Category: In The Club

After standing around while earthlings (poorly) tell her story, Ms. Milky Way is finally speaking her piece. Born of clouds of gas, absorber of black holes, and mourner of countless star deaths, Ms. Way has had quite the life, and astrophysicist and folklorist (I love that someone is both of those things at the same time) Dr. Moiya McTier helps our galaxy out by committing her story to paper.

Anthropomorphizing jokes aside, this is such a cool way to present astrophysics and I’ve been loving seeing more star books coming out.

Book Club Bonus: What is the most surprising thing this taught you about the universe? Does it change how you contextualize your life at all?

When Jennette is six, she has her first acting audition. After that follows years of her trying to please her mother by becoming a star. Once she actually lands a really big role on iCarly, it seems like her mother finally gets her wish. She’s excited to email fan club members and becomes extra chummy with paparazzi, all while abusing her daughter— s*exually, emotionally, and financially— behind the scenes. When her mother dies of cancer years later, she quits acting and contends with her childhood, and the addiction, eating disorders, and toxic relationships that came as a result of it. She recounts all of that here with refreshing honesty (see: title) and humor. It’s wild to think back to how my younger siblings used to watch iCarly and remembering her as a kid now that I know all the awful stuff that was happening to her at the time. I’m proud of her for sharing her story and being so bold with it (again, see: title ). I don’t usually feel like that with celebrities I don’t know, but I think in this case it’s because I associate her with my younger siblings, and I know how nasty people can be with assault victims.

Book club bonus: From what is discussed in this memoir, what do you think makes the entertainment industry so full of abusers?

This collection of essays partially tell Indigenous climate activist Aguon’s life story as well as demand action. He mixes poetry and prose to tell of his childhood in Guam, life-changing experiences, and how strongly tied to Indigenous rights climate justice is. He also lays out a path for the future.

Book Club Bonus: Years ago (it feels like another life time, *lolsob*) when I was studying for the MCAT, there was a passage detailing how when European colonizers came to the Americas, they destroyed entire ecosystems, the effect of which can still be felt today. This was because, just as human beings adapt to our environment— or evolve— so, too, does the environment adapt to us. By destroying the people, you destroy the environment. Discuss this and whether it is possible for those with a colonialist mindset to ever inherently respect the land they’ve taken over.

I used to be really into fashion magazines. I loved the artistry and creativity that went into the designs, the makeup (shout out Pat McGrath!), the photoshoots, everything! The model choices were obviously not very inclusive, though. A part from being morally wrong and not reflective of the world we live in, it was also just artistically boring, which is the last thing I want from a creative outlet. Well once Enninful became the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue, people with different body types and of different ages were featured, as were real life heroes like first responders and civil rights activists. This memoir walks readers through his beginnings as a working-class refugee and his experiences within the fashion industry as a Black gay man.

Book Club Bonus: I’ve noticed how certain previously adored fashion houses/outlets lost some popularity and then suddenly started featuring more diverse models with different body types. Meanwhile, some that started off diverse are only growing in popularity (a good example of this is Victoria Secret vs. Fenty lingerie). Discuss whether these trends were bound to happen anyway (things just eventually lose popularity, etc.) or if it’s something else.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back to life and essentially made immortal. Now, in the Shanghai of 1931, she hopes to make amends for her past by lending her country her skills as an assassin. When a string of murders disrupts Shanghai, her mission changes. She’s to pose as the wife of the playboy spy Orion Hong and go under cover to determine whether the Japanese Imperial Army has any involvement. Naturally, both Rosalind and Orion find that things aren’t as simple as they first thought.

Cassandra was 12 when there was an accident and her younger brother Wayne was lost forever. His body was never found, and the loss of him tears her family apart. Her father starts a new family elsewhere and her mother starts an organization that focuses on other missing children. All her life since the accident, Cassandra has seen her brother in her everyday life — from restaurant windows to grocery aisles — but another accident brings her into contact with a mysterious man. Something about him is oddly familiar, and his name is Wayne.

Harjo was the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, and with this memoir, she reflects on why she writes poetry. She details her life through personal stories that go from her childhood in the ’60s to her fight to center Indigenous culture. For Harjo, poetry comes from broken and silenced histories and is a way to reclaim narratives. I love books by writers about writing, and I’m especially excited for this one since I haven’t read a book about poetry specifically yet.

First of all, let’s get into this title, which is a play on David Copperfield, but adapted to an Appalachian setting. I love the idea of superimposing a Victorian novel over the American South. It just seems like it works. Here, a boy is born to a teenaged mother in the mountains of Appalachia and has nothing other than his intelligence and tenacity for survival to help carry him through foster care, terrible schools, and addiction.

The experiences with abject childhood poverty Charles Dickens injected into his stories are still being experience by many in parts of the southern U.S., and are on full display in this book that was inspired by his work.

This one’s blurbs starts off:

It’s watching

It’s taking.

Phew! Liz, a young Black woman, reluctantly goes back to her small Pennsylvania hometown for her bestie’s wedding. Although she’s grown and has learned how to deal with racist passive aggressions, she’s still not looking forward to them once she’s back. On the actual day of the wedding, though, she has a new worry: the daughter of the bride, Caroline, has gone missing. And all there is to go on is a white fabric covered in blood. That, and the pattern Liz noticed of a Black girl going missing after a summer party in the woods. The last time it happened, though, the girl was found with her chest open and her heart missing. Liz needs to get to the bottom of what’s going on in the town before it’s too late.

In Henderson’s latest gothic novel, Marion Shaw is from the poorest part of the city and desperate to get out. One day she finds an odd opportunity that may just help her: in the newspaper is a listing for a bloodmaid. She knows that bloodmaids serve wealthy houses in the north by allowing their masters to drink their blood, but she doesn’t know much else. She applies to the position and is soon the newest bloodmaid for the House of Hunger. She’s eagerly serves her new, charismatic mistress, Lisavet, but when she starts to notice other bloodmaids disappearing in the night, she’ll need to figure out some things in order to survive.

When securing the bag goes wrong, case #1,001. You hate to see it.

After years of economic uncertainty and violence, 12-year-old Bird has been taught to uphold what’s seen as “American culture” by his father who was once a linguist. In order to uphold this so-called culture, authorities are allowed to take away children of those who disagree. These children just so happen to often be of Asian descent. One day, Bird receives a cryptic letter that leads him to trying to find the “unpatriotic” poet mother who left him years ago. The journey brings back memories of the folktales she told to him, and may have him thinking differently about injustice.

So I know this one will be fun. Lila’s life is looking pretty sweet. She’s got a great business going, the Brew-ha Cafe, and is starting a new romance with her friend Jae. But her messy cousin, who hasn’t been in contact with the family for 15 years, is back and claiming he’s on the up-and-up. Lila knows better, though, and her suspicions are soon validated when he’s accused of murder. Now, being the dedicated Macapagal family member she is, she sets out to clear her cousin of any (murderous) wrong doing. Unless…he did it?

In light of DC’s tom foolery, let’s start off with a graphic novel. I finally got around to watching the second Doctor Strange movie this past weekend, and found out that Gabby Rivera writes Marvel’s America Chavez comics. America is a main character in the Doctor Strange movie, so I just wanted to include this as a cute little factoid, and not because I wanted to shade DC or anything *blinks innocently*.

This is an adaptation from the novel of the same name, which follows Juliet Palante as she tries to figure out life as a queer Puerto Rican woman. She’s just told her mom and the rest of her family that she’s a lesbian and isn’t sure how that will change their relationship in the long term. So she decides to try to see how other queer women make it by interning with her favorite feminist author. Problem is, the author is white, so there’s an aspect to Juliet’s identity that she won’t necessarily understand. Turns out no one has the answers, so Juliet will have to come up with them herself!

Book Club Bonus: Discuss how you interpret this line given the rest of the book: “Feminism. I’m new to it. The word still sounds weird and wrong. Too white, too structured, too foreign: something I can’t claim.”

I mentioned this one a few months ago, but it’s perfect to mention again as we head into fall. It’s a retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau that takes place in 19th century Yucatán, Mexico. Young Carlota Moreau lives with her father, Dr. Moreau, Montgomery, and the doctor’s part human, part animal creations in a sort of innocent bubble. The bubble bursts when the son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, Eduardo Lizalde, arrives. Now, Carlota has questions about her father’s obedient hybrids that he may not be willing to answer.

Book Club Bonus: What do you think this retelling added to the original story? If you haven’t read the original story, how do you think being set in Yucatán, Mexico added to the anticipation of the finale?

The Izquierdos are a family with members who really care about each other, but man are they going through it. The patriarch is dying, a son’s marriage is on the rocks, there are miscarriages, and other misfortunes, and it’s all thought to be the result of a neighbor placing a curse on them out of jealousy. As we’re taken through three generations of Izquierdos, each chapter is told by a different family member, allowing for a fully formed picture of a family as it contends with sorrow, basks in happiness and the love its members have for each other.

Book Club Bonus: Discuss what role belief systems, like brujería and Catholicism, play in the family members’ lives.

This is another retelling, this time of The Great Gatsby. It follows 17-year-old trans boy Nick as he travels from Minnesota to New York City to start life as a young professional. He ends up renting from his cousin Daisy, who is engaged to a wealthy white man and has decided to pass as white instead of Latina. Then, of course, there’s Jay Gatsby, with his mansion and extra parties. Like with the original, we learn that the parties are to impress Daisy, but we also learn that Jay is trans, too. There are some other wonderful surprises in McLemore’s beautifully written book that will make you want to read this sooner rather than later.

Book Club Bonus: I’m really liking seeing all these Great Gatsby retellings because there’s so much room to explore — unpack, really — the American everything. The American Dream, American ideals, beauty standards, class, everything. Which parts of American culture do you feel were called out based on what was changed from the original?

Vern is on the run. She’s seven months pregnant and hiding out in the woods after having escaped from the religious compound where she grew up. The community she escaped from doesn’t want to let her go, though—even as she fights back against them using a kind of superhuman strength. To protect the twins she gave birth to after having escaped, she’ll have to contend with her past within the compound—the existence of which is directly tied to the history of violence in the U.S.—and a new future.

Book Club Bonus: Discuss how affective the story was at making what has been sacrificed in the name of certain ideals in this country truly felt.

The Only Good Indians has a couple major things in common with the movie Beast. I won’t list them specifically in case you want to see the movie, though. Jones’ book follows four young Indigenous men who went hunting one fateful day. Their decision to shoot into an elk herd on elder land, violating Blackfeet boundaries, is one that later comes with a great reckoning. Jones works in illuminating social commentary and subverts horror tropes as he also tells of how the young men fight to stay alive.

Book Club Bonus: In what ways can the sentiment behind Blackfeet hunting mores be applied to global warming?

The Donner Party descends into chaos after it gets hit with misfortune after misfortune. A little boy dies mysteriously, food is running low, and people are fighting. Looking for sense amidst tragedy, talks of Tamsen Donner being a witch start to circulate. Whatever the reason, though, the fact remains that the group has to survive the journey through a mountainous area—with its intense temperatures on both ends of the spectrum—if its members are to live. But as people start disappearing, the question of “is there something in the mountains?” takes root.

Book Club Bonus: What did you think of Katsu’s weaving of historical details with her explanation of what happened with the infamous Donner Party?

When five office colleagues go into a mountain range as part of a corporate retreat meant to build teamwork, one goes missing. So far, this is the only Jane Harper novel I’ve read, and one of the things I liked about it was how the setting is its own character. The Giralang Ranges—a fictional mountain range that could represent a number of Australia’s national parks—grants a sense of claustrophobia and a constant, uneasy presence as detective Falk must determine if the missing woman was a victim of foul play, the elements, or another, unknown force.

Book Club Bonus: Discuss what you would do if you were placed in a similar situation where you had to survive in abject wilderness. Do you think how the characters behaved was realistic?

Born in Fukushima the same year as the emperor, Kazu has always felt tied to the Japanese royal family. He’s also tied to this one place: the park near Ueno Station in Tokyo. As a ghost, his spirit haunts this one particular spot where his nebulous thoughts swirl around things like the conversations he overhears and other sensory experiences. They eventually manifest into more concrete thoughts, like the life experiences that led him to being homeless and dying in the park. His story speaks volumes on humanity’s disregard for the most vulnerable populations.

Reading Gods of Jade and Shadow, made me super hype to read more books set in Mexico City, where this one also takes place. In it, we find the very precocious 12-year-old Ana who likes to read Agatha Christie novels to try to forget about how her little sister died. One day she decides to plant a milpa in her backyard. The digging it requires leads to her neighbors digging up their past, sharing with her stories of lost mothers, mysterious wives, and other questions, like how a girl who knew how to swim could drown. Jufresa’s writing can be funny but also heartwarming, and the Mexico City she writes of is both modern and whimsical.

Virginie Despentes is a writer and filmmaker who wrote this book as part of a trilogy on the owner of a music shop in Paris named Vernon. Wellll, Vernon ain’t doing too hot; though he was once a bit of a legend in music circles throughout Paris, the 2000s have him on a decline. The advent of the internet has led to considerably fewer CDs and vinyls being sold, and now his store is struggling. His savings eventually dry up and the rock star who had been paying his rent (must be nice!) has died from an overdose. A comment he made on Facebook goes viral, and once people realize he has been dragging all these rare VHS tapes around as he couch surfs, he becomes a bit of a target. Now, an eclectic cast of characters — from porn stars to screen writers — are after Vernon’s tapes that have the last recordings of the dead rock star.

Reading translated poetry is an interesting concept to me. Since the word choice in poems is so exact and precise, I wonder how much gets lost in translation. With that in mind, it makes sense to have another poet translate poetry, as Kazim Ali has done here for Devi’s poems, which are simultaneously autobiographical and meditations on things like aging and desire. There’s also a translator’s note, an essay on reading poetry, and an interview between the author and translator.

It’s said that Buddy Bolden took ragtime, mixed it with the blues, Black American spirituals, and even a little hoodoo music to make what would be known as jazz. Thing is, none of his recordings survived. What has survived is the mystery surrounding the man. Ondaatje takes that mystery and writes a novel around it, bringing to life Bolden’s world where he would birth a beautiful new art form before he succumbed to his struggle with mental illness.

Book club bonus: How do you feel the experimental elements of the author’s writing lend to the story?

An interracial rock duo, Opal and Nev, rise to fame in the ’70s as a result of their bold and funky sound. During a concert, another musical group waves a Confederate flag and when Opal protests, violence breaks out. Decades later, music journalist Sunny Shelton seeks the duo out to record their history, but is surprised to learn about allegations that threaten the duo’s legacy.

Book club bonus: A few of these books have a different form than the usual novel. This one is told in an oral history format. How do you think the format aids the storytelling here?

Also, how do you think Opal & Nev’s success would have been altered if Nev was Black?

This YA novel in verse is about a 17-year-old named Denver who dreams of making it in music. First, she’ll have to get out of her small, very white hometown, though. She and her best friends Shak and Dali get on the radar of the biggest R&B star in the world, and soon he’s giving them everything they could dream of. But eventually the parties turn into something else, and Denver realizes this isn’t the singer’s life she had in mind.

Book club bonus: Discuss why you think the entertainment industry is so full of abuse. Is it something intrinsic to it, or just more obvious because the people are famous?

Hieronymus Falk, a rising music star, is arrested and never seen again in 1940s Germany. Fifty years later and inspired by a mysterious letter that reveals secrets surrounding what happened, Hiero’s bandmate Sid travels back to Germany. Through Sid, we see not only the mystery of Hiero’s disappearance unfold, but also what it was like to be a group of Black musicians in Nazi Germany.

Book club bonus: Discuss what surprised you about what it was like living as Black jazz musicians in Germany in the ’40s.

Murasaki’s graphic novel Talk to My Back was originally published serially in the influential alternative manga magazine Garo from 1981-84. It was just published as a collection this July, and follows Chiharu as she struggles with the state of her marriage and mothering two teenage daughters. As her husband’s disregard for her — he sees her as a domestic servant and cheats on her — becomes apparent, so too does Japan’s failing of its female population. Murasaki was the first manga artist to use manga as a medium to explore the lives of Japanese women in such an honest way.

Molinard (1921–1986) was a prolific writer but only published this one book in her lifetime. The reason being that she would destroy most of her stories almost as soon as she had finished them. Luckily, her close friend Marguerite Duras saved these stories that were later translated by  Emma Ramadan. They are like a fever dream of warped experiences of violence, mental illness, and autonomy — in one story, surgeons dismember their patient; in another, a man travels to a city for a meeting, becomes lost, and travels along the city wall for months. Molinard’s friend Duras describes them as an intimate look into the author’s internal struggle. The same struggle that had her creating and destroying her works in such rapid succession.

In this novel, award-winning Haitian author Yanick Lahens writes a family saga of four generations of women fighting to hold their family together in Haiti. She really immerses you in the world of the Clémestals/LaFleurs/Dorivals and the voodoo, romance, and political upheaval that surrounds them.

Tokarczuk really won me over with Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. I haven’t finished this one yet, though (it’s super thiccc at 956 pages *cries in ADHD*). A young Jewish man arrives in Poland and adopts a new name and persona. Taking advantage of the general sense of unrest and change that has swept over the land, he soon also has an enthusiastic following. As the years go by, the man, Frank Jacob, will travel over the continent, converting just as many people into disciples as enemies, continuously reinventing himself along the way. He lives as a Muslim and then a Catholic, a heretic, as well as the Messiah. All while rumors concerning the nature of his following’s secret rituals swirl about. One thing I like about Tokarczuk is the way she deftly navigates philosophical and existential questions, and the story of Frank, a real and mysterious historical figure, is the perfect set up for her musings.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this one before, but it’s worth mentioning several times. Black people’s contribution to American culture still isn’t fully acknowledged. Peele references that fact in the first few minutes of his new movie when Keke Palmer’s character explains how the first person filmed was a Black man riding a horse, but no one knows his name. One could say that this very first disregarding of Black people’s contributions as far as film was concerned set the standard for the future.

With this book, Abdurraqib similarly shouts out the many Black people who have shaped America — from entertainment to politics — with their art. He injects his own personal history as well as the pain and joy, rhythm and musicality, that got us to this point as he shows just how woven into the very fabric of America Blackness is.

Book club bonus: Were you surprised by any of the contributions Abdurraqib mentions? What would you add?

If you see the movie and immediately start looking up theories like I did, you’ll likely run across articles speaking of how Peele was influenced by Hollywood and the film-making process. What you might not see as much of is what I felt like was his ode to the Black cowboy. Despite there being so many — an estimated 25% or more — they’ve never been shown in classic Westerns, much less as the heroes. In The Compton Cowboys, the legacy of Black cowboys is continued through a ranch in Los Angeles. At the ranch, the cowboys find camaraderie, freedom, protection, and pursue dreams of winning rodeo competitions.

Book club bonus: How does the image of Black cowboys settle in your mind? Does it feel natural or very unfamiliar? Discuss how, through media’s influence, actual history can feel so foreign sometimes.

Phew, ok, now this one is not for the weak-stomached. Merely reading the premise of it low-key makes me gag, so consider that your warning.

By showing how humans start being exploited in place of animals, I feel like this book perfectly tackles how animals and humans are treated. It follows Marcos, who works at a processing plant that slaughters humans, except they’re not referred to as humans any more. Since the virus emerged that made all animal meat poisonous to humans, all animals were killed on sight, and “special meat” soon became legal to eat. Well, one day Marcos gets a live specimen of the highest quality (ugh), and he breaks the rules by starting to treat her like an actual person. Once reality sets in, he starts to think that the humanity that’s been lost may be too much to bear.

The grotesque aspect of this book’s central premise scratches at that itch that Peele’s movie gives me — a gnawing, disturbing one that makes me feel like there are those who would disembody others for entertainment.

Book club bonus: So! There is so much with this one. The taking away of humanity from people reminds me of American chattel slavery. How people are willing to sacrifice other living beings for an unnecessary luxury speaks to capitalism and the United States overindulgent meat industry. SO much to discuss!

With Eleanor Bennet”s death, she leaves her two kids, Byron and Benny, a black cake and a whole lotta questions. The questions are from the siblings, as they learn from a recording left by their mother that she wasn’t quite who they thought she was. For one, there was the suspicion of murder that hovered over her head as she left her island home. Secondly, there was another child she had unbeknownst to them. And, as shocking as the revelations are, the siblings know she still held back details. They want to try to piece together who their mother really was— and who there are by extension— but they’ve got to work on their own relationship first.

This is another one dealing with deceased family members and their secrets. Here, the Chaos have lived in a pleasant town where their restaurant has been serving residents for more than 30 years. This is despite certain unsavory rumors about them spread by townspeople. When the patriarch, Leo Chao, dies, a murder case is opened and the town suspects his three sons. Apparently, the sons, Dagou, Ming, and James all had motives. As their father’s secrets come to light, they’ll have to cope with his legacy and their own shortcomings. This one is as funny as it is heartbreaking.

At 20, Mottley is the youngest person to be nominated for the Booker Prize! I’m only second guessing my life choices a little (just a little) *ahem*.

Anyway, this amazing book is getting praised all up and down, and was chosen by Oprah for her book club. It follows Kiara as she tries to keep her and her brother Marcus afloat in East Oakland. Marcus is busy trying to be a rapper while Kiara discovers a line of work she never thought she’d be involved in. Nightcrawling opens her up to a world that eventually leads her to being a key witness in a scandal within the Oakland Police Department.

In Sri Lanka in 1989, Maali Almeida wakes up in what appears to be a celestial visa office and finds out that not only is he dead, but his dismembered body is floating in a lake. The current state of the country makes it hard to narrow down a list of suspects, and he only has seven moons to contact the woman and man he loves most and show them shocking photographs that will change the country. This is a trippy, funny satirical novel about the state of things.