This Rec League comes to us from Sue (Hi, Sue!):
Shana: The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal is my go-to rec for thrillers. It’s about a woman who finds out the child she gave up for adoption has been kidnapped, and she vengefully goes after the culprit, even though she’s ambivalent about motherhood. CW: rape backstoryI am writing to the Rec League to ask for book recs for my about-to-be-formed book club! The group seems to have a wider range of usual book genres: one person likes to read psychological thrillers, another likes dystopian YA, and most prefer fiction. I almost exclusively read romance at this point, but when I do venture out, I prefer books with “Earl had to die” vibes — Victoria Stone’s Jane Doe, Katherine St John’s The Lion’s Den, Gone Girl, etc.
It sounds like people are preferring fiction. I think we’d have a really hard time reading books centered on the health profession, since all of us are physicians/psychologists, so that might be the only genre I’d try to avoid.
Does the Rec League have any suggestions of books that have wider appeal and (honestly) not that hard to read?
Sarah: So a mix of creepy and rage and restoration of justice or order.
Shana: That is a great distillation of the request!
Would Alyssa Cole’s thriller work?
Sarah: Oh yes, I think so for sure.
The Lucy Foley…Paris Apartment?
I think that is the name. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Claudia: The one that I’m reading right now — The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
Carrie: I think Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn would fit the bill.
Sarah: The Monsters We Defy is a great rec- I really liked that book a lot!
Claudia: I finished it last night — it’s really good!
Sarah: Isn’t it great?!
Which books would recommend for a burgeoning book club?
I just finished THE STARDUST THIEF by Chelsea Abdullah and I feel like it has something for everyone in your group—it’s fast-paced, there’s a looming bad guy, there’s a burgeoning romance, the main characters are younger, and the world-building is excellent.
I’m also enjoying Harini Nagendra’s THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB which is a mystery set in Bangalore in 1921–again, younger heroine (she’s 19), with a charming husband, and, while it’s not dystopian, it doesn’t shy away from the realities of life under British imperialism or the challenges that women faced socially at the time.
For more on the straight up dystopian side, Emily St. John Mandel’s STATION ELEVEN is a classic, that I feel also appeals to a wider audience. (I used to belong to a dystopian fiction book club. We abandoned it in 2016 for obvious reasons.)
I’d recommend J. T. Geissinger’s PEN PAL which is a neat mashup of romance (jacked-up, tatted, smoke-show hero), psychological suspense (unreliable narrator who is very cagey about how her husband died), and supernatural/gothic horror (Victorian house with leaks, creaks, flickering lights, and things that go bump in the night–and the day). I recommend not to go looking for spoilers (or even read Amazon/GR reviews) because part of the enjoyment of the book is trying to figure out where the twists and turns are going. Also, the book has lots of on-page, explicit sex, most of it of a D/s nature, so depending on how much romance the other club members have read, that might require a warning, lol.
Two books I read this year would both fit the bill, in different ways. First is The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. It’s about a young Black violinist who’s priceless instrument is stolen right before his incredibly important competition. The narration jumps between present day while he works to recover the violin and his earlier struggles to be acknowledged as a person of color in a very white profession. THere’s some suspense, family history, social injustice, and also a lot of insight into the world of classical music which I really enjoyed. I loved this book and it was a quick easy read but has a lot of different genres in one to talk about.
The other book was The Change by Kirsten Miller. Four women in menopause discover that “the change” has also manifested latent, slightly supernatural, powers and they band together to bring down a killer of young girls in their affluent town. It’s definitely an “Earl has to die” book, especially as the women are not even exacting justice for themselves but for younger women in town. I’m not sure I loved it, but there’s a lot to be discussed and it fits with a lot of interests as well.
On a different note- I just learned there is a whole new-ish subgenre of books and movies called “Good for her” named for the famous Lucille Bluth meme. Women taking back control and overcoming adversity and sometimes revenge on their oppressors, especially as an anti-hero that other women will root for even if they might not make the same decisions. I like the moniker ‘Earl has to die’ better but I think this might be slightly different. I’ve seen Gone Girl and Knives Out both held up as examples of movies. Killers of a Certain Age fits into this genre too, I think.
Would love some thoughts (maybe a different post though) if anyone has them?
For straight-up horror, try The Twisted Ones, The Hollow Places, and What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. These are supernatural horror, not tied-up-in-a-basement horror.
None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney is a good YA thriller, as are all the books I’ve read by Karen McManus.
The Family Plot by Cherie Priest is about house demolition/reclamation that doesn’t go well 😉
Dystopia: Try the Newsfeed series by Mira Grant (who is also Seanan McGuire)
And if anyone wants to try non-fiction, I loved The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack. It’s very accessible and made me wish I’d majored in physics.
I’m wondering if When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole would hit the sweet spot among all of your tastes. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue might be good too.
Gah it would help if I read the post more carefully, I see Shana already rec’ed Alyssa Cole! I haven’t had my morning coffee quota yet.
Non-fiction: Robert E Lee and Me by Ty Seidule is a well written book where the author grapples with his Southern upbringing and the Myth of the Lost Cause.
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams is excellent historical fiction about the making of the first Oxford English Dictionary and who decides what gets left in and what gets left out.
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donahue is historical fiction set in a maternity ward during the flu epidemic during WWI. Very good, not quite great but claustrophobic (if that is an issue) and the main character is so well drawn.
Begin Again by Eddie Glaude Jr about being a Black man in the Trump era using the works of James Baldwin to make some sense of it. A great introduction to Baldwin.
I Came As A Shadow by John Thompson which is a wide ranging and well written autobiography/memoir of the basketball coach and educator written at the end of his life. Broad appeal even for non-sports fans.
Shine Bright by Danyel Smith about Black women in pop music (warning for abuse, drug use, child harm). A great book about music and how it relates to self.
Hope this helps even though I am late to the party.
My book club loved The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman: In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. There’s Red Ron, the infamous former socialist firebrand, still causing trouble; gentle Joyce, widowed, pining for another resident, but surely not as innocent as she seems; Ibrahim, a former therapist who understands the darker side of human nature; and Elizabeth? Well, no one is quite sure who she really is, but she’s definitely not a woman to underestimate. When a local developer is found dead, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. The friends might be septuagenarians, but they are cleverer than most. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late? (book jacket)
I wonder if Stephen Graham Jones would work for this book club? His The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw would work for thriller, YA dystopian, and fiction.
Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha is dystopian and a romance. There are some very slight elements of a psychological thriller, but it is weaker in that area. It is Kit Rocha, though, so there some heat, although not like the Beyond series.
King’s Captive by Amber Bardan is a romance that reads like a psychological thriller. It’s not dystopian, but it is dark (mafia). Elyse reviewed it and gave it an “A”. I honestly didn’t like it nearly that much, but I did finish it.
Most of my suggestions aren’t brand-new, but: for the YA and suspense fans, Elizabeth Wein has some great YAs set in WW2, like Code Name Verity. Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network goes back and forth between now and the past (also WW2), and I love books where uncovering a mystery from the past is a thing.
I am a fan of Elinor Lipman (although I haven’t read her most recent ones). The Inn at Lake Devine is not new but is wonderful.
Emily Henry’s Beach Read. She has a new one out that is on my TBR pile.
Or for something completely different, see how the group likes Murderbot?
I finished Mexican Gothic a few weeks ago, and it helped me bond with one of my new coworkers. There’s a lot to talk about in this book, and it does a good job spanning genres (horror, mystery, gothic, and tiny bit of romance). Read it and then watch Crimson Peak for a thematic double feature.
My bookclub, which also had readers with a range of tastes, enjoyed Lolly Willowes, by Sylvia Townsend Warner. We read it partly because it is a shorter book (Amazon says 178 pages). It has a lot of romance tropes at the start and then goes strange and mostly delightful; your members who are interested in psychological thrillers might like some aspects of it. It is 86p on Kindle at the moment (with a terrible cover).
Same book group also enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, which is just pure fun.
This is a little out of left field, but A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark. It’s a fantasy set in 1912 Cairo, but it has a murder mystery and conspiracy for those that like thrillers, and I think the “the world changed drastically 100 years ago” setting might appeal to your dystopian fan. And not only is it a highly entertaining read, there’s a lot of meat for possible discussion in a book club. If you’re unsure, the prequel short story a Dead Djinn in Cairo is online: https://www.tor.com/2016/05/18/a-dead-djinn-in-cairo/
@Jen- Mexican Gothic is an excellent suggestion! Really any of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s recent releases from the last few years could work this book club. I just read The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and it was an interesting mix of classic science fiction and a coming of age story, with social commentary in the mix too. I really loved it!
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James is my favorite of her many fine books. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney has a fantastic setting and decent plot twist, and her back catalog is great, too. Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest is a fun mystery featuring a psychic travel agent! Any Rachel Harrison—The Return and Cackle are out, and Such Sharp Teeth comes out next month.
The Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert is delightful! Olivia Dade is one of my few auto-buys. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots has one helluva character arc. I’m salivating for the sequel.
I co-sign the recs for Murderbot, Thursday Murder Club, Emily Henry, and Ruth Ware (I think someone mentioned her—not a bad choice in her body of work).
If your group decides to try non-fiction, both of Amanda Montell’s books, Wordslut and Cultish, are really good and would provoke a lot of discussion. You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe is short and hilarious—nothing like the ponderous tomes written for our uncles.
I hope your book club is a smashing success. No one will mind the occasional crummy pick if you have wine, cheese, and chocolate!
For Suspense fans I liked the pace and edgy vibes for THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden or NO EXIT by Taylor Adams. But I also second the idea of going outside EVERYONE’S comfort zone with THE MURDERBOT series. That first book is quick, exciting and might surprise some into realizing how good science fiction can be. I know it did me.
Finley Donovan is Killing It might be a good mix. It’s a fast paced book with a lot of zany moments and features women bonding together.
I just finished The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake. Historical fiction with an orphaned young woman who becomes ward to a brilliant doctor who trains her as his assistant. She has a natural talent for medicine but it must be kept a secret because of her gender. Fascinating story with harrowing descriptions of medical practices at the time.
I have book club discussion questions available:
Something Shady at Sunshine Haven: In the humorous Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty.
War correspondent Kate Tessler has followed the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going home?
https://swarmchairtraveler.blogspot.com/2022/06/got-bookclub-check-out-book-club.html