I love picking out books for any occasion, but I always get excited for the first few of a new book club season (we start our ‘new year’ in September…once a teacher, always a teacher), and this year in particular I’m pretty jazzed about these new reads! This is the first year that I selected three books at once (we usually go month to month), but with this year going as it is, it just felt like a good time to get things set early on. (We’ll also do a holiday read – always a member favorite! – that I’ll announce in early November.)
September
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. This is one that I’ve heard about so much over the past year or two, always been intrigued, and a book club member mentioned it as being something she was interested in, so I thought it would be a great way to get things started and ‘dig in’ to this new book club season. Something different for sure (I’m only about ⅓ of the way through, and oh my goodness!), and I’ve learned very quickly that this IS NOT a book I can read at night! I will say that it’s the perfect transition from the summer beach reads to the ‘spooky’ season.
October
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Carrying on with the spooky-eerie-mystery theme, this novel about a collegiate secret society has caught my eye – if for no other reason, because of the slithering cover. And after a summer trip to the Yale campus, where the book is based, I knew we had to have it as our October pick!
November
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan. Courtney Sullivan is an author I’ve come to absolutely adore. I read ‘Engagements’ a few years ago and remember thinking, ‘Wow,’ when I finished. Her sweet spot is a story told through multiple characters and viewpoints, and after being on my list for a while (I’m a sucker for a good cover – see above – and her books have the prettiest calligraphed titles). Inspired by the buzz for this new book, I made it my summer project to read all her other books (Commencement, Maine, and Saints for All Occasions – which may be one of my favorite books of all time). And, again, all I could think was, ‘Wow.’ Her characters, moving, complex plot lines and varied perspectives are really remarkable and these books have some of the most beautiful writing and most impactful story lines that I’ve ever read. I also have to mention that this book tells the story of the relationship between a babysitter and the mother who hires her, and the mom who hired me as a babysitter many, many years ago is in our book club! Definitely a read I’m looking forward to during the month of November.
December
Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini. This was our holiday pick, and based on a historic literary character – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – just like our first holiday book (Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva). I was hoping to recreate the *magical* holiday experience we had with that book but, while we enjoyed it, parts of this one sort of dragged-on, and I found myself skipping through a lot of them. Ultimately, it was an OK book, and it did have a holiday-spirit element to it that we enjoyed.
March
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. This was a beautifully written and beautifully heartbreaking book, and our discussion was only able to cover a few of the very significant topics addressed in this delicately nuanced and impactful story. Addiction, racism, religion, science, and family relationships are so carefully and thoroughly inspected and addressed, and the characters of Gifty, Nana, and their mother have stayed with me. Transcendent Kingdom has a permanent spot on my ‘favorites’ shelf, and I’ll surely circle back for a re-read at some point, which I very rarely do.
April
The Survivors by Jane Harper. I picked this book for our group mainly based on the setting – we don’t see many books set on the beaches of Tasmania! – and I thought the mystery-esque plot with a twist at the end was engaging enough for a good discussion. While people did enjoy it – I think I was the only one who liked it enough to want to talk about it (in my defense, I read it while I was recovering from COVID!), and it didn’t make a huge impact on the group! We did agree that it was a nice break from the much heavier Transcendent Kingdom, and overall it was a decent read.
May
The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood. What a GREAT book! Like with Transcendent Kingdom, this novel had way too many topics to get into during our discussion, but it made a huge impact on our readers. We LOVED it!! Addressing life in the US from the perspective of a Muslim immigrant family was really informative, and gave us a new lens to look at many different issues through. And the writing – I can’t say enough about it!! I read most of this book on a plane, and I was definitely stifling a lot of laughs, it’s just THAT funny. If you’re looking to read a book that’s significant, impactful, yet lighthearted and TRULY enjoyable – definitely pick this up!!
Summer
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. For our summer book, we were looking for something not too heavy, but not anything mindless – and this pick perfectly fit that description! Historic London, a little magical realism, and two very strong and independent women – we really liked this quick yet engaging read.