BuzzSugar

What's Buzzworthy: Book Club Books

BuzzSugar — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:30:00 PST

Reading your comments and seeing the bookmarked books for this week's Buzzworthy challenge has inspired me so much, I think I just may start a kind of virtual Book Club here on Buzz! Stay tuned for more details on that. And until then, check out some of the great book club book suggestions submitted by Buzz readers.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I've often heard rave reviews of this novel by No Country for Old Men author Cormac McCarthy, and liza0183 is joining the chorus of praise. liza0183 writes, "This won the Pulitzer Prize you have to go out a read it. I finished it in 2 days it's a great, solid, moving book. McCarthy is the new Steinbeck in my opinion."

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Adrianne has this to say about her book club book idea: "I'm not a part of any book club, but I think this is one book that will definitely have readers, namely female readers, either siding with Tess or rooting for her to overcome her many battles, both with her surroundings and within herself. The ending is really the turning point for Tess's character, as I found her to be a strong and brave character, despite the majority of the text's description of the fallen woman. Although an ancient book, it remains a classic!"

What's Buzzworthy? Book Club Books

BuzzSugar — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 11:00:00 PST

As the writers' strike seems to have no clear end in sight, now might be a good time to start a book club! There are so many books I've been meaning to read for ages, and I think a book club might be just the thing to make me sit down and read them. Now I just need some suggestions.

Some books that I think would generate great discussion - especially among women - include Elizabeth Gilbert's fabulous memoir Eat, Pray, Love, and the biblically-set novel The Red Tent. I also think it might be beneficial to check out some of the books that are about to be made into movies, since it's often hard to read the books after having seen the movie.

I'd suggest Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees (soon to star Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah) and the classic novel Revolutionary Road (opening in December with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the lead roles).

What book club books are your favorites? If you're a seasoned book club member, what would you suggest for all different levels of book club members (beginners, intermediates, advanced readers)? Just use BuzzSugar's cool bookmarking tool to find your favorites online, write a little blurb about why you think they make good fodder for book clubs, and tag them with the phrase book club books. Next week I'll feature some of the books here so we can all get our reading lists ready for the coming year.

How-To: Start Your Own Book Club

Emily Co — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:00:08 PDT

Starting a book club may be for you if you find yourself constantly gushing over books with your friends or having heated debates on which character is more swoonworthy. Getting a bunch of like-minded bookworms together for a book club is a fun and frugal social activity that will enrich your minds and friendships. Read on for tips on how to create your own regular book discussion meetings.

Texts and Tunes: Lollipop Book Club

LilSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:00:00 PST

Reading is sweet! Following this holiday season, I would love to put a moratorium on new toys in my home, but know it would only lead to tons of tears. While my lil ones did receive a few beloved books under the tree, I'm thinking of getting them subscriptions to one of the Lollipop Book Club programs for their birthdays.

More than just a children's book-of-the-month club, Lollipop sends beautifully handcrafted lollipops and personalized notes with each text. Gift-givers select from more than a dozen book packages, such as "Books by Famous People" and "Caldecott Medal Winners," write a personal note that is affixed inside the book and then leave it up to nice people at the club to include an appropriate sucker in the package. Available in three-, six-month and year-long installments, a subscription is a gift that keeps on giving.

To see how the books are packaged,

View 4 Photos ›

Fifty Shades of Grey, Fight Club, and the Complications of Male Dominance

The Good Men Project — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:00:55 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Clarisse Thorn sees nothing new in eroticized images of male dominance and violence, but she sees plenty that's thought-provoking.

Much is being made of the highly successful S&M erotica novel 50 Shades of Grey. People are blaming feminism for making women into submissives, blaming feminism for preventing women from being submissives, blaming women for having sexual desires at all, and a whole lot of other boring and typical stuff that comes up in any conversation about women and S&M. News flash: it’s not the feminist revolution that is "causing" women to have fantasies of submission. S&M fantasies have been around since the beginning of time. (And the 1950s S&M-sensation book, The Story of O, was much better written than 50 Shades of Grey.)

Top 10 Reasons to Use Condoms

As an S&M writer, I hear a lot of allegations about how "all" (or "almost all") women are sexually submissive and how this must Mean Something. This is echoed in the coverage of 50 Shades of Grey, in which everyone is demanding to know What It All Means About Women. I wrote a piece a while back called Inherent Female Submission: The Wrong Question, in which I took on a lot of this stuff. But there’s another submerged question here - about men. There’s plenty of talk and stereotypes about how men are inherently violent, or more aggressive than women, or "the dominant sex."

Keep reading below.

Are Money Clubs the New Book Clubs?

LearnVest — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:15:41 PDT

Money clubs are a great and fun way to stay on top of your finances. With friends supporting you, you can conquer the world and money issues! LearnVest shares how you can start one.

Thea, 31, a lawyer, lives in Brooklyn, NY. Although her friends are, in her own words, “bright, savvy, awesome women,” many felt lost financially - much like she did. “In fact, almost all of them knew someone else who was in the same financially adrift boat,” she says.

That’s when she got the idea to start a money group.

“The first meeting was held in my studio apartment in Brooklyn,” she told LearnVest. She served pizza and Diet Coke as the group of women took turns airing their money issues and goals.

The women’s issues ranged from needing to pay down credit card debt after an amazing wedding to wondering how to invest in a 403(b) retirement account that she’d left empty for years. “We left that meeting,” she says, “with the same sense of empowerment we often feel in other areas of our lives, but that was usually missing when it came to our financial life.”

Although the women are still working through their money issues and goals, it is, as Thea puts it, “easier to take a journey with a group of amazing friends.”

Are Money Clubs the New Book Clubs?

There’s a reason Thea’s personal experience was so meaningful. Just like book clubs or wine clubs - or book clubs that double as wine clubs - money clubs are groups in which you can learn interesting stuff, discuss it, and get support from like-minded friends. And maybe even add alcohol to put people at ease.

In fact, while they’re now becoming popular again, money clubs have actually been around for a long time. Many groups of women in cities across the US meet up informally, but Candace Bahr, founder of the Women’s Institute For Financial Education, or WIFE, formalized the money club concept, creating the organization’s trademarked version back in 2004.

Read on for more.

Femmephobia: "Girls Are Gross" Writ Large

The Good Men Project — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:00:00 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Ozy Frantz explains the difference between fear and hatred of women, and the more common fear and hatred of anything feminine.

When I was a freshman in high school, I and my friends were Cool Chicks.

We weren't like those other girls, the ones who were passive and weak and giggled and watched romantic comedies and thought about their hair and makeup. Those girls were stupid and frivolous and vapid, and we made fun of them. No, we were Cool. We liked fantasy novels and action movies and anime! We laughed at "that's what she said" jokes and "make me a sandwich" humor and South Park quotes! We fake-fought with each other and laughed off pain and never cried! We were just like the guys in every way!

Around this time, I was also beginning to really get into feminism. I was proud of myself. I defied convention and gender roles. My adoption of male gender norms wholesale was truly a feminist act. After all, all the stuff girls did was stupid, and the stuff boys did was fun, and -

. . . hey, wait a minute.

Do Men Have ‘Mommy Issues'?

Julia Serano, in Whipping Girl (which is, in my opinion, a book that should be read by everyone interested in gender issues) discusses the concept of "femmephobia" in our society. Femmephobia is the devaluation, fear and hatred of the feminine: of softness, nurturance, dependence, emotions, passivity, sensitivity, grace, innocence and the color pink.

To a large degree, our culture has replaced the fear and hatred of women, with the fear and hatred of things commonly associated with women. I think this is . . . not so much progress, actually.

Read the rest of the story below.

Secrets to Saving on Your 7 Favorite Indulgences

Emily Co — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:25:48 PDT

We all have our weaknesses, and yours may be a Starbucks addiction or even an avid book reading habit. Although we advocate saving, we're also a big fan of being able to indulge on occasion. After all, if you keep denying yourself, it might be counterintuitive because you may end up buying on impulse. Here are some ways you can still enjoy your favorite purchases, yet save at the same time:

Starbucks: Sign up for a Starbucks card and you can accumulate rewards such as free drinks. Once you buy five drinks, you get free syrup or soy milk and free refills on brewed coffee, iced coffee, or iced tea. You'll also get a free tall drink if you buy a bag of coffee beans. Once you buy over 30 drinks, you get a free drink for every 15 drinks you buy. As a card holder, you'll also get a free drink of your choice on your birthday.

Frugal secret: You can make your own Starbucks drinks in your own home. Check out Squawkfox's recipe for a homemade Starbucks Frappuccino that costs only 32 cents to make. Don't forget to also check out YumSugar's Starbucks-inspired pumpkin spice latte recipe.
Books: If you got a thing for books, there's always the library of course. But for those who just love permanent additions to their budding book collection, you can consider joining book clubs like Barnes & Nobles, which sends regular discounts and coupons to your inbox. You can also get really cheap indie ebooks for free or for 99 cents on Amazon. Some of the books are actually really good, but check out the reviews before buying if you don't want to waste your time on a dud.
Frugal secret: Shhh, don't let anyone know, but you can get free books from authors, even the acclaimed and famous ones, if you try this trick. A lot of times, you can even get the book ahead of its release. All you have to do is start building up a nice repertoire of really solid and detailed book reviews on Amazon or Good Reads, the social network for book recommendations. If your Amazon reviews are good, people will start voting on them, which may qualify you for Amazon's Vine program, an exclusive club that "invites the most trusted reviewers on Amazon to post opinions about new and prerelease items." And if you're a popular Good Reads reviewer, authors will start reaching out to you to review their books.
Yoga: You can save on yoga classes by subscribing to daily deal sites and keeping an eye out for discounts at your local yoga studio. Lululemon also offers free yoga classes, so you might want to check out your local shop. A lot of studios have free or donation-based classes on occasion, so you might want to check with them, too.
Frugal secret: Become a yoga teacher to get access to free classes. You don't have to worry about teaching taking up too much of your time because I have friends who teach only once or twice a week and still get the perks of a full-time teacher, such as being able to attend classes for free. You can also offer to trade services (writing, graphic design, admin, or whatever skill you can provide) with the studio in exchange for free classes.

Read on for more.

Happy National Pet Day! 13 Ways to Save Bucks on Fido

Emily Co — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:47:58 PDT

The cost of raising a dog is extremely high. In fact, if you look at rates to fly with your dog on airplanes, it's sometimes almost equivalent to what we humans are paying for a plane ticket. And it all adds up - you end up spending a never-ending amount of cash on toys, crates, flea medication, checkups, and the list goes on. However, many think the high costs of raising a dog are totally worth it. To reduce the costs of what you think is a necessary expense, here are some tips on saving money on your new dog:

Adopt a Doggie: If you're not too picky about the breeds, getting your dog from a shelter is cheaper than spending over a thousand for a purebred puppy from a breeder. Further, many of the pets have already been vaccinated and spayed or neutered, which will definitely save you money in vet bills.
Pick a Responsible Breeder: If you have your heart set on a pooch from a breeder, make sure you do your homework lest you end up with a sick dog from a puppy mill. Do research online to see what qualities a responsible breeder has, and go take a look at the dog and inspect the environment it's being raised in. Ask for references from sources like the breeder's vet, ask to see the dog's parents (if they are around) and quiz her on how she raises her dogs. Here are more questions to ask a prospective breeder.
Costco For Pets or Buy Online: Check to see if there is a warehouse superstore for pet supplies in your area. For example, Pet Club in the Bay Area gives great discounts if you buy in bulk - great for buying items in bulk such as urine pads, cleaning solvent, and poop bags. Another option is to see if you can find better deals online - Four Paws wee wee pads are available on Amazon at a 55 percent discount, so be sure to look around online for great bargains.
Neuter or Spay at the ASPCA: Spaying or neutering your dog can be extremely pricey. Check out your local ASPCA for cheaper prices on the surgery. To compare prices, I called a local vet that quoted me a hefty $800 for a small breed puppy, while the ASPCA in San Francisco quoted me $225. However, after asking around, my friend told me about an even better deal at another ASPCA, located a little further away in Oakland, CA, which charged $100 to spay/neuter. Be sure to check out the prices of the different clinics, even if they are under the same organization. The local Humane Society clinics were even cheaper so you might want to check out their prices as well. Lesson to learn: always shop around for pet health services.
Housebreak Your Dog: If you train your dog to "go" outside of your house, you don't have to waste money buying expensive pee pads and you'll be using less cleaning solvent for the messes that accidentally spill from the pad to the floor.

For more tips to saving on Fido, read after the jump.

Would You Join Lauren Conrad's Book Club?

PopSugar — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:17:00 PDT

Lauren Conrad is a best-selling author with her LA Candy series, and it seems she's looking to share her love of books with fans in a brand-new way. She wrote on her blog today that she's starting a book club and is excited to share her passion for reading. Lauren wrote, "For me, sometimes nothing is better than curling up in bed with Chloe while reading a good book. It's pure happiness. It's my time to enjoy the quiet, get cozy and escape the real world for a while." She's set to announce the first selection for the club next week, then will interact with fellow readers on her website. So, tell us - would you join Lauren Conrad's book club?