Book Club May/June

What should we read for May/June?

  • The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

    Votes: 4 57.1%
  • Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

    Votes: 3 42.9%

  • Total voters
    7
  • Poll closed .

Amber Chou Wilson

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Hello everyone, time for book club again!

I have a bit more of a theme this time, as all two of thesebooks are kind of cozy fantasy-ish (I think) which I suppose I'm just in the mood for. But then I threw in something else too for variety. Here's the options:

First up I have The Teller of Small Fortunes which I mostly picked up for the cute cover and haven't looked at yet. It seems very cute though! Summary in the spoiler.
A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna.

Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells "small" fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…

Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.

Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.

Next I have Paladin's Grace which also caught my eye because they have beautiful new editions (sensing a pattern) and just seems cute. This one is more of a fantasy/romance though. It is part of a series but I think they're all stand alone books. I've really enjoyed T. Kingfisher in the past, too.
Whilst foraging for startleflower, perfumer Grace finds herself pursued by ruffians and rescued by a handsome paladin in shining armour. Only, to outwit her hunters they must pretend to be doing something very unrespectable in an alleyway.

Stephen, a broken paladin, spends his time knitting socks and working as a bodyguard, living only for the chance to be useful. But that all changes when he saves Grace and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now, Stephen and Grace must navigate a web of treachery and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind.

Finally I have How to Solve Your Own Murder which is a mystery/thriller but maybe also a cozy mystery? Goodreads tags are a bit confusing. It's more of a straight up murder mystery and has no fantasy (as far as I know). It also seems to be the start of a series but I again think they're separate stories.
For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer.

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?

As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.

Hope you can find something you like!

The current book club schedule is:

Jan/Feb- Jess

March/April - Rowan
May/June - Daphne
July/August - Sarah
Sept/Oct - Mia
Nov/Dec - Camilla
 
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Hellllll yeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh!!

I've had How To Solve Your Own Murder on my to read list for a while so that's gettin my vote, though the others sound fun too!
 
I went with the one with the shortest wait at my library, which was the first one. Thanks for the choices, Daphne!
 
what a fantasic sugestion daphne. they all sound good and i think my library has all of them (though it is a six month wait for Paladin's grace.
however i am going ot have to go with the one that i had for Christmas (whocuh i found in a bookshop fo the same reason Daphne did, it looked nice. so my vote is going ot the teller of small fortunes.
 
I already read teller of small fortunes, it was great! I think I’ll go with the nursery one, that sounds intriguing.
 
the poll is closing soon, get any last minute votes in!
 
Okay! I thought we had a clear winner, but looking now it's a tie so I'll be the tiebreaker:

We're reading The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

(turns out I forgot to make the poll so it closed after a week, apologies. But with my vote at this moment this one is in the lead)
 
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Oooh I just read that one! It's super good :)
 
My hold just came through :party: so I'll be able to start reading later today!
 
Wooo! I've been in a bit of a slump unfortunately but I did start it today, just the very first few pages. So far, so good!
 
I just started reading too! I got it yesterday so I'm not very far yet. I'm actually really enjoying it so far, usually I struggle through the beginning of books especially fantasy because they set so much stuff up but I was with this one from the start. Going to try get some more reading in today!
 
I'm excited to see what you guys think of this story, I really enjoyed it myself.
 
I'm somewhere between a third and halfway through and really enjoying it so far. For me it's hitting the right balance of cozy fantasy but still having some stakes and worldbuilding that isn't too generic.
 
I'm getting closer to the end and I have to say I really like it! There's just something about it's atmosphere that's really making me feel just...cosy and nice. Which I think is the point but I've never read a book this cosy before.

Spoilers, maybe don't look until you're done because I don't have the book with me and can't say exactly where I'm up to but...

I really am loving Tao being a foreigner in a new country, and the way she yearns for her culture, as a sort of metaphor for the cultural dissonance someone might feel who has moved to a new country and has had to leave behind most of their culture, or are unable to live it in the same way. I found that really interesting and a really good way at showing that experience through a fantasy lens.

I also just love the characters in general - I love found family a lot - and I honestly don't know how they're going to get to the ending but I'm excited to see how it works out.

I also had a peek and this same author is publishing another book later this year. Definitely going to give that a go, because I honestly am enjoying this story a lot. It's like a warm hug.
 
This is the second cozy fantasy book I've read, and it's such a nice palate cleanser genre for me compared to what I typically read. I'm not nearly as far as either of you (so not touching that spoiler!) but I'm enjoying the characters and the story so far.
 
This is the second cozy fantasy book I've read, and it's such a nice palate cleanser genre for me compared to what I typically read. I'm not nearly as far as either of you (so not touching that spoiler!) but I'm enjoying the characters and the story so far.
for me cozy fantasy can be really hit or miss, I've read a few where I get bored by nothing happening or feel like the world building is so generic it's frustrating. But this one dodged both hof those pitfalls for me personally.

I've finished it today and I really liked it! It's like a solid 4 star rating for me. Lost a bit of drive to read near the end, but I did really like it in the end. Definitely will keep an eye on more by this author!

EDIT: oooh it seems like the other book is like, not a sequel but set in the same world? That's so cool!
 

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