Hi hello! Let’s chat about September and what we’d like to read. Below you’ll find a poll and I’ve included a blurb about each book. I’m excited to see what the results will be…
The Annual Migration of Clouds The world is nothing like it once was: climate disasters have wracked the continent, causing food shortages, ending industry, and leaving little behind. Then came Cad, mysterious mind-altering fungi that invade the bodies of the now scattered citizenry. Reid, a young woman who carries this parasite, has been given a chance to get away — to move to one of the last remnants of pre-disaster society — but she can’t bring herself to abandon her mother and the community that relies on her. When she’s offered a coveted place on a dangerous and profitable mission, she jumps at the opportunity to set her family up for life, but how can Reid ask people to put their trust in her when she can’t even trust her own mind?
Play Nice A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house.
The Marigold In a near-future Toronto buffeted by environmental chaos and unfettered development, an unsettling new lifeform begins to grow beneath the surface, feeding off the past. Weaving together disparate storylines and tapping into the realms of body horror, urban dystopia, and ecofiction, The Marigold explores the precarity of community and the fragile designs that
The Weight of Blood Set in the fictional “sundown town” of Springville, Georgia, the story follows Maddy Washington, a biracial high school senior who has been forced by her racist father to hide her ethnicity by passing as white and straightening her hair. When a rainstorm leads to her hair reverting to its natural form, her heritage is revealed and a viral bullying video exposes the racism at Springville High. In a bid to salvage the school’s reputation, popular and high-achieving Wendy Quinn convinces her Black football star boyfriend to take Maddy to prom. However, a revenge prank pulled by one of her bullies on prom night humiliates Maddy, setting off a horrific chain of events.
Someone You Can Build a Nest Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she’s fallen in love. Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth. However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way.
So, what sounds good to you?
September picks will be announced on August 17th. Check back here or on Instagram. @ripbookclubathens
And last but not least let’s talk about the CEMETERY TOUR! I have arranged for us to have an evening tour of Oconee Hill Cemetery where we’ll learn about the people and the history of Athens as well as ghost stories, tragic accidents, body snatching and more. I am so excited! It’s totally free for y’all and you can dress up as you’d like. It is weather dependent but if there’s a storm we will reschedule the event. Vote below!
See you August 19th!
RIP Book Club 