Double Exposure Book Club Questions and Recipe
Double Exposure follows photojournalist Annie Hawkins as she returns to Afghanistan in 2015 to rebuild a school for girls destroyed by the Taliban.
Set during the unstable period when the Taliban desperately tried to regain power by launching terrorist attacks against Afghans, the novel is a fast-paced, heart-wrenching tale of the people who stood strong in the face of terrorism.
The Memory Keeper of Kyiv: A Novel about Ukraine
Has your book club been searching for a novel about Ukraine? Given the devastating current events in Ukraine, you might be wishing to read more about the country and its people. If so, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is the perfect choice.
The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a dual-timeline novel. It follows a young woman and her family as they deal with Stalin’s invasion and the resulting famine in the 1930s and her granddaughter as she comes to term with her own losses and seeks to reconnect with her family heritage in the early 2000s.
The Unsinkable Greta James Book Club Questions and Recipe
A rock star on the verge of an early mid-life crisis finds herself on a cruise ship with the father who’s always misunderstood her.
Jennifer E. Smith’s divergence from YA to adult lit results in a sometimes humorous, often poignant look at the dreams we hold onto and the people who shape us.
The Italian Daughter Book Club Questions and Recipe
If you love a novel about searching for clues to the past, you’ll love The Italian Daughter, Soraya Lane’s newest novel.
When Lily receives an unexpected inheritance containing only two clues linking her to a family she’s never known, she sets out on a journey to discover the past.
Set in present day and post-WWII Italy, the novel follows Lily and her ancestor, Estee, as they navigate through difficult life choices that will both separate and eventually draw them together.
Book Lovers Book Club Questions and Recipe
Emily Henry is making waves in romance. If you didn’t hear of her after her debut, Beach Read, you probably heard about her after the release of People We Meet on Vacation. And, this summer, everyone was talking about Book Lovers. (Can we appreciate that play on words for a minute?) I think the reason her books resonate so well is that they are romcoms with depth.
Best Years of Your Life Book Club Questions and Recipe
With short chapters and likable characters who make devastating choices, you’ll find yourself flying through Jen Craven’s first contemporary novel. Best Years of Your Life follows a family—two professor moms and their daughter—as they navigate the most difficult year of their lives, professionally and personally. As someone who worked for a university for over ten years, I found Craven captured campus life perfectly.
Malibu Rising Book Club Questions and Recipe
Malibu Rising was one of my favorite novels of the year. After smash hits like Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid has already made a name for herself among serious readers and book clubs. As much as I’ve enjoyed her writing in the past, Malibu Rising has elevated Reid to a new level in my book. Malibu Rising still has elements of those other novels. Set in Los Angeles, with a famous patriarch, the themes of fame and all its struggles are present. However, this novel focuses primarily on four siblings and their attempts to find their ways in the world, while dealing with less than optimal parents.
The Exit Strategy Book Club Questions and Recipe
Two women. One man. An unexpected friendship formed with the intention of revenge. You know the concept. You might even love it (I do). But, set your preconceptions aside, because while The Exit Strategy includes a similar hook, the plot is sure to surprise you. If you have worked in any type of corporate setting or male-dominated business, you need to read this book.
The Two Lives of Sara Book Club Questions and Recipe
The Two Lives of Sara is Catherine Adel West’s sophomore novel. Her debut, Saving Ruby King, released two years ago–a timely novel about a young black girl in Chicago whose mother is murdered.
The Two Lives of Sara follows a young woman in trouble as she struggles to deal with her painful past, hopeful for a better future. The novel is set in Memphis. As someone who lived in Memphis for several years, I really enjoyed reading this book. and the setting rang true to me.
A Boundless Place Book Club Questions and Recipe
A quiet novel, full of characters dealing with real grief, it reminded me of other heartwarming books that I have loved. While reading, the book offered me a similar feel to At Home in Mitford, with a little more edginess (aka tragic character pasts).
A Boundless Place is the first novel I’m featuring for Book Club Bites’ collaboration with The Best of Women’s Fiction podcast and Hasty Book List.
What’s New for Fall
I’m thrilled to tell you about an exciting collaboration with two resources I think you’ll find beneficial for your book club.
The first is The Best of Women’s Fiction Podcast hosted by Lainey Cameron and Ashley Hasty.
While you might not realize it, there is a large crossover between what is defined as women’s fiction and what is considered to be book club fiction. Most of the books I have featured on Book Club Bites could fall into both categories. I’ll be collaborating with Lainey Cameron and Ashley Hasty and The Best of Women’s Fiction Podcast to feature the authors they are hosting on the podcast.
What will that mean?
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie Book Club Questions and Food Ideas
If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie, you probably know that in 1926 Mrs. Christie went missing for 11 days. When she surfaced, she claimed to have no memory of what happened during that time and to this day it remains a mystery.
That is until Marie Benedict hypothesized perhaps the most logical reason for Mrs. Christie’s disappearance in her latest novel The Mystery of Mrs. Christie. While I was skeptical that Benedict could offer a plausible story for Mrs. Christie’s disappearance after all these years, I’m happy to tell you that she does!
The Flight Girls Book Club Questions and Food Ideas
If you’ve read your fair share of WWII novels, you may think there isn’t anything new in the genre, but have you read any stories about the WASP? That is, the Women Airforce Service Pilots. You may have heard about the Air Transport Auxiliary in England or the Night Witches from Russia, but the WASP were American women pilots employed during the war.
Their story is fascinating and in Noelle Salazar’s debut, The Flight Girls, we get a picture of all they endured and accomplished. The novel follows one fictional WASP, Audrey Coltrane, as she experiences Pearl Harbor, signs up for service, and flies (literally) through the years of the war.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry Book Club Questions and Food Ideas
Are you a fan of indie bookstores? Do you love short story collections? How about novels about found families? If so, then Gabrielle Zevin’s hit, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, should be on your list.
The novel’s central character, A.J. Fikry, is an independent book store owner and widower living on remote Alice Island. When a young girl shows up in his bookstore with no family to left to claim her, A.J.’s life takes an unexpected turn.
Klara and the Sun Book Club Questions and Food Ideas
If you haven’t heard of Kazuo Ishiguro, he is a Nobel Prize winner whose works, such as Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, captivate readers. In his latest work, Klara and the Sun, Ishiguro tackles an A.I. infiltrated future society where Artificial Friends become the norm.
Unlike many A.I. centered tales, here the A.I. is friend not foe. In fact, the novel is told by an Artificial Friend, Klara, who longs for and is finally chosen by a child.
