Sponsored by Algonquin Books.
Afi is a young seamstress in Ghana who has been convinced by her mother to marry a man she does not know. Elikem is a wealthy businessman whose mother has chosen Afi in the hopes that she will distract him from his relationship with a woman his family deems inappropriate. But Afi is not prepared for the shift her life takes when she moves to Accra, Ghana’s gleaming capital. She has agreed to this marriage in order to give her mother the financial security she desperately needs, and so she must see it through. Or maybe not?
Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. I really can’t believe it’s already August. I feel like July lasted for five minutes, but still managed to have Ms. Delta werk (get it? Rupaul + physics joke… I’ll stop) and give us this rise in COVID cases. SMH! I’m glad to be done with heat advisories (at least in my area), but sheesh!
On to the club!
Nibbles and Sips
In the spirit of the book topic, I wanted to use vegan Tiktoker and literal ray of sunshine, Tabitha Brown’s recipe for mac and cheese. Gone are the days of bland plant-based food! Here’s a pretty straightforward video of her making it, as well as a page with the instructions and ingredients more clearly listed. If you don’t know Tabitha, she makes vegan recipes that everyone will like, is super funny, and even read Wendy Williams for filth (lol).
Material World
The books I will discuss in today’s newsletter deal with consumerism as well as its effect on the environment. Consumerism and environmentalism are inextricably linked. Suzanne Jacobs from Grist explains this relationship well when she was summarizing research findings: “They found that consumerism was much higher in rich countries than in poor countries (surprise!) and that those with the highest rates of consumerism had up to 5.5 times the environmental impact as the world average.” It’s interesting to see how authors work these elements into their writing, using them as backdrops or even major plot points.
A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
Here, Millet explores climate change with the use of biblical allegory in what has been described as a Lord of the Flies-style story. One summer, a group of teenagers and younger kids are dragged to a vacation home by their parents. The parents neglect their children because of their greater interest in alcohol and the kids, in turn, are ashamed and unwilling to claim them. When there is a storm, the parents forsake their children in favor of Ecstasy and the kids are left to fend for themselves.
Book Club Bonus: What is the significance of the Bible throughout the story? Also, what is being said by how the dynamics between the two generations is shown?
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
This has been getting a lot of praise lately (it’s on Obama’s summer reading list!), and for good reason. Klara is an android, or AF (“Artificial Friend”) who seems to be a lot more observant and perceptive than other AFs, and sometimes even actual humans. She stands in a store display people watching before a sick girl and her mother pick her out to take her home. This is a world where the class structures we currently experience are still very present and the planet has been polluted.
Book Club Bonus: How can one reconcile Klara’s obvious humanity with the ending? What is it saying about consumerism and its effects on the individual?
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The other two books have mostly focused on characters with means. This novel is more realistic and focuses on some of those who may suffer because of overconsumption by the wealthy classes. Salvage the Bones is about a Black family in Mississippi that lives in poverty and how life is for them as they await Hurricane Katrina. The father neglects his children as he medicates himself with alcohol, and his kids are more independent and resourceful as a result. Esch, the novel’s protagonist, is fourteen and pregnant, and often seeks to escape her bleak reality by getting lost in stories (she loves Greek myths). This story of survival is brutal and bloody at times, but it can also be redemptive.
Book Club Bonus: Discuss the significance of myth and biblical allegory in the presence of floods/storms. Also, what themes surrounding motherhood are presented throughout?
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Janina is an aging astrologist that house sits for some of her neighbors, who usually only return to their houses in the small Polish town for vacations. She also translates the poetry of William Blake. When bodies of some of her neighbors, people she knew that did not respect nature, turn up dead, she assumes that animals are taking their revenge. This is a mystery that has possible supernatural elements, with a main character who is eccentric and just as passionate about the lives of animals as she is that of humans.
Book Club Bonus: Discuss how women are regarded once they enter old age. How did this hamper the main character, and how did it benefit her?
Suggestion Section
Goodreads details comedian Ali Wong’s summer book picks
Points on keeping book clubs virtual by Christianna Silva at Mashable.
messy bookish tea 🍵: The sudden death of Scholastic’s CEO has unearthed some interesting things 👀
As always, thanks for hanging with me for a minute. If you have any comments or just want to connect, send an email to erica@riotnewmedia.com.
See you next week,
Erica