Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.
These gas prices, man! Pretty soon, my car might have to start running on vibes. Or, maybe I should give Brezzzy’s solution a try. In any case it’s real out here!
Although, there are certainly people who have more things to worry about than rising gas prices. Here are some ways to help out by donating to Ukraine, Yemen, and Ethiopia if you can!
Now, for the club!
Nibbles and Sips
Have you ever heard of caramelized banana pudding?? Typing that out made my eyes water a bit, I have to admit. Chef Millie Peartree shares her banana brilliance here. There are similarities to banana puddings you’ve probably made before, except for the caramelizing and she makes it into a pie instead of a casserole dish or bowl.
side note: how cute and fitting is her name?
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups half and half
- 6 bananas, sliced into 1-inch-thick rounds
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 8 ounces ‘Nilla wafers (approx. 40 wafers), plus a few more
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons/1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Now for the audiobooks!
2022’s Audie Award Winners
Audiobook performances can make or break an audiobook listening experience, elevating the book or dragging it down. There are even some books that I have read that I never would have if it weren’t for their audiobooks *cough* Jane Austen *cough* (you can judge me, it’s fine). And for some disabled folx, audiobooks are the only way to enjoy books, period.
The point is that audiobooks are poppin’, and with the Audie Awards just having been announced this past Friday, I thought it’d be cool to highlight winners and propose you have a book club meeting focused solely on reviewing audiobooks.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
This took home the audiobook of the year award and was narrated by Ray Porter. It follows Ryland Grace, who just woke up from a looong sleep on a ship in space millions of miles from home. He has a crappy memory and two corpses to contend with. Annd he’s also humanity’s last hope to defeat a threat of epic proportions, but he doesn’t remember that, either. Suffice to say, Ryland is pressed.
Book Club Bonus: Speculative fiction writers have long been credited with predicting the future, but how close to a future reality does this book come, do you think? Has the pandemic changed just how much of speculative fiction you think is possible. Discuss!
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Obama won the narration by the author award for this presidential memoir. It makes sense, since our former president has a voice like buttah! Anywho, here Obama takes it all the way back to some of his earliest political goals on through his historic eight year term. He includes everything from developing the Affordable Care Act, contending with Vladimir Putin, the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, and more.
Book Club Bonus: A lot of things get blamed on the president of the moment, even if said president had no hand or control over the issue. Obama talks about some of his limits as president here. Discuss what surprised you.
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawn Walton
This won the Audie award for fiction and was narrated by Janina Edwards, Bahni Turpin, James Langton, André De Shields, Dennis Boutsikaris, Steve West, Gabra Zackman, Robin Miles, and a full cast. Phew! “Full cast,” indeed! This is about Opal, a young, Black woman from Detroit as she figures out what she wants to do with her life in the early seventies. She’s not the type to conform to social standards and wants to be a star. So when she meets the British songwriter Neville Charles, she decides to pursue her musical dream with him. Then, when another band flies the confederate flag at a concert, tragedy strikes. Years later, journalist Sunny is covering Opal and Nev’s musical history and some shocking things come to light. This is told through oral tradition, which is especially suited to an audiobook.
Book Club Bonus: Discuss what the club thought of the revelation. Does it change things? If so, how?
Local Missing Woman by Mary Kubica
This won for thriller/suspense and was narrated by Brittany Pressley, Jennifer Jill Araya, Gary Tiedemann, and Jesse Vilinsky. It takes place in a peaceful town where Shelby Tebow goes missing. Then, so do Meredith Dickey and Delilah, her young daughter. The case goes cold, but then eleven years later, Delilah shows up! A whole lot of wtf-isms ensue.
Book Club Bonus: A good mystery will surprise you with the reveal, but still lay the groundwork for it to be feasible in the build up to it. Discuss how you felt this book built up to its final conclusion.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Suggestion Section
Colson Whitehead tweeted the name of his new book
Frolic’s book of the month is Hook, Line and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
Reese’s March book pick is The Club by Ellery Lloyd
Here’s a reflection on Goodreads. What do you think of the site?
A library grants itself the power to ban books
Danika Ellis explores how appropriate sex is in YA books
I hope this newsletter found you well, and as always, thanks for hanging out! If you have any comments or just want to connect, send an email to erica@riotnewmedia.com or holla at me on Twitter @erica_eze_ . You can also catch me talking more mess in the new In Reading Color newsletter as well as chattin’ with my new cohost Tirzah Price on the Hey YA podcast.
Until next week,
-E