Book Club July/August

What should we read for July/August?

  • A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher

    Votes: 2 28.6%
  • A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

    Votes: 5 71.4%

  • Total voters
    7
  • This poll will close: .

Demetrius Wagner

Magiconservationist Intern | Rich kid
 
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Sarah
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Straight 10 1/2 Inch Whippy Larch Wand with Vampire Blood Core
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Alright, gang it’s nearly July (time flies huh?) so it’s time for me to lead book club. More focussed on fantasy this time round because I guess that's just my mood. So without further ado, here are my picks!

A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher
247 pages
This is the horror pick. Southern gothic mystery that even the summary on goodreads seems purposefully vague on. But if you’re feeling spooky, this’ll be the one.
"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
377 pages
I realised that it is, in fact, necessary for me to LGBTQA+ book on my picks. This is that book. Edwardian, magic, and queer love. I don’t know, it sounded good to me.
Note: Mia has informed us there are explicit scenes (which you can skip) but just a head's up. Also it's another start of a series, oops.
Young baronet Robin Blyth thought he was taking up a minor governmental post. However, he's actually been appointed parliamentary liaison to a secret magical society. If it weren’t for this administrative error, he’d never have discovered the incredible magic underlying his world.

Cursed by mysterious attackers and plagued by visions, Robin becomes determined to drag answers from his missing predecessor – but he’ll need the help of Edwin Courcey, his hostile magical-society counterpart. Unwillingly thrown together, Robin and Edwin will discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
329 pages
I love the movie, and I’m told the books are good, so I thought this a good excuse to start the series (bear in the mind that it is a series, but we’ll only read the first one). Possibly an easier read because I believe it’s categorised as young adult fiction. Heard it's a bit different to the movie, so if you've seen that and feel a bit discouraged it might be the same, I'm told it isn't. Don't know if that's a selling point. Another fantasy.
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

Poll will be open for 7 days, so get in quick. Once the book is chosen, we have two months to read and discuss the book.

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I've read it but I'm voting for Howl's Moving Castle to push it on everyone else/for a rereading excuse :r One of my all time favourite authors and Sophie is one of my absolute favourite protagonists. Yeah, the movie took it in a different direction (book Sophie and Howl are less...likeable I suppose? But in an endearing way) but not detrimentally I think.
 
Ooh I will have to have a think about this. they are some good options.

I have read a marvellous light. It is a good story. The start of a historical/mystery/romance/magic trilogy which I have listened to the first two of. But just to be aware there are some very explicit scenes in there which you can skip skip if you want to. But it is definitely very much not closed door romance.
 
Ooh i read a House with Good Bones, that was fun! I'll jump on for Howl- been meaning to read that, and excuse to compare it to the movie.
 
[sees howls moving castle and SLAMS the button]

HMC was one of my ALL TIME FAVOURITE books growing up, I love it to PIECES. I was IMMENSELY disappointed when the movie came out - it stripped away a lot of the themes, played trope subversions AS the tropes straight up, and completely abandoned the plot of the book about halfway through to do something entirely unrelated. It's been very weird being a book fan with the movie now being the much better known version of the story, because 99% of the time when I see people talking about HMC they're talking about literally an entirely different (worse) story.

All that said, it's been YONKS since I've read the book & I'm definitely keen for the excuse to pick it up again. Would be really fascinated to see movie fans' take on the book as it'll definitely be different to what you're familiar with. It's technically classified as YA, but it's definitely a mature story IMO & isn't likely to be much less of a challenging read than the other two.

(I will say the first book is the best in the series by a long shot - Castle in the Air is. Fine but broadly unrelated to HMC and the depictions of Arabic culture have probably aged poorly, and I've only read House of Many Ways once back when it was first released and all I remember is that it didn't really grab me.)
 
I have read two of the options so I'm voting for the one I haven't read yet: A House with Good Bones

But I also really recommend A Marvellous Light and that whole trilogy.
 

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