Say hello to The Long Goodbye, Chicago (”Crime thriller ‘The Long Goodbye’ selected for ‘One Book, One Chicago,’ by Deanese Williams-Harris, Chicago Tribune):

“The Long Goodbye” by crime-genre master Raymond Chandler is the 14th and latest book selected for the Chicago Public Library’s “One Book, One Chicago” program. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, the library selects a new title for the program in an effort to promote reading and discussion among all city residents.

Oprah just announced her new pick–perhaps a pick-me-up for any lingering hangovers from reading The Road?

Best-selling author and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle has been inspiring readers since his first book, The Power of Now. In A New Earth, Eckhart provides practical teachings for waking up to a new, enlightened mind-set. If you’re seeking a more loving self and a more loving planet, this is the book for you.

I’ve been enjoying the posts at Book Group Buzz. Yesterday, Misha Stone’s “When Fiction and Reality Collide” addressed–well, you’re probably one step ahead of me on that one. Says Stone:

As a Fiction Librarian, I often get a little annoyed when patrons distinguish the difference between fiction and non-fiction as "fake" versus "real."

As a fiction reviewer, writer, and made-up person, I, too, get annoyed when I meet someone (usually at a cocktail party where the non-profit and for-profit worlds collide) who informs me that they don’t like to read novels because they like to “learn things.” Nothing wrong with simply preferring nonfiction to fiction, of course, but those who dismiss fiction out-of-hand usually strike me as being people who don’t know what to do with the facts they have. Facts are important, but what good are facts without insight? Fiction plays free with the facts in order to investigate even deeper matters.

This topic must be in the Booklist zeitgeist, as Joyce Saricks’ soon-to-be-published column, “Reading to Learn and Learning as We Read,” confirms. She begins:

A few months ago, I came across a comment that got me thinking: readers read nonfiction to learn something. Though seemingly innocuous, the remark, in context, implied that one doesn’t learn from fiction. I confess it got my dander up: Is nonfiction essentially superior because it offers information, the opportunity to learn something? And is it true that we don’t learn from fiction? 

How does she conclude? I’ll add a link on Monday, when her column goes live, so you can read for yourself.

This is all to say nothing of the real-versus-fake issue facing memoir, about which enough has been said already to last us until 2009.

(Unless I think of something really, really clever. Then I won’t be able to help myself.)

Update: Here’s the link to Joyce Saricks’ latest column, “Reading to Learn and Learning as We Read.”

Just one post today–to let you know about the launch of Booklist Online’s second blog, Book Group Buzz. We had some interesting conversations at the old Booklist Book Club, but what people kept telling us was that what they really wanted were resources to help them with their in-person (I disdain the digirati’s use of “meatspace”) book groups. And, by golly, that’s what we intend to give them.

Mary Ellen Quinn, Booklist Online’s managing editor, has recruited a crack team of contributors, including:

• Amanda Blau, Children’s Services Program Coordinator for the Downers Grove Public Library
• Kaite Mediatore Stover, Booklist columnist and Head of Readers’ Services for Kansas City Public Library
• Misha Stone, Readers’ Advisory Librarian at Seattle Public Library
• Nick DiMartino, author, playwright, blogger, and bookseller extraordinaire

We’re just getting started, so please pardon our sawdust. But the bloggers have already been busy with posts about biographies, book groups, and more. Please read, comment, and help spread the word. We welcome both your feedback and participation–with your help, we can make Book Group Buzz the place to go for book-group tips, reading guides, news, and helpful links.

I’m on my way over right now.