Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.
Friends! I’m writing from the future as I will be out for a few days for my birthday week. My friend is visiting, and I would promise some stories of b-day grade debauchery I could share upon my arrival, but the way my knees and indigestion are set up *cries in early 30s*…
Yeah, so I’ll just leave you with leaked footage from the Joker musical that no one asked for instead.
See you next week!
Nibbles and Sips
Okay, so I know it’s been a little pasta heavy ’round these parts lately, but hear me out. I literally made this sun-dried tomato pasta three times recently and people have loved it. It’s a pretty simple and relatively quick dish, depending on your protein. I opted for shrimp, which has a short cook time. For it, you’ll need:
* 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
* 1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika
* 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* 2 tablespoons salted butter
* 1 medium shallot or red onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 pound short cut pasta
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
You cook the protein first with oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and some of the parmesan (if using something like shrimp, undercook a bit first because you’ll add it to the pasta later). Then you remove the protein, add butter and sauté the garlic and onion/shallot. When those are translucent, you add a cup or so of water and the pasta. Add more water to cover the pasta, cover and cook for about half the time the pasta packaging says. Then add the heavy cream, dijon, shrimp/other protein, remaining seasoning, and parmesan, and cook for the rest of the pasta cook time. Add the spinach with about 1 minute left. Thank me later.
Now for some books!
Summery Book Club Books
Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore (July 5)
Iconic magician Violet Volk performed thee ultimate magic trick by actually disappearing mid act. And not being seen since. As the tenth anniversary of her disappearance nears, super fan Cameron Frank increases his efforts to secure an interview with Violet’s more responsible and non-magically oriented sister Sasha, who stayed out of the limelight as she raised her daughter. Even as Sasha would rather avoid the subject of her sister, who she still holds some resentment for, she starts experiencing sleepwalking episodes that are connected to Violet. Then there’s Quinn, Sasha’s daughter and Violet’s niece, who idolizes her aunt and wants to find out what happened to her for herself. When I tell you Violet has a grip on the gworls! Gone for 10 years, and people are still talking! Truly iconic.
Book club bonus: What do you think of the more surreal elements of the story? Do you feel they boosted or held back the mystery at the book’s core?
Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola (July 5)
Sweet like plantain, hot like pepper. They taste the best when together…
Bars! If you’re a person of culture, you may recognize the good sis Bolu as the person who shot her shot with Michael B. Jordan. For this, I will always stan her, but Honey & Spice gives even more stanning material. It follows Kiki Banjo, the hostess of popular student radio show Brown Sugar. Quick-witted and even quicker to read down a wasteman (which is just British for “f-boy”), Kiki hopes to keep her fellow Whitehall University students from wasting time with men who are only interested in situationships and other f-boy trappings. Her reputation takes a bit of a nosedive when she’s seen kissing a guy she publicly denounced as a wasteman on her show. To save face, they start fake dating and learn that they may be ready for more than they thought.
This lyrical and funny romance is Babalola’s debut novel, but make sure to also check out her collection of stories, Love in Color.
Book club bonus: What did you think of Kiki and Malakai’s relationship? Would you want to experience something similar? Why or why not?
Harlem Sunset by Nekesa Afia (June 28)
Look at that cover! I’ve been excited about this sequel since I read Dead Dead Girls last year (which I don’t think you need to have read already if you want to pick this one up). Here, 27-year old Louise Lloyd returns to the world of amateur sleuthing in 1920s Harlem. After having helped catch the Girl Killer last year, she now manages her friend’s nightclub the Dove. When one of the girls she was kidnapped with years ago steps back into her life, it spells disaster. The morning after Louise and the girl reconnect, the girl is found dead and Louise’s girlfriend Rosa Maria is covered in her blood. Louise needs to make quick work of the mystery of who killed Nora before it’s too late for Rosa Maria.
Book club bonus: Even though I know the era wasn’t a walk in the park for a lot of people, especially people with marginalized identities, reading about the ’20s can be really fun sometimes. Discuss some of the elements, good and bad, of the time that you were surprised by.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Suggestion Section
Here are some more book club friendly reads
The Subversive Verse of Shel Silverstein (also, A1 title!)
Here are some current bookish trends (which ones have you noticed yourself)?
I hope this newsletter found you well, and as always, thanks for hanging out! If you have any comments or just want to connect, send an email to erica@riotnewmedia.com or holla at me on Twitter @erica_eze_. You can also catch me talking more mess in the new In Reading Color newsletter as well as chattin’ with my new cohost Tirzah Price on the Hey YA podcast.
Until next week,
-E