Booked for Breakfast

Every weekday morning, I wake up to an email with the subject "Booked for Breakfast - (book title)." It's a fabulous little book club that I happened across quite by accident. My current favorite mystery author mentioned Booked for Breakfast in a blog, and I had to check it out. I am really glad that it did because I've learned about some great mysteries, both new and old.

Basically, the email contains a brief excerpt from a book (in theory, and usually practice, it should take about 5 minutes to read). Every week a new book is chosen, and the whole week focuses on that book. On Monday I get the Prologue (if there is one), and by Friday I will have finished 2 or 3 chapters of the book. If I am interested in finishing the book, it is then up to me to find it at the library/bookstore. If I didn't enjoy it (or there is cursing, I hate cursing in a book), I simply delete the emails and wait until the next week. It's great.

For the most part, I really enjoy the selection and it has introduced me to author's that I probably would not have picked up otherwise. Oh, and it's totally non-committal. Sometimes I feel like if I start a book, I HAVE to finish it, not so with Booked for Breakfast. I don't have any guilt simply clicking on the delete key.

Also, the lady that puts this all together, Suzanne Beecher, always writes a little note at the top of each days selection. I find Suzanne quite delightful, and her little notes (totally unrelated to the book) usually put a smile on my face. Sometimes her notes are silly, sometimes they reflect on life, and sometimes they include great recipes. You just never know what you'll get.

If you are interested, check it out at:

http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/bookedforbreakfast/

By the way, there are other genres you can choose from (classic, chick lit, sci-fi/fantasy).