaper," Schroeder said. "We want to encourage people to come back downtown -- this is a small community with a vibrant independent network."

Renate Dorrestein’s A Heart of Stone (trans. by Hester Velmans), is the first selection of the new book club sponsored by Madison, Wisconsin’s Capital Times. The club will feature Book Sense 76 titles.

The first book selected is A Heart of Stone (Viking), by Renate Dorrestein, translated by Hester Velmans. The haunting, tragic tale of desperate familial love is hardly a typical Valentine’s Day romance, but Dutch author Dorrestein will appear on February 14 at Canterbury Booksellers to discuss the acclaimed novel. The complex, timely book strikes just the tone Schroeder has in mind for the book club. "We want to attract people to read books that are culturally relevant, that get people thinking, and that they might not have known about." A Heart of Stone was a Book Sense 76 pick in March/April 2001.

When Schroeder is asked why the 76 list appeals to her for the book club, she answered, "What’s not attractive about it? It’s eclectic, but wonderful, literary, and intriguing. These are books that have been tested by the booksellers. I don’t think I’ve read a bad book yet from the 76 list. Every single time there is something wonderful … Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fast Food Nation, The Passion of Artemisia -- I can’t think of another list that breaks the books out into categories. I love it. We put a link on every review to the Book Sense Web site. The 76 list doesn’t have pretensions, it’s solid." -- Nomi Schwartz