Book Club News: March Issue | | | Hello,
This month, our book club members discuss two bold debuts featuring women seeking to redress wrongs: Costanza Casati's Clytemnestra puts a new spin on the notorious queen of Greek myth, while Parini Shroff's grim but hilarious The Bandit Queens follows a group of wives in an Indian village banding together to fight sexism and abuse.
Explore more current and upcoming first-time offerings for your book club with our list of noteworthy authors debuting in 2024.
You can also find inspiration for your conversations and selections in our "beyond the book" themed reading lists, check out Lauren Grodstein's letter to readers of We Must Not Think of Ourselves, the subject of a recent BookBrowse discussion, and peruse more exciting book club discussions opening in the coming months.
Last, we have a fantastic giveaway for Douglas Westerbeke's much anticipated debut, A Short Walk Through a Wide World —you can win up to 10 copies for you and your book group!
With best wishes,
The BookBrowse Team | | Discussions are open to all to view and participate, so if you've read a book, click on "discuss." If you have not, we suggest you go to "about the book" to avoid spoilers. | | | Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
From the Jacket
Madeline Miller's Circe meets Cersei Lannister in a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious heroine of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.
From the Discussion
"I loved Clytemnestra. The writing is excellent, the characters are three-dimensional, and the style is really interesting...the story is shown as snapshots throughout her life. This is a great story that showcases a powerful and hated woman who would go to any lengths to get revenge on a man that wronged her." —libraryJan
"A book that was hard to put down and it kept my attention from the first page to the last. I highly recommend, book clubs will have a lot to discuss." —Maggie
"I loved this book and how it tells a story many are familiar with in a different light. The author brings Clytemnestra to life with wonderful writing providing a look into why she does what she does, for herself and her children...I loved how other stories were touched on: Helen, Penelope, Trojan War, etc. It is a book about humans in Greek mythology which is not a perspective I have seen often." —jennluna | | | The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
From the Jacket
A young Indian woman finds the false rumors that she killed her husband surprisingly useful—until other women in the village start asking for her help getting rid of their own husbands—in this razor-sharp debut.
From the Discussion
"What I found to be the best thing about the book was how it details the horrible yet accepted ways the men commonly see and abuse the women, the clever and hilarious ways the women deal with that sexism, and the importance of women supporting each other to combat the overwhelming sexism they face daily. Despite addressing all of these 'heavy' issues, the author does it with so much humor that her novel is never a downer. I’ll highly recommend this book to my friends and family." —gaylel
"This book was so much fun to read. It is perfect for anyone who has been in a difficult relationship. One of the best books in the past three years! I have recommended it to several people...they won't be disappointed." —Tired Bookreader
"I loved the book. It is easy to read and informative. It would make a good book for book clubs as there are a lot of available discussion items." —alycet | | Win Books for Your Book Club! | | | A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke
From the Jacket
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets Life of Pi in this dazzlingly epic debut that charts the incredible, adventurous life of one woman as she journeys the globe trying to outrun a mysterious curse that will destroy her if she stops moving.
Praise
Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Kirkus!
"Part magical realism–laced travelogue, part love letter to the world, Westerbeke's extraordinary debut spans decades ... Striking set pieces, stunning character work, and evocative, insightful prose make every page worth savoring. A hopeful tale of improbable friendships, whirlwind romances, and unexpected joy." —Kirkus Review (starred review)
About This Sweepstakes
We have up to 10 hardcover copies to give away. If a winner is in a book club they will receive a copy for each member of their group (up to a maximum of 10 copies); if a winner is not in a book club they will receive 4 copies (one for themselves and three to share with friends).
This offer is open to residents of the USA, except for BookBrowse members who are welcome to enter wherever they live. If a member not resident in the US wins, they receive an extension to their membership. Giveaway ends April 1, 2024 | | 2024 Debut Authors for Book Clubs | | | What debut authors will you discover in 2024? You may be excited about the latest work from writers you already adore, but this could very well be the year you find a new slew of first-time favorites.
The march of excellent debut books has already begun, and there are many soon-to-be-established literary stars worth watching, both those who have been published recently and those with releases in the coming months.
Keep an eye on who’s emerging and who’s waiting in the wings with our list of some of the most promising, intriguing, provocative debut authors working today. | | | In addition to customized searches covering genre, time period, setting and a wide range of themes, BookBrowse offers specialized reading lists in our "beyond the book" Articles section.
Exploring these is a great way to find inspiration for your book club selections and discussions. Here are just a few examples of recently featured lists for you to peruse.
- A Brief History of the Police Procedural (relating to The Tainted Cup)
- Books of Stories Centering Black American Life (relating to Neighbors and Other Stories)
- A Moby-Dick Reading List (relating to Wild and Distant Seas)
- Books by Filipino Authors for Young Readers (relating to My Heart Underwater)
- Revenge Westerns (relating to Chenneville)
Members can view our complete selection of reading lists, while nonmembers can view a limited number of lists. | | A Letter from Lauren Grodstein | | | Dear Reader,
We Must Not Think of Ourselves is a novel I never expected to write. I had no ambition to tell a story about the Holocaust; people like Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi had already done the brutal job as perfectly as it could be done. I could not imagine attempting to put myself in their company.
But in July 2019, I discovered the stories of the people of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Or, more specifically, during a family trip to Warsaw, a tour guide brought us to the Jewish Historical Institute, a prosaic name for an extraordinary place. The institute houses the Emanuel Ringelblum Archive, the work of thirty-two secret diarists who, under the direction of historian Emanuel Ringelblum, secretly recorded everything about their imprisonment in the ghetto from 1940–1943. In comprehensive detail, their reports describe the ghetto's schools, synagogues, and prisons; its marriages and births; its struggles to feed its population; and its terror at the oncoming deportations to Treblinka. Their work constitutes the most significant written testimony of what was once Europe's largest Jewish community. ... continued | | | Discussions are open to all, so please join us! If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification. You can also find inspiration for your book club among our more than 200 past discussions.
We've recently begun discussing Parini Shroff's The Bandit Queens. Later this month, we feature Nadine Bjursten's Half a Cup of Sand and Sky, followed by Shilpi Somaya Gowda's A Great Country in early April. | | BookBrowse offers a cornucopia of resources for book clubs including recommended books by genre, time period, setting and a wide range of themes; advice on starting and running a book club and much more! | | Usually published once a month, Book Club News is one of BookBrowse's four free newsletters. We also publish BookBrowse Highlights every Thursday, Publishing This Week every Sunday; and Librarian News monthly. | | | | |
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