7 VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB READS
Friday Black, Sudden Traveler + more To Devour
In the pre-COVID world, it wasn’t uncommon to think at one point or another, “I should start a band.” It turns out the quarantine equivalent of this musing is “I should start a virtual book club.” Even if you now have an abundance of free time and a group of friends or coworkers willing to participate, dropping a 600-page book on your fellow book-clubbers can be a tough sell. Here are seven books that should be much more palatable to even the most reluctant reader in your crew.
Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory
If you’ve seen the Netflix series Bojack Horseman, you know what to expect from series creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s brand of dark humor. The stories in this book are quick and hilarious while speaking to various anxieties we all have in our relationships. The extended metaphors should give your book club a whole lot to talk about—especially if one among your ranks is planning a wedding.
Her Body and Other Parties
Carmen Maria Machado’s breakthrough short story collection from 2017 still slaps, and if you haven’t given it a try yet, let quarantine be the time. These stories draw from a mix of influences, including spooky tales you might have read as a child. There’s also an extended entry on Law & Order: SVU that should spark a fascinating book club conversation on why everybody loves SVU.
How We Fight for Our Lives
Saeed Jones’ 2019 memoir is bold, heartbreaking, uplifting and at a slim 208 pages, offers no excuse for anyone in the club to back out of their reading for the week. It’s a story about race, sexuality and finding one’s identity, and though each of the stories within provide ample material for a Zoom discussion, this book takes you on a journey from start to finish. It’s a quick enough read that you should really experience and discuss the whole thing.
Topics of Conversation
Miranda Popkey’s debut novel from earlier this year is as much about the female experience as it is about the conversations among women. This would be an excellent pick for a no-men book club coming in at 224 pages, and it’s an easy recommendation for anyone who’d rather spend their free time having conversations than reading about them.
Friday Black
Friday Black is the best, weirdest collection of short stories from the past two years. At times it resembles a season of Black Mirror, drawing sci-fi and horror premises from the grim realities of modern-day racism. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah even takes on the potential horrors of a Black Friday—if the pandemic extends into November, which it sure looks like it might, that might be the story to read come Thanksgiving.
Sudden Traveler
The latest short story collection from Sarah Hall flies over genres and coasts to deliver one of the most eclectic mixes of stories on this list. The stories within are ripe for book club dissection, the common thread running through all of them being the ways women see themselves and the ways men attempt to see them. Sprinkled with a dash of eroticism and a bit of magical realism, Sarah Hall will keep your virtual group busy for a while.
You Know You Want This
If you’re looking to recapture the water cooler talk sparked by Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker story “Cat Person,” look no further than her debut collection. While critical reviews suggest that the other stories in this volume never quite reach the highs of that viral piece, Roupenian is a brilliant and refreshing voice nonetheless and if your book club is yearning for something sexy, awkward and honest to read, You Know You Want This delivers.
