COWBOY & WILLS: BOOK CLUB RESOURCES AND BONUS ENTRIES

COWBOY & WILLS
BY MONICA HOLLOWAY
BOOK CLUB RESOURCES

ABOUT BOOK CLUBS:

Do you belong to a book club? Would you like to be in a book club or reading group but don't know how to start? I have been in a book club for the past 5 years and I enjoy it so much. I went to a "meeting" with a friend and had such a good time, I became an immediate "member". Ours is a group of women with some similar backgrounds, all connected in some way to education-teachers, guidance counselors, social workers-and one common interest to us all, we love to read! We are all ages from 33 to 62, some married or not, some with children or not, we do/don't have the same ideas and like the same things, and many different viewpoints on life, but again, we all share the love of reading a good book! COWBOY & WILLS is our choice for the upcoming month (although we really meet monthly, it can also stretch to 5 or 6 weeks depending on people's schedules and time of year). I thought it might be a good idea to combine my current giveaway with some Book Club Resources and Bonus Giveaway Entries!

BOOK CLUB TIPS:

Here are some ideas borrowed from Simon & Schuster to get you started on a book club, or if you have a book club, some resources to use.

Starting Your Own Reading Group

• Ask people you know to help you organize the first meeting. Decide the ideal size for your group. Smaller groups (somewhere between four and ten) are great because they allow everyone a chance to participate, while larger groups (ten-plus) allow for greater diversity. You can also have special guest meetings where people invite friends or co-workers to join.

Mapping Out Meeting Logistics

• Where will the group meet?
• How often?
• What time?
• Are refreshments served?

Selecting Books

• Identify what types of books you will read. Do you want to focus on specific topics or genres?

• Decide how you will choose the books –discuss candidates and vote, host/hostess pick, members take turns, random drawings –all have their benefits and your group may try several methods before finding the right one.

• Choose books that challenge the group and generate discussion. Books with additional resources such as reading group guides, publisher/author websites with author interviews, enhanced bios, blogs, etc. add new dimensions to the conversation.

Find out more about starting a book club by going to Simon & Schuster HERE and find out about:

• Discussing Books

• Set the guidelines for the discussions

• Resources

This reading group guide for COWBOY & WILLS includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Monica Holloway. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. All of these things and more can be found HERE at Simon & Schuster's website. I have included SOME of the Discussion Questions for COWBOY & WILLS below.

1. Wills's diagnosis rocks his parents' world, even though they are almost expecting to hear the news. How do they deal with this startling realization? How is it complicated in the beginning by Michael living in Chicago? How does Monica deal with not only Wills's autism, but the fact that she feels that she is dealing with it alone?

2. From the start, Monica and Wills compensate for bad days and bad moods by visiting the pet store and taking home a new family member, even though it gets to the point where they can barely afford it. What do you think drives them to find comfort in small creatures? How does it help them cope? Why don't you think Monica can make herself stop?

3. Monica, Michael and those around them refer to Wills's exceptionalism and extraordinary talents, but yet these are also the qualities that define his autism. How do they reconcile these two extremes? How do Monica and Michael deal with things that are both a blessing and a curse?

4. The Prices, Monica especially, feel an urge to fit in, to belong—something that is increasingly difficult for them as Wills enters preschool and then kindergarten. Why is this so important to them? How does being perceived as "different" or an "outsider" make life more difficult for Monica and Wills? Do other parents have the same anxieties?

5. Michael and Monica's relationship is at times a struggle, and at times a saving grace. How can difficult life situations both strain and enhance a relationship? Has there been a time when a tragedy has affected a relationship of yours? How can stress test a relationship? And at the same time, how can stress bring two people closer?

The rest of the Discussion Questions can be found, as stated above, HERE at the Simon & Schuster website.

READ THE FIRST POST ALL ABOUT COWBOY & WILLS AND ENTER TO WIN ONE OF FOUR COPIES BY GOING HERE IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
Ready for some BONUS ENTRIES to better YOUR chances of winning a copy of COWBOY & WILLS hopefully for your book club, or to help you get one started?
Here is what you need to do:

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO DARLENE AND MONICA,
I HAVE FOUR COPIES OF THIS WONDERFUL
MEMOIR, COWBOY & WILLS, TO GIVE
AWAY TO FOUR LUCKY WINNERS!

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING OR WONDER ABOUT IN CONNECTION WITH BOOK CLUBS FROM WHAT YOU HAVE READ ABOVE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU BELONG TO A BOOK CLUB AND WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT IT. IF YOU DON'T BELONG TO ONE, SAY SO BUT ALSO COMMENT ON IF YOU THINK YOU'D LIKE TO ESPECIALLY AFTER READING THE INFORMATION ABOVE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON THE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. FOR EACH DIFFERENT WAY YOU FOLLOW, LIKE EMAIL SUBSCRIBER, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT, ETC, MAKE A SEPARATE COMMENT AND YOU WILL GET MORE ENTRIES THAT WAY. REMEMBER IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW, YOU CAN SIGN UP AND STILL GAIN THESE ENTRIES TODAY

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, JULY 21!