In the last few years, the reading group phenomenon has swept the country and more and more people are becoming interested in either becoming a member of one or setting up their own reading group.But how do you go about finding a reading group in your area, or if you are involved in setting one up, how should it be run, what books should be selected? The Bloomsbury Essential Guide for Reading Groups tells you all you need to know to run a reading group - how to set one up; Readers' Guides covering 50 books - 40 novels and 10 non-fiction; Synopses to aid a quick choice of a book for discussion (all synopses are cross-referenced back to Readers' Guides); Themes - each theme is accompanied by a brief introductory paragraph, followed by a simple list of titles, all of which are referenced back to the Readers' Guides; Resources - an annotated list of useful magazines, books websites etc; Suggested Further Reading - a list of 50 additional, highly recommended titles for discussion.The Bloomsbury Essential Guide for Reading Groups will be indispensable to all those who want to establish or are already involved in a reading group.

SUSAN OSBORNE was a bookseller for ten years. She is the author of the Good Web Guide for Book Lovers (to be published in April 2002) and is Book Reviews Editor of Waterstone's Books Quarterly.