No description available.

Bibliotherapy—the use of books to facilitate the recovery of people in distress from an emotional disturbance—has a history of nurturing metacognition to achieve a cathartic expression by verbal and nonverbal means. The support of a community with shared traumatic experiences, such as incarceration, can help sustain the benefits of bibliotherapy. This exploratory qualitative research study is focuses on a digital book club consisting of men and women with criminal conviction histories (CCH), along with the ways in which a work of fiction could promote self-reflection and resilience necessary for self-rehabilitation. Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) is the leading cause of recidivism among both males and females in the United States, many of whom may have other mental disorders as well. Among those with PICS, incarceration transcends a physical location and becomes a state of mind: mental incarceration. The study’s participants were people who had served over one year of time in a minimum- to maximum-security or federal prison, and who had agreed to participate in an optional four-week digital book club focused on a selected work of fiction. This study contributes to the body of literature surrounding self-rehabilitation and social change by informing administrators, faculty, and staff involved in correctional education that a digital book club could be a viable means of self-empowerment for a person with a CCH, post-incarceration.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Not available / text

No description available.

In 1926 the Book-of-the-Month Club sent its first selection to 4,750 members. Twenty three years later the club had 4,000,000 members, had distributed over 100,000,000 books, and was one of sixty such clubs operating in the United States. Much discussion has taken place and many articles have been written during this period relative to the merits of these organizations. The attacks have been made largely on the following points: (1) the organization was foisting on the public in dictatorial fashion prescribed reading; (2) emphasis was placed on economy, rather than the excellence of the book; (3) the young or unknown author was unable to compete with authors of established reputations; (4) a few favored publishers were receiving club's business and would force smaller and newer firms out of business; (5) retail book stores were losing sales because club members were paying less than retail prices; and (6) the book clubs were lowering the public taste. Time has weakened many of these arguments and the fears have proved groundless. But the final charge relative to the lowering of public taste still remains current and debatable. The criticism on this point has been bitter and is one of great interest to the librarian. For this reason the purpose of this paper is to try to adjudge the validity of that contention by examining and analyzing the selections of one of the clubs for a limited period in order to see the quality of the selections as evidenced by the evaluations of critics, both at the time of the publications of the books and at the present time. / Typescript. / "August, 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert G. Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-29).

The phenomenal rise in the number of book clubs in the United States in the past twenty-five years has resulted in much being written and said on the subject of their value. The success of these clubs has raised fears in the minds of some people that books may soon be tailored less to art than to the requirements of the clubs' mass audience. The success that the clubs have had in getting the American people to buy books when the booksellers and others have failed, can probably be attributed to one key word that is found in the publicity of all the clubs: "free." A controversy about the use of the word "free" has been raging for the last few years between the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Federal Trade Commission. The Commissioners were unable to agree with the Book-of-the-Month Club's contention that statements contained in the advertisements, disclosing those things which the customer must do in order to receive the so-called "free" books, "neutralize the probability or possibility of deception." The purpose of this paper is not, however, to discuss the controversy of the Book-of-the-Month Club versus the Federal Trade Commission, or to be concerned with the free or bonus aspect of any club's promotional endeavors. Its purpose is to consider whether or not books so obtained are worth having, be they "free," bonus, or priced, and whether or not they are creditable selections. In considering the question of dividend books it obviously would be desirable to evaluate the books distributed by all book clubs, but this would not be a project with a range of accomplishment within the scope of this paper. It was, therefore, decided to take as a specimen the divident books of one such club and to attempt to adjudge on the basis of critical opinion their merits. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert G. Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-47).

With her Book Club, talk show host Oprah Winfrey has used the relatively new technology of television to revive literature. Despite the odds against her--selecting hard-to-read, quirky books by generally unknown authors--Winfrey has successfully created women's spaces for the 1990s, not so different from the American women's social clubs from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the French salons of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This study will show how Oprah's Book Club allows readers, especially women, to use the psychological processes of transference and transactional reading by using fictional literature from the Book Club to discuss sensitive areas of their lives.

Due to the demands of federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in particular, social studies instruction has become increasingly marginalized in elementary classrooms (Bollick, Adams, & Willox, 2010; Heafner, Lipscomb, & Fitchett, 2014; Holloway & Chiodo, 2009; Jones & Thomas, 2006; Morton & Dalton, 2007). One possible solution to this problem is to integrate social studies and reading instruction. This qualitative case study examined six third grade teachers’ perceptions of and experiences with social studies and reading as they attempted to integrate the two subjects through the use of economics book clubs in their classrooms over six weeks. The primary research question under investigation was: What impact does integrating economics with reading through book clubs have on six third grade teachers’ perceptions of social studies? The researcher prepared for and led professional development, split into two sessions, to teach the participants about integrating curriculum and book clubs. Then, data was triangulated (Stakes, 1995; Yin, 2003) by using multiple sources which included three focus group interviews, anecdotal notes from weekly planning meetings, two professional development sessions, weekly written reflections from each participant, and weekly lesson plans. The analysis of multiple data sets over time revealed that the participating teachers considered integrating economics and reading through book clubs a positive experience, an effective use of instruction time for both social studies and reading, and a meaningful approach to students’ active learning. While the teachers initially struggled to adjust to an integrated instructional method and many students being pulled out for special need services, upon observing students being highly engaged in learning, the teachers started to develop positive attitudes toward the curriculum integration and perceived the integrated book clubs as a worthwhile strategy to prioritize social studies instruction. The current study contributes to the field of social studies by providing empirical research on elementary teachers’ struggles and efforts with improving the state of elementary social studies instruction through innovative and integrated practices, specifically through the use of book clubs. The study also contributes to the field of social studies and reading content integration by focusing specifically on integrating economics with reading comprehension.

Thesis advisor: Judith Wilt / Experience as an English major, a bookseller, a publishing intern, and a reader has formed questions in my mind about why people read what they do. My interest is focused in two particular "categories" of literature that vie for readers' attention: book clubs and literary awards. Because my skills are in literary interpretation and not societal or industrial analysis, I explored this supposed dichotomy by reading and comparing books from each category. In the "book club" books (My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards), I found a remarkable familial structure at the core: a daughter with a medical condition; a mother struggling to cope emotionally; a father who distances himself through work and offers profound symbolism via a hobby; an older brother who rebels; an outside couple, professionally involved in the action and romantically involved in each other. The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning books, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, stretch farther with voice, style, and imagery. I found them intellectually and personally more satisfying. In addition pursuing academic interests, I also grew to better understand the variety of purposes for which we read. Though I concluded that if all four novels were to be labeled, they should simply be named "middlebrow," I came to appreciate different writers' strengths — research, personal experience, mastery of language — even when they do not match my personal criteria as a reader. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English. / Discipline: College Honors Program.