Welcome back to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read. Let’s dive in.
This newsletter is sponsored by Not Now, Not Ever by Lily Anderson, published by Wednesday Books.
Jennifer E. Smith meets The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy in this deliciously nerdy sequel to The Only Thing Worse than Me Is You, inspired this time by The Importance of Being Earnest.
Elliot Gabaroche is packing up her determination, her favorite Octavia Butler novels, and her Jordans, and going to summer camp. Specifically, a cutthroat academic competition for a full scholarship to Rayevich College, the only college with a Science Fiction Literature program. It’s going to be an epic summer.
Not Now, Not Ever is a “witty, romantic, and exuberantly geeky.” —Jenn Bennett, author of The Anatomical Shape of a Heart
The National Book Award winners have been selected! I was rooting for two of the four in particular (Jesmyn Ward! Masha Gessen!), so I’m delighted. If award-winners is a thing your group follows, these are ones you’ll want to add to your lists.
Need more general discussion starters? I love the idea of coming up with your own “5 best books from my youth” list and sharing it with the club. (Although picking only five would be painful.) Then moving beyond favorite books, how about favorite literary things? High on my list is, “Used books with dedications from the previous gifters” — I bought this book and this book purely for those notes.
Read like John Green: One of the Rioters compiled a list of 99 books that Green has recommended throughout the years. It’s an amazingly broad list, much wider in terms of genre distribution than I would have guessed!
Want to watch rather than read? Here are eight of this year’s bookish TED talks, all of which would be excellent discussion fodder. I definitely texted at least three people after watching Nnedi Okorafor’s.
Would you like a break from plot? This post from Clay about plotless books cracked me up and added a bunch of stuff to my TBR. Forget dissecting the plot — I’m imagining a discussion about how well a book can carry off not having one.
One last reminder: you can enter our $500 gift card giveaway until November 26! The winner gets to pick the bookstore of their choice for the gift card, and it’s open internationally.
Spotlight on: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
I read this book for the first time in 2015, and it was a revelation. Judging by the chatter around the Book Riot watercooler, I’m not the only one who missed it earlier and who is discovering it now. A classic of African American fiction as well as feminist fiction, it’s well worth adding to your discussion calendar. Here are a few odds and ends that add to understanding and enjoyment of the book:
This menu for Their Eyes Were Watching God was the inspiration for this spotlight — I can’t wait to experiment with that tea cake recipe.
The NEA has a beautiful synopsis and guide, including Reader Resources and a Teacher’s Guide, that would both come in handy if you want guidelines for discussion.
Technically unrelated but still fascinating, here’s a clip of Zora Neale Hurston talking about zombies and Haiti.
And here’s an interview with Hurston’s niece, who wrote a biography of her aunt called Speak, So You Can Speak Again.
And that’s our show: Happy discussing! If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations (including the occasional book club question!) you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.
Your fellow booknerd,
Jenn
More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page