What follows here are a few tips for those of you who may be contemplating starting up your own book club. These are compiled both from my own personal experience, as well as from other friends who have let me in on the secrets of their clubs. And in case you missed my first post on the subject of book clubs, click here.

Select The Members.
There are a couple of theories here.

• Start with five or six women, and have each one

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What does it take to start a book club? What makes one book club shine where others may pale? How often should you meet? These questions and more will be answered here because inquiring minds want to know! At least, that's what my editors are telling me. And you know what? I am not surprised in the least. There is a plethora of information to share here, so this will be a multiple post entry.

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In case you missed the first two "installments" for how to throw a great teen girl's birthday party, click here for the first and here for the second. As promised, here are a few final notes to ensure the ultimate success of your teen's birthday party.

Plan on plenty of snacks:

• If you put out veggies with dip, they will gobble them up just as if you had put out chips.
• Be sure to have some

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In case you missed my last post, click here to catch up on the first of my ideas for making your teen's birthday party memorable without giving you a migraine!

Theme:
Here are some ideas for two basic age groups:

Younger Teens:

1. Movie and a sleepover (ever popular among the younger girls who are just turning 13 or 14 and getting to go to movies on their own a little bit for the first time).
2. Rent

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My post today is part of Family.com's Comment Mania! Contest . They'll give a prize to the person who leaves the best comment this week (on the full article, not this blog post), so be sure to go over there and check it out! Here's a sampling:

My daughter is a beautiful, well-mannered girl with multiple interests, extracurricular activities, and a part-time job. She is very sharp and is therefore enrolled in multiple honors-level classes. Some may think that this is every… Read More

Birthday parties can be a quandary for even the most seasoned parent. Once an option reserved for the very rich or very spoiled, I challenge you to find a middle class child who hasn't had his or her share of birthday parties. While some parties are fancier than others, one common dilemma for today's parent is deciding just what to do at the party. Never mind how many kids to invite and what kind of cake to serve. Those are… Read More