Or at least it seemed like it: The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth was larger than life on the big screen, here in Chapel Hill at the Lumina Theater. The Thursday before the Friday premiere of the Water For Elephants movie (based on Sara Gruen‘s best-selling novel, Water for Elephants), Algonquin staff and members of the North Carolina literary community were treated to a preview screening of the much anticipated film.

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Gathering outside before the show.

Daniel Wallace, author of BIG FISH, with lovely wife, Laura

David Parker, Michael Parker, author of THE WATERY PART OF THE WORLD, Kathy Pories, Senior Editor, and Geoff Martin

Lawrence Naumoff, author of TALLER WOMEN, Haven Kimmel, author of THE SOLACE OF LEAVING EARLY, and Chuck Adams, Executive Editor

Ina Stern, Associate Publisher, and Jill McCorkle, author of GOING AWAY SHOES

Michael Parker and Lee Smith, author of MRS. DARCY AND THE BLUE EYED STRANGER

Just 8 more days…

We’re counting down to April 26th, 7:00 pm EST and our next Algonquin Book Club event! Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, will interview Sara Gruen about her international bestseller, Water for Elephants. As with all Algonquin Book Club events, you’ll be able to see the entire event via a live webcast–and you’ll also be able to ask questions of the author and chat with others who are also tuning in to the webcast.

Just 4 more days…

Until the big-screen premiere of Water For Elephants starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz. Be sure to catch opening night on Friday, April 22. And you can view the trailer right now.

Today…

We’re giving away 3 autographed copies of Water For Elephants and 5 Algonquin Book Club tote bags. To enter, leave a comment here, ask a question on our Facebook Discussion section, or tweet about Water for Elephants using #AlgBookClub as your hasthtag.

To tie you over until then, we have a special Water for Elephants meal planned for you, taken right from the book. It’s the same meal Jacob had when Marlena and August invited him to join them for dinner in the railway car. We’ve taken a few liberties with the dishes, but in our humble opinion, we’ve improved upon them. Sara Gruen herself offers a divine spin on Oyster Bisque with a recipe for Oyster Brie Soup, courtesy of the Grove Park Inn. You can view the full recipe, plus recipes for the other dishes, here.

And speaking of two weeks–the Water for Elephants film opens up in less than two weeks (!), on Friday, April 22. You can view eight high-definition clips from the movie over at the Water for Elephants Movie Fan Site. Our favorite of the eight is below. So what do you think: Are you excited to see the film?

This week we’re giving away an autographed copy of Water for Elephants and several Algonquin tote bags. To enter, tell us in the comments below or on our Facebook page: What Water for Elephants-themed dish would you bring to a book club party? We’re looking for creativity here, folks, so put your thinking caps on!

Join us April 26th, 7:00 pm EST for our next Algonquin Book Club event! Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, will interview Sara Gruen about her international bestseller, Water for Elephants. As with all Algonquin Book Club events, you’ll be able to see the entire event via a live webcast–and you’ll also be able to ask questions of the author and chat with others who are also tuning in to the webcast.

Visit the Algonquin Book Club website to:

• Read Sara Gruen’s essay “Inside Circus World” and an excerpt from Water For Elephants
• Download discussion questions from our Reading Group Guide
• Create special dishes paired with the novel, like Sara Gruen’s Oyster Brie Soup, and 1930s-era recipes like Vintage Milk Lemonade and Applesauce Cake
• And join the conversation: Ask questions of Gruen via Facebook or Twitter (using #AlgBookClub) or right here on the blog and she might just answer them live.

Each week leading up to the event we’ll be giving away autographed copies of Water for Elephants, Algonquin Book Club tote bags, and more. To enter, leave a comment here, ask a question on our Facebook Discussion section, or tweet about Water for Elephants using #AlgBookClub as your hasthtag.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing you on the 26th!

Today we launch our new video series, Ask an Algonquin Editor. Have a question about the publishing world? Submit it in the comments section and one of our editors may very well answer it in a future episode. First up: Executive Editor Chuck Adams answers the question, How did you acquire Water for Elephants? Bonus material: artwork done by an elephant! See Chuck talk about the beautiful painting that author Sara Gruen gave to him.

I’ve already submitted three of my own questions: 1) Do you remember the first book you ever read? No, not as a professional, I mean ever. 2)  What’s the difference between a galley and an Advance Reading Copy? and 3) I know you said “No” to my cyber-punk novella, but will you read my LOTR fan-poetry? Personally, I’m hoping an Algonquin editor will answer #3.

–Susannah Long, Intern

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Welcome to the Algonquin Book Club! Each year we’ll be featuring four Algonquin Book Club selections at literary events held around the country and simultaneously webcast on our site. For each event, an Algonquin author will be interviewed by a notable writer. The line-up for 2011 includes:

3/21: Julia Alvarez (In the Time of the Butterflies) interviewed by Edwidge Danticat, author of Brother, I’m Dying

4/26: Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants) interviewed by Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help

8/18: Heidi Durrow (The Girl Who Fell from the Sky) interviewed by Terry McMillan, author of Getting to Happy

10/20: Robert Goolrick (A Reliable Wife) interviewed by Patricia Cornwell, author of Port Mortuary

And already scheduled for March 2012: Lauren Grodstein (A Friend of the Family) interviewed by Stephen King, author of Full Dark, No Stars

For our first event, on March 21, 7:00pm  EST, Algonquin author Julia Alvarez will be interviewed about her beloved classic, In the Time of the Butterflies, by the critically acclaimed author Edwidge Danticat. You can tune in to the live webcast here. And the best part? At the same time you can also chat with others who are tuned in to the webcast. And if you live in Miami, you can catch the event live at Books & Books in Coral Gables.

Have you already read In the Time of the Butterflies? We’d love to hear what you think. Or is this your first time being introduced to the book? If so, pick up a copy and read along with us!

Be sure to check out our Algonquin Book Club site, which currently features an original essay from Julia Alvarez about the novel, along with a description of the book, author bios for Julia and Edwidge Danticat, a reading group guide, book club tips and ideas, and wine and recipe pairings centered around the book–including some recipes from Julia herself, as well as some recipes that were favorites of the three Mirabal Sisters, the main characters portrayed in the book.

We’ll be giving away autographed copies of In the Time of the Butterflies and Algonquin Book Club tote bags over the next three weeks. To be entered to win them all you have to do is leave a comment on our Algonquin Book Club blog posts, or tweet about it on Twitter using #AlgBookClub, or tell us your thoughts in the Discussion section on our Facebook page.

And most importantly, if you have any questions for Julia Alvarez, post them in any of the aforementioned places and we’ll submit them to the moderator to potentially be asked at the live event.

Happy reading!

Tai, the adorable elephant who plays Rosie

Sara Gruen has kindly signed multiple copies of the Water for Elephants movie tie-in edition, which officially publishes tomorrow, March 1! We’re giving away TWO copies this week–just leave a comment here or on our Facebook page to enter.

Want to increase your chances of winning? Our good friends at the Water for Elephants: A Film fan site are giving away autographed copies on Twitter each week leading up to the film’s release on April 22. Not on Twitter? No worries–they’ll also be giving away copies on their blog and Facebook page. Stay tuned for more details on that. For how to enter, see at bottom of this blog entry, which is being cross-posted from their site.

Even cooler? Two of the people behind the Water for Elephants: A Film fan site recently visited Tai, the elephant who plays Rose in the film! See below for the description of their amazing visit–plus an incredible video–and visit them here to see dozens more photos.

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Kinker Tink and I (Kinker Jen) were extended the most extraordinary invitation to visit Tai and her sisters at the Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT) ranch in Perris, California on February 19! It was a magical day and a rare treat – HTWT doesn’t usually allow guests at the ranch. Our visit was part of an overall goodwill mission to raise further awareness to EEHV, an elephant disease that is wiping out the Asian elephant population at an alarming rate. EEHV recently claimed the life of JP, the 3 1/2 year old son of Rosie, Tai’s sister, which I (very sadly) blogged about a couple weeks ago.

Tink and I arrived bearing gifts – a giant fruit basket and bag of peppermints for Tai, and a bouquet of spring flowers and Team Rosie pins for Kari, Tai’s human mommy. We didn’t really know what to expect, we just knew we’d get to see Tai in person. Our expectations were met and completely exceeded! Kari had invited a handful of friends and supporters of elephant conservation the same day as our visit. We were given the grand tour of the HTWT 10 acre elephant ranch, treated to a circus-worthy show, fed the gift basket contents to Tai, given an elephant ride atop Becky, and peppered Tai with questions about filming with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. In all, we lived it up at the HTWT ranch for about 3 hours!

People that know me would say that I am never speechless, but you’ll witness my speechlessness as I babble and giggle my way through our Q&A with Tai! Who knew I’d fan-girl over an elephant?

Read our Tai-normous filming facts and see the pics and vid after the jump!

Here are a few WFE filming tidbits that we learned during our visit:

• The studio in fact brought Rob, Reese and Christoph out to convice them to do the movie.
• Rob fell in love with Tai after doing loads of tricks with her and seeing how intelligent she is. #TaiPattz anyone? He was all over her, thrilled to be in her presence. After the meeting when he was driving back to LA, he was calling people telling them how excited he was meeting her and doing the movie.
• Reese loved Tai. They have a routine together in the movie, so she trained with Tai for countless hours over many weeks.
• Christoph brought his whole family to meet Tai.
• Everyone was a sweetheart and all were genuinely nice and very respectful of Tai.
• Tai would recognize Rob and Reese because they spent so much time together on the set.
• Tai would spend days at a time out on set to make it easy on her.
• Rosie (the real one!) is also in WFE! She has a bit part in the “modern circus” scene.
• Reese and Tai did a Vogue magazine shoot – not sure when it hits stands but probably March or April edition.

We’ve got a 15 minute video and LOTS of pictures that summarize our visit with Tai and her sister, Rosie (the real Rosie!). Enjoy and don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments section at the end of this page!

As we get closer to the premiere of Water for Elephants movie, we’ll be auctioning off Tai’s self-portrait to raise money for EEHV research. In the meantime, if you have just $1 to spare, please forsake that Starbuck’s latte today and donate to EEHV research at www.elephantconservation.org.

Water for Elephants is on the horizon and we thought it would be fun to pass the time by giving stuff away! But what prizes?? We’ve done buttons and tshirts… Well, our official partner, Algonquin Books, really came through for us, offering movie tie-in editions of Water for Elephants!! Even more exciting? Sara Gruen signed them all! *Wild Kinker Applause*

Each week until April 22 we will be giving away a trade paperback copy of Water for Elephants signed by Sara Gruen!

Here’s how it works: Each Monday, starting today, we will tweet the code you need to enter on Twitter. Our Twitter is: H2OforElephants. Giveaways will run from noon on Monday until noon on Friday (Pacific Standard Time). We’ll use Tweetaways to draw a winner every Friday until Water for Elephants opens in the USA 4/22/11. The giveaway is worldwide and you only need to enter once per week to be eligible.

Huge thanks to Algonquin Books and Sara Gruen for making this possible!

We’re looking into a separate giveaway for our readers who aren’t on Twitter. Watch the blog and our Facebook page for that announcement.

Good Luck!

Thanks, USA Today, for writing about the Algonquin Book Club series, featuring Julia Alvarez (In the Time of the Butterflies) with Edwidge Danticat, Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants) with Kathryn Stockett, Heidi Durrow (The Girl Who Fell from the Sky) with Terry McMillan, Robert Goolrick (A Reliable Wife) with Patricia Cornwell, and Lauren Grodstein (A Friend of the Family) with Stephen King. For dates, times, and venues, click here.

We’ll have many more great pairings in 2012, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, please join us for our first Algonquin Book Club selection: In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez. We’ll be hosting the live webcast of Edwidge Danticat interviewing Julia Alvarez on March 21, 7:00pm, at the amazing Books & Books in Miami. In the weeks leading up to the live event, you can join the conversation with others via Facebook, Twitter, and our blog. To sweeten the pot, each week we’ll be giving away Algonquin Book Club tote bags, Advance Review Copies, new books hot off the press, and other swag.

Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear your feedback! Email michael(at)algonquin(dot)com.

We were absolutely thrilled that Flyleaf recently hosted an Algonquin Book Club evening with special guest Heidi Durrow, author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, her debut novel now out in paperback.

Heidi Durrow

The room was packed to the gills, with audience members noshing on cheese and sipping on winter beer. Algonquin’s Marketing Director Craig Popelars started off the night as only he could, with an inspiring ode to book clubs written to the tune of Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice Baby.”

Craig Popelars

Heidi Durrow, winner of Barbara Kingsolver’s prestigious Bellwether Prize, dazzled the audience with her dramatic reading and then had a lively Q&A with the audience.

The audience at Flyleaf

Afterward, Algonkians Chuck Adams, Kathy Pories, Ina Stern, and Michael Taeckens took to the stage and discussed various titles that are perfect for book clubs, including Hillary Jordan’s Mudbound, Lauren Grodstein’s A Friend of the Family, Robert Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife, Jonathan Evison’s West of Here, Caroline Leavitt’s Pictures of You, Joseph Skibell’s A Blessing on the Moon, Lewis Nordan’s Wolf Whistle, and Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants. They also discussed the particulars of the Algonquin Book Club, a new program that will be launching later this month with beautifully designed catalogs and a brand new website (more details to come, so stay posted!).

Kathy Pories, Chuck Adams, Ina Stern, and Michael Taeckens

The evening concluded with more partaking of wine and cheese, tons of audience members lining up to have Heidi sign their books (Flyleaf sold out of every copy!), and people loading up on Algonquin titles and other offerings, thinking about their future book club reads.

Heidi Durrow autographing her book

People waiting to get their books signed by Heidi

Thank you for a great evening, Heidi and Flyleaf!

–Megan Fishmann, Publicist