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Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.
Well, friends. I have stared at this monitor on and off for hours, trying and failing to come up with witticisms to pair with vampire books. I debated disclosing the following, but decided after all to share that my dear grandfather, mi abuelo, passed away this Sunday evening. My heart is heavy.
In my grief, I’ve shockingly turned to books on the subject and decided to share those with you instead. If you too have suffered a loss, whether fresh or less recent, I invite you to join my little We Who Grieve book club and give these books a read.
Nibbles and Sips
At some point this week, if I can find one, I’ll be having a toasted sesame hoagie roll with butter and sugar. I’ll pair it with a cup of Folgers instant coffee prepared with more milk and sugar than actual coffee, and a piece of Mexican pan dulce for dinner because what even are carbs? If I were back in San Diego, I’d head south of the border for deep fried quesadillas and tacos al vapor, then I’d wash them down with an ice cold bottle of Mexican Coke. These are the foods that remind me of my sweet abuelo; that, any anything from McDonald’s.
In case it isn’t evident, there are no fancy refreshment rules in our We Who Grieve book club. Choose comfort, choose solace, choose food and drink that are a hug for your heart.
Reading Through Grief – You’ll notice I haven’t included Book Club Bonus notes this week. It’s not laziness, I promise. I only mean to encourage you to process these books however you personally need to.
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald – You may have heard of this title if you’ve ever searched for books on loss, it’s a bit of a favorite in the way of grief memoirs. After the death of her father, Helen MacDonald decided to adopt and raise a hawk and document the experience. It’s a lushly descriptive meditation on the connection between animals and man, and a grief memoir filled with some of the most beautiful sentences I’ve read in some time.
Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl – I know this word gets tossed around a lot, but this book is just stunning. It’s a slim little thing, a collection of brief essays weaving the breathtaking beauty of the natural world with the exquisite pain of grief. It focuses on Renkl’s relationship with her parents and the bittersweet transition of becoming their caregiver. In short: it messed. me. up, and it did so absolutely beautifully.
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea – This book is one I’ve been thinking about over and over sine Sunday evening. Septuagenarian Miguel Angel de la Cruz has plans to throw himself one last birthday extravaganza in what he believes to be the final days of his life. When his mother dies days before the giant fiesta, Big Angel turns the weekend into a double-header in celebration of both their lives. Told in two timelines set in Mexico and south San Diego (in the very neighborhood my Abuelo and Abuela lived in my entire life), this book is both a hilarious and heartbreaking reflection on mortality, family, and the immigrant experience.
Suggestion Section
In a spot of brighter news, have you heard? Yours truly is hosting the next installment of Persist our feminist book club run entirely on Instagram.
If you and your book club still haven’t read Where the Crawdads Sing (I haven’t either), here are some book club questions to chew on when (if) you do.
Loved this piece from the Boston Globe on Black booklovers remixing the book club. I especially dig that District 7 Book Club in Roxbury takes place at District 7 Tavern, the site of one of the first black-owned taverns in Boston.
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 (taking this week off).
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa
More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page