Category: In The Club

In the Club – 8/7

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date August 7, 2019

Sponsored by The Two Lila Bennetts by Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton

Lila Bennett has had an illustrious career as a criminal defense attorney, but she’s left a trail of wronged people and poor choices on her path to success. Now, Lila’s past mistakes have finally caught up with her, and one of them may just kill her. Can Lila determine who’s targeting her before it’s too late? From bestselling authors Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton comes a gripping new summer read. Read The Two Lila Bennetts. Prime members read for free.

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Hey now! I’m finally (sort of?) moved into my place in Portland! I survived the 17 hour drive with la familia (all in one day, mind you) and spent the next several days unpacking and shopping for housewares. Ikea furniture assembly frustrations aside (porqueeeee?!?!), it’s actually been kind of fun. Plus this is the patio/common area at my new spot: come through, greenery!

On a more somber note, this week I’m reflecting on the loss of a great American writer, the inimitable Toni Morrison. Let’s examine how we might honor her legacy in book club.

Ready? Vamos. To the club!!

Question for the Club

Alrighty, friends! In our last round of QFTC, I asked what sorts of books you’ve been wanting to read in book club but haven’t and why. The overwhelming response was: YA and sci-fi! seems like the rest of your book club members haven’t been into the idea. Bummer!

Let me say once and for all that YA and genre fiction make great book chats! Read Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give or Samira Ahmed’s Internment, or just about anything by Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin: I promise your group will have plenty to talk about.

In Honor of Toni Morrison

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said of Toni Morrison: “Her unmatched ability to use story to kindle empathy and rouse the imaginations of millions to contemplate lived experiences other than their own has transformed our culture.” I couldn’t put it better if I tried; the experience of reading her work changed me, challenged me, dared me to think more critically about the world I move in. In honor of the loss of this great American writer, here are some suggestions for Morrison works to tackle in book club.

The Bluest Eye – This is Toni Morrison’s first book and an excellent introduction into her lush, evocative style, her particular brand of metaphor, and use of magical realism. It’s about a young black girl named Pecola who just wants blue eyes.

Paradise – I love this line from a 2011 Reading Pathway piece by none other than Jeff O’neal: “A crucial skill in reading Morrison is getting comfortable with ambiguity and a certain amount of confusion about what is going on. It’s not just you; it’s part of the ride.” This is certainly true of Paradise, where Ruby is a patriarchal “paradise” built by the descendants of freed slaves. It examines how patriarchy seeks to blame its shortcomings and failures on subversive women. WEIRD does that sound familiar?!?

Beloved – Shame! I’ll admit that I’ve never read this most famous of Morrison works because I’ve feared it’s painful and difficult nature, but this is the year I think that will change. Sethe escaped slavery eighteen years ago but has never once felt free; she’s haunted by the memory of the farm where she was enslaved and by the ghost of a nameless baby whose tombstone reads, “Beloved.” By all accounts, this is an unflinching, violent, and uncomfortable read that stares slavery and it’s long reaching toll straight in the face.

The Source of Self Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations – This last of her published works came out earlier this year at a time when many of us needed it most. The essays embody her thoughts and views on a myriad of topics (the foreigner, female empowerment, money, “black matter(s)”), but it’s the three-part structure that I live for; the first is a prayer for the dead of 9/11, the second is a meditation on Martin Luther King Jr,, and the third is a euology for James Baldwin. There is power on literally every page.

More Morrison:

Reading Pathways: Toni Morrison

Where to Start with Toni Morrison Books

Suggestion Section

Alisha Rai’s The Right Swipe is Bustle’s book club pick for August.

Reese Witherspoon’s August read is The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda.

Speaking of Reese: check out our roundup of aaaaall her book club picks.

Well-Read Black Girl Book Club Founder Glory Edim has announced the club’s fall titles.

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 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

That Summatime Sadness

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date July 31, 2019

Boricua Book Club

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date July 24, 2019

Press, Pay, and Announcements

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date July 16, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Greetings from Portland, i.e. Guess What I’ve Been Dying to Tell You Town, where I’ve joined the Book Riot team full time as Associate Editor! I’m so excited to begin this new chapter and take on a more hands-on role in this here Riot thang.

I’m up in PDX for training this week and will be relocating officially in August, when I will officially begin my campaign to bring better Mexican food to this otherwise beautiful place. As for content, you’ll still catch me here in the club, putting together Audiobooks, on YouTube, etc.

Enough about me, let’s get down to business. To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by Forge Books.

Nestled in Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow, where Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.

As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.

Question for the Club

July’s query is:

Question for the Club: What genre of book have you been wanting to read in book club and what's stopped you from doing so?

Get your answers in by end of month!

#PayThem – Ah, the Women’s World Cup: one of the few occasions on which I allow myself an emphatic “USA! USA!” or “‘Murica!” chant. If you’re still buzzing from the thrill of our ladies’ spectacular performance this cup, want to learn more about women’s soccer, or just want to read about women’s badassery in general, this list of post-World Cup books and this list on books specifically about women’s soccer will both come in handy.

Book Club Bonus: It feels like more people in the U.S. are paying attention to women’s soccer in general, but not everyone knows the journey it took to get here. Consider reading The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer in book club for a comprehensive dive into the history of the USWNT. It should fire up the conversation about the artistry of the sport, yes, but also on sexism, double-standards, and the equal pay struggle.

P.S. Maybe play Bitch Better Have My Money in the background? Just a thought.

Ode to the Black Press – How much do you know about the black press? This post on its history and lists of books by or about black journalists showed me how little I know about this revolutionary moment in journalistic history – and the history of our country in general.

Book Club Bonus: This piece got me thinking about Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first black woman reporter to write for The Washington Post. Her book Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America had me pausing to shake my head over and over again; it’s one woman’s story but also a history of reporting on civil rights and the struggle to hold our country to task for its treatment of black Americans. Break this one down in book club: discuss the issue of media integrity and the ways in which the black press of the 1820s paved the way for women like Gilliam.

Suggestion Section

Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise is Buzzfeed Book Club’s August pick. I keep hearing such good things about this read.

Book Riot’s Abby Hagreaves put together this post on themed book club ideas. I love all of these! Do you want to see more theme-driven ideas??

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

Death, But Not a Downer

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date July 9, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. Today’s club agenda is all about fierce women and death: sounds like a real downer, don’t it?! I promise it’s not.

As for format, I’m suggesting less ideas but providing more reading recs for the ones I do include. Let me know how you like it and what you want to see more of in this club.

Let’s go!

This newsletter is sponsored by The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess, Published by Henry Holt.

The Last Book Party is a propulsive tale of ambition and romance, set in the publishing world of 1980’s New York and the timeless beaches of Cape Cod. Editorial assistant Eve Rosen finds her professional ambitions floundering when she finds herself at a summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie. Leaving NYC behind, she goes to work for the writer and has a summer that changes everything.

Question for the Club

July’s query is:

You’ve got till end of month to enter to win 10 copies of A Gentleman in Moscow for your book club. Do it! Do it! Do it!

Let’s Talk About Death, Baby – It seems like there are two kinds of people in the world: those who avoid talking about death at all costs and those that relish it like I love clotted cream on scones. No matter what side you land on, I believe we could all benefit from more frequent convos about death and dying; here’s a great list of books on the subject to increase your understanding, and perhaps make you less uneasy about it.

Book Club Bonus: We need to talk about death, yo! I kind of love the idea of talking about death in book club and then having a candid conversation on preparedness. Do you have an advanced medical directive? What about organ donation? Do you want to be buried or cremated? Have you drawn up a will? And what about your partner, your parents, your children’s plans? Have the talks, then do the things.

Other book suggestions:

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty – A candid discussion of death from a twenty-something medieval history major who takes a job at a crematory that changes her life. This coming-of-age story isn’t the kind you’re used to! Well, that is unless you tend to read a lot of mortician memoirs. It’s morbid, it’s informative, and it’s really darkly funny. It’ll make you look a death with new eyes.

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley – When the book opens, a woman sustains a head injury while working on a home improvement project that everyone assumes is a mild concussion. It ends up leaving her brain dead though, and her husband is suddenly left with all of these end-of-life care decisions. The clash with his wife’s family that results gave me aaall of the feels, and made me scribble out a quick will of sorts and advanced directive the *minute* I finished it.

I Am Woman, Deal With It – I’ll be guest hosting an episode of All the Books with Liberty this month, and one of the books I’m talking about is just so bananas!! I read it months ago and have not been able to get it off my brain: I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that examines women’s desire quite so honestly, both the good parts and the unsavory with zero regard for anyone’s feelings. Gaaah I want to tell you about it so much! Tune in on July 23rd to get the deets.

Book Club Bonus: As for how this very vague blurb ties into book club, reading that doozy of a book has put me very much in the mood for uncomfortably honest books by and about women, women who look convention and modesty in the face and say, “Not today.” I want to discuss these books with other women and encourage you to do the same. Here are some suggestions:

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez – Following Sanchez on Twitter alone could spark a whole book club discussion: she is so authentically, frankly, unapologetically herself and cares thiiiiiiiis much how anyone feels about it. I loved this book because she injects so much of her non-confirming and rebellious spirit into main character Julia, who I’ve also seen labeled as unlikable for reasons I feel are unfair. I’d love to unpack that in book club, as well as other topics like grief and the immigrant experience.

Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman – This book is equal parts cry-laugh-at-a-restaurant and feminist manifesto. It’s a hilarious and poignant reflection on all the ways in which women have been programmed since birth into plucking, preening, perfuming, and/or hiding every last inch of ourselves and then packing it into a waist trainer. It is book club gold: you could read the first chapter alone and spend an hour discussing your feelings on body hair.

I cannot resist sharing these three fun facts:

1) At Mara’s San Diego book release party, someone gifted her a pair of hemorrhoid earrings and she immediately put them on.

2) At said release party, Mara gave away a Camel Tote.

3) The Russian translation of the book is called… wait for it… Body Trash.

Shrill by Lindy West – Lindy West is smart, clever, and one of the bravest women I know in my head. Even if you’ve seen the Hulu series, go back and read this for book club. Discuss the guts it took to stand up to Daniel Tosh and the misogynist internet, to go on record as saying rape isn’t funny, to publicly share her abortion story, to live as a fat woman and dare to do so happily.

Suggestion Section

The LA Times is reading Laila Lalami’s The Other Americans for their book club and asks the question: who gets to be American?

If you’re in Canada and looking for a book club, Indigo apparently has three brand spanking new ones.

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

Sit Down, Karen

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date July 2, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Howdy, club folk! It’s July, and even though I always say I won’t do it, I checked my reading stats this morning and panicked a little! I’ve read 40+ books which by many standards is plenty and yet some of you are out here with three-digit reading habits. I’m trying not to feel judged by you pero… I feel like you’re looking at me funny.

While I recover from all the shade, I’m excited to start a new club query! I’ll recap the results from last month’s question and weave in a little princess talk + books to inspire change.

Let’s do the thing, shall we? To the club!!

Sponsored by Book Riot’s Amazon Storefront: shop our favorite reads of the year so far, and bookish summer faves!

Question for the Club

In June I asked: what would (or did!) make you leave a book club. I got so many responses!

Sometimes life made the decision for you (relocation for school or work, having to care for an ailing family member), but other times… well, read on!

Bad discussion, or none at all! – In one example, the group “leader” had a list of questions that they expected specific answers for and would ask everyone to “get back on track” whenever someone tried to delve deeper into a question. Umm… sit down, Karen. We gots things to discuss!
Disrespectful club members – You know the deal: rudeness and unwillingness to hear other people’s opinions. In one case, one group member always drank too much and had the loudest opinion in the room despite not having read the book OR read the wrong book… yikes.
Missing the point – Club members seemed ignorant of or unwilling to consider the cultural context of the book. When said context speaks to racism, sexism, etc… that’s a problem.
Lack of Variety – Reading the same type of book over and over + unwillingness to stray from that type.
Racism or bigotry – I was so impressed by how many of you took the high road and just walked away. I rolled my eyes and cussed in Spanish all to myself on your behalves.

Take this info back to your clubs! Examine the vibe and be mindful of the factors that push people away. Book club should be a safe space! Let’s keep it that way. #unintentionalrhyming

New month, new query! Here’s July’s question:

Power to the Princess – I’m notoriously terrible at keeping up with popular TV shows; I generally arrive to the party several seasons late and then annoy everyone with reeeeally old references that I swear are brand new. So sorry to everyone I yelled “Shame!” or “The North remembers!” at earlier this year.

It is then no surprise that I hadn’t heard of The Spanish Princess, the feminist historical costume drama airing now on Starz. It’s loosely based on a couple of Philippa Gregory novels and features badass ladies like Catherine of Aragon and Margaret Tudor. If you’re a fan like I’m pretty sure I will be, this reading list is for you.

Book Club Bonus: With the Democratic debates fresh on my mind, I’ve been thinking a lot about the way our society treats confident, competent, and assertive women compared to their (not necessarily equally competent) male counterparts. I’ve thought a lot in particular about Cleopatra as chronicled by Stacy Schiff, and how a very savvy strategist and negotiator has generally been reduced by history to the sum of her sex appeal and womanly wiles. Give Cleopatra: A Life a read and then explore the parallels in how women candidates (and women, period!) are treated today.

The Book that Changed my Life – You’ve heard the phrase before: “That book totally changed my life!” For some, this rings a little truer than others; check out some amazing stories of books inspiring major life changes in the most recent episode of Annotated.

Book Club Bonus: True story: reading The Thirteenth Tale inspired me to leave a career in management and sales, live in the English countryside for a few months, then pursue writing and bookselling full time when I came back. That’s how I ended up at the Riot – tada! I am therefore ALL about this life-changing-magic-of-a-book thing and want to see a book club edition. While you can’t always manufacture inspiration, I do think you can find a read that will spark some kind of magic in book group.

Ideas:

Read Cherly Strayed’s Wild and then plan a challenging hike
Read Elizabeth Acevedo’s With the Fire on High or Ruth Reichl’s Save Me the Plums and then take a cooking class
Read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and start a writing group
Read Red Clocks by Leni Zumas, then volunteer at a local Planned Parenthood or other clinic providing reproductive care

Suggestion Section

PBS’s July book club pick is Luis Alberto Urrea’s The House of Broken Angels.

The LA Times book club will read Laila Lalami‘s The Other Americans.

We’re not just giving away The Gentleman in Moscow; we’re giving you ten copies for your book club!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

Please Don’t Get Me Arrested

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date June 25, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

How goes it, friends, and what day is it?! The last week has been a blur of bookselling, reading, writing, family trips to the county fair, World Cup soccer matches, and some much needed sleep in between. I also finally watched Always Be My Maybe and wow, what a gem! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of funny, inclusive romcoms.

While I make a list of all the other movies I’ve slept on so far this year (a long list: I’m always the last to watch things!), let’s review today’s club business. Let’s talk true crime and related fiction, knowledge gaps, and our uneasy relationships with problematic faves.

Ready? To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by Lifelines by Heidi Diehl.

For fans of Meg Wolitzer and Maggie Shipstead: Lifelines is a sweeping debut novel following an American artist who returns to Germany—where she fell in love and had a child decades earlier—to confront her past at her former mother-in-law’s funeral.

Exquisitely balanced, expansive yet wonderfully intimate, Lifelines explores the indelible ties of family; the shape art, history, and nationality give to our lives; and the ways in which we are forever evolving, with each step we take, with each turn of the Earth.

Question for the Club

June’s query is still going and it is:

One more week to send in your responses!

Listen, Linda: Last week’s episode of Read or Dead was all about Australian mystery, women writing in the mystery genre, and some news on Linda Fairstein. That last bit reminded me that I need to find the time and headspace to finally watch When They See Us.

Book Club Bonus: The Linda Fairstein news got me thinking and I have to admit: I know very little about the Central Park Five. I know the general gist of the injustice, but not enough to have a thoughtful conversation. This will be remedied soon.

I challenge you to find a thing you should know more about and get to knowing. It could be a historical moment, a cultural event, a headline, a humanitarian crisis: the possibilities are clearly plentiful. Decide as a book club that you’re going to educate yourself on that thing and pick a book to help you do so. Earlier this year my goal was to read up on Cuba’s complicated history; I’d love to discuss how decidedly not black and white that is in a book club setting.

Please Don’t Get Me Arrested – The following is a list of excellent true crime reads for book club. Now repeat after me: I will use these for book club and not as a blueprint… I will use these for book club and not as a blueprint… I will use these for book club and not as a blueprint….

Book Club Bonus: I really did ask myself, “Would it be weird if I suggested concocting poisons from A is for Arsenic as a book club activity?” I mean, it’s really just chemistry. Yay science! Since I’m really not trying to go down for a mass poisoning though, I do have an alternate suggestion.

Consider reading both a work of a true crime and a work of fiction inspired by said crime, then discuss one as it compares to the other. Which is ultimately more terrifying? Does reading the fictional version help make sense of the real thing? Yes, truth often is stranger than fiction, but sometimes fiction takes an already strange truth and turns the creepy way the %@*# up high.

Examples: Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and The Girls by Emma Cline; The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson and See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt.

Perpetually Problematic: A recent piece from LitHub had me very much in my feelings, and not necessarily in a bad way. It’s a nuanced discussion of cancel culture and our relationship to the art of our problematic faves.

Book Club Bonus: Oof! This is an issue I go round and round and round with myself about: while it is very easy for me to cancel artists who’ve committed egregious acts of abuse or violence, there are still plenty of “less” offensive but undoubtedly problematic faves that I haven’t quite ditched. I don’t confess this last part flippantly; it’s a real source of conflict. I’m still navigating a lot of grey area in the whole “separate the art from the artist” conversation.

That is precisely what needs to happen here: conversation. Talk this issue out with your book group, perhaps after reading an old fave that you now know to be problematic now (and there are…. so many). Use this additional piece from Tor as a jumping board for the discussion. It might get uncomfortable, but face it head on. It’s essential that you (and we) do.

Suggestion Section

You and I have been hitting the club for awhile now and now eeeeeverybody wants in. Forbes wrote a piece on why news outlets are suddenly embracing the book club.

With more than enough celeb book clubs to go around, here’s why Entertainment Weekly is calling Jenna Bush Hager the queen of the book club.

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

Periods and Patreon

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date June 18, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Como estan, friends? How’s the club life treating you these days? I’m out here trying to perfect a hair routine for my city’s indecisive weather and reading more books at one time than is probably wise. I am pretty stoked to be reading Leni Zumas’ Red Clocks for the book club at my indie. I’m thinking that convo is going to be fire! Tell me: what are you all reading in your clubs these days?

In the meantime, let’s chat about letters to tragedy, period business, and using Patreon to patronize your faves. And don’t forget to visit Book Riot’s Amazon storefront. We’ve put together a selection of our favorite books and bookish stuff for summer!

Ready? To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by The Medallion by Cathy Gohlke, new in paperback from Tyndale House Publishers.

For fans of World War II fiction comes a story about two couples whose lives are ravaged by Hitler’s war yet redeemed through the fate of one little girl. The German blitzkrieg of Warsaw in 1939 shatters the life of each citizen. Sophie, a British bride, is determined that she and the baby in her womb will stay safe. Rosa faces a terrifying reality: to save her daughter’s life, she must send her into hiding. Her only hope of finding her after the war is the medallion she cuts in half and places around her daughter’s neck.

Question for the Club

June’s club query is:

Hit me with your answers all month!

Bustle and the Book Club – Bustle asked three club connoisseurs – USA Today Books Editor Barbara Vandenburgh, Girls’ Night In CEO & Founder Alisha Ramos, and Belletrist Book Club co-founder Karah Preiss – for their advice on book club format and selections. I love all of their responses, including the general idea that the best book club chat is the one where not everyone likes the book. Food for thought!

Dear Tragedy

A middle school book club at St. Catherine’s School in Milwaukee read books on tragedy and then wrote letters to tragedy based on their life experiences. Read their letters here and prepare thyself for tears.

Book Club Bonus: I recently heard a keynote speech by author Reyna Grande (The Distance Between Us) wherein she spoke of the trauma she suffered as a child immigrant, and of the depression that followed from living under a constant fear of deportation and family separation. She found escape through storytelling at a young age and now uses her stories to spread awareness on the issues that immigrants face today. Cases of child depression and PTSD appear to be increasing; I don’t have to tell you why.

I thought of immigrant children and so many others when reading about the book club at St. Catherine’s: when tragedy strikes, do we do enough to take care of our young? I’d be interested to know how many educators lead book clubs where young children get to read, learn about, and discuss the effects of school shootings, deportations, poverty, etc. If you know of such safe spaces, tell me about them! And if you see an opportunity to do so, create one.

Read These. Period.

I got my period when I was a smooth nine years old and I did *not* see it coming. An injury to my jaw did some stuff to my pituitary gland and puberty came out of left field, like, “Heeeey girl! Ready to rock?” Armed only with my Catholic school “family life” lesson and a welcome kit from Lucky magazine, I felt pretty dang lost on all that came next. I wish I’d had these books on periods at my disposal.

Book Club Bonus: You know I’m an advocate for better, more frequent discussions on sexual health and these period books have my synapses firing. Start a book club for teens new to the Period Posse, or one for parents and teens. Start one for people going through menopause, or anyone wanting to learn more about menstruation in general and the movement to normalize free bleeding. This could be a one-time or ongoing book club depending on everyone’s needs. I just love the idea of sharing knowledge and experience to make what are often difficult experiences less trying.

PAY-tree-on, PAT-tree-on, Puh-TREE-on… Whatever!

The ladies of When in Romance are so good at teaching me a thing or two while gifting me a hearty laugh, and this latest episode was no exception! Jess may not be able to say Patreon, but she and Trisha did turn me on to how easy and affordable it is to support creatives on the platform.

Book Club Bonus: I recently decided that I wanted to try and provide financial support to creatives whose work I love; the trouble was, I didn’t think I could actually afford to do so. Trisha and Jess showed me that it’s very much within my means to give to creators on Patreon, where many donation tiers start at just a $1/month. That I can do!

Consider pooling your resources as a book club and donating to a creative or cause of your choice (and that has an account)! Does your club love romance? Give to The Ripped Bodice! Love Latinx lit of all kinds? Give to an author like Silvia Moreno Garcia like I did today. A few dollars from your book club may not seem like a lot to you, but they could go a long way in helping people and their projects persist.

Suggestion Section

In movie news, Book Club 2 Is Happening and yes I will be watching. I love me some Diane Keaton and am here for lady friendships. Also, BAAHAHAAH the subheading of this piece is, “And will eternal zaddy Andy Garcia return to the fold?” THIS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.

You know I’m all about doing a little good with book club. Lots of love to this Santa Barbara book club for launching a Little Free Laundromat Library for kids.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

Beyond the Struggle

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date June 11, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Before we get started, I want to let you know that we’ve put together a selection of our favorite books and bookish stuff for summer! Go check out Book Riot’s Amazon storefront to get in on all that goodness.

As for life on my end, I’m knee deep in books on mythology as part of my Read Harder podcast homework and just have so many feelings! I really want to start a book club dedicated to reading nothing but works of mythology for a year, if for no other reason than to have someone to scream at about women’s mistreatment since the dawn of time. Can we discuss how the heroes of these stories are all super terrible more often than not? And how strong, courageous women like Circe and Briseis get the rawest of deals?! Que desmadre!

While I let my rage cool, let’s talk Pride reads, white dude moratoriums, and a healthy dose of tea. To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by Libro.fm.

Get three audiobooks for the price of one, with code BR19!

Question for the Club

This month’s club query is below. I’ll be compiling answers all month long!

And That’s the Tea! – Few things suit me better than curling up with a book and a perfect cup of tea. It’s no surprise then that this piece on tea and book pairings is extremely my sh*t.

Book Club Bonus: Have I suggested an afternoon tea version of book club yet? Because I’m a power tea drinker. Black tea, green tea, white tea, herbal tea, oolong tea: if it involves a dried leaf soaking in some hot water, I’m ‘bout that life.

I’m now going to make it a personal goal to host a book club tea and I think you should too! I’m going to pile on to the suggestions in the aforementioned post and give you a couple of my own:

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo + Milk Oolong: I find the floral, milky smoothness of this traditional Chinese tea irresistible. Served slightly sweetened and piping hot, it would perfectly mimic the lush, sumptuous heat of the book’s 1930s colonial Malaysia setting. Warning: this book will also make you huuuungry. You’ve been warned: have good snacks on hand.

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah Maclean (or any Regency romance) + Darjeeling: They don’t call Darjeeling the champagne of teas for nothin’, honey! The delicate muscatel flavor of this beautiful brew is just the most perfect delight. I drink mine with a dash of cream and two cubes of sugar (and yeah, a lot of y’all are cringing because you’re supposed to have Darjeeling plain but I DO WHAT I WANT). It feels like the perfect sweet treat to pair with a Sarah Maclean romance. A steamy cup for a steamy read!

Joy to the Book – Happy Pride, Riot family! And I do mean happy: this list of queer books to read during Pride are happy, joyful, and altogether fun.

Book Club Bonus: As my podcast buddy Tirzah points out, many LGBTQ+ books focus on hardship. This is true of books on most marginalized communities, a fact I’m not even knocking: it’s important to tell the stories that make us uncomfortable and force us to confront injustice. Equally important though are the stories of joy, romance, happiness, silliness, adventure – ones where the characters get to just live and/or be a general badass. So make your next book club pick a romance, YA fantasy, mystery, or funny piece of fiction that features featuring queer characters, disabled characters, characters of color, etc. Discuss how the characters’ identities inform the piece without centering solely on struggle.

Suggestions: Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams, The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey, The Pretty One by Keah Brown (out 8/6)

White Guys Gon’ Be Alright – One of our Rioters recently shared her decision to not read books by white men for at least one year. This had a lot of people on the internet rull deep in their feelings, many of which seemed to miss the entire point behind that choice.

Book Club Bonus: A lot of the arguments I saw in opposition to that piece hinged on the idea that we should all read whatever is “good” and not “discriminate” based on gender or race, and that not reading books by white men was racist and uselessly divisive. I don’t have the energy to commit to the full Powerpoint presentation that this response deserves, to break down why that thinking is insidious at its worst and misinformed at its best. I’ll just say this: if you aren’t actively going out of your way to support work by marginalized authors, you’re not helping.

I won’t tell you that I don’t read books by white men. When Dan Brown, Jasper Fforde, or Alan Bradley put a book into the world, I’m hitting that pre-order button but QUICK. But I do also consciously put my dollars behind work by marginalized voices, supporting writers against whom publishing is still highly biased. Keep this idea in mind when picking out your book club reads. Read what you like, absolutely! But check in and verify that you’re working in diverse reads. Trust me, the white guys aren’t going anywhere. There’s enough pie for everyone, they will be just fine if they share.

Suggestion Section

LA Times: Book Club: Our first pick is ‘The Library Book’
San Francisco Chronicle: Here’s how to keep a book club together for decades (it involves wine)
Today Show: 13 Reese Witherspoon-approved books to read this summer

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

Not Just Tacos: In the Club

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date June 4, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Hey friends! What’s good in the world of books and reading? I’m writing to you from a short getaway in the lush green loveliness that is Portland, Oregon, where I’m once again gawking at trees like they’re beautiful alien inventions. So many biscuits, so much craft beer, so many scoops of funky-flavored ice cream. I could seriously live here! Maybe someday I will.

So tell me: anyone have fun summer travel plans? While you all chew on that, let’s talk Tinderless romance, food that’s not tacos, and therapy via paintbrush. Everyone ready? To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by Waisted: A Novel by Randy Susan Meyers and Atria Books.

“To Alice and Daphne, being thin is taking over their world. They become fast friends when they both sign up for a program promising dramatic weight loss in one month. Meyers exquisitely explores body image, family, and marriage. . . she dips into major issues of race, culture, obsession, and sisterhood. Taking on the timely topic of how a woman is perceived in today’s society, she twists it into how far women will go to be what society deems right, and at what cost—a marriage, a family obligation, a personal goal? A compelling story that will leave readers giving their scale the side eye.” — Booklist on Waisted: A Novel

Question for the Club

Ok folks, the results of our first monthly book club query are in! I asked for the funniest books you’ve read in book club and these were the most popular responses:

The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Johansson (and its sequel)

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

How to Make White People Laugh by Negin Farsad

The biggest takeaways from this query:

1. A book doesn’t have to be a humor book to be funny as hell.

2. Not enough people read funny books in book club. So many of the responses I got touched on this and I’m here to remind you to pick up a funny read from time to time. A book doesn’t have to be dripping with gravitas in order to make club discussion worthwhile. Also, #treatyourself.

Ready for June’s question? Here goes!

An Invitation to Persist: We’re baaaaaack! Persist, our feminsit book club run exclusively on Instagram, has returned! Our summer read and “meeting” schedule is live on the gram now. Join us!

How To Find Romance, Tinder Not Required – If you’ve come to me for love advice, Yikes. Thou art sh*teth out of lucketh to the power of ten. I can however help you romance novices find your first romance read with a little help from Rioter Kathleen.

Book Club Bonus: I love the podcast suggestion in this piece; I really appreciate the depth of discussion that you get from this particular medium! If you’re still having trouble convincing your book club to read romance, introduce them to the world of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Their whole concept and the podcast born from it (Smart Podcast, Trashy Books) are a great resource for reminding readers that there ain’t no shame in this game. There’s even a page on the blog dedicated to new readers that might help reluctant romantics find the perfect read.

Not Just Tacos: The cuisine of my people is varied, vibrant, and delicious, but not all cookbooks do it justice. I can personally vouch for a ton of the books on this list! Make delicious tacos, yes; but por favor, do yourself a favor and try elotes con queso y crema, cochinita de pibil, mole, and the amazing fusion versions of these recipes therein.

Book Club Bonus: I live in Southern California where my people and our cuisine are found in abundance, and yet I still meet people all the time who can’t name a Mexican dish that ain’t tacos, burritos, or enchiladas (and burritos barely count!). Learn a little more about my mother country’s cuisine and that of any other by diving into a cookbook with book club. Have every member commit to creating a dish that’s a little less commonly found, perhaps from a specific region of the country at hand. For Mexico, perhaps try food from Oaxaca or the Yucatan Peninsula; read up and then share how the recipe you’ve made is representative of that region.

Got Me in My Feelings – Some days I wake up ready to take on the world, others I go straight into the chorus of Monica’s “Don’t Take It Personal.” When you find yourself deep in your feelings and scream-crying JUST ONE OF THEM DAAAAYS, consider picking up one of these creative art therapy books.

Book Club Bonus: There’s a reason those wine and paint nights are so popular these days: there is something therapeutic about getting together with your besties to paint stuff and drink old grape juice! If you’re feeling a little burnout these days, consider incorporating art therapy into your next book club meeting. Discuss the book like usual, but do so while you color, paint, mold, etc. Let the activity work its calming magic.

Suggestion Section

PopSugar: Join Our Exclusive Facebook Group — POPSUGAR Book Club
PBS: ‘The Fifth Season’ is June’s pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club
Hello Sunshine: Reese’s Book Club – The Latest Pick
BuzzFeed News: Lara Prior-Palmer’s “Rough Magic” Is BuzzFeed Book Club’s June Pick.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

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