Sponsored by My Way to You by Catherine Bybee
When a wildfire nearly destroys Parker’s family home, it’s just one more disaster to add to her mountain of stress. And now a mudslide threatens to destroy everything she has worked so hard to maintain. As a public works supervisor, Colin’s job is to protect Parker’s property and neighborhood from further damage. But it’s a little hard when the owner of the land is a control freak who tries to do everything herself. Now Colin’s working overtime to help Parker open up her heart, trust him, and let him in.
Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. I may not know what day it is or why baking is so gosh damn therapeutic, but I’m here, and you’re here, and we’re in this thing together! Reminder that we’re all just doing our best, so give yourself the space to feel your feels.
If you’re in the mood to talk books and fancy coffee drinks, join me. To the club!!
Nibbles and Sips
I’d blame the ‘rona for all of the fancy cocktails, tea lattes, and coffee drinks I’ve been making lately but the truth is that I’m just extra. That being said, I have been taking even more special care to do a little something special for myself daily. This week, I finally jumped on the Tik Tok/Instagram bandwagon and made the Dalgona coffee drink. If you’re craving a little something fancy, give it a shot! Make it as a group with book club (virtually, of course) – it comes together pretty quickly.
The gist: add equal parts instant coffee, sugar, and hot water to a decent size bowl (I do 2 tablespoons of each); cut back a tiny bit on the sugar if you don’t like your coffee super sweet. Stir to dissolve the coffee, then bust out a hand mixer if you have one; if not, a whisk will do but will just take a little longer. Mix or whisk until the color changes to a light caramel brown and the consistency is thick, whipped, and lovely.
To serve, fill a glass with ice and your milk of choice, leaving some room for the coffee goodness. Top with your sweet coffee foam and voila! You will of course want to mix it all up to enjoy, but fold it in gently to preserve the whipped airiness.
** If you don’t have instant coffee (I had cafe de la olla Nescafe in my pantry like a good Mexicana), here’s how to do it with the regular stuff.
Books
This week I’m suggesting book club picks based on what people seem to be asking for the most on social media and the email inbox right now. My discussion points are very specific, ready? Okay: talk about whatever the #@$! you want to, even if that means veering away from book chat and just checking in with one another!
Cozy Mystery
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie – I’m taking it way back and recommending one of my favorite books here, and I do mean way back. If you haven’t yet read this one yet, or any Agatha Christie work at all, do it! It’s a classic for a reason with an ending that is still so genius to me. Hopefully you’ve avoided the book enough to not see it coming, which is also why I’m not saying too much here. The gist is someone is dead and Poirot must try to figure out who (I know, shocking). Again, that ending!
Gothic Fiction + Romance
I was in theeeee worst reading slump for weeks and decided I’d try some gothic fiction with a romance at its core; I’m still newish to the romance game, so thanks once again to Trisha and Jess from When in Romance for the inspo. The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller is the book that not only snapped me out of the slump, but keep the reading well past my bedtime. Gilded Age New York, a gothic mansion, a ruined widow with a tragic past, and a sexy nerd type who loves consent, sexy times, and science in equal, passionate measure. Oh and some ghosts, maybe? What a remedy! Read this now.
True Crime
A lot of people are asking for true crime right now, and I apparently haven’t read as much of it lately as I used to! I will instead recommend two that have been on my list. If you’re looking for non-violent true crime, there’s Book Riot fave Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. Find out how one woman swindled a whole lot of people into investing in a fake medical technology and then of course fell miserably from grace (yay for schadenfreude!). If you’re okay with something a little darker, try The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. So much of the true crime lit on Jack the Ripper focuses on the killer, but this book focuses more on the victims. It tells their stories instead of reducing them to a pile of bodies, an angle I am very here for.
Suggestion Section
Book Riot’s hub for continued updates on COVID-19 updates from the bookish world
Libro.fm hosts monthly audiobook clubs! Select titles go on sale for under $10, some as little as $3.99. Click here for a breakdown of the clubs offerings or on the image below!
Hidden Valley Road is Oprah’s next book club pick.
What other celeb book clubs are reading in April, including Andrew Luck and of course, Ms. Reese.
The Nerdist book club debuts live today at 5PM on their YouTube channel.
The New York Public Library has launched a virtual book club.
Vox’s inaugural book club pick is N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became. Discussion posts will go up on the site weekly with a Zoom chat to take place at the end of the month.
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 Tuesday and 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