Ho-ho-ho chill people! 

According to our poll, the dark nights of Parisian winter can only be saved by an even more dark and haunting book, hahah. Just like those scary stories that our parents used to tell us to sleep, Things we lost in the fire by Mariana Enriquez will give us the chills and make our beds comparatively warmer. Things we lost in the fire explores all sorts of things, from life and death to black magic, superstitions, lost loves and regrets, but there is also friendship, compassion, and humor. So, this December, just like a bedtime story - I suggest we read all the 12 stories for each day of December (starting from 1st and ending with 12th, or starting with 19th and ending with 31st, you decide). It's not a rule, of course, if you're busy or prefer to read it front to back in one sitting, you can! Additionally, I believe this counts to our global literature challenge as a book from Argentina. Kudos to those who want to read it in original Spanish (original name: Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego)! Or you could read it in translation by the National Book Award-winning Megan McDowell! 

All the love and have a merry festive season! 🎅🕊️❤️‍🔥  

Ho-ho-ho chill people! Festive season is just around the corner, and so, in order to get ready in time, we open our suggestion box for advent short-story collection and the deciding poll a bit sooner this month. The rules for our December pick: we need to find a book, a short story collection, with some amount of short stories that we will read every single day of December, like an advent calendar. Of course rules are bendy, if you want to read it all in one, you can! I suppose it will be hard finding a collection of exactly 24 short stories, but I suppose anything between 5 and 15 is alright! It doesn't have to be winter- or Christmas - themed, but it's cool if it is! Can't wait to see your suggestions! ☃️ 🎁 🎄 📚 

Hello chill people!

 The last poll resulted in a tie, I'm afraid, and my vote was deciding - that is why our next book will be Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (because it had better reviews)! So, get ready for another tea shop (you know I love a tea shop), a good pinch of humour and, of course, solving mystery! Here's the synopsis for you: Vera is routine-oriented, meticulous, and full of—let’s be real—judgments about the younger generation. She’s up at 4:30 every morning and is committed to the small habits that make up a disciplined life. She owns a tea shop in China town and spends her days sleuthing on her grown son. . . who would rather neglect her then try and stay in her demanding orbit. Everything in Vera’s life is quite predictable—that is, until she stumbles upon a dead body in her tea shop one morning. Vera tries to piece together what happened to the man, and she’s not convinced the police are doing their job to solve the case. But the truth is there’s a little more mystery than Vera’s letting on... Hope everyone enjoys this cosy read 🫖👵📚🔍 P.S. Because we have one month and a half, for those interested in reading both books, we could also include discussion of Thursdays Murder club or of its recent movie adaptation and compare it to Vera Wong! 

Boo! dear chill people, We are now in the midst of spooky, chilly, mysterious season. And we have to have a proper suiting book on us. Check out my suggestions for a book pick, and please do suggest other books in "Books we want to read" section. We will choose it very soon! 

Hello chill people! It has been decided - this hot nonfiction summer we will be reading and discussing Crying in H mart by Michelle Zavner, "an intimate and heartfelt memoir in which the indie singer explores her relationship with her mother, her Korean American heritage, her emotional connection with food, and forging her own identity in the aftermath of immense loss." Can't wait to eat Korean food with you during our discussion of this one 😋 

Dear chill people, Sun is at its peak! And it's time for us to decide on our July pick. Conditions: non-fiction. Something that will educate us, something that will make us think, something not too long. Biographies, current events, political science, history, ecology, self-help, true crime... You choose! Add your suggestions to our "want to read" or send me at WhatsApp. You have until Friday, 27 June, just in time to find our hot girl summer book before July starts. 🤍 

Hello, chill people! Are you ready to tackle last year's bestleller by global literature star - Sally Rooney? You may have heard about her Normal People and Conversations with Friends, so let's see what is it that everyone is talking about - is she really the genius of our time? It's described as "a moving story about grief, love, and family-but especially love", with elements of chess, pop-culture and, as usual for Rooney, commentary on modern politics and society. Synopsis: Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common. Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties-successful, competent, and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father's death, he's medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women-his enduring first love, Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke. Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined. For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude-a period of desire, despair, and possibility; a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking. Happy reading and check, mate! ♟️ ♥️ 

வணக்கம் குளிர் மக்கள் (Vaṇakkam Kuḷir Makkaḷ)! Or, Hello chill people! (well, I hope, I don't speak Tamil) 🌞 Here to announce everyone that the date for our March bookclub has been decided: Tuesday 15th of April at 7pm ! We will be discussing this book at our new place! And I suggest we order something thematic - Sri Lankan food 🍲! What do you say? Anyone who has read the book or wants to join just to see the new appartement is welcome! More details later Love and peace 🕊️ P. S. according to our poll there is also an alternative date Thursday 17th at 7pm, if anyone needs to reschedule 

🌷🌸 Spring! What a time to just exist! It is time for reflection, growth, enjoying the nature, the tastes that spring brings. Tag along with us to read The Psalm of the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - first book in her delightful Monk and Robot series, that will give you much hope for the future. The book is dedicated “for anybody who could use a break” - and I think it is the most suitable for our chill book club. So, let us have some tea, go outside, bring this book and marvel at the world around us. 🌅 🥰 Synopsis: It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot who is there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot. Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter? 

🥰 Hello, chill people! 📚 It's March, and in March we are celebrating women -- the strong, the wonderful, the full of life and love and tragedy -- every single one. Brotherless Night is a ''heartrending portrait of one woman’s moral journey and a testament to both the enduring impact of war and the bonds of home'', set during the early years of Sri Lanka’s three-decade civil war. This book is 2024 Women's prize for fiction winner, and we will have to see why. I imagine this will be a hard read, but as Kristin Scott Thomas says in s2ep3 of Fleabag "Women are born with pain built in. It’s our physical destiny—period pains, sore boobs, childbirth, you know. We carry it within ourselves throughout our lives. Men don’t. They have to seek it out. They invent all these gods and demons so they can feel guilty about things, which is something we do very well on our own. And then they create wars so they can feel things and touch each other and when there aren’t any wars they can play rugby. We have it all going on in here, inside." Basically, there's nothing we cannot handle. (I don't know how relevant it is, I just love the quote) Here's the summary, if you want to know what we're getting into: Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, as a vicious civil war tears through her hometown of Jaffna, her dream takes her on a different path as she sees those around her, including her four beloved brothers and their friend, get swept up in violent political ideologies and their consequences. Desperate to act, she must ask herself: is it possible for anyone to move through life without doing harm? Hope you enjoy the read and we will have a lot to discuss! 🕊️ 

🥰 Hello, chill friends! Ready for some book discussions??? Little reminder that our meeting is tomorrow at 7pm. Arriving earlier or later is totally allowed ;) 

I will make some pancakes, and you're welcome to bring your favorite condiments, jams or toppings, but I have some at my place.

See you soon! ❤️‍🔥📚

Hello, chill club! March is a-coming! And as you know March is an International Women's Month. One of the most prestigious prizes for English-language fiction is of course "Women's Prize for Fiction", and for this reason I suggest that this month we read one of its winners or short-listed books. In 2025 the prize celebrates it's 30th anniversary, so let's join them in this occasion by reading and discussing the striking creativity of these women! You can suggest to our "Books we want to read" until 1st of March 🤩 The list of winners is down below, to give you some ideas, but if nothing catches your eye, you can suggest one of the short-listed books on their website (https://womensprize.com/library)  

This month we'll be reading a best-selling novel full of love, games and 90s references! Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow is tenth novel of American writer Gabrielle Zevin, published in 2022. Her novel follows the relationship between two friends who begin a successful video game company together. It's a unique exploration of friendship, love, loss and self-discovery. It was a big hit in 2022, even acclaimed by Bill Gates (if anyone cares 😮‍💨). And it's been sitting on my shelf, so I think it's time to read it and discuss it with you! Read the book description below, and join our book-discussion group (https://chat.whatsapp.com/D8MFZRp2VMsDSAtyGTdxtJ), if you're interested to join in this month! 📖 Happy reading 🥰