It’s always an exciting day when Bonny and Carole and I announce the next Read With Us title . . . and today’s the day!

Our next Read With Us selection is  . . .
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx.

Over the years, Read With Us has “evolved” into a current-contemporary-fiction kind of book group. We often choose to read prize-nominated books; those current, kinda “buzzy” books that our blog readers tend to want to read. And we plan to continue in that direction . . . generally.

But we thought it might be fun to, once a year, select a more “classic” contemporary fiction book to read. Y’know . . . prize winners from the recent past that maybe you read and wouldn’t mind reading again — or that you missed reading the first time around.

The Shipping News was first published in 1993, and won a slew of awards, including the Pulitzer and the National Book Award. It’s a great book group kind of book — there’s much to discuss in there! It’s also a book that stands up well to re-reading — so if you read it years ago, you will probably not mind reading it again at all. And . . . if you haven’t read it, well. Here’s your chance!

Sandra Gwynn, book reviewer from The Toronto Star had this to say about The Shipping News when it was first published . . .

“A funny-tragic Gothic tale, with a speed boat of a plot, overflowing with black-comic characters. But it’s also that contemporary rarity, a tale of redemption and healing, a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit, and most rare of all perhaps, a sweet and tender romance.”

We’ll be talking more about the book and providing additional background information over the next month. Then . . . mark your calendars for our blog book discussions/Zoom discussion on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 (7:00 pm Eastern time).

Please be sure to visit the new Read With Us resource page for more information about the book and our discussion. (I’ll be updating the page as Bonny, Carole, and I share more details and links, so it really can be a resource for you as you read – or think about reading – with us.)

We hope you’ll be as excited as we are to go back in time . . . and read The Shipping News with us.

C’mon along!
Read With Us this winter!