December's Book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

December's book is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

Synopsis:

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a
passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate
circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night
stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his
degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there
that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is
married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets
Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful
sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that
overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can
afford.

The book chat is scheduled for January 9/10, 2009, Friday night/Saturday morning, depending on your time zone. (Exact time will be posted later.)

Update: The book chat has been scheduled for January 10th, 2009, 8am GMT +08:00!! Please check your time zone by following the time at the top of the page.

Please remember that this is an international book chat so it's not easy to find a time when it will be convenient for everyone, but I believe Friday night and Saturday morning is a compromise we all can make.

If you're interested in reading this book with me for December and joining the book chat with me on January 9/10, please sign up with Mister Linky below, and leave your email address in the comments (I'm using Haloscan's commenting program, so nobody can see your email address except me).

Please remember to leave your email address in the comments or you will not be able to receive the chat room link and password!!

I will email the chat room link and password to participants the day before the chat.

For more about how it works, please click here.

For rules and guidelines, click here.

Rules & Guidelines

1. Please play nice. Be respectful to each other, and no personal insults to others or to their opinions.


2. No SHOUTING. Using all CAPITAL LETTERS is considered shouting and is rude.


3. No use of explicit, obscene or vulgar language. Please remember that there may be underaged readers in the chat, and the rest of us don't like it either.


4. Please stay on topic at all times. There's plenty of time for you to socialize outside of the book chats. Don't even talk about other books unless they relate to the current book being discussed.


5. It will be helpful and make your discussions more satisfying if you prepared a short list of things that stood out to you in the book and that you want to talk about.


6. Don't be afraid to share. This is what the book chat is for, we want to know how the book affected you and what you got out of it.


7. Have fun! Enjoy the chats!

About Betty's Book Chats

Betty's Book Chats (BBC) is an informal book club where readers get together and discuss books on a real-time chat room at a specific time and day.

Here's how it works:

 

• Check out the list of books being offered for the book chats.
• Choose the books you're interested in discussing, and sign up for the chats with Mister Linky.
• Either leave your email address in the comment in this form: "bettysbooks AT gmail DOT com" to prevent spam, or email me privately at bettysbooks@gmail.com with the title of the book in the subject.
• Minimum participants for a book chat is five, maximum is ten.
• Date and time for the chats will be scheduled when at least five readers have signed up for it, according to the convenience of the participants.
• Sign-ups will be open until the day before the book chat, as long as the chat hasn't reach the maximum ten person limit.
• On the day before the chat, I will email all participants with the chat room link and password, so please remember to let me have your email address one way or another. You will not be able to receive the link and password if I don't have your email address!!
• When you've gotten the link and the password, sign into the chat room on the designated time, and chat away!
  

For rules & guidelines, read here.