Welcome back to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read. Let’s dive in.
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Today we’ve got lots of prize lists!
First, the Man Booker International Prize, for a work translated into English. Han Kang and Ahmed Saadawi are both Book Riot favorites.
Then there’s the Women’s Prize for Fiction, which includes favs Kamila Shamsie and Jesmyn Ward.
The Best Translated Book Award has its longlist up, and it feels like everyone around my Internet watercooler is reading Fever Dream.
And in a pseudo-longlist, PBS’s The Great American Read has announced the top 100 books. According to their FAQ, the books were chosen via a “demographically and statistically representative survey asking Americans to name their most-loved novel. Approximately 7,200 people participated.” The list is FASCINATING to me — it feels so clearly like you can see the geography of region, politics, and religion at play here. There will be an ultimate vote for America’s most-loved book, and I can barely imagine what that will look like.
The book club bonus with all the above, of course, is to become judge and jury and vote within the group! What wins? What is way at the bottom? What of these titles have people read? How much do your group’s members care about/follow awards?
A Quiet Place is getting rave reviews, and if your book club would like to get scary with it, here are some read-alike recommendations.
Book group bonus: I would really love to see a side-by-side analysis and discussion of A Quiet Place and Bird Box, someone do that for me.
Need some activities for your book group to do? Assuming the weather stays nice (although not a requirement for all of them), Laura has some ideas for you.
Book group bonus: Several of my favorite book group discussions took place when we met in a park — the combination of the outdoors, potluck snacks, and book chat was just perfect. If you don’t have a good park option, perhaps someone will volunteer their backyard?
Because I get asked this question constantly: Here are read-alikes for The Secret History by Dona Tartt, a perennial in “Do you have anything else like…” for booksellers and librarians.
Book group bonus: Have you read The Secret History with a group? If not, it’s worth the time! So much discussion fodder, so many characters to yell about.
And don’t forget! We have three excellent opportunities for you right now. You could win 15 amazing mysteries here; you could win LitChat (perfect for book clubs!) here; and anyone/everyone can get two free weeks of Book Riot Insiders here.
And that’s a wrap: 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