February Meeting: Thursday, February 28th

We have scheduled our first book club meeting for Thursday, February 28th. The meeting will take place at 6:00pm at Code Blu Juice Bar downtown. The address is 23 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY. All participants of the book club will receive a discount on drinks that evening, so bring a few dollars to support this local business! You can find out more about Code Blu Juice bar on their Facebook page. 

During this meeting we will take a few minutes to introduce everyone and then jump right into discussion about our first book, "City of Light" by Lauren Belfer. 

Krystal will send out discussion questions in advance so you can think about your answers prior to the meeting. 

For those who are from out of town, please send some of your thoughts on the book to Krystal prior to the meeting. We will make sure your comments are mentioned during the discussion. 

If you are interested in joining the club, (you still have time to read the book!) contact Krystal at ksondel@hotmail.com. 

See you all soon! Can't wait :)

Book #1: "City of Light" by Lauren Belfer

When I started asking around to get ideas about Buffalo related books, one that almost always was suggested was Lauren Belfer's "City of Light". Belfer was born in Rochester and grew up in Buffalo attending Buffalo Seminary. 

City of Light was her first novel and has received international acclaim. It was on the New York Times best selling book list, a New York Times Notable Book, a Library Journal Best Book and a main selection of the Book of the Month Club. The book has been translated into seven languages and was also a best seller in Great Britain. 

You can find the book at most local libraries, and it can be purchased on Amazon currently (as of 12/26) for $10.95 (new) and as little as .01 used. 

I can't think of a better book to kick off our book club with. Lauren has been known to call into book club meetings or send in responses, and I will make contact with her shortly to see if something can be arranged. 

You have all of January and early February to get the book read. We will host our first meeting in mid February. Date and location will be worked out shortly, so check back. 

If you haven't signed up for the book club and want to receive the e-mails, please contact Krystal at ksondel@hotmail.com. 

2013 Book Selections

Announcing our 2013 Book Selections: 

(Once we start reading, we can decide if six books for the year is enough or if we want to try to sneak in a few more. The books below are a good representation of different genres of reading. If you don't see your favorite Buffalo book on the list below, don't worry, we can decide as a group if we want to add others in or change some out.)

Brighter Buffalo: Renewing A City by Maria Scrivani

Buffalo Gal by Laura Pedersen

Buffalo Lockjaw by Greg Ames

Buffalo Memories by George Kunz

City of Light by Lauren Belfer

The Long Walk by Brian Castner

*Click on the links to check out the descriptions of the books. I spent a lot of time researching and asking locals which Buffalo books were there favorites. That is how I came up with this initial list of six. There are plenty of others out there to keep us going for many years. 

Getting Started

I love learning about Buffalo and its history. 
I love supporting people who are from Buffalo. 
I love to read. 

It makes sense then that I start up a "Lovin' On Buffalo Book Club" to continue to expand my knowledge of the area and support local writers who have published books! 

The book club is open to ALL, and I hope you will join in. We are currently looking for charter members to participate in the book club. If you are interested, you can e-mail Krystal at ksondel@hotmail.com and we will add you to our mailing list. 

The intent is to have everything set for January 2013. Taking into account busy schedules, we are going to start off with six books a year, one every other month, and plan meetings at different local coffee shops/eateries to discuss the books. 

If you have a published book about Buffalo or are from Buffalo, please feel free to e-mail me your book information and we will get it added to the reading list. 

Happy reading!