Interview with Lolly Winston below this post. Occasional author participation is one of the cool things about the Barren Bitches...

It's back and better than ever with a brand-new icon. The Barren Bitches (and Man-Pie) Book Brigade has started spinning; meaning, we're now going to switch off between books that contain IF/adoption/pg loss and books that are a complete distraction--from chicklit to mysteries to good old-fashioned literature.

Here is the master list for the eighth tour of the Barren Bitches Book Brigade. What is the Barren Bitches Book Brigade? It's a book club from the comfort of your own living room. The book club is conducted entirely online and open to anyone (male or female) in the infertility/pregnancy loss/assisted conception/adoption/parenting-after-infertility world (as well as any other related category I inadvertently left off the list). It is called a book tour because everyone reads the same book and then poses a question to the group. Participants choose a few questions to answer and then post their response on their blog. Readers can jump from blog to blog, commenting along the way. We read both fiction and non-fiction.

Anyone can jump aboard--it's a book club where you can drop in and out as you wish and all in the community are welcome.

Book: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Start Date: October 31
Question Due: December 6
Question List Sent Out: December 7
Post Dates: December 10-12th (perhaps also the 13th)
(need an explanation of how a book tour works? Click here to go to a list of posts on the past book tours.)

Barren Bitches Book Brigade List (click on any of the links below on December 10th to take you to a stop on this book tour. Jump from post to post to read a plethora of opinions and thoughts on The Handmaid's Tale. I will keep adding to this list until 11 p.m. on December 6th. The list is currently open)

Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters (Mel)
The Annex (Josh)
Twisted Ovaries (Vanessa/Helen)
Sticky Bean (Kristen)
Road Blocks and Rollercoasters (R & R)
Weebles Wobblog (Lori)
Conceiving is Believing (Conceiving is Believing)
Beaten But Not Bowed (Drowned Girl)
The Open Door (Deanna)
The Dunn Family (Erica)
Southern Infertility (Samantha)
We Are What We Repeatedly Do (Yodasmistress)
Mommy Someday? (Michelle)
That Was the Plan (Ms. Planner)
Our Box of Rain (K)
Clumsy Kisses (Rebecca)
Wonderful Thing (Anne)
Our Own Creation (AMS)
Desperate to Multiply (Portia P)
Slaying, Blogging, Whatever... (Delenn)
I Won't Fear Love (Julia)
No Swimmers in the Tubes (Noswimmers)
Infertile Fantasies (Bea)
My Journey to Motherhood (Courtney)
Tired of Waiting (Holly)
The Infertile Long and Winding Road (Ms. Infertile)
One Year (Amanda)
Coming2Terms (Pamela Jeanne)
Wannabe RE (Rachel)
Infertility Sucks (S)
Confessions of a Paranoid Parent (Paranoid)
Egg Drop Post (Egg Drop)
The Road Less Travelled (Loribeth)
The Duchess (Duchess)


Not on the list and want to join? Drop me an email at thetowncriers@gmail.com. You can add yourself up until 11 p.m. on December 6th.

How the book tour works:

(1) leave a comment or send me an email (thetowncriers@gmail.com) saying that you're interested in participating. I need your blog name, blog url, and email address.

(2) read The Handmaid's Tale by December 6th (or at least enough of it in order to ask a question to the group).

(3) create a single question that would kick off a discussion (in other words, any question that leads to more than a "yes" or "no" answer where someone can express their opinion) and mail it to me on December 6th (or any time beforehand). I will send you a reminder email close to the date. Click here to see sample questions from tour #4.

(5) on December 7th, I will send you a list of possible questions. Everyone will choose 3 questions off the list and answer them in a blog entry. You will find out if you are posting on December 10th, 11th or 12th (you can choose).

(6) on December 10th, people will begin to post their entry. Each day, I will post a list of all the people putting up their entry that day so people can go around and read the entries and comment (start a discussion back and forth in the comments section). Reading the entries and commenting on the posts is the best part of the tour--by the end of the week, you should have a comment from every participant (and maybe even a few new permanent blog readers).