If you've ever been to a Barnes and Noble Café, you probably wondered if it was just a fancy name for a Starbucks. The truth is a bit more complicated.

I was at a Barnes & Noble signing books. A man came up. “You wouldn’t believe my life. I’m going to write a best seller someday,” he said.

The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post ...