Nora St. Laurent is the CEO of The Book Club Network Incorporated www.bookfun.org and runs a book club near Atlanta, Ga. She writes a Book Club column for the Christian Fiction On-Line Magazine. You can read author interviews and learn about TBCN giveaways on her Finding Hope Through Fiction blog, http://www.psalm516.blogspot.com . She also reviews around the web at Title Trakk, Novel Reviews, and Suspense Zone. Nora and her husband Fred, run Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com

School is out! Summer is here, and our family is taking on a slower pace. Life is good. Teachers assigned summer reading lists for our kids, and I made a reading list for myself! Have you made a list of books you want to read this summer, books to get lost in and to escape the daily grind? Where do you get ideas for books that will interest you?

I know where you can get a fountain of information at your finger tips: The Book Club Network www.bookfun.org. On the front page you’ll see a sidebar where people have nominated their favorite books and tell you why they’ve loved the books. We have a readers Review section, where people post reviews of many books currently on the market.

On the left-hand sidebar, are giveaways and reports on author interviews and Facebook parties. In the center column, we have three giveaway opportunities from our sponsors, Bethany House and Revell Publishers. It’s always fun to interact with the authors and other readers during the contest times, which is from the twentieth until the last day of the month.

In the Reader’s Only group, you’ll find live chats on Monday and/or Friday nights a couple of times a month. It can be crazy with everyone talking at once. You can watch the conversation or jump in when you catch the rhythm of the chat.

I’m thrilled to announce the three featured books for this month. You can win these books by entering the drawing. The authors have come up with three questions. You have to answer only one to be entered. It makes for great discussion between the readers and authors. The first book is by Bethany House publisher’s featured author Karen Witnerg, Stealing the Preacher. Bethany House is giving away ten copies. The second is Revell Publisher’s featured authors Irene Hannon and her new book, That Certain Summer, and Sandra Orchard, Deadly Devotion. This is a great lineup and will give you more books to check out for your personal summer reading list.

As some of you know, in November 2012 I started a full-time position at the bookstore. It’s been hard juggling all that I do and work outside the house. Add to that my one-hour commute to and from work, and my son’s senior year approaching in September, I had to make some choices. One of them was the most difficult thing to do: stop being a book club leader.

The second thing that I have to give up is writing this monthly article for CFOM. It’s been a very hard choice. Bonnie Calhoun has been wonderful to me and has allowed me to write of things I’m passionate about; she has also been very patient with my turning in my articles late. Thank you, Bonnie, for your patience, your encouragement, and your friendship. I’m still shaving away the extra things I do to make time for my family.

You can catch up with me on my blog, Finding Hope (www.psalm516.blogspot.com) and at The Book Club Network, Where Book Fun Begins! It’s been lots of fun talking to you about books, book clubs, and authors!

Blessings to you and yours! Have a great summer! Hope you find some treasures in books this that bless you and encourage your heart!

Signing off for now!

Nora St.Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!