Author: Vanessa Diaz

In The Club – Dec 19

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date December 18, 2018

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read.

It’s our last club newsletter of 2018! I can’t thank you all enough for welcoming me into your bookish hearts and book clubs this year. I’ve so loved getting to share my book club tips & tricks with you and love all of your amazing feedback! Let’s do it again in 2019, shall we? I’ll meet you in your inbox on January 2nd.

This newsletter is sponsored by Flatiron Books and Legendary by Stephanie Garber.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and the time to repay the debt has come.

Come Read Harder – It’s here! It’s here! The list of tasks for 2019’s Read Harder Challenge have been released. Check out the list here or watch Rincey break it down on YouTube over here.

Book Club Bonus: Use the tasks on this challenge as a reference when selecting your book club picks. It’s an easy way to remember to read more widely and inclusively. And in case you need recommendations…. ehhem…
Related: I’ll be hosting the Read Harder podcast in 2019! Available exclusively to Book Riot Insiders, the podcast will be a biweekly show wherein co-host Tirzah Price and I will recommend some sweet selections to read for each of the 24 tasks. Our first episode goes live on January 8th – subscribe to Insiders here if you haven’t already and catch us on your podcatcher of choice!

Club de Controversy: Know what’s boring? A book club where everyone loved the book and agrees on all points. Enter these 10 controversial books for book club guaranteed to spark some saucier club discussions.

Book Club Bonus: Remember that it’s okay not to like the book club selection, even if it’s one you picked yourself! The point of book club isn’t just to find a book that everyone loves and feels the warmth & fuzzies for; it’s more about the discussion that the book incites, which often happens most easily when the read is one that challenges us.

Dear Publishing Peeps – I get it: publishers want to sell books. I’m sure it’s so, so tempting to green light a salacious memoir of a former member of 45’s merry band of half wits when you just know that sh*t will move. But seriously, enough already. Read this open letter to book publishers on why these kinds of books should be left the hell alone.

Book Club Bonus: What changes do you want to see in publishing? I can think of…. a few. Talk about those changes in book club and then consider drafting either individual or collective letter to publishers yourselves. Whether you choose to send them is up to you – start by getting your grievances out on paper and remember to speak with your buying/lending habits.

Where Books Meet Brushstrokes – You know I’m all about that audiobook life. I listen in the car, in the shower, while doing my makeup, etc. I’ve never tried painting while listening to a great book but this post makes me want to post haste!

Book Club Bonus: Who doesn’t love a craft hour + book club mash up? Gather your club pals, bust out the easels & paint brushes and get to making art while you audiobook. What a great way to learn a little something or just be entertained as you decompress with your best Bob Ross effort. #burntsiennaforever

That’s all I’ve got for you, my bookish pals. Thanks again for hanging with me in 2018! 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 for tips and latest listens and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Happy holidays y feliz año nuevo, my friends! And as always, stay bad & bookish.

Vanessa

Audiobooks

Cuban History, Holiday With a Serial Killer, and More in Audiobooks

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date December 11, 2018

Hola, mis Audiophiles!

Welp, I am writing to you from the confines of my bed. My head hurts, my sinuses are angry, and my throat has been ravaged by one helluva b*tch named Laryngitis. If you see her: run, bro! You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.

Anywho! Being cooped up and in too much pain to read print books while also having lots of reading research to do has made me all the more grateful for audiobooks! So let’s dive right in and get to the audiobook warm & fuzzies. Here’s to healthier days and great listens!

Sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio. Keep up with your reading by listening to the audiobook – and never miss a book club meeting!

Keep up with your book club reading by listening to the audiobook. Audiobooks are the perfect complement to your busy schedule. Listen to new releases such as The Kennedy Debutante, by Kerri Maher and read by Julia Whelan and you can enjoy a whole new book club experience. For more listening suggestions, visit Tryaudiobooks.com/BookRiot.

Latest Listen

I talked about my current listen in last week’s new releases: This is Cuba: An American Journalist Under Castro’s Shadow by David Ariosto. I’ll be traveling to the island in the spring and can’t wait to learn more about Cuba’s complicated history, its culture, and the uncertain future it stares down today. It would seem that Cuba has entered the post-Castro era with more questions than it has answers; written over the course of nine years, this book sounds like a good entryway into understanding a little more about the beautiful mess.

Listen on Deck

What to listen to next!? I have so many options to pick from right now, but I’m leaning towards Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister. This is the year when I personally have become most aware of this particular power, both for myself and for women on the whole. I think I’m ready to tap into it fully and unpack its potential.

From the Internets

It’s the Most Wonderful Time for Your Ears – Need listens for your drive this holiday season? The Washington Post recommends these three audiobooks for that very purpose. I’m really jazzed to see My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite getting some love but confess I wouldn’t have put it on a list of holiday listens! I’m picturing me throwing this on with my abuela in the back seat on the way to mass and can already see her furiously making the sign of the cross. SOMEONE DO THIS PLEASE.

I’ll Roll Back my Eyeroll – When I first saw the headline, “Is Listening to a Book the Same Things As Reading It?” in the New York Times, I’ll admit I rolled my eyes to the deep dark place in the back of my head. I see now that the author is an advocate for audiobooks. Well. My eyes are back in place.

Over at the Riot

Resolution Solutions – Last week was New Ears Resolution Week, a week dedicated to posts on how audiobooks can help kickstart your New Year’s Resolution/goal-setting mindset. I highlighted a few posts last week on reading for joy, nonfiction books for resolutions, reading goals and more. In case you missed those, here’s another batch of reads on the new-year-new-me magic of a good listen.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter for book club tips & tricks and watch me booktube every Friday too!

And of course, I’m going to keep on reminding y’all that I’ll be hosting the Read Harder Podcast with Tirzah Price in 2019! Now would be a great time to join Book Riot Insiders if you haven’t already… andale, subscribe!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends
Vanessa

In The Club

In The Club – Dec 12

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date December 10, 2018

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read. This week I’m writing to you from my bed where I’m laid up with a jumbo size bag o’ cough drops, a humidifier, and all of the tissues and tea. Though this laryngitis has me sounding like a sad, sad chew toy, book club business must go on.

*squeaks* To the club!

This newsletter is sponsored by CEO of the Girl Scouts, Sylvia Acevedo’s Path to the Stars, a memoir for middle graders.

The inspiring memoir for young readers about a Latina rocket scientist whose early life was transformed by joining the Girl Scouts and who currently serves as CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA. A meningitis outbreak in their underprivileged neighborhood left Sylvia Acevedo’s family forever altered. As she struggled in the aftermath of loss, young Sylvia’s life transformed when she joined the Brownies. The Girl Scouts taught her how to take control of her world and nourished her love of numbers and science. With new confidence, Sylvia navigated shifting cultural expectations at school and at home, forging her own trail to become one of the first Latinx to graduate with a master’s in engineering from Stanford University and going on to become a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Move over, Tudors: Make Room for Stuarts – That’s right, folks: the Stuarts are making a comeback! As another of history’s most notorious dynasties explodes into pop culture, peep these six books to learn a little more about the Stuarts of Scandalville.

Book Club Bonus: Use book club to delve into pieces of history that you’d love to learn more about or brush up on. Consider branching out here: WWII, the Stuarts, and the Medicis are super interesting, but why not learn more about Che Guevara, the Armenian genocide, or South African apartheid?
Related: I was semi-bullied as a kid in school by a girl who told me I was adopted (not true) because my real mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was beheaded for treason. Welp… that ride home from school with mom was supes awkward.

Golden Books – The 2019 Golden Globe nominations have been announced and 19 of them are book adaptations! Books are just out here running sh*t. But we knew that, didn’t we?

Book Club Bonus: Have a book club watch party this award show season. Pick an adaptation, then read the book the film or show is based on. Watch the adaptation as a group and discuss what it got right, what it got wrong, etc. If you’ve already seen an adaptation before you knew it was one, go back and read the original with book group and see if your love (or dislike!) of the adaptation has changed.
Related: I looooved me some Killing Eve (Sandra Oh forever!) and am a little ashamed I didn’t know it was based on a series of novellas! Also, I met a woman who looked JUST LIKE VILLANELLE at a jewelry boutique in Montreal this fall and I kinda sorta just… stared.

A Book and A Buzz – December 5th marked the 85th anniversary of the end of Prohibition. Huzzah! If you partake of the drink, check out these literary cocktail books that combine love of books and booze.

Book Club Bonus: Have a little mixology sesh at your next book group, and do it cookie-exchange style for the holidays. Have each person pick a cocktail and make a batch big enough to share. Everyone will get a taster of each other’s cocktail for a flight of bookish booze. If you’re feeling super spunky, have everyone come up with their own drink (as opposed to picking one from a book) and give it a punny literary name, then bring copies of your drink recipe for everyone. Now be gone with the gin, you tequila mockingbirds!

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 for tips and latest listens and watch me booktube every Friday too!

And of course, I’m going to keep on reminding y’all that I’ll be hosting the Read Harder Podcast with Tirzah Price in 2019! Now would be a great time to join Book Riot Insiders if you haven’t already… go go go!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends
Vanessa

More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

Audiobooks

New Releases, New Ears Resolutions, and More Audiobooks

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date December 4, 2018

Welcome to December, Audiophiles! It’s the first newsletter of the month so you know what that means: time for new releases! Let’s get right to it then- the less I yammer on, the more time you have to listen.

Sponsored by Book Riot’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 Giveaway.

We’re giving away ten of our favorite works of nonfiction of the year! Click here to enter.

Pero first: a giveaway! Enter here to win an audiobook prize pack!

New Releases: December 2018

Milkman by Anna Burns, narrated by Brid Bennan (release date 12/04/2018)

Eek! I have been dying to get my hands on this bad boy since it won the Booker prize winner back in October. Set in the 70s in an unnamed city in Northern Ireland, it’s about an 18-year-old girl referred to only as “middle sister” who is coerced into a relationship with an older paramilitary known as the milkman. The publisher’s summary called it “a story of the way inaction can have enormous repercussions, in a time when the wrong flag, wrong religion, or even a sunset can be subversive.” I needs dis.

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield, narrated by Juliet Stevenson (release date 12/04/2018)

Finally! It’s happened to me! A new book from the woman who brought us The Thirteenth Tale is here!! On a dark night in an inn on the Thames, the locals are sitting around telling stories when a stranger bursts in the door badly hurt and holding the lifeless body of a little girl. Then hours later, that little girl is decidedly not dead and everyone is like WTF? Atmospheric English setting? Check. Folklore, magic, and myth? Double check. I. can’t. wait.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwyn Elys Dayton, narrated by Michael Crouch, Karissa Vacker, and Brittany Pressley (release date 12/04/2018)

This title sounds all kinds of awesome weird! It’s comprised of six tales that explore the ethics of medical and scientific human modification. It sounds like a mashup of Divergent, The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. So much yes.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren, narrated by Shayna Thibodeaux and Deacon Lee (release date 12/04/2018)

Female-serial-killer expert (#Ichosethewrongjob) and professor Millie is great at the forensic analysis thing but not so great with people and dating. When she and some her colleagues make a pact to find plus-ones for a work party on dating apps, Millie and one the guys in that circle o’ friends end up hooking up with each other for a seriously steamy half night o’fun. They decide they’re better off as friends and keep their romp a secret, going ahead with Operating Dating App to find gala baes instead. Pero online dating is a cesspool for women and also there are feelings, so….I think I see where this is going and I’m in.

This is Cuba: An American Journalist Under Castro’s Shadow by David Ariosto, narrated by the author (release date 12/11/2018)

I am a little bit beguiled by the very idea of Cuba – its culture, its soul, its complicated history. I’m traveling there next year and have been looking forward to this book in anticipation, wherein author Daviod Ariosto finds that “…beyond the classic cars, salsa, and cigars lies a country in which black markets are ubiquitous, free speech is restricted, privacy is curtailed, sanctions wreak havoc, and an almost Kafka-esque goo of Soviet-style bureaucracy still slows the gears of an economy desperate to move forward.” Still Cuba is changing, albeit slowly and in not-so-simple ways. I can’t wait to get to know Cuba a little bit better both in person and in my ear buds.

Pandemic by Robert Cook, narrated by George Guidall (release date 12/11/18)

A healthy young woman in New York City collapses on the subway and dies upon reaching the hospital, and her case is giving veteran medical examiner Jack Stapleton some very unpleasant deja vu. In the autopsy he discovers that the woman had a heart transplant and that her DNA matches that of the transplanted heart. Whaaat? More people begin to drop dead as he tries to figure out what TF is happening and finds himself confronting the ugliness of the organ transplant market. This is all happening on the 100th anniversary of the influenza pandemic of 1918, which we are of course observing in real life. Yikes.

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Dr. Jeremy Brown, narrated by Holter Graham (release date 12/18/18)

Yeah, another flu book. What can I say, it’s flu season! Heh heh heh. *slaps leg, is way too proud of self*. This one is non-fiction and sounds terrifying compelling: an exploration of the flu virus on the 100th anniversary of the pandemic of 1918 that asks a lot of tough questions: should you get the flu shot? Are we ready for the next pandemic? Is another outbreak inevitable? Double yikes.

Half of What You Hear by Kristyn Kusek Lewis, narrated by Candace Thaxton (release date 12/31/18)

This sounds like the perfect mix of the juicy drama of Big Little Lies and the small-town gossip of a cozy mystery. Former White House employee Bess Warner has been forced to leave her job under a cloud of scandal and decides she’s ready for a simpler life. She and her family pack up and head for her husband’s quaint little hometown, but her new neighbors aren’t too jazzed to see someone new moving in. When Bess is approached with the opportunity to write a puff piece about one of the town’s most famous residents, she begins to understand that this town is rife with gossip and secrets of its very own.

The Fork, the Witch and the Worm by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerard Doyle (release date 12/31/18)

This family-friendly listen is brought to you by the author of the beloved Inheritance Cycle tetralogy, set a year after Eragon has departed Alagaësia in search of a place to train the next generation of Dragon Riders. “Then a vision from the Eldunarí, unexpected visitors, and an exciting Urgal legend offer a much-needed distraction and a new perspective.” I’ve been meaning to read Christopher Paolini forever! Looks like I’d better get on it.

From the Internets

The Penguin’s Picks – It’s the most audi-ful tiiiiime of the year, all the best book lists flowing and everyone going, “Hey listen to theeeeese”… If you haven’t abandoned me for that lame little remix, check out Penguin Random House’s picks for best audiobooks of the year.

Over at the Riot

A List of One’s Own – It’s the most audi-ful tiiiiime of the…. just kidding. It really is though! Here’s the Riot’s very own list of the year’s best audiobooks.

New Ears Resolutions – It’s New Ears Resolution Week! As 2018 draws to a close, it’s time to consider what we each want the new year to look like. To help kickstart the New Year’s Resolution/goal-setting mindset, we taking time this week to talk new year/new you strategy and how audiobooks are part of the plan!

Here are just a few of the awesome posts up now.

Also… word on the street is that SOMEONE you know ehhemitsmeehhem will be hosting the 2019 Read Harder Podcast, an exclusive pod for members of Book Riot Insiders. It’s probs a good time to get in on that, ya know?

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club – Dec 5

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date December 4, 2018

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read. I think I’ve somehow managed to give you zero holiday-themed recommendations in the first newsletter in December?? Oh well, there’s still time. For now let’s talk Book Riot book club, yogic reads, handmaids, and border stories.

Off to the club we go!

This newsletter is sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio. Keep up with your reading by listening to the audiobook – and never miss a book club meeting!

Keep up with your book club reading by listening to the audiobook. Audiobooks are the perfect complement to your busy schedule. Listen to new releases such as The Kennedy Debutante by Kerri Maher and read by Julia Whelan, and you can enjoy a whole new book club experience. For more listening suggestions, visit Tryaudiobooks.com/BookRiot.

Nevertheless, We Persisted – That’s right, friends: Persist is back! We’re hosting the last edition of our feminist Instagram book club for the year and we’ve announced this quarter’s pick! Head on over to the gram for the Instagram live discussion schedule. Be there!

Book Club Bonus: You should definitely join us for Persist, but also: don’t be afraid to use the internets for your own book club purposes. You and your bookish companions don’t have to live in the same geographic area to get in on the book club action. Get your Skype/FaceTime/Slack/Instagram Live on – whatever works for you.

Good Reads + Deep Breaths – Yoga isn’t all backbends and headstands; it’s breath and reflection and mindfulness. Get centered and still with these 5 yoga books for yogic thinking. Namaste!

Book Club Bonus: Bring book club to the yoga mat! Pick a yogic read for all of your yogis to enjoy and then attend a class together as a group. If there’s an instructor among you, have them lead your group in a flow at a location of your choice. Again, it doesn’t have to be a seriously physical practice; concentrate more on breath, stillness, and calm.

Return to Gilead – Margaret Atwood will pen a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale! Maybe the premise of the first one started to feel like and less like fiction? Welp, back to Gilead we go! Under his eye.

Book Club Bonus: If you haven’t already read The Handmaid’s Tale in book group, set some time aside to do so. There’s plenty to talk about there, but dive a little deeper and share your thoughts for where the sequel will go. Will it continue with Offred’s storyline or will it pick up in the future? Do you think it will align with the second season of the Hulu series? What terrifying predictions do you have?

An Interview with Gabino Iglesias – “I had this idea in my head: pulp walks into a bar and smashes a bottle in the face of literary fiction while reciting poetry.” Read more about Iglesias, his unique brand of barrio noir, and the wave of indie lit about the immigrant experience that he’s helping to usher in.

Book Club Bonus: I’d love to host a book club that read three titles on the immigrant experience: anything by Gabino Iglesias plus Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of the World and In the Distance by Hernan Diaz. These distinct works of fiction all tackle the same subject with very different modalities but are all hugely impactful and thought-provoking. I challenge you to unpack all of the commentary these titles have to offer: how Diaz’s use of a white character changes the narrative, how Iglesias tackles fear-based othering of brown people, Herrera’s mythological rendering of a border crossing tale. Dios mio, the possibilities.

Also… a little birdie told me that someone whose names sounds a lot like Schmanessa Schmiaz is going to be hosting the exclusive Read Harder Podcast in 2019. Now would be a great time to join Book Riot Insiders if you haven’t already… jus sayin.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date December 3, 2018

Happy Tuesday, Riot faithful! Vanessa here subbing in for Liberty this week. While I am so not worthy to fill Lib’s hungry hungry bookeating (and bat-winged!) shoes, I’ll do my best to do her proud and give you the skinny on some fresh reads.

To the books!

Dinosaur Villainy, Rummy History, and More Audiobooks

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date November 28, 2018

Bienvenidos, audiophiles!

I’m just going to get right down to business here. Why the brief intro, you ask? Because my adorable chunky monkey of a nephew is now pushing 16 pounds and carrying him all day has left my left arm a quaking mess. Poor guy has a cold and just wanted cuddles, which tia was happy to oblige. Even typing is a task tho! Oh well. Worth it.

Anyway. Let’s audio!

Sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio. Keep up with your reading by listening to the audiobook – and never miss a book club meeting!

Latest Listens

I am living my best Ross Gellar life with my current listen. Paleontology, yo! And a heist! I’m talking about The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams. It’s the true story of a dude in Florida who illegally tried to sell a dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia. It’s catnip for natural history nerds with the juiciness of true crime. SO satisfying.

Listens on Deck

I love me a good cocktail and history is pretty sweet too. I’ve been meaning to read And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the World in 10 Cocktails for some time and the holidays feel like a great time to finally do it. In ten chapters, each dedicated to a particular cocktail, author Wayne Curtis teaches us a little more about a spirit of choice while weaving in a crash course on American history. Yay booze! I mean books.

From the Internets

Listens Libro Loves – Libro.fm recently released its Top 10 Audiobooks of 2018 list. So many cosigns! I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite from that bunch but I will say that I am constantly recommending Calypso on audio. The only thing funnier than David Sedaris describing his attempt at Tokyo fashion as looking like a hand puppet is hearing him do it in his signature pitch.

Confessions of a Former Snob – This is a safe space, right friends? Ok, here goes. I used to be one of those people. You know, the kind that turn their noses up at audiobooks and I KNOW I KNOW I AM SO SORRY I AM REFORMED. I found the light some 5-6 years ago, but it took me a few tries for it to stick. I saw a lot of myself in this Bustle piece on how taking the audiobook dive changed one reader’s life.

I’ll Get By with a Little Help From My Books – However merry and bright the time of year, it isn’t always an easy one to get through; there’s the cooking, the cleaning, the elbowing of aggressive shoppers daring to put their greedy little paws on the sweater that you clearly grabbed first. Enter Vulture and this list of audiobooks to help you survive the holiday season.

Over at the Riot

Family Friendly – “And while I think the trip was a complete success (I even returned with the same three kids—didn’t lose a single one along the way), there was one thing I forgot: a collection of the best family audiobooks.” Don’t find yourself in the same conundrum; peep this list of 25 family-friendly audiobooks.

King of Audio – Stephen King, that is. Rioter Emily Martin did us all a favor and compiled a list of the 10 best Stephen King audiobooks. Me, I’m still recovering from It and would probably pass out if I relived that moment on audio. For all you non-fraidy-cats, rock on!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In The Club – Nov 28

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date November 26, 2018

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read.

How we doing, friends? Welcome back! Congrats to all my US peeps who survived awkward talks with racist relatives around the Thanksgiving table. You did good! Now let’s get back to our happy place.

Let’s talk bookish prizes, bookish gifts, big romance reads, and money money money money (*falsetto*) MONEY! Ready? Vamos al club.

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by sponsored by our $250 All the Books Barnes and Noble gift card giveaway!

Enter to win a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble in support of our All the Books! podcast. Click here for more info.

It’s All About the Benjamins, Baby – “I don’t like money, and I’m no millionaire. I work a 9-5 job. I teach yoga on the side. I sell some of my writing for small amounts of cash. I’m not a homeowner. So really, what I’m saying is: I’m totally normal.” I love this line by Rioter Aisling Twomey in her post on books about money.

Book Club Bonus: Money talk can be uncomfortable but knowing more about it – especially as women and/or persons of color – is vital to our empowerment. Read a book about money with your pals for book club and get real about money matters. Share your experiences with the pay gap, strategies for saving, investing, retirement plans, how hard it is out here in these streets, etc. Crush the stigma around money matters and remember that knowledge is power.
Related: It’d be like a day without orange juice if I didn’t sneak a 90s rap lyric into a header, wouldn’t it? Fun fact: my dad is terrible with names and refers to Diddy, the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy, as “el Big Daddy Puff.” Carry on.

Come Bearing Gifts – Alright folks. Thanksgiving has passed and it’s officially acceptable to start the holiday talk. Looking for some budget-friendly gifts for your bookworm besties this season? Check out these 25 easy DIY gifts for book lovers.

Book Club Bonus: We’re knocking on December’s doors and end of year busyness can make reading time scarce for some. If your book group is strapped for assigned reading time but can squeeze in time for a meet-up, have a holiday gathering. Bring food and drink like I mentioned last week, exchange small gifts, and share your favorite reads of the year (book club picks or otherwise). Tis the season! Fit in the book love however you can.

Give her the Giller and the Rest of the Things – Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black is this year’s Giller Prize winner (not to mention a shortlist pick for a gaggle of other literary awards)! Read more about the one book Flare says you should read this year.

Book Club Bonus: Washington Black isn’t your typical slavery narrative. George Washington Black is a eleven-year-old slave on a Barbados sugar plantation run by a sadistic master – ok, familiar. Then his master’s brother Christopher takes him under his wing and plot twist!!! Instead of subjecting Washington to further cruelty, he ends up taking the boy for a ride in a hot air balloon to places like Morocco, Novia Scotia, and the Arctic. His story becomes one of salvation and adventure, of self-invention and the wonder of youth. Discuss how Washington is able to overcome his circumstances, how his curiosity is crucial to his survival.

Fantasy Wins! – The 2018 World Fantasy Award Winners were announced earlier this month! A few of these titles have been sitting on my TBR and are waving at me like, “Hey girl! Yeah we see you! Remember us?!?” While I avoid eye/spine contact, check out the list of winners and find your next fantastic read!

Book Club Bonus: Bruuuuuuuh. Victor Lavalle’s The Changeling is such a perfect book club pick! You’ll just be minding your own business and reading this nice story when BAM! A thing will happen and you’ll question everything you know to be good and true in this world. We read this at the bookstore in October and we all had a lot of feelings; it’s part fairy tale, part horror story with tons of commentary on the black experience, racism, fatherhood and … trolls.

Great Big Romance Read – The gals at the Ripped Bodice are out here killin’ it. They’ve inked a TV deal with Sony, they’re running the only romance bookstore in the country and tearing down stigmas, and now they’re bringing us The Great Big Romance Read. Their goal is “to connect romance readers all over the world and celebrate a shared love of romance by reading the same book during the month of December.”

Book Club Bonus: I love when I get to share news with a built-in book club and this is one of those times! Lots of in-person and online discussion groups are already scheduled to talk about 2018’s selection, which so happens to be my fave Pride by Ibi Zoboi. Grab your friends and go to a meet-up if you can, or join in on the online fun for this fantastic classics remix (find the schedule here).

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club – November 21

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date November 20, 2018

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow here in the states and I hope lots of tasty foodstuffs are in all of your futures! Funny story — as a kid I had to ask my mom why we always made turkey-related crafts in school for the holiday. My Mexican family ate pozole and ham back then. I was hella confused.

Wherever you are and whatever you dine on, whether with friends or family or just your super cute cat, I wish you all a very happy day of thanks. I’m grateful to all of you fantastic readers and the chance to bring you book club love each week.

Alright, moving on. I’ll keep it brief this week. To the books!

This newsletter is sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio. Keep up with your reading by listening to the audiobook – and never miss a book club meeting!

Keep up with your book club reading by listening to the audiobook. Audiobooks are the perfect complement to your busy schedule. Listen to new releases such as The Kennedy Debutante, by Kerri Maher and read by Julia Whelan, and you can enjoy a whole new book club experience. For more listening suggestions, visit Tryaudiobooks.com/BookRiot.

Issa Giveaway – I’m still recovering from my very first trip to Powell’s over my birthday weekend last month, yo. I may have blacked out for a moment somewhere in the gold room; all I know is that purchases were made. Get in on this action and sign up to win $250 to Powell’s here!

The Club that Cooks – The holidays approacheth and for a lot of us that means whipping up culinary masterpieces, or watching other people do so while we drink wine in the corner – amirite? Whether you’re cooking, gifting, or hosting Book Club: Cookbook Edition, check out this list of 2018’s best cookbooks.

Book Club Bonus: Not everyone has time to read over the holidays – I for one work in Retailandia and will probs set up a cot in the bookstore soon! If you still want to make time for your bookish pals, turn book club into a holiday gathering with help from your favorite cookbooks. Everyone pick a different title and prepare a dish from said cookbook. Gather, munch, and maybe have a casual wrap-up of this year’s favorite reads. Eggnog and buttered rum optional. Hold the optional.
Related: In more cookbook news, watching Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat on Netflix has a) made me a solid fangirl for Samin Nosrat, and b) bumped Coming to My Senses up a few notches on my TBR. I’m so pleased to see this memoir by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame on this list of 20 of the best food books from 2018.

Give Us All the Prizes – The National Book Award Winners have been announced and y’all…. I am SCREAMING my congratulations for all of the women and authors of color who graced that stage! Can we start a petition to award Elizabeth Acevedo a prize for Most Poppin Curls?

Book Club Bonus: If your group read and loved The Poet X, do yourselves a favor and catch Pride by Ibi Zoboi. This reimagining of Pride & Prejudice is brilliant Latinx love + black girl magic on its own but is neeeext level fantastic on audio. It’s narrated by Elizabeth I’m-Just-Good-At-All-The-Things Acevedo and I can’t imagine a more perfect pick to do so. Discuss how the Bushwick setting and characters of color bring new depth and perspective to the classic.
Related: While you’re at it, pre-order Elizabeth Acevedo’s With the Fire On High. Have you seen that cover?? I die. I just die.

BRB, going to bust out my head scarves and hoops right quick before accepting that I will never recreate this glory.

Grateful for Great Reads – You love the books, we love the books. We all loves ze books! Rioter Olivia Páez shares a list of the books she’s thankful for and that have changed her life.

Book Club Bonus: Host Friendsgiving with book club! In between the stuffing of face and other traditions you partake in, take some time to talk about the reads you’ve been thankful for this year/life. I relate so much to Olivia’s excitement over finally reading a book that celebrated her Cuban culture. Share the stories that made you swell with pride, that taught you important lessons, or that simply shook your soul.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

Audiobooks

Michelle Obama, Welcome To Our Ears, and More in Audiobooks

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date November 12, 2018

Well hello there, audiophiles! Welcome back to Audiophilia, land of audiobooks, joy, and healthy amounts of snark. In addition to audiobook news and such, I’ll be reviewing some old faves with you today in the spirit of thankfulness. Let’s get right to it then, shall we?

Sponsored by Libby, the one-tap reading app from your library and OverDrive.

Meet Libby. The award-winning reading app that makes sure you always have something to read. It’s like having your entire library right in your pocket. Download the app today and get instant access to thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for free thanks to your public library and OverDrive.

Latest Listen

It’s finally here, friends: the inimitable Michelle Obama’s Becoming has finally hit shelves & eardrums! I haven’t decided whether this one will be my lullaby before bed or a morning listen to get the day started. All I know is that I have to catch this on audio; perhaps Michelle’s sweet words of hope and encouragement will help distract me from… well, you know. All the things.

Listens I’m Thankful For

Thanksgiving is… weird. Native Americans were minding their business when a bunch of pale people with big hats on a boat were like, “Hey girl, so this is our sh*t now thanks.” The pilgrims took the Natives’ things and killed their people but still were offered maize and hospitality, and now we celebrate with dead turkeys! Slight simplification here, pero… you get the idea.

These concerns aside, I am all for taking the time to express gratitude for one’s blessings and will throw down on some stuffing & aaaall the pumpkin things. Since it’s that time of year, I thought I’d mix it up and tell you about some past listens that I’ve been grateful for.

The Clancys of Queens by Tara Clancy – Tara Clancy’s childhood was not like yours or mine, that it unless you too were raised in a trifecta comprised of a boat shed in Queens, a mansion in the Hamptons, and a lively block in Brooklyn downstairs from your saucy Italian grandmother whose favorite way to end a sentence is “Fangul!”. Clancy has the ease of a natural storyteller, taking readers and listeners on an insightful, poignant, and raucously funny ride through her unconventional upbringing. This is perfect for audio; I can’t imagine reading these stories without Clancy’s Queens accent to charm my ears off.

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah – I didn’t know a heck of a lot about Trevor Noah when I listened to his book but was hooked by its very literal title: as the product of a union between a black woman and a white man during South African apartheid, Noah’s very existence was an actual crime. I knew his tales of the peril that such an entry into the world might bring would be riveting; I was wholly unprepared for how I’m-going-to-wet-myself-in-public hilarious many of them would be (see poop story and Hitler DJ anecdote for reference). Remember his Daily Show bit about the infamous “covfefe” incident? Think of the voice he does when he’s clutching that teddy bear and imagine an audiobook with lots more where that came from.

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae – Issa has blown up with the success of HBO’s Insecure and the hype is well deserved; the writing, the acting, the straight FIYAH soundtrack are all insane. Whether you’ve been rocking with Issa since the days of her Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl web series like me or are new to the Issa tribe, her book of the same name is to be enjoyed on audio post haste. Her musings on growing up the daughter of Senegalese immigrants, dating, body image, trying to make it in these streets and more kept me in stitches and affirmative head nods. There’s chapter on AOL chat rooms that opens with “At eleven years of age, I was a cyber ho.” I cannot!

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain – Anthony Bourdain was the inspiration behind so many of my foodie adventures and travels and his loss is one I felt profoundly. I’ve long loved Kitchen Confidential in print and decided to revisit this memoir/deep dive into the belly of the restaurant industry on audio. It was every bit as good the second time around, albeit infinitely more emotional with Uncle Tony narrating his own words into my ear holes. I hope he’s savoring a big ol’ hunk of bone marrow and a bold glass of red as he bashes ol’ Trumpy Pants from the big kitchen in the sky.

From the Internets

Canada Rising – A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my lack of familiarity with Canada’s historically low audiobook availability. There’s good news on this front – according to a recent article in Forbes, Canadian audiobook production is up to 61%. While that figure is still pretty disappointing, it’s a huge step in the right direction considering it was a whopping 16% just two years ago. Let’s hope there’s more to come!

Over at the Riot

Appsolutely Awesome – You probably have an audio app of choice – I’m a big fan of Libby and Libro.fm myself. It’s always nice to get a refresher on what else is out there though, like these 13 apps for reading on the go. Several of these include audiobooks for your eager ears.

Most Shameless of Plugs – I recently joined Book Riot’s booktube family and posted my very first video on Friday! Learn a little about me, observe some gratuitous wand use, and hear my musings on audiobooks in the context of bookish imposter syndrome.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa