Book Club Selections: April Through June

Our first book club discussion isn’t until tomorrow, but I know some of us like to savor our reads. Maybe you want time to re-read the pick, maybe you need time to get your hands on a copy from the library, or maybe you simply enjoy taking your time. Whatever your situation, I thought now would be a good time to announce our spring picks, and I’ve got to say, these picks have gone to the birds. I know, I know, that sounds like a bad thing. But take a peak at what our amazing hosts have selected for April through June, and tell me if there isn’t something all of these books have in common….

April

Steel Crow Saga (2019)
Written by: Paul Krueger
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Host: Nancy O’Toole Meservier

Discussion Date: 04/24/2020

Why Nancy Picked It: I don’t usually pay attention to author blurbs, but when Fonda Lee, author of Jade City, calls a book “Pokemon combined with Avatar the Last Airbender” that’s enough to get to me to stand up and listen. The character descriptions listed on the book jacket merely sealed the deal. A princess disguised as a an eccentric, pipe smoking detective? Sign me up please!

The Premise:

Four destinies collide in a unique fantasy world of war and wonders, where empire is won with enchanted steel and magical animal companions fight alongside their masters in battle.

A soldier with a curse
Tala lost her family to the empress’s army and has spent her life avenging them in battle. But the empress’s crimes don’t haunt her half as much as the crimes Tala has committed against the laws of magic . . . and against her own flesh and blood.

A prince with a debt
Jimuro has inherited the ashes of an empire. Now that the revolution has brought down his kingdom, he must depend on Tala to bring him home safe. But it was his army who murdered her family. Now Tala will be his redemption — or his downfall.

A detective with a grudge
Xiulan is an eccentric, pipe-smoking detective who can solve any mystery — but the biggest mystery of all is her true identity. She’s a princess in disguise, and she plans to secure her throne by presenting her father with the ultimate prize: the world’s most wanted prince.

A thief with a broken heart
Lee is a small-time criminal who lives by only one law: Leave them before they leave you. But when Princess Xiulan asks her to be her partner in crime — and offers her a magical animal companion as a reward — she can’t say no, and she soon finds she doesn’t want to leave the princess behind.

This band of rogues and royals should all be enemies, but they unite for a common purpose: to defeat an unstoppable killer who defies the laws of magic. In this battle, they will forge unexpected bonds of friendship and love that will change their lives — and begin to change the world.

May

The Tethered Mage (2017)
Written by: Melissa Caruso
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Host: Lane Robins

Discussion Date: 5/29/2020

Why Lane Picked It: There’s a certain type of fantasy that I just love like crazy: a blend of plucky, intelligent heroine with strong-willed friends, a well-defined setting and magical system, and ideally, a smattering of adventure, romance, and politics. I sampled Melissa Caruso’s The Tethered Mage, and the first chapter really delivered on that front — giving me a character who just wants a good, rare book to study when she’s interrupted by a feral girl threatening to burn down the city with uncontrolled magic. A heroic soldier demands her help, and Amalia is ready to leap in and do it… and just like that Amalia’s whole existence changes. I loved it. I hope other readers will find Caruso’s characters, world, and writing as fun and engrossing as I did.

The Premise:

The first book in a spellbinding fantasy trilogy for fans of The Queen of the Tearling and The Red Queen, where two young women — a mage with coveted powers, and the scion of a powerful family — are magically bound in service to the Empire.

Magic is scarce in the Raverran Empire, and those born with such powers are strictly controlled — taken as children and conscripted into the Falcon army, to be used as weapons in times of war.

Zaira has lived her life on the streets to avoid this fate, hiding her mage mark and thieving to survive. But hers is a rare and dangerous magic, one that threatens the entire Empire.

Lady Amalia Cornaro was never meant to be a Falconer. Heiress and scholar, she was born into a treacherous world of political machinations.

But fate has bound the heir and the mage. And as war looms on the horizon, a single spark could turn their city into a pyre.

June

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe (2019)
Written by: Heather Webber
Genre: Magical Realism
Host: Kelly McCarty

Discussion Date: 6/26/2020

Why Kelly Picked It: When I first read the premise of Midnight at the Blackbird Café by Heather Webster, I felt like she wrote the book specifically for me. Baking? Magical realism? Eccentric characters in a small charming Southern town? These are a few of my favorite things. The book’s main character, Anna Kate, travels to Wicklow, Alabama to settle her beloved grandmother’s estate and temporarily run the Blackbird Café. Owning a little bakery/café is one of my top five daydreams not involving Jason Momoa. I’m a dedicated amateur baker, and I’d like to scoop the delicious-looking blueberry tart off the cover and devour it. I wanted something lighthearted and fun for my book club pick and Midnight at the Blackbird Café fits the bill.

The Premise:

Heather Webber’s Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe is a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town Southern charm.

Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.

As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.

In three months, we’ll announce the next set of book club picks. Like I said above, we do this so that you have maximum time to get your hands on the book in the format that’s available, or request it from your local library, whatever works for you. If there’s a particular book you’d like to see us choose for the book club, or if you want a particular reviewer, please comment and let us know, because we love your suggestions!

We hope you’ll join us each month, and please, tell your friends to join us as well. Our goal is to have thorough reviews that are full of spoilers, so that there’s plenty to sink your teeth into and talk about.

Questions? Suggestions? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll see you tomorrow for our January discussion!