Category: In The Club

In the Club – 05/27

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 26, 2020

Sponsored by our Robyn Carr Prize Pack giveaway, courtesy of Harlequin.com.

We’re teaming up with Harlequin.com to give away a prize pack which includes the following Robyn Carr titles: Four Friends, The Life She Wants, The Summer That Made Us, The View from Alameda Island, and Virgin River. Enter now!

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. Well sh*t, friends. A couple of you got me in my feelings this week with your sweet emails! Thank you for reaching out, truly. It was such a nice warm hug to my bookish heart to know that my little ramblings on books, club business, and tasty things are a source of comfort and entertainment for you (and not just me nerding out by myself in cyber space). You’re simply the best and I appreciate you. Sending virtual hugs to you and everyone else reading this newsletter.

Whew! Enough feels. To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

So this Portland weather cannot make up its mind, a thing I was warned it was prone to do but keep forgetting nonetheless. It will *allegedly* be over 80 degrees and sunny mid week and I plan on packing up a little picnic to go sit in a park. I’ll be making my favorite quick chicken salad and thought I’d share it with you today- I love using this recipe for sandwiches in an afternoon tea and at book club gatherings in general.

Ingredients: shredded chicken, greek yogurt*, fresh chopped rosemary, golden raisins, salt and pepper

Instructions: Mix that ish up and enjoy! This is one of those recipes you just sort of need to eyeball and season to taste. Enjoy on its own or on bread!

*I use Greek yogurt because mayonnaise is my personal hell, but you do you, boo. When someone first made this chicken salad for me, she used one part Greek yogurt for every one part mayo. Vaya con dios.

Talkin’ Bout Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness month and I totally slacked on recommending this as a book club topic! May or not, anytime is a good time to better understand (and work on!) mental health.

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang – This is one of my five-star reads of 2019 and I wish more people would pick it up. It’s a very personal account of Wang’s diagnoses—schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and late-stage Lyme disease—told through a collection of essays, one that asks readers to understand that schizophrenia in particular is not a single, unifying diagnosis. I know I’ve probably read several candid portrayals of mental and chronic illness, but this one stands apart. Maybe it’s the clarity of the writing, the honesty, the care with which Wang addresses both her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” and those of us who just want to understand it better. So moving, so educational.

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan – Hello, ol’ reliable! I used to tell people that I wanted this book shoved into the hands of my physicians if I ever displayed symptoms of an undiagnosable mental illness. Susan Cahalan was 24 years old and life was swell: she was in a promising new relationship, had just begun an exciting career in journalism, and was overall living the New York dream. Almost overnight and with no clear explanation as to why, she found herself tied down to a hospital bed in a psychiatric ward. She was labeled violent, psychotic, a threat to both herself and others, but her diagnosis was unclear. The eventual what, why, and how of her final diagnosis are at once a riveting page-turner and a maddening (maddening, I say!!) peak into the pitfalls of the US healthcare system.

Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella – This work of fiction is a very recent release that I highly recommend on audio! Cady is (maybe not?) processing her brother Eric’s recent death by suicide when she begins her freshman year at Harvard. Eric himself attended Harvard and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his final year, and now Cady is hearing voices too. Does she share her brother’s mental illness, or are the voices she hears ghosts from Harvard’s unsavory past? I’ve seen some people give it a negative review because it wasn’t quite the mystery or ghost story they thought it was going to be. While I don’t know that I would quite call it a thriller in the “traditional” sense, it is definitely both psychological and suspenseful. It’s also a compelling reflection on the devastating effects—especially of the mental health variety– of unprocessed grief. (TW: discussions of suicide throughout, attempted sexual assault, off-page violence)

Suggestion Section

Some more tips for organizing a virtual book club and getting your friends in on the fun

The LA Times Book Club will discuss a book I’ve had my eye on for weeks: The Compton Cowboys by Walter Thompson-Hernandez! Did you know about this community of Black cowboys in Compton, one that still exists today? I lived in LA for almost a decade and half my extended family still lives there, yet I still knew nothing about this fascinating piece of LA history.

Catch up on week three of Vox’s discussion of The Secret History

A book club in the Colorado Springs area turned to mask-making to help fill a community need. I love this idea and encourage all my craft club people to try it!

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club 5/20

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 20, 2020

Sponsored by our Robyn Carr Prize Pack giveaway, courtesy of Harlequin.com.

We’re teaming up with Harlequin.com to give away a prize pack which includes the following Robyn Carr titles: Four Friends, The Life She Wants, The Summer That Made Us, The View from Alameda Island, and Virgin River. Enter now!

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. Still here, still in isolation, still having some trouble reading but getting better every day. Today’s recs are a direct response to a request we’ve been getting a lot lately! Time for some hard club hits.

To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

This week I’m back in I-don’t-want-to-spend-so-much-time-in-the-kitchen mode, but I of course still want tasty snacks. I’ve been leaning hard on my spice cabinet for quick, easy, delicious bites that I will def work into physical book club meetings in the future. Several of these blends come from Trader Joe’s; if you don’t shop at (or have access) to Trader Joe’s, use whatever spice blend you can find with a similar flavor profile!

Toast topped with mashed avocado + Umami Seasoning Blend

Mix sour cream or greek yogurt with Onion Salt, serve with your favorite chips or sliced veggies This also works with Everything But the Bagel Seasoning or—and this is one of my fave underrated dip seasonings—chicken bouillon powder! Just use it sparingly, it is WAY salty if you use too much.

Toss some arugula in a vinaigrette of EVOO, lemon juice, salt, and 21 Seasoning Salute, then top with shaved Parmesan. This is my go-to simple salad for getting greens on my plate; I pair it with whatever protein I’m craving: salmon, some grilled chicken, or even a hard boiled egg.

Mix equal parts of chopped avocado, tomato, and cucumber, then add lemon juice, lemon pepper, and salt to taste.

Simple, easy, tasty!

Hit Me!

We’ve been getting tons of requests for hard-hitting YA from our readers lately, enough that I decided it was time to dedicate a newsletter to books in that vein. Here are some YA titles that tackle big topics with tons of discussion potential.

Trigger warnings for discussion of the next four titles: general violence, police brutality, sexual assault

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez – Three teens flee their hometown in Guatemala in a fight for their lives, embarking on a harrowing journey through Mexico called La Bestia that will hopefully lead them to a better life in the United States. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this journey will be harrowing in just about all of the ways. It’s been hard for me to read these kinds of stories lately, but I love that we’re seeing more YA perspectives on the topic that handle it with sensitivity and care.

Internment by Samira Ahmed – In a terrifying near-future United States, Muslim American citizens have been rounded up into internment camps. We follow teen Layla as she tries to navigate this new horror and risk everything to coordinate an escape. It’s flat out uncomfortable how not-so-far-away the events of this book feel.

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles – I wanted to include a book that tackles police brutality and racism that isn’t Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give (which I love and you should read but c’mon, you’ve already heard of it). Marvin’s twin brother Tyler vanishes after a party gets shut down by a police raid. His body is later found just as a video surfaces of a copy shooting Tyler while he was unarmed. Marvin must come to terms with this act of violence while also figuring out how to do life without his other half.

All the Rage by Courtney Summers – In a small town where everyone knows your name, Romy Grey is raped by the local sheriff’s son, the golden boy who everyone thinks can do no wrong. It’s a gut-punch of a story about the aftermath of sexual assault: survival, silencing, victim-blaming, and figuring out how to move forward.

Suggestion Section

USA Today suggests 10 perfect picks for your next book club meeting. I have the hardest of cosigns for Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here!

Following along with the Buzzfeed Book Club? Their June pick is Anna K by Jenny Lee.

Check out the latest installment of Vox’s book club discussion of The Secret History.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club – 05/13

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 12, 2020

Sponsored by Lit Stitch: 25 Cross-Stitch Patterns for Book Lovers

Inside Book Riot’s Lit Stitch, you’ll find a number of badass, bookish cross-stitch patterns. Some of these are for bookmarks, others are for wall decor, and still others can take on a whole host of finished outcomes. What they have in common is their literary bent—the patterns speak to all manner of literary-minded book lovers, who are happy to display their nerdier sides. And what better way than through your own cross-stitch art to hang on your wall, prop on your desk, or even gift to friends and family. And most, if not all, are beginner friendly and can be completed in a few hours—instant stitchification! So grab yourself some excellent embroidery floss, hoops, and needles, and pick out one or more of these great cross-stitch patterns for your next project.

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. How we doing, people of the club? I have a lighter subject topic for us this week: let’s talk graphic memoirs! This medium is working wonders for my very distracted brain right now; something about the art is so soothing and tricks my brain into reading print. I absolutely love all three of these suggestions not only for that art, but for the larger life topics they take on. Y’all know light with a side of serious is my favorite book club style! Let’s get to it then.

To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

I made my super easy shrimp tacos over the weekend, the sunniest one I’ve seen in Portland since October. I opened up the windows, let the beautiful breeze blow through my apartment, and washed down the tacos with a cold pilsner. Whether you want to whip some up for yourself, your quarantine buddies, or bring them along on an (appropriately safe and distanced) book club meeting in the park (if that’s allowed wherever you live), I think these tacos are perfect for the warmer weather.

Ingredients: Uncooked shrimp (shelled and deveined), tortillas, chopped onion and cilantro, simple guacamole (mashed avocado with a little lemon juice and salt), salsa of your choice, shrimp taco spice blend*, and a teaspoon or two of flour

*cumin, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt

Pat the shrimp down with a paper towel so they’re nice and dry, then coat liberally with the spice blend. Once coated, add a squeeze of lemon juice and allow to marinate for 15 min. Heat a pan on medium-high heat with a splash of oil, then—and this is a crucial step— sprinkle some flour over the shrimp. Eyeball this part; you want all the shrimp to have a light flour dusting, but precision isn’t important. Now cook shrimp for three minutes on each side (do not disturb in the meantime!). Serve with warm corn tortillas, salsa, guac, onions, and cilantro!

Book Club Books with Pictures

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? By Ron Chast – Very few writers can make me laugh hysterically and sob uncontrollably in one book quite like Roz Chast. Be warned: this graphic memoir of Chast’s experience watching her parents age and then managing their care through the end of their lives is a punch to the gut, especially if you’ve recent experienced the loss of an elderly loved one. But there’s such a great convo to be had here about the unique set of emotions and responsibilities that we take on in this scenario: the pain of seeing the people you love deteriorate, the financial and emotional burden of overseeing their healthcare and affairs, the guilt of feeling overwhelmed by that burden, how messed up our healthcare system and the cost of dying is in this country… whew, I could go on. In the middle of all that sad stuff, Roz Chast also manages to insert her signature humor. I loved this graphic memoir so hard.

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi – Most people know writer and cartoonist Marjane Satrapi for her bestselling graphic memoir Persepolis about her childhood in Iran and her adolescence in Europe. Embroideries is a little less well known but so. freaking. hilarious. I don’t even know how to classify it; it’s not quite a graphic memoir, not quite a biography. It’s a very enlightening look into the sex lives of six Iranian women: Satrapi’s mother, grandmother, aunts, and their friends are gathered for an afternoon of drinking and (and spilling) tea, and the talk of course turns to love, sex and their various dealings with men. I loved this so much and hope you will too; have a good chat on the social and cultural stereotypes that are shattered in these women’s candid conversations. Perhaps also loop in an examination of women’s sexual agency and freedoms in modern society.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisely: Any newsletter where I get to sneak in food writing is a good one, n’est-ce pas? Lucy Knisley is the daughter of a chef and a gourmet who fed her brie and squid as a kid and ripped into her the one time she asked for ketchup (how dare!). You could say her foodieness (that’s a word, right?) was practically in her blood! This super funny and thoughtful memoir takes us through Knisley’s childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, imparting a love of food at every stage that I can’t help but find infectious. Between the stories are casual recipes, facts about cheese (!!), and of course drawings that are adorable to boot. My favorite quote: “After all, my family worships nothing as we do food, and the trinity of cooking, dining out, and eating.” I need a print of that to hang in my home!

Suggestion Section

For those ready to safely take book club outside again: follow this example.

Not that you needed another reason to read Colson Whitehead, but The Nickel Boys did just win him his second Pulitzer. Here are some book club discussion points for the book, so get at that!

The cutest book club! (and if you’re going to try and chime in with any Meghan Marple hate… don’t.)

Are you keeping up with the Vox book club? Here’s the week one wrap up for Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club 5/6

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 5, 2020

Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of The Paris Hours by Alex George.

One day in the City of Light. One night in search of lost time.

Paris between the wars teems with artists, writers, and musicians, a glittering crucible of genius. But amidst the dazzling creativity of the city’s most famous citizens, four regular people are each searching for something they’ve lost. Told over the course of a single day in 1927, The Paris Hours takes four ordinary people whose stories, told together, are as extraordinary as the glorious city they inhabit.

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. This week I’m feeling the rage, yo. I’m trying to do my part and stay positive, but when I catch up on the news with only one eye open, I’m just tired. Today I’m pivoting from the comfort content I’ve given you the last few weeks and tossing in some books to help spark conversations on race and oppression. I’m acutely aware of how communities of color are disproportionately affected by all of this mess and encourage my beloved club members to think critically about that too.

But first, imma hit you with some comfort food. We all need it!

To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

Friends. You know I love to cook. Pero…. the rona has stolen my joy. Not all the way, but I’ve def started looking at these pots and pans thinking, “This again?” If you too are getting sick and tired of cooking and don’t have the budget for a bunch of takeout, here’s one of my cheap go-to recipes for throwing stuff in a dish then tossing it into an oven. I make a big batch of this semi-homemade, super lazy enchilada casserole and freeze half of it for later.

Ingredients (real imprecise, sorrynotsorry)

shredded chicken
big can of enchilada sauce (red or green, up to you. I like the Pato, Herdez, or Las Palmas brands)
shredded Monterrey jack (or other melty white shredded cheese)
crappy white corn tortillas (I’m serious: don’t use the good ish on this sort of thing)
sour cream

Instructions: layer away in an oven-safe (obvi) casserole dish. Start with a little bit of sauce, then a layer of tortillas, then chicken, then sauce, then cheese. Repeat the layering until the pan is full, making sure the last layer is a whole mess of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 min. Top each serving with some sour cream.

Book Club Full o’ Rage

Disclaimer: Like I’ve said and will continue to say throughout this pandemic, read whatever you feel comfortable reading right now, if you even want to read at all. This is the heaviest subject matter I’ve suggested for the club in a few weeks, but the situation in Michigan got me all fired up and I think reads like these will spark important conversations if you’re in the right state of mind to have them.

When They Call You A Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele – This is the first book that came to mind when I saw all those people with their assault rifles descending on Michigan’s Capitol building. That mess goes unchecked, but Black Lives Matter is labeled a terrorist organization? What Black Americans must feel, and what ALL of us should be feeling is just… a lot. This book says it better than I ever could, and one of its authors is a co-founder of BLM.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo – It’s in the title: this is the book you read when you’re ready to have those tough conversations about race, privilege, and systemic oppression. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? And also maybe: how do you tell a bunch of entitled gun-toting <insert-strong-expletive-here>s to stay home and learn how to care about other people? No one is saying it’ll be easy, but it must be done.

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall – For way too many women, feminism is completely non-intersectional. That’s a problem. Mikki Kendall flames that particular brand of feminism, arguing that its loud, flashy focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. If your cause ignores issues like food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care for ALL women, it misses the point.

Suggestion Section

E! News rounded up a bunch of May celebrity book club picks.

This week in Entertainment Weekly’s Quarantine Book Club: how fashion books helped one reader look forward

Marvel has launched a weekly virtual book club with a roundup of celebrity guests!

Vox’s May book club pick has been staring at me from my bookshelf for yearrrrs: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club 04/29

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date April 28, 2020

In the Club 04/22

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date April 21, 2020

In the Club – 4/15

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date April 14, 2020

In the Club – 04/08

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date April 7, 2020

Sponsored by My Way to You by Catherine Bybee

When a wildfire nearly destroys Parker’s family home, it’s just one more disaster to add to her mountain of stress. And now a mudslide threatens to destroy everything she has worked so hard to maintain. As a public works supervisor, Colin’s job is to protect Parker’s property and neighborhood from further damage. But it’s a little hard when the owner of the land is a control freak who tries to do everything herself. Now Colin’s working overtime to help Parker open up her heart, trust him, and let him in.

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. I may not know what day it is or why baking is so gosh damn therapeutic, but I’m here, and you’re here, and we’re in this thing together! Reminder that we’re all just doing our best, so give yourself the space to feel your feels.

If you’re in the mood to talk books and fancy coffee drinks, join me. To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

I’d blame the ‘rona for all of the fancy cocktails, tea lattes, and coffee drinks I’ve been making lately but the truth is that I’m just extra. That being said, I have been taking even more special care to do a little something special for myself daily. This week, I finally jumped on the Tik Tok/Instagram bandwagon and made the Dalgona coffee drink. If you’re craving a little something fancy, give it a shot! Make it as a group with book club (virtually, of course) – it comes together pretty quickly.

The gist: add equal parts instant coffee, sugar, and hot water to a decent size bowl (I do 2 tablespoons of each); cut back a tiny bit on the sugar if you don’t like your coffee super sweet. Stir to dissolve the coffee, then bust out a hand mixer if you have one; if not, a whisk will do but will just take a little longer. Mix or whisk until the color changes to a light caramel brown and the consistency is thick, whipped, and lovely.

To serve, fill a glass with ice and your milk of choice, leaving some room for the coffee goodness. Top with your sweet coffee foam and voila! You will of course want to mix it all up to enjoy, but fold it in gently to preserve the whipped airiness.

** If you don’t have instant coffee (I had cafe de la olla Nescafe in my pantry like a good Mexicana), here’s how to do it with the regular stuff.

Books

This week I’m suggesting book club picks based on what people seem to be asking for the most on social media and the email inbox right now. My discussion points are very specific, ready? Okay: talk about whatever the #@$! you want to, even if that means veering away from book chat and just checking in with one another!

Cozy Mystery

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie – I’m taking it way back and recommending one of my favorite books here, and I do mean way back. If you haven’t yet read this one yet, or any Agatha Christie work at all, do it! It’s a classic for a reason with an ending that is still so genius to me. Hopefully you’ve avoided the book enough to not see it coming, which is also why I’m not saying too much here. The gist is someone is dead and Poirot must try to figure out who (I know, shocking). Again, that ending!

Gothic Fiction + Romance

I was in theeeee worst reading slump for weeks and decided I’d try some gothic fiction with a romance at its core; I’m still newish to the romance game, so thanks once again to Trisha and Jess from When in Romance for the inspo. The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller is the book that not only snapped me out of the slump, but keep the reading well past my bedtime. Gilded Age New York, a gothic mansion, a ruined widow with a tragic past, and a sexy nerd type who loves consent, sexy times, and science in equal, passionate measure. Oh and some ghosts, maybe? What a remedy! Read this now.

True Crime

A lot of people are asking for true crime right now, and I apparently haven’t read as much of it lately as I used to! I will instead recommend two that have been on my list. If you’re looking for non-violent true crime, there’s Book Riot fave Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. Find out how one woman swindled a whole lot of people into investing in a fake medical technology and then of course fell miserably from grace (yay for schadenfreude!). If you’re okay with something a little darker, try The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. So much of the true crime lit on Jack the Ripper focuses on the killer, but this book focuses more on the victims. It tells their stories instead of reducing them to a pile of bodies, an angle I am very here for.

Suggestion Section

Book Riot’s hub for continued updates on COVID-19 updates from the bookish world

Libro.fm hosts monthly audiobook clubs! Select titles go on sale for under $10, some as little as $3.99. Click here for a breakdown of the clubs offerings or on the image below!

Hidden Valley Road is Oprah’s next book club pick.

What other celeb book clubs are reading in April, including Andrew Luck and of course, Ms. Reese.

The Nerdist book club debuts live today at 5PM on their YouTube channel.

The New York Public Library has launched a virtual book club.

Vox’s inaugural book club pick is N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became. Discussion posts will go up on the site weekly with a Zoom chat to take place at the end of the month.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Tuesday and Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

In The Club

In the Club – 04/01

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date March 31, 2020

Sponsored by Scribner, Publisher of The Island of Sea Women

A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island. This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. It is baking central over here at Casa Diaz: baking by myself, baking with friends, baking all the time! I recently discovered that doing so with friends would make a lovely book club date in this time of separation. Grab your aprons, people of the club: it’s time to get your hands dirty (and your Zoom app loaded).

To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips – The Book Club that Bakes

Fellow Riot staffers Hannah and Sharifah and I engaged in our very own Great British Bake Off this weekend, but American, done via Zoom, and sans the delight that is Mary Berry. Hannah made some tasty-looking cheddar chive biscuits while Sharifah and I made these scrumptious blueberry muffins, or in my case a cake since I discovered way late in the game (2 min before bake off) that I don’t own muffin tins. Whoops! We then fixed ourselves some cocktails while our creations baked away in the oven and sat down for a lovely chat.

This made me think that I’d like to try this with book club. You know I love something to nosh on during book chat, and what fun to prep a little something “together” before discussion ensues.

Some tips:

It doesn’t have to be a sweet dish or even a bake at all! Cook if that’s more of your lane (as is usually the case for me).
Pick an easy recipe. Go low on complicated ingredients since grocery shopping is something most of us are doing with far less frequency these days. Maybe even make something with stuff you already have at home.
You don’t all have to make the same thing! It’s more about time, so pick something that won’t take 15 hours to make. For us, a 20-ish minute prep + 20-ish minute bake worked perfectly for an optimal bake-to-chat ratio, plus extra time to talk while we ate the fruits of our efforts.

First We Bake, Then We Book

And now for some books recs. Pick your mood!

Hit Me With a “WTF Did I Just Read?” Book – Bunny by Mona Awad – I’ve been meaning to read this for awhile. Imagine if Mean Girls was darker and more of a bloodbath—fun! Set it in an elite MFA program, make it hella nightmarish and gory, and you might get something that looks a little like this.

Someone Give Me Facts to Calm My Mind: The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines Against Humankinds Gravest Dangers by Dr. Ali Khan – If you need some facts and a little history on pandemics (and what we keep getting wrong when dealign with them), try this account of the fight to contain the world’s deadliest diseases.

I Wanna Know What Love Is: Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston – If romance is the Band Aid you need for your anxious soul, try this Book Riot fave! What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? You’ll just have to read to find out.

Wondering If Anyone Else Is Just Barely Keeping It Together: Weather by Jenny Offill – I just saw Amanda rave about this on Instagram and it feels like a book I need to put in someone’s hand. A progressive’s middle class mom tries to thread the needle between saving the world and paying the bills, getting food on the table, and making sure the kids are doing their homework. How do you deal with both the big giant problems of the world while dealing with your personal sh*t too?

I Gotta Laugh to Keep from Crying: Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman – I recommend this whenever someone tells me they need to laugh. It’s all about “finding greatness in our grossness,” holding up a magnifying glass to our beliefs and biases involving women’s bodies. Why do we feel like we have to pluck, tweeze, and wax every surface of our skin? Why is boob cleavage cool but a camel toe revolting? Why do we treat sweating like it’s not a normal thing we all do? Mara asks all of these questions and then attempts to answer them with uproarious candor.

Suggestion Section

Dios mios, y’all! This book club thing you and I have been doing is all the rage now that many of us are stuck indoors. Here are just a few of the many, many links out there on online book clubs (and some of the usual announcement stuff too).

How book clubs are enduring and flourishing during Covid-19 (The Guardian)

All Your Favorite Celebs Are Launching Book Clubs (In Style)

10 Virtual Book Clubs You Can Join Now—And How to Start Your Own (Time)

Read on: the best Instagram book clubs to follow (The Evening Standard)

Los Angeles Times Book Club is back, virtually, with L.A. noir authors like Joe Ide and Steph Cha! (LA Times)

Daily distraction: Video book club meeting with mystery writer Sujata Massey (Twin Cities)

Jenna Bush Hager announces April 2020 book club pick (Today)

In Five Years Is Marie Claire’s April Book Club Pick (Marie Claire)

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Tuesday and Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

In The Club

In the Club – 032520

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date March 25, 2020