First things first: in addition of Beth handing over the reigns to Emily and myself, we decided to try a new format that makes our book club more interactive for YOU! Instead of sitting back and watching us discuss the books, we will have the conversation live, right on Facebook, so that you can share your thoughts, too. Don’t worry, booze is still highly encouraged! And we won’t be judging any bad typing.
Alright, let’s get to what you came here for:
It’s time to pick our next Boozy Book Club books!*
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
If you are on social media, I don’t know how you could have missed this new series. The book is due out on January 30th and is already an Amazon bestseller, so we will be on the front end of this book’s discussion (don’t worry, if chosen, you will have plenty of time to read it). I love the gothic/original Grimm brothers feel to the description. Preorder it.
Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”
Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
This one is on a TON of feminism bookshelves and is rumored to be on a bunch of award longlists. It was the final book of the year for the Emma Watson Our Shared Shelf book club. How can we not be interested with that kind of backing? Buy it.
In The Power the world is a recognisable place: there’s a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power – they can cause agonising pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
This is another one that has been blowing up my newsfeeds; it just came out on January 9th but people have been singing its praise for months. The description of this one feels like it would be perfect for fans of Life after Life. And look at that cover! Buy it.
If you were told the date of your death, how would it shape your present?
It’s 1969 in New York City’s Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.
Their prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in ’80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11, hoping to control fate; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Holly Black is one of those author’s I’ve always meant to read. I saw her at a conference a few years back while she was writing the Magisterium series (really good if you are into books for upper elementary school kids) with her BFF Cassandra Clare (Oh, who’s Cassandra Clare? Just the author of the Shadow Hunter series. No big deal.) and was super sassy and someone I would want to be friends with. Throw in faeries and a little bit of danger? Sold! Buy it.
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Everyone in YA was talking about this book this summer because it is crammed with a diverse cast: a Historical LGBTQ+ fiction with a member of the main trio who is biracial and epileptic. The reviews call it funny and that it has the best characters in historical fiction. Shall we see if they can actually give Outlander a run for its money? Buy it.
Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.
But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.
Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
And, finally, we have a contemporary YA fiction. Kind of. Ok, it is more of a thriller/mystery, really. Buy it.
Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister.
Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.
Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident.
But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.
Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone.
*all summaries are quoted from their Goodreads page.
How do I vote?
Glad you asked. Join Boozy Book Club on Facebook, and vote for all the books that interest you in our poll. Remember, the top two books are the ones that we will discuss at the end of February.
