Lemondrop

It's time for your fall book list, and we don't care if you're in school -- we've got a backpack full of must-reads. We're kicking off our Lemondrop book club, and you won't find any fake-intellectual "Kite Runner" hoo-ha here.

We've got two distinct monthly meet-ups. Our Celebrity Memoir Book Club evaluates the best of star confessionals, while the Romance Novel Book Club delves into your guilty-pleasure page-turners. (We won't tell.)

Click here to sign up!

This syllabus lists the books and dates for each discussion. Extra credit: Email bookclub@lemondrop.com to get interviews, discounts and other perks related to our selections. See you in class!


CELEB MEMOIR TRACK
"My Booky Wook" by Russell Brand -- starts 9/9 (click to read)
Cute title or no, "My Booky Wook" is a lurid tale of drug addiction, sexual conquests and the pursuit of fame. Notorious in his native England, he's best known here as the host of the VMAs and "The Guy With Big Hair in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.'"

Brand wrote the whole shebang himself, detailing his descriptions of his time in a Philly sex-addiction clinic and his various encounters with addicts, prostitutes and other ne'er-do-wells. Brand could be the next great humor writer. Don't you want to be able to say you read him way back when?

Click here to read the rest.


"Got Fight?" by Forrest Griffin with Erich Krauss-- starts 10/7 (click to read)
If the name doesn't ring a bell, think of this as a hilariously self-deprecating memoir by a hot reality show winner -- who wouldn't read that? You don't have to follow MMA to appreciate the book by the first champ of "The Ultimate Fighter" -- funny Forrest kicks off his book (which he lobbied to call "Who Moved My Nose?") with a Cosmo-style quiz to tell whether you're manly enough. He then offers advice (much of which he fails to follow himself) on how to be tough.

As the book cover itself announces, "Even if you find that the book sucks, it will be no worse than having sex with Forrest Griffin. You'll feel a small prick and some minor discomfort, and then it will all be over."

"The Dirt" by Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx with Neil Strauss -- starts 11/4
Your worst bender was probably an average breakfast for the boys in Mötley Crüe during their heyday. "The Dirt" is the "Crime and Punishment" of the rock band autobiography genre, a glorious monument to sex, drugs and rock n' roll.

Not for the squeamish -- but well worth slogging through -- you get stories of snorting ants with Ozzy Osbourne, shooting up Jack Daniels (yes, you read that correctly) and unspeakable acts involving a breakfast burrito, a telephone and a homeless girl.

"I, California" by Stacey Grenrock-Woods -- starts 12/16
If you're burned out on celebrity debauchery, cleanse your palate with this book about minor-celebrity debauchery. The essays cover the drug-taking, child-acting and Playboy-posing past of Stacey Grenrock-Woods, Esquire sex columnist who's appeared on all our favorite shows ( "The Daily Show," "Arrested Development" and "7th Heaven").

But forget her claims to fame -- the writing here is as self-absorbed-yet-self-aware as David Sedaris's, but Grenrock-Woods' girlhood-in-the-'80s memories are eerily relatable.

Celeb Memoir Moderators: Lemondrop editors Heather Muse and Laura Gilbert.

ROMANCE NOVEL TRACK
"Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon -- starts 9/23 (click to read)
What do Scottish men wear beneath their kilts? What woman doesn't want to know the answer to that question? Let's face it, we love a man who is comfortable wearing a skirt. This novel has that plus bigamy, war, history, betrayal, time travel and sex. (The only thing missing is rock and roll, but you'll get plenty of that when you read "The Dirt.")

This love story follows Claire, a married nurse in the 1940s who's transported back in time where she falls for a redhead (natch), and it truly transcends calendar years. Think of it as "The Time Traveler's Mistress."

"Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding -- starts 10/21 (click to read)
Bridget Jones -- she's our favorite overweight, smoking, booze-it-up gal who frequently loses control over her mind-to-mouth filter (not to mention food-to-mouth). She mucks it all up and still gets her man.

Before you get geared up for the new movie, revisit the original with Bridget's diary. She may inspire you to lose weight, stop smoking, or stop drinking -- but maybe not! Keep a diary like Bridget's and share it with us as we discuss the book in the coming weeks.


"Dark Lover" by J.R. Ward -- starts 12/12 -- with giveaways of "Covet," the first book in Ward's new series!
The vampire craze is sweeping the nation, from "Twilight" to "True Blood," and there are dozens of books about women who love vampires. Vampires are our guilty pleasure -- sexy and dangerous all at once.

The hottie vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood -- Wrath, Rhage, Vishous, Zsadist, Phury, and Tohrment -- are up all night for adult fun. Standing well over 6 feet, each of them is a sexpot out for vengeance against the people trying to kill them.

Romance Track Moderator: Beatrice Underwood-Sweet, a voracious reader of anything and everything, including the backs of cereal boxes. Her other hobbies include knitting, writing and ice skating, often while reading. She reviews books at My Kingdom for a Book.

Tell us! What books and genres did we leave off? Leave your suggestions in the comments!