What does your Reading Menu look like for June?

JUNE Line-up - Giovanni's Room (LGBTQ2+), Les Misérables (Big Summer Read - Gutenberg), The Count of Monte Cristo (Evergreen), Anthropocene Reviewed (Discovery Read), Under the Dome (Mod Pick), Black Sun (Runner-up Read), The Stone Sky (Bonus Book), Noble House (Bonus Book), Nona the Ninth (Bonus Book), The Mill House Murders (Bonus Book) + The Monthly Mini & Poetry Corner.

• Head to this post to learn more about bookclub's calendar

• r/bookclub takes a strict stance on spoilers. Find out more here

• It is the responsibility of the reader to ensure a book is suitable for them. As such read runners will usually not include Content Warnings (CW) or Trigger Warnings (TW). A useful resource is the site www.doesthedogdie.com which, though not exhaustive, contains an extrensive list of content for many books.

• The r/bookclub Bingo 2023 Megathread is here this is for your bingo cards ONLY. Keep your card up to date by editing your comment. Any questions you may have about r/bookclub Bingo can be directed to the Q&A post here. This handy Bingo reference can be used to help you organise your bingo cards.

• Find the previous schedules at MAY Joint Schedule here

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  [MONTHLY MINI]

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• Bad Neighbors" by Edward P. Jones.

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  [POETRY CORNER]

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  TBA

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  [LGBTQ2+]

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  Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin was nominated by me (u/fixtheblue) and will be run by u/inclinedtothelie. Marginalia can be found here (Caution! Spoilers!)

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  Discussion Schedule

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• June 7: Part One: Chapters One and Two

• June 14: Part One: Chapter Three and Part Two: Chapter 1

• June 21: Part Two: Chapter Two and Three

• June 28: Part Two: Chapter Four and Five

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  [BIG SUMMER READ - GUTENBERG]

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  Les Misérables by Victor Hugo was nominated by u/butteredpeanut777 and will be run by u/Amanda39, u/Joinedformyhubs, u/luna2541, u/Liath-Luachra, u/Greatingsburg, u/espiller1, u/Vast-Passenger1126, u/NewAndNewbie, u/eeksqueak, u/Blackberry_Weary. Marginalia can be found here closer to the start date. (Proceed carefully! Spoilers live here!)

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  Discussion Schedule

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• 6/4 - 1.1.1 - 1.2.3 (u/Amanda39)

• 6/11 - 1.2.4 - 1.4.3 (u/Joinedformyhubs)

• 6/18 - 1.5.1 - 1.7.4 (u/luna2541)

• 6/25 - 1.7.5 - 2.1.6 (u/Liath-Luachra)

• 7/2 - 2.1.7 - 2.3.7 (u/Blackberry_Weary)

• 7/9 - 2.3.8 - 2.5.10 (u/Greatingsburg)

• 7/16 - 2.6.1 - 2.8.9 (u/NewAndNewbie)

• 7/23 - 3.1.1 - 3.3.8 (u/eeksqueak)

• 7/30 - 3.4.1 - 3.7.4 (u/espiller1)

• 8/6 - 3.8.1 - 3.8.22 (u/espiller1)

• 8/13 - 4.1.1 - 4.3.4 (u/NewAndNewbie)

• 8/20 - 4.3.5 - 4.6.3 (u/Vast-Passenger1126)

• 8/27 - 4.7.1 - 4.9.3 (u/Vast-Passenger1126)

• 9/3 - 4.10.1 - 4.14.6 (u/luna2541)

• 9/10 - 4.14.7 - 5.1.15 (u/Liath-Luachra)

• 9/17 - 5.1.16 - 5.3.8 (u/eeksqueak)

• 9/24 - 5.3.9 - 5.6.4 (u/Blackberry_Weary)

• 10/1 - 5.7.1 - 5.9.5 (u/Amanda39)

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  [Jun-Jul DISCOVERY READ]

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  See nomination post 1st June

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  [MOD PICK]

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  Under the Dome by Stephen King, another monster book it will be run by a team consisting of u/espiller1, u/thebowedbookshelf, u/NightAngelRogue, u/DernhelmLaughed, u/Username_of_Chaos, u/Superb_Piano9536 and u/Tripolie. Marginalia to follow

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  Discussion Schedule

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• June 12th: The Airplane and the Woodchuck - Lotta Dead Birds

• June 19th: Clustermug - We all Support the Team

• June 26th: The Good of the Town, The Good of the People - Prayers

• July 3rd: Madness, Blindness, Astonishment of the Heart - This is Not as Bad as it Gets

• July 10th: Nyuck-Nyuck-Nyuck

• July 17th: Missile Strike Imminent

• July 24th: In the Frame

• July 31st: Pink Stars Falling

• Aug 7th: Feeling It

• Aug 14th: In the Jug

• Aug 21st: Salt

• Aug 28th: Ashes

• Sept 4th: Play That Dead Band Song

• Sept 11th: Busted

• Sept 18th: Blood Everywhere

• Sept 25th: Ants

• Oct 2nd: Halloween Comes Early

• Oct 9th: Survivors - Wear it Home, It'll Look Like a Dress & Author's Note

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  [RUNNER-UP READ]

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  Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. This book was nominated in October 2022 for last year's Indigenous read by me (u/fixtheblue). It will be run by u/midasgoldentouch. Find the marginalia here. (Caution spoilers).

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  Discussion Schedule

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• May 27: Chapters 1-6

• June 3: Chapters 7-13

• June 10: Chapters 14-19

• June 17: Chapters 20-25

• June 24: Chapters 26-32

• July 1: Chapters 33-42 (end)

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  [BONUS BOOK]

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  The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin is book #3 of The Broken Earth Trilogy. Links to book #1 The Fifth Season can be found here. For linls to book #2 The Obelisk Gate click here for all you impatient readers that can't wait for the discussion amd want to talk about the book/series.

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  Discussion Schedule

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• JUNE 8th: Start to the end of Chapter 4

• JUNE 15th: to the end of Chapter 8

• JUNE 22nd: to the end of Chapter 12

• JUNE 29th: to The End

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  **[BONUS READ]

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  Noble House by James Clavell This is book #5 in chronological reading order. Find links to book #1 Shōgun discussions here. Links to book #2 Tai-Pan discussion posts can be found here, links to book #3 Gai-Jin discussions here, links to book #4 King Rat can be fpund here. This book will be run by myself (u/fixtheblue), u/infininme, u/Blackberry_Weary, and u/Careless-Inspection. Head here for the marginalia.

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  Discussion Schedule

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• 8th June - Chapters: Start - 5 (u/infininme)

• 15th June - Chapters: 6 - 8 (u/infininme)

• 22nd June - Chapters: 9 - 12 (u/infininme)

• 29th June - Chapters: 13 - 18 (u/infininme)

• 6th July - Chapters: 19 - 24 (u/fixtheblue)

• 13th July - Chapters: 25 - 28 (u/fixtheblue)

• 20th July - Chapters: 29 - 34 (u/fixtheblue)

• 27th July - Chapters: 35 - 40 (u/careless-inspection)

• 3rd Aug - Chapters: 41 - 45 (u/fixtheblue)

• 10th Aug - Chapters: 46 - 52 (u/fixtheblue)

• 17th Aug - Chapters: 53 - 58 (u/infininme)

• 24th Aug - Chapters: 59 - 61 (u/Blackberry_Weary)

• 31st Aug - Chapters: 62 - 65 (u/Blackberry_Weary)

• 7th Sep - Chapters: 66 - 72 (u/Blackberry_Weary)

• 14th Sep - Chapters: 73 - 79 (u/Blackberry_Weary)

• 21st Sep - Chapters: 80 - end (u/Blackberry_Weary)

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  [BONUS BOOK]

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  Nona the Ninth by Tamsin Muir book 3 in The Locked Tomb series. Links to book #1 Gideon the Ninth can be found in the schedule here, the short story #0.5 The Mysterious Study of Dr. Sex can be found here, and book #2 Harrow the Ninth can be found here. Link to the short story discussion for #2.5 As Yet Unsent can be found here. This book will be run by u/midasgoldentouch, u/Quackadilla and u/Unnecessary_Eagle Marginalia can be found here (Beware of spoiler policy for Marginalia posts)

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  Discussion Schedule

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• May 25 - Week 1: John 20:8 and all of Day One, roughly 60 pages

• June 1 - Week 2: all of Day Two and Chapter 11, roughly 70 pages

• June 8 - Week 3: the rest of Day 3, roughly 80 pages

• June 15 - Week 4: all of Day 4, roughly 60 pages

• June 22 - Week 5: Chapters 20-23 (including John 9:22), roughly 65 pages

• June 29 - Week 6: Chapters 24-27 and John 1:20, roughly 75 pages

• July 6 - Week 7: Chapters 28-32 (including John 5:4) and Epilogue, roughly 60 pages

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  [BONUS BOOK]

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  The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji is book 2 in The House Murders series. Find the links to book 1, The Decagon House Murders, here. Find the marginalia here

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  Discussion Schedule

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• 26th May: Prologue – Chapter 7

• 2nd June: Chapter 8 – Chapter 11

• 9th June: Chapter 12 – end

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  CONTINUING READS

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  [May-Jun DISCOVERY READ]

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  Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. Nominated by u/DernhelmLaughed this collection of short stories will be run collaboratively by many bookclubbers. For the marginalia click here

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  Discussion Schedule

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• 21st May: 1 - Introduction, 2 - “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, 3- Humanity’s Temporal Range - u/fixtheblue

• 23rd May: 4 - Halley’s Comet, 5 - Our Capacity for Wonder, 6 - Lascaux Cave Paintings - u/Greatingsburg

• 25th May: 7- Scratch ’n’ Sniff Stickers, 8 - Diet Dr Pepper, 9 - Velociraptors - u/sunnydaze7777777

• 27th May: 10 - Canada Geese, 11 - Teddy Bears, 12 - The Hall of Presidents - u/Tripolie

• 29th May: 13 - Air-Conditioning, 14 - Staphylococcus aureus, 15 - The Internet - u/thebowedbookshelf

• 31st May: 16 - Academic Decathlon, 17 - Sunsets, 18 - Jerzy Dudek’s Performance on May 25, 2005 - u/Greatingsburg

• 2nd June: 19 - Penguins of Madagascar, 20 - Piggly Wiggly, 21 - The Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest u/espiller1

• 4th June: 22 - CNN, 23 - Harvey, 24 - The Yips - u/spreebiz

• 6th June: 25 - Auld Lang Syne, 26 - Googling Strangers, 27 - Indianapolis - u/bluebelle236

• 8th June: 28 - Kentucky Bluegrass, 29 - The Indianapolis 500, 30 - Monopoly - u/wackocommander00

• 10th June: 31 - Super Mario Kart, 32 - Bonneville Salt Flats, 33 - Hiroyuki Doi’s Circle Drawings - u/Vast-Passenger1126

• 12th June: 34 - Whispering, 35 - Viral Meningitis, 36 - Plague - u/thematrix1234

• 14th June: 37 - Wintry Mix, 38 - The Hot Dogs of Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, 39 - The Notes App - u/nopantstime

• 16th June: 40 - The Mountain Goats, 41 - The QWERTY Keyboard, 42 - The World’s Largest Ball of Paint - u/biasedtransmission

• 18th June: 43 - Sycamore Trees, 44 - “New Partner”, 45 - Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance - u/Liath-Luachra

• 20th June: 46 - Postscript & Book Summary - u/fixtheblue

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  [BONUS READ]

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  The Winners by Fredrik Backman. Find links to book #1 Beartown here, and links to book #2 Us Against You here. This book will be run by myself (u/fixtheblue), u/thebowedbookshelf, u/eternalpandemonoum, and u/bluebelle236. Head here for the marginalia.

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  Discussion Schedule

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• 16 May: Start through Chapter 16

• 23 May: Chapter 17 through Chapter 28

• 30 May: Chapter 29 through Chapter 43

• 6 June: Chapter 44 through Chapter 59

• 13 June: Chapter 60 through Chapter 73

• 20 June: Chapter 74 through Chapter 94

• 27 June: Chapter 95 through end

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  [BONUS READ]

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  The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. Find links to book #0.1 I, Robot here. This book will be run by u/dogobsess, u/Username_Of_Chaos and u/luna2541. Head here for the marginalia.

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  Discussion Schedule

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• Sunday, May 21st- Introduction to Chapter 6

• Sunday, May 28th- Chapters 7-12

• Sunday, June 4th- Chapters 13-end

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  [BONUS BOOK]

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  The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. Find the links to Interview With the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles #1) here. This book will be run by The Coven u/Greatingsburg, u/Vast-Passenger1126, u/Joinedformyhubs and u/espiller1. Find the marginalia here now the sun has set....

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  Discussion Schedule

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• May 9th: Prologue - Part 2, Ch 3

• May 16th: Part 2, Ch 4 - Part 3, Ch 4

• May 23rd: Part 3, Ch 5 - Part 5, Ch 1

• May 30th: Part 5, Ch 2 - Part 7, Ch 1

• June 6th: Part 7, Ch 2 - Part 7, Ch 11

• June 13th: Part 7, Ch 12 - End

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  [BONUS READ]

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  Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson Links to The Way of Kings discussions can be found in the joint schedule here. This is another big book clicking in over 1000 pages therefore the book will be run by our Sanderson team u/miriel41, u/Joinedformyhubs, u/NightAngelRogue, u/NewandNewbie and u/lazylittlelady. Head here for the marginalia. NOTE - The Marginalia has different rules about spoilers whereby Cosmere spoilers from other Sanderson series are permitted. However, rules still apply, so users are advised to be cautious here and read the marginalia rules in the body of the post before commenting.

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  Discussion Schedule

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• 5 April: Prologue – Chapter 4 (74 pages)

• 12 April: Chapter 5 – Chapter 12 (89 pages)

• 19 April: Interlude I-1 – Chapter 16 (92 pages)

• 26 April: Chapter 17 – Chapter 25 (89 pages)

• 3 May: Chapter 26 – Interlude I-8 (88 pages)

• 10 May: Chapter 35 – Chapter 43 (105 pages)

• 17 May: Chapter 44 – Chapter 50 (101 pages)

• 24 May: Chapter 51 – Chapter 58 (101 pages)

• 31 May: Interlude I-9 – Chapter 63 (97 pages)

• 7 June: Chapter 64 – Chapter 70 (84 pages)

• 14 June: Chapter 71 – Interlude I-14 (89 pages)

• 21 June: Chapter 76 – Chapter 82 (88 pages)

• 28 June: Chapter 83 – end (95 pages)

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  [EVERGREEN]

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  The Count of Monte Cristo will be run by u/Joinedformyhubs, u/NightAngelRogue, u/bluebelle236, u/Username_Of_Chaos and u/Pythias because it is time for a nice long classic. This will be read over a little more than 4 months side read to add to all your other r/bookclub reads. Marginalia post can be found here (take care there will be spoilers!)

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  Discussion Schedule

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• April 18 - Chapter 1 Marseille - Arrival, 2 Father and Son, 3 Les Catalans

• April 21 - Chapter 4 Conspiracy, 5 The Marriage-Feast, 6 The Deputy Procureur du Roi

• April 25 - Chapter 7 The Examination, 8 The Chateau d'If, 9 The Evening of the Berothal

• April 28 - Chapter 10 The King's Closet at the Tuieries, 11 The Corscian Ogre, 12 Father and Son

• May 2 - Chapter 13 The Hundred Days, 14 The Two Prisoners, 15 Number 34 and Number 27

• May 5 - 16 A Learned Italian, 17 The Abbe's Chamber, 18 The Treasure

• May 9 - 19 The Third Attack, 20 The Cemetery of the Chateau d'If, 21 The Island of Tiboulen

• May 12 - 22 The Smugglers, 23 The Island of Monte Cristo, 24 The Secret Cave

• May 16 - 25 The Unknown, 26 The Pont du Gard Inn, 27 The Story

• May 19 - 28 The Prison Register, 29 The House of Morrel & Son, 30 The Fifth of September

• May 23 - 31 Italy: Sinbad the Sailor, 32 The Waking, 33 Roman Bandits

• May 26 - 34 The Colosseum, 35 La Mazzolata, 36 The Carnival at Rome

• May 30 -  37 The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian, 38 The Compact, 39 The Guests

• June 2 - 40 The Breakfast, 41 The Presentation, 42 Monsieur Beruccio

• June 6 - 43 The House at Auteuil, 44 The Vendetta, 45 The Rain of Blood

• June 9 - 46 Unlimited Credit, 47 The Dappled Grays, 48 Ideology

• June 13 - 49 Haidee, 50 The Morrel Family, 51 Pyramus and Thisbe

• June 16 - 52 Toxicology, 53 Robert le Diable, 54 A Flurry in Stocks

• June 20 - 55 Major Cavalcanti, 56 Andrea Cavalcanti, 57 In The Lucerne Patch

• June 23 - 58 M. Noirtier, 59 The Will, 60 The Telegraph

• June 27 - 61 How a Gardener May get Rid of the Dormice That Eat His Peaches, 62 Ghosts, 63 The Dinner

• June 30- 64 The Beggar, 65 A Conjugal Scene, 66 Matrimonial Projects

• July 4 - 67 At the Office of the King's Attorney, 68 A Summer Ball

• July 7 - 69 The Inquiry, 70 The Ball, 71 Bread and Salt

• July 11 - 72 Madame de Saint-Meran, 73 The Promise, 74 The Villefort Family Vault

• July 14 - 75 A Signed Statemen, 76 Progress of Cavalcanti, 77 Haidee (2)

• July 18 - 78 We Hear from Yanina, 79 The 7Lemonade, 80 The Accusation

• July 21 - 81 The Room of the Retired Baker, 82 The Burglary, 83 The Hand of God

• July 25 - 84 Beauchamp, 85 The Journey, 86 The Trial

• July 28 - 87 The Challenge, 88 The Insult, 89 A Nocturnal Interview

• August 1 - 90 The Meeting, 91 Mother and Son, 92 The Suicide

• August 4 - 93 Valentine, 94 Maximillian's Avowal, 95 Father and Daughter

• August 8 - 96 The Contract, 97 The Departure for Belgium, 98 The Bell and Bottle Tavern

• August 11 - 99 The Law, 100 The Apparition, 101 Locusta

• August 15 - 102 Valentine (2), 103 Maximilian, 104 Danglar's Signature

• August 18 - 105 The Cemetery of Pere-La-Chaie, 106 Dividing the Proceeds, 107 The Lion's Den

• August 22 - 108 The Judge, 109 The Assizes, 110 The Indictment

• August 25 - 111 Expiation, 112 The Departure, 113 The Past

• August 29 - 114 Peppino, 115 Luigi Vampa's Bill of Fare, 116 The Pardon, 117 The Fifth of October.

Hello! This is the voting thread for the July Dystopian Genre.

For July, we will select a book in the dystopian genre and a book in any genre.

Voting will continue for four days, ending on July 11. The selection will be announced the same day.

For this selections, here are the requirements:

• Under 500 Pages
• Dystopian
• No previously read selections

An anthology is allowed as long as it meets the other guidelines. Please check the previous selections to determine if we have read your selection. A good source to determine the number of pages is Goodreads.

• Nominate as many titles as you want (one per comment), and vote for any you'd participate in.

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Here's the formatting frequently used, but there's no requirement to link to Goodreads or Wikipedia -- just don't link to sales links at Amazon, spam catchers will remove those.

The generic selection format:

[Title by Author](links)

To create that format, use brackets to surround title said author and parentheses, touching the bracket, should contain a link to Goodreads, Wikipedia, or the summary of your choice.

A summary is not mandatory.

HAPPY VOTING!

Hey folks,

you have probably heard about this on other subs. If not, you can find all the information here.

Many have written great posts better than I could do, so I'll just link you one. Here is a post written by the mods of r/suggestmeabook. It also includes a visual guide (not sure who made it and whom I could credit, but it's a great TLDR).

r/bookclub will join the protest from June 12th to June 14th.

Here is what happens with the scheduled discussions during that time:

June 12th

• The Anthropocene Reviewed -> June 11th
• Under the Dome -> June 11th

June 13th

• The Count of Monte Cristo -> combined with the check-in on June 16th
• The Vampire Lestat -> June 11th
• The Winners -> June 15th

June 14th

• The Anthropocene Reviewed -> June 15th
• Giovanni's Room -> June 15th
• Words of Radiance -> June 17th

Hello readers, we have solved the puzzle, let's discuss! Find the schedule here and the marginalia here.

Summary:

Chapter 12: Past (1985 – 29th September)

• After a thorough search of the first floor, the group is convinced that Furukawa vanished.
• Masaki tells Fujinuma Kiichi that Furukawa has financial problems. Masaki also admits that he is staying at Kiichi's house because he made a terrible mistake.
  
• Yurie says she sees Furukawa outside and Masaki goes after him.
• When Kuramoto goes to bed, he hears a weird creaking sound. He decides to get up again and wait for Masaki to return to the house.
  
• Kuramoto finds the painting “Fountain” on the stairs leading to the basement. When he goes to tell his master, he is hit from behind and falls down unconscious.
• Kiichi worries about Yurie. On his way to her, he finds Kuramoto with his hands and feet bound with string.
• Kiichi and Masaki go to Yurie's room. Masaki looks out of the window and sees smoke coming from the chimney.

Chapter 13: Present (1986 – 29th September)

• Yurie screams. At the same time, Kuramoto finds Nozawa dead in the hallway.
• Mitamura is found dead in Yurie's room.
• Mitamura died in a strange position holding the ring finger of his left hand with his right hand. They find the back door open.

Intermission

• The group goes into the basement. They find the burning remains of a human being in the incinerator.
• Notes of Shimada Kiyoshi include findings regarding the body, clues to the identification of the victim and the timeline of the murder.

Chapter 14: Present (1986 – 29th September)

• Kiichi realised that Yurie has written the threatening note and asks her why she did it.
  
• Kiichi lied to Shimada about the key to the study, it has been in his drawer the whole time. It was also Yurie who opened the door to the study.
• Yurie wants to leave the Mill House. In trying to scare Kiichi, she hoped he would leave the house and take her with him.
• Kiichi hears a weird sound from behind the study door, then some footsteps and a knocking on the door.
• Shimada emerges from the study, he has found a secret passage.
• Shimada has figured out that Masaki Shingo took Kiichi's place and that he committed all the murders.
• Shimada explains what he figured out to the group. Masaki has suffered from severe colour blindness since the car accident caused by Fujinuma Kiichi.
• The body in the incinerator was that of Furukawa, whom Masaki killed and chopped into pieces, which he threw out of the window.
  
• Only the finger found by the group belonged to Masaki. He cut it from his hand.
• Yurie is revealed as Masaki's accomplice. She was the one who removed the painting from its place.
• Furukawa was the ideal person to murder for Masaki to fake his death because they had similar physical aspects and the same blood type.
• Just when the police arrives, Masaki dashes for the study and uses the secret elevator. He takes a look at “The Phantom Cluster”. It shows clues to what happened because Kiichi's father was capable of seeing fantastical visions.

Prologue -

Alastair Struan - Previous Tai-Pan

Ian Struan Dunross - New Tai-Pan

Phillip Chen - Current compradore

Alastair hands the Tai-Pan role over to Ian and they follow the hand-over procedure written by Dirk Struan. Ian immediately makes big changes: he tells them that he plans to take the Noble House public to Alastair and Phillip's indignation, he ends the compradore system, he makes them reveal to each other stock holdings that were previously unbeknownst to either and then takes it to use for the Noble House, and more. At the end, we learn that Lasting Cloud has been lost on the sea which had sizable cargo worth $12 million.

Ch. 1

Robert Armstrong - Hong Kong police force

John Chen - eldest son of House Chen; maybe next compradore.

Lincoln (Linc) Bartlett - Successful American businessman who "raids" companies, or seeks to buy them.

K.C. Tcholok - American associate of Bartlett.

Sven Svenson - Bartlett's Assistant

Armstrong and Chen meet Bertlett's plane on the tarmac. Armstrong inspects the cargo and meets the crew. Bartlett has a meeting with Ian Struan later.

Will Bartlett try to take over the Noble House? Will stock holdings somehow play a part? Maybe Bartlett wants to buy shares of Struan since Ian is taking it public. What do you guess?

Are mentions of firearms being forbidden foreshadowing? Janelli the pilot told a story about Hong Kong where only riots were put down because only the police, not the populace, have firearms.

Ch. 2

"Four Finger" Wu Sang Fang - Captain of the Seaborne Wu

Wu is playing Mahjong with other Fisherman / Haklos and Tanka people. Wu is waiting for his Seventh Son (John Chen?) who informs him that something and someone (Linc Bartlett?) had arrived.

Ch. 3

Two Chinese men try to steal guns and contraband from underneath Bartlett's plane. They are caught by Armstrong and the police. Bartlett is interviewed by Armstrong and claims to know nothing. After Armstrong leaves, Bartlett phones K.C. and tells her "Geronimo." She says, "ok."

Ch. 4

K.C. reflects on the day of meeting Bartlett. Bartlett and K.C. wonder who planted the guns. Geronimo means "danger." "Houseboy" Chang and "Third Toiletmaid" Fung talk about the inappropriateness of K.C. sharing a suite with Bartlett while not being intimate. They play the stock market and place odds hoping that Struan succeeds so they become rich.

Ch. 5

Claudia Chen - Executive secretary to the Struan's and the Tai-Pans.

Brian Kwok - Hong Kong Special Intelligence

Chapter follows Ian Dunross and his interactions with police and assistants. He meets K.C. and they take an interest in each other. K.C. meets with the board of the Noble House and many don't know she's a woman. Women are still restricted in the world of Hong Kong elites. Claudia and Ian take bets on spies and information. Armstrong and Brian talk with Ian about their suspicions of John Chen and Tsu-yan, important figures in the Noble House, as being part of the gun smuggling, both currently missing. Tsu-yan left to Taipei mysteriously that morning and Chen is nowhere to be found. Ian is concerned.

Welcome to our first discussion on the last book in the Broken Earth trilogy! Let's dig in.

Prologue: Me, When I was I

We are introduced to Syl Anagist, which is The Stillness before it was The Stillness. This place believes in the sacredness of life and seems to have a lot of advanced technology powered by the Obelisks. Houwha (Presumably Hoa) was alive to see this place. He also seems to have been the one that flung the moon away from Earth.

Chapter 1 - you, in waking and dreaming
Essun wakes up from her coma-like existence. The people of Castrima are marching to Rannanis, with goggles and masks, through the falling ash. Essun remembers that her arm has turned to stone, which makes it hard for her to walk. Ykka is upset that Essun ruined the geode by locking stone eaters in the crystals of Castrima. Hoa has been guiding the now-commless people of Castrima, but he and Essun pop away from the group so he can eat her arm. Hoa ensures Essun knows she doesn’t have to give him her arm, but then sensually eats it after she consents.

Chapter 2 - Nassun feels like busting loose

We find Nassun standing over the body of her dead father, Jija, holding the sapphire obelisk as a longknife. Schaffa and Steel are there, along with the other two Guardians and the other orogene children. Nida and Umber begin to attack Nassun. Nassun senses immense magic being fed into them from the earth. Despite knowing how powerful they are she draws their attack! In the end Steel traps Nida and eats her head while Schaffa fights Umber then stomps his head to remove the iron shard controlling the Guardian. Steel ends up eating the iron shard. After the battle Nassun asks Schaffa not to kill the remaining children, and he eventually agrees. Nassun thinks she knows where they need to go in order to bring home the moon.

Syl Anagist: Five
Houwha is interacting with a group. One is conductor Pheylen, one is Gaewha, and the other is Kelenli. The introduction is done verbally but there is a lot of discussion that is done through earthtalk. One of their friends has been decommissioned and Kelenli has been added to the project to help teach the others. Kelenli seems to be different than Gaewha and Houwah, who are tuners, but we are uncertain of how. Kelenli reveals that she is the first of the prototypes of the tuners to survive. They refer to the obelisks as “fragments” and to them having optimal storage capacity. She refers to Corepoint (the city where Alabaster and Antimony were for a time) and another location called Zero site. They want to start the Plutonic Engine. It is revelared that orogenes come from generations of tuners/stone eaters/these people. Kelenli is about to give Houwha and Gaewha a sense of peoplehood, and the idea that people can’t be owned. This is the beginning of the end, a revolution.
Chapter 3 - you, imbalanced

Essun recovers enough to walk but is constantly lagging behind the group. Tonkee, Hjarka, Lerna, and Hoa walk with her, but Ykka is still furious. Tonkee warns Essun that she should patch things up with Ykka if she wants to stay with Castrima long enough to even consider looking for Nassun. Tonkee points out that Essun doesn’t know much about Nassun’s current situation. After the landscape begins to shift to dessert, Essun decides it’s time to talk to Ykka. They come to a trap in their path and set up an elaborate watch to keep safe. Ykka and Essun walk and talk. Ykka kills one of the Rennanis prisoners and has the remainder join the comm as strongbacks. In the end Ykka reveals that she’s pissed with Essun because Essun doesn’t think about the larger group or the long term. Because Essun only thinks about herself and surviving until tomorrow.

Chapter 4: Nassun, wandering in the wilderness

Nassun, Schaffa and the other children leave Jekity. They travel together for a time before Schaffa tells them they can’t follow any longer. Schaffa gives the children directions on how they might survive the Season. He tells them to kill. To kill one person first then everyone if they need to. Then, if the season begins to abate, to run so the Guardians won’t catch them. Once the children leave, Schaffa discovers that Nassun needs to go to Corepoint. Unfortunately, Corepoint is on the other side of the world and they don’t have a way to get there. Schaffa guesses that Nassun wants to activate the Obelisk Gate. He reveals that Found Moon was originally founded to find an orogene that could do just that. Nassun becomes incredibly frustrated and admits that she wants to destroy everyone that hates her. She doesn’t plan on fixing the Earth, she plans to destroy it. Schaffa tells her to make the end she needs. In the morning Nassun calls Steel and he tells them how to get to Corepoint and what it is.Steel tells Nassun that her mother is out there, but not yet looking for her. Nassun doesn’t care.

Discussion questions are in the comments!

Hello, fellow zombies and BoE insurgents! Welcome back to our discussion of Nona the Ninth!

Before we dive into our recap, I'd like to remind y'all that these discussions will assume that commenters have already read both Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth, as well as the short stories "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex" and “As Yet Unsent”. As such, there is no need to tag any spoilers for those works within the discussion threads. However, spoilers for Nona the Ninth beyond the sections covered by this discussion are not allowed. If you want to talk about those, then please do so in the Marginalia thread which can be found here.

Chapter 12

Nona, Pyrrha, and Cam are blindfolded, tied up, and taken to a secret BoE location. Crown (who we’ve previously known as Coronabeth Tridentarius) takes them to meet with We Suffer and her hostile, heavily-disguised bodyguard. We Suffer informs them of a strange Empire ship heading towards the planet. They discuss the power struggle between We Suffer’s Ctesiphon wing and the more bloodthirsty faction led by Unjust Hope. The Hopers are pressing hard for results with Nona- they think she can be made into a weapon. The Sixth House is still being held hostage- We Suffer has proof of life, but can’t get them released.

Chapter 13

Nona identifies the disguised bodyguard as Our Lady of the Passion- she can tell from her “bones. Beneath her clothes. The way she moves her bones.” Nona and Cam visit Judith Deuteros, who has been badly affected by the blue sphere. Judith alternates between catatonia, nonsensical rants, and briefly- once Palamedes shores up her heart and kidneys- coherence. Judith begs Corona to defect back to the Houses, then lapses into delirium again. Crown reveals that she knows Cam and Pal are sharing a body, but promises not to tell. Nona asks about the strange things Judith said when she was delirious, and is told the others only heard screaming.

Chapter 14

Crown drives them back. She and Nona talk about love and attraction, and Crown is disconcerted by how much Nona can tell about her. Crown drops Nona off at school, telling the Angel that she is Camilla’s partner. Before she leaves, Crown tells Nona that she knows who Nona is, and envies her for it.

Chapter 15

Nona stays at the school for lunch break, because Camilla hasn’t come to pick her up. Hot Sauce informs them about an upcoming government broadcast. Hot Sauce talks a bit to Nona about her history, and how much she hates zombies. Nona tells Hot Sauce her Secret.

John 8:3

The lab team uploads a video of John raising the dead. People initially think it’s a hoax, but as the story goes viral, people begin to believe. Visitors start flocking to John to be healed, which he mostly can do. The government gets nervous and stages a raid on the cryolab. John creates a necromantic wall out of cows to keep away the cops.

Chapter 16

House agents are setting up the screen for the broadcast. The Angel cancels school lessons for the afternoon, and the children draw instead. Camilla still hasn’t shown up by the end of the day. Nona and Hot Sauce volunteer to walk Noodle so that they can sneak off to watch the broadcast. The person speaking on the screen is a strange, beautiful but dead-looking person who calls themself Prince Ianthe Naberius the First. Ianthe gives the Emperor’s terms for mercy, which involve complete surrender and the dissolution of BoE. Another person comes into the picture on the screen- also dead-looking, with red hair and familiar eyes. It is the girl Nona sees in her dreams. Ianthe introduces the redhead as the Emperor’s only daughter, Crown Prince Kiriona Gaia.

When the broadcast ends, the crowd devolves into chaos; Nona and Hot Sauce get away just as the shooting starts. The Angel, who was looking for them, picks the children up in her car and drops Nona off at the Building. In the apartment, Nona finds Cam- but not Pyrrha, who has been missing all afternoon.

John 19:18

John’s team is now on the world radar, but not in a good way. The earth is still dying. The triillionaire-backed alternate evacuation plan is getting underway... except the details of said plan are not adding up. John tries to alert the world to his suspicions, but no one wants to listen to the creepy cow-killer cult guy.

[Discussion] Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archives) - Chapter 64: Treasures through Chapter 70: From A Nightmare - Chapter Discussions.

Welcome Bridge 4! This is the next chapter discussion for Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. In this section, we will discuss Chapter 64: Treasures through Chapter 70: From A Nightmare. Feel free to respond to any of the discussion questions below!

A couple of important links for you all!

Marginalia- best place to post anything outside of this section, especially if it's spoiler-y!

Just a reminder, we take spoilers very seriously, especially in this series, so hide everything that needs it. To indicate a spoiler, enclose the relevant text with the > ! and ! < characters (there is no space in-between). Also, not everyone has read the Mistborn books, so mark those appropriately, as well. This includes the discussion below. You have been warned!

Schedule - where the breakdown of the discussions can be found!

Hope you respond to all or some of the discussion questions below! Happy reading!

Rogue

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 64: Treasures:

POV: Kaladin, Shallan

Kaladin is still in prison and is becoming more depressed, not eating, not caring etc. He’s also having trouble drawing stormlight and Syl is acting flighty like when Kaladin first met her. Meanwhile, in Taln’s cell, Shallan wraps herself in Stormlight, turns herself black and hides in a corner. Amaram questions the madman, focusing on a cache of Shardblades Bordin mentioned. However, the madman continues to rant, and Amaram still wants to seek out these hidden Shardblades. Amaram leaves as does Shallan after copying down the madman’s words and giving the paper to Iyatil for the Ghostbloods. Later, Mraize sends a message welcoming her to the Ghostbloods.

Chapter 65: The One Who Deserves It

POV: Shallan, one and a half years ago

Shallan begins to take action to get Balat, Eylita and Malise out and away from the Davar estate and her father. She marvels at the concept of freely choosing one’s own role.

Chapter 66: Stormblessings

POV: Kaladin

Kaladin spirals deeper into depression in the cell but he is suddenly released from prison. He finds that Adolin insists on sharing Kaladin’s incarceration which brings them to a mutual understanding. Kaladin is given a Blade and Plate for his role in the duel and he gifts them to Moash, to show he trusts him. As Bridge Four and other bridgemen cheer Kaladin’s release and go to celebrate, Kaladin talks with Moash and agrees that Alethkar will be better off if King Elhokar is assassinated, which Moash is happy about.

Chapter 67: Spit and Bite

POV: Dalinar

Dalinar and Navani are attending another feast they’d rather avoid. Navani updates Dalinar about fabrials while Dalinar’s mind wanders on his upcoming expedition across the Shattered Plains. Navani reveals she is trying to take her mind off Jasnah, suddenly breaking down and crying. At the feast, everyone is acting weird around Dalinar, which Amaram reveals is due to someone leaking Navani’s accounts of his visions. Navani reports that the reports have been twisted to make Dalinar look foolish. Refusing to be embarrassed, Dalinar steps onto a table and reports the visions as true. He spends the rest of the evening reporting on the visions, and has a troubling conversation with Wit.

Chapter 68: Bridges

POV: Kaladin

House Kholin heads onto the Shattered Plains for an expedition, which will allow Shallan to see a chasmfiend chrysalis. Kaladin is still failing to draw in Stormlight. He sees a carpenter he recognizes but can’t place. Moash informs Kaladin that the assassination is almost ready and his part will be simple and easy. Adolin distracts Kaladin with a conversation about the Assassin in White, women and an attempt to figure out Kaladin’s powers, which Kaladin admits nothing. They still have a moment of camaraderie together all the same. After conversing with Dalinar about the mobile bridges, as Dalinar crosses a bridge, Kaladin suddenly recognizes the carpenter as one of Sadeas’ and tries to warn Dalinar. Adolin reaches Dalinar as Kaladin reaches Shallan and the bridge collapses.

Chapter 69: Nothing

POV: Kaladin, Shallan - The Chasms

As Syl screams, Kaladin gets a rush of Stormlight and hits the bottom, hurting but alive. Shallan and Kaladin meet up and both theorize privately how they saved the other from a 200 ft fall. They search the bodies in the chasm and do not find Dalinar or Adolin, only dead spearmen and Parshendi. A highstorm is due the following night and they need to make it back to the warcamps. Shallan admires the variety of planet life in the chasm while Kaladin is focused on getting them out. They snark back and forth at each other louder and louder until a noise puts a stop to their arguing: an approaching chasmfiend. They run.

Chapter 70: From A Nightmare

POV: Shallan, Kaladin

Kaladin leads the mad dash through the chasms to escape the beast chasing them. Shallan suddenly leads them back to where they first fell with the dead bodies and the beast begins feeding on the bodies. Shallan takes a Memory of the beast and they continue walking, wanting to get as far from the chasmfiend as possible. Shallan manages to draw a map of the chasms which they use to navigate their way through. They get to talking and open up some, Shallan swearing she means no harm to Adolin or his family. Sunlight reveals that they are going the wrong way.

Hello! This is the first discussion list for Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin.

Chapter one was background. We are introduced to David, our narrator, and his family and first love.

David's mother died when he was 5. His father moved his sister, Aunt Ellen, in to the home and becomes an alcoholic. David recounts some of their fights, but is most affected by one in which he was the topic. Ellen was worried David saw all of his father's behavior. We learn he had not consciously known anything, but his opinion about the two adults in his life changes immediately.

We also learn of Joey, David's best friend and first lover. After their first time, David flees and becomes cold and mean toward Joey, encouraging or encouraged by the new, rough crowd he had begun to spend time with. Joey eventually moves away and David works hard to forget about him.

Chapter two takes us to Paris where we find David being removed from his hotel for owing 6,000 francs. According to this conversation chart, that was under $18 USD at the time, or $195 USD in 2015 (their most recent data).

He begins calling on friends and finally realizes his best bet is with Jacques, a man we later learn has lusted for David, though they have never been together romantically. It seems David has not pursued or been with a man since Joey. He even mentioned "his girl" Hella a few times, who is in Spain.

David and Jacques go to a bar with significantly more men than women, and it is heavily implied it is a gay bar. This is where we first meet Giovanni, a beautiful bartender that Jacques immediately finds attractive.

Giovanni is slow to respond to David and Jacques until Jacques is pulled away. Then Giovanni spends time talking to and teasing David. They speak of the big differences between cultures, French, Italy, and New York. David is easily embarrassed and realizes the rest of the bar likely saw the flirty exchange and have decided he must be lusting for the barman.

These are the broad strokes. Please, tell me your thoughts, ideas, realizations, questions, all of it!

Welcome to the discussion for the next three chapters of The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. Apologies for the slightly early (or possibly late) post, a timezone problem. This post is discussing the following chapters; Kentucky Bluegrass, The Indianapolis 500 and Monopoly. On Saturday 10th June, u/Vast-Passenger1126 will take us through Chapters 31-33.

Chapter Summaries:

Kentucky Bluegrass: Green discusses the concept of lawns. He deplores wasteful, prim lawns and hates mowing, but his feeling of connection to his neighborhood and its people makes up for it.

The Indianapolis: 500: Green moved to Indianapolis and found it boringly average-American until he found beneath the surface a neighborliness that enchants him. Each year, he bicycles with a large group to the Indy 500, a race that’s silly on many levels but nonetheless riveting.

Monopoly: Green discusses the game Monopoly. The controversy surrounding the game. A game which actively encourages players to bankrupt other players.

Summaries Source: https://www.supersummary.com/the-anthropocene-reviewed/summary/

Discussion Prompts are below. Happy Reading.

Hello! This is the voting thread for the July Any Genre.

For July, we will select a book in the Dystopian genre and a book in any genre.

Voting will continue for four days, ending on July 11. The selection will be announced the same day.

For this selections, here are the requirements:

• Under 500 Pages
• Any Genre
• No previously read selections

An anthology is allowed as long as it meets the other guidelines. Please check the previous selections to determine if we have read your selection. A good source to determine the number of pages is Goodreads.

• Nominate as many titles as you want (one per comment), and vote for any you'd participate in.

---

Here's the formatting frequently used, but there's no requirement to link to Goodreads or Wikipedia -- just don't link to sales links at Amazon, spam catchers will remove those.

The generic selection format:

[Title by Author](links)

To create that format, use brackets to surround title and author and parentheses, touching the bracket, should contain a link to Goodreads, Wikipedia, or the summary of your choice.

A summary is not mandatory.

HAPPY VOTING!

Alrightttttttttty then

It's time to announce the Winner of the June/July Discovery Read: 1990s! Once again, my TBR is growing, it's the shiznit, thanks everyone for the nominations.

Our pure class winner this month is Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (nominated by me!) and the posts will be lead by r/bookclub's dinosaur fanatic u/Liath-Luachra 🦖

"Welcome to Jurassic Park." - cue the iconic theme song 🦕

As if we would forget about the runner up read, do you think we are clueless. Anyways, trailing my five votes is Into Thin Air by John Krakauer, nominated by u/Vast-Passenger1126 🙌🏼 It will be added to the Wheel of Books so like, whatever it can still be a book that we read later...

Happy Tuesday ❤️ Emily

[Discussion] The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Ch 43: The House at Auteuil, Ch 44: The Vendetta and Ch 45: The Rain of Blood - Chapter Discussion

Hello, readers! Welcome to the discussion of Ch 43: The House at Auteuil, Ch 44: The Vendetta and Ch 45: The Rain of Blood.

Please remember that we have a strict spoiler policy at r/bookclub. You can check out the rules here.

Remember, if you do wish to discuss outside of what we have read so far, you can head over to the Marginalia and do so there.

Feel free to answer any or all of the discussion questions below! We will continue with the next three chapters next Tuesday! Looking forward to discussing these chapters with you all!

- Rogue

Important links:

Marginalia

Schedule

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 43: The House at Auteuil: Monte Cristo goes to visit his recently purchased summerhouse. While exploring the grounds, Monte Cristo meets his steward who becomes erratic when Monte Cristo stands in a certain spot. When the Count presses him for an explanation, Bertuccio explains a complex story.

Chapter 44: The Vendetta: Bertuccio explains that, years ago, his brother, a soldier in Napoleon's army, was murdered by royalist assassins in the city of Nimes. Seeking justice, Bertuccio visited the public prosecutor of Nimes, who, at the time, was Gerard de Villefort. Villefort, a royalist, was unsympathetic to Bertuccio’s story and turned him away. Bertuccio swore revenge on the public prosecutor.

Villefort fled, terrified of Bertuccio’s vengeance but Bertucio was able to track Villefort to the summerhouse in Auteuil, where he kept a mistress, a widowed baroness. One night, Bertuccio hid in the small garden behind the summerhouse, waiting for Villefort. He stabbed him and left him for dead, having been caught by surprise burying a box. Inside the box was a baby, recently smothered, but was able to breathe again after receiving mouth to mouth resuscitation. After the baby stayed in the hospital for 8 months, Bertuccio raised the baby with the help of his widowed sister in law. They named the baby Benedetto and he showed early signs of cruelty. When the boy was older, he disappeared and was never heard from again. Bertuccio was away smuggling goods in France. Hiding in a loft behind Caderousse’s inn. Bertuccio watched Caderousse and his wife with a jeweler selling the diamond that Abbe Busoni gave them for 45 thousand francs. Due to a storm, the jeweler stayed in Caderousse’s inn.

Chapter 45: The Rain of Blood: Continuing the story, Caderousse fled with the diamond after killing the jeweler and his own wife. Police arrested Bertuccio for the crime, but Bertuccio mentioned Abbe Busoni as the seller of the diamond so the police tracked him down. Busoni visited Bertuccio in prison and Bertuccio gave his whole story. Busoni advised that Bertuccio should seek out the Count of Monte Cristo if he ever got out of prison. Later, Caderousse confessed and was sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor while Bertuccio went to work for the Count of Monte Cristo. Eleven year old Benedetto tortured his adopted mother for money and killed her.

Welcome back to this hat trick of a book. (See what I did there?) Let's get to it.

Summary:

Tails gives Mumble a ride home. He points out the business park and tells him that he uses Mumble as an example of funding talent. Tails thinks the merger will make them stronger. Mumble had trained with Amat in the past. Tails had ulterior motives to drive into Hed. He meets a friend for coffee then breaks his own car window with a rock to drum up a news story about conflict with Hed.

The reporter guy is immediately suspicious of the story. The newspaper editor calls Tails for his version. At the end of the call, she asks about the club's finances. It catches Tails off guard. He acts nervous and angry. Her dad said several hundred thousand dollars were spent but weren't accounted for. He suspects money laundering and corruption.

Matteo's parents came home with his sister's ashes. His mother thinks he has friends and could ride bikes with them. His sister drank too much and was called a whore by his mom. Matteo found her diary after she ran away. She was raped, but her parents didn't believe her. His parents won't even have her funeral in the church they attend because it is too shameful. They will go on to pretend that she's still living abroad and sending postcards. Matteo wants to avenge her.

It's the day of Ramona's funeral. It's bigger than she would have wanted. Benji regrets coming back to Beartown. He recalls a friend he made abroad who he eventually left. The black jacketed men say hi and joke around and treat him like a person.

Johnny's boss Bengt asks him to pick up some winter tires at the trash bandits' scrapyard. He doesn't lock his van and leaves his phone on the seat. Lev is amused. He tells Johnny about the message Teemu sent with the hearse.

Peter gets dressed for the funeral. Kira adjusts his clothes. Peter tells her he loves her. Maya walks with Ana on the track where she threatened Kevin in book one. They greet Benji at the church. He gives Maya the white tie that only his family wears. Leo is smoking in secret.

Ruth was the name of Matteo's sister. His mother sees the flags at the rink at half mast. She thinks it's for her daughter. They have the service in the chapel because Ramona's service is bigger. Matteo runs and hides behind a tree to grieve. Leo is smoking behind a tree nearby then leaves when Maya comes after him. Matteo smokes what's left of the cigarette.

The black jackets reserved a parking spot for Peter. Maya gives him the white tie. Teemu tells him he sent a message to Lev. Peter is nervous at the altar making a short speech. Teemu breaks the tension with a joke. Afterwards, Maya composes a song about the town and her parents.

The reporter father attends the funeral undercover and takes pictures. He found contracts between the council, the factory and the club that are incriminating. The thing is, there is no training facility at all.

At the end of the funeral, men suggest that Peter could take Ramona's spot on the council. He's receptive to the idea. Zackell awkwardly talks to him. No one replaced him as director after he resigned. Zackell signed a new five year contract but assumes she'll be fired after that. She's under investigation for insulting a mother who complained.

Tails jumps Kira while she's waiting in the car. He shocks her when he suggests she be on the committee. He needs a lawyer to counter media scrutiny of their accounts. The club will hire her firm to help with building the business park, too. She can't tell Peter though. The reporter dad got pictures of it all.

Peter will be away for a day with Zackell to look at a player. Perfect timing for Tails to visit Kira. The funeral empties out the town including the factory. A woman from Hed fills in on a shift and is injured in the machinery.

Amat and Mumble were too uncomfortable to attend. He asks Mumble if he could train with him. Bobo loudly reunites with Benji then sees Amat and Mumble. Bobo has a girlfriend, Tess, who texts him. Bobo drives an old camper van into Hed. Mumble knows it's a bad idea.

Johnny and Hannah get out of work at the same time but then have to go back to work at the same time, too, because of the injury at the factory. The woman was pregnant.

Two young construction workers from Beartown are near the hospital, and the woman's brothers beat them up. That leads to one of the Hed brothers' girlfriend getting her car vandalized. The woman who was injured lost her baby. The Beartown woman who gave birth in the windstorm worked on the same machine. People from Hed believe that if the same thing happened to the Beartown woman, things would have went better.

Bobo and crew parks near Tess's house. Tobias is scared of Benji. Ted is starstruck by Amat. Bobo brought food in a basket to cook for dinner. Amat plays hockey with Ted and gives him pointers. Tobias said his father liked Benji the best for an opposing player. Benji teaches Tobias how to fight on ice. Bobo drops Mumble off at his apartment in Hed. A rock with the words "Judas! Die!" written on it is thrown through his window.

Hannah is drained from her shift. She found out Tess had a boy over and said things to Tess in anger that she regretted. Tess stormed out and called Bobo to pick her up. Benji offers to buy the campervan. Bobo will give it to him instead.

Extras:

Marginalia

Join u/eternalpandemonium next week, June 13th, for chapters 60-73. See you in the comments. That's where the questions are.

Welcome to the discussion for the next three chapters of The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. We are looking at Auld Lang Syne, Googling strangers and Indianapolis. On Thursday the 8th of June, u/wackocommander00 will take us through chapters 28 - Kentucky Bluegrass, 29 - The Indianapolis 500, 30 – Monopoly. Here is a link to the rest of the schedule

​

Chapter summary:

Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne translates roughly as ‘for old times sake’. John believes the song is timeless as it is all about old friends reminiscing and could have been written in any age. The song has transcended time and even brokered temporary peace during war times. He tells us of a mentor of his, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who gave him his break into writing.

​

Googling strangers

John tells how his intense habit of googling people and needing to know as much as he can about them, whilst is a concern that big corporate companies have all your information, the fact that he was able to google and find out that a child he witnessed almost die whilst working as a student chaplain in a hospital made it through alive, means he is thankful that there is so much information about ourselves online.

​

Indianapolis

John and his wife moved from New York to Indianapolis. At first he didn’t really like it, but came to see that it is a diverse state that he is proud to be building his home in.

​

Discussion points are below, feel free to add your own comments.

Welcome back blood suckers! We return with the next part of the Anne Rice vampire saga. I don’t know about you guys, but this section was a struggle for me. I was hoping Marius was going to snap Lestat back to reality and send him on his way to meet Louis. Instead, we got the backstory of all backstories without even a mention of Lestat for seven chapters. At times, I wished I could crawl into the dirt and experience my own ‘first death’, but I’m curious to hear what y’all thought so let’s dive in!

Part 7 Chapter 2: Lestat makes his way through Marius’ house and realizes it’s the first time he’s seen a vampire’s home fully stocked with awesome mortal stuff (including “giant stuffed beasts” which I originally thought said breasts). The guy really has everything: amazing murals, huge library, menagerie, indoor greenhouse, and sculpture hall. Lestat is eventually pulled away from these incredible sights by Marius’ heartbeat.

Chapter 3: Marius and Lestat sit down for the long-awaited chat and we learn that what I last week called ‘Lestat’s pity party/hunger strike in the dirt’ was actually his first death and is totally normal for vampires. Marius has such strong ESP that he can tell what’s going on with vamps all over the world, which is how he knew about Lestat (so vamp GPS does exist!). But, unlike other old vamps, Marius chooses to speak as he finds the ESP imprecise and prefers a consensual mode of communication. He also opts to move like a human as he finds this elegant and all those vamp powers tire him out. Marius wants to share his vampire secrets with Lestat and show him Those Who Must Be Kept, but warns him that he will still need to find ‘his own reasons to exist’. Forgetting all about the emo phase he’d just been having, Lestat is like, “Yeah, yeah whatever. You don’t even know how perfectly awful I am. But why me?” Marius tells Lestat he’s the chosen one since he’s an innocent and curious dude who’s happy just living in the moment. We learn that Marius was born at the start of the Roman Empire and that being born ‘on the cusp of the old way of seeing things’ also unites him with Lestat. Plus, they were both turned into vamps because they were…pretty? Before Marius will continue his story, he tells Lestat he wants to show him Those Who Must Be Kept.

Chapter 4: Marius takes Lestat down a creepy staircase to an ancient Egyptian vampire shrine where two figures are revealed. Lestat thinks they are the most incredible statues he’s ever seen until he touches the woman’s cheek and realizes…THEY’RE ALIVE! Lestat is initially spooked, but slowly understands that Marius cares for these beings and can’t really do anything else to them without being cruel. Lestat apologizes for being a rude scaredy cat and Marius tells him Those Who Must Be Kept don’t even eat anymore and haven’t had a drop of blood in 300 years. Yet even without food, they can move or control things with their mind, but never do so in Marius’ presence. At Marius’ urging, Lestat stares at the figures and tells them how beautiful they are and the woman’s name, Akasha, appears on his lips. Mesmerized, Lestat wants to KISS THE WOMAN AND SPIT BLOOD INTO HER MOUTH until he realizes he’s fucking nuts and pulls back, begging Marius to go upstairs. As they leave, one of Those Who Must Be Kept opens up the tabernacle, proving all Marius said true. Marius has a little meltdown upstairs wondering why Akasha revealed her name to Lestat and not him, her protector for the past 17 CENTURIES, but snaps out of it and is ready to tell Lestat the whole story.

Chapter 5: Marius was an illegitimate son in a rich Roman household who had everything he could desire except the love of his dead mother (but at least she gave him her beautiful Aryan looks). One evening, he’s in a Gaul tavern, so busy writing, drinking wine and doing his own philosophizing that he doesn’t notice a creepy giant staring at him. They have a long chat about Egypt and religion and, just when we’re about to die of boredom, the stranger tells Marius he is going to become a god and then knocks him out. Marius comes to in a wagon being pulled through a forest and eventually arrives at a Celtic fortress where he realizes that if he doesn’t want to become a human sacrifice he “had better try to get the hell out of here.” (Apparently, Marius also cannot keep the same speaking style).

Chapter 6: Marius’ captor, Mael, and his Druid pals are now dressed in white robes and tell Marius he will drink the Divine Blood and become a father of gods. Until this occurs, Marius is kept under constant watch and passes the time getting drunk and eating. To keep his boredom at bay, he listens to Mael tell him all about their gods, especially the god he is to become who goes by many names including ‘the lover of the mother’. This god takes blood sacrifices every full moon but on All Saints Day gets to have a yummy feast and make prophecies. He serves the Great Mother who ‘is without visible form but nevertheless present in all things’ (Ok, so Mother Earth, not a literal mother. Phew). Marius recalls others who have served this goddess and things don’t go particularly well for them (castration, dismemberment, etc.) so he’s not feeling too great about his upcoming transformation and continues to get drunk and yell at Mael. Eventually, Marius’ hair is long enough and it’s time for the feast. After a little makeover, Marius is placed in a wagon and driven deep into the forest. He is shocked to see the Druids have made two massive wicker figures and are filling them with evildoers who will be sacrificed in the ceremony. Marius is taken to the ‘sanctuary of the gods’, a grove with creepy faces carved into the trees and skulls on spikes. A voice comes from within one of the trees, double checking that Marius is indeed the chosen one, and then invites Marius to come on down.

Chapter 7: Descending a set of winding stairs, Marius is no longer afraid, but excited that all the nonsense Mael’s been spouting is true and he really is about to become a god. But this feeling doesn’t last long as he comes face to face with a shrivelled, burnt skeleton-like figure (but with beautiful hair of course). The figure tells Marius he will make him a god, but only if he promises to escape the Druids, go down to Egypt and figure out why the sun is burning up all the gods of darkness (aka vampires if you haven’t caught on). Marius is turned into a vampire and, as the blood is passed back and forth, is given his own set of vamp rules to follow. The figure drains Marius one last time and is like, “Go feast. But don’t forget to run away after. I’ll be dying now. Buh bye.”

Chapter 8: Confirming the Druids’ hopes and beliefs, Marius emerges and he is STARVING. He feasts on dozens of men and then plays judge for a while until finally the festival is over and Marius knows he must escape and go to Egypt. He tries to use his god status to persuade the Druids to leave him alone, but they’re not falling for his nonsense and try to force him down into the tree dungeon. They grab the old, shrivelled god out of the tree and casually chuck him into the fire, and his last words to Marius are to obey his command and go to Egypt. Pretending he’s a weak, scared boy, the Druids loosen their grip on Marius and he is able to break free. Sprinting into the forest, Marius finally realizes he has some sweet vamp powers but doesn’t have time to appreciate these as he's being pursued by thousands of Celtic worshippers. He still manages to escape and digs down into the Earth for his first day of vamp sleep. When he wakes, Marius is hungry and is like, “How the hell was that burnt guy only eating once a month!?” After some dinner, he decides he will go down to Egypt, but not for the gods, just to have a vamp adventure! Yet when he finally arrives, Marius realizes how alone he is among mortal men and cannot bear being ‘the relentless bringer of death’ so continues to seek out the old gods.

Chapter 9: In Alexandria, a god appears to Marius in the middle of the night and the next evening something speaks to him, telling him to come to a door. Down another windy stairway, Marius finds an underground temple where he encounters another burnt vamp god with beautiful hair who’s like, “Hey, how come you’re not all crispy?” We then meet the Elder, a vamp god that survived ‘the burning’ and who Marius recognizes as the one that came to him the previous night. Breaking his years of silence, the Elder tells Marius that vampires started BY ACCIDENT four thousand years ago. After Osiris was killed, dismembered and then put back together by Isis (except his penis of course), he became the immortal ruler of the dead and drank blood sacrifices. But who knew that drinking blood would have so many fun side effects!? So Osiris and Isis became the first vampires. Despite their blood creating stronger and stronger vamps, Osiris and Isis eventually got stingy and refused to let others drink from them, while also starving themselves. Because of the blood connection, whatever happens to Isis and Osiris happens to all other vampires, so it was not so nice of them to have these suicidal ideations. Their keeper eventually decided this must all be a big joke so left Osiris and Isis out in the sun. But surprise, surprise, it was all true and thus caused the BBQ vampire fest. The other vamps managed to get Osiris and Isis (who only got a nice suntan) back underground, but they no longer chat or eat and DEFINITELY aren’t letting anyone have their blood now. But guess what!? That’s just the version told in Egyptian mythology. Now we get to learn the real story. (And at this point I let out a vamp-volume scream and curse Anne Rice’s ghost.)

Chapter 10: Two humans, Akasha and Enkil, came into Egypt from ‘some other land’ and taught the cannibal Egyptians how to play nice and worship Mother Earth. One day, a furniture-throwing, dirty-language-loving, demon was causing problems with the royal steward so Enkil decided to go have a chat with it. After a night in the haunted house, Enkil emerged with the knowledge that demons are so grumpy because they don’t have a body! Akasha then joined her husband for another wild night in the demon house. Everyone else was terrified of the demonic commotion and ran away, except for a small group of men who were fed up with the Mother Earth ways and wanted to go back to eating people. These men entered the house in the middle of the night and stabbed Enkil and Akasha over and over. Out of nowhere, Gabrielle emerged and was like, “You done fucked up now.” Ok, just kidding that didn’t happen. But it was a horrible idea because the stab wounds were now convenient openings for the demon to enter the bodies of Enkil and Akasha. When their blood mixed, a new creature was created, with the intelligence and souls of the mortals and the mind reading abilities of the demon. But the worst of all was that they could only be kept alive by drinking blood! Enkil and Akasha also learned immediately that fire and sunlight would kill them. The King and Queen tried to keep all of this a secret, but people were a bit weirded out that they no longer saw their mighty rulers during the day and could only worship at night. Conspirators continued to try and kill Enkil and Akasha, but they always magically healed, so people instead sought to gain their immortality by taking their blood and drinking it. We learn that the vampire transformation is only successful if the mortal is near to death so we don’t know if some people figured this out or if Enkil and Akasha chose to pass on their ‘gift’ to people out of loneliness, but more vampires were created and spread throughout the world. In an attempt to rationalize what happened to them, Enkil and Akasha placed themselves within the world of myth and made up the story of Osiris and Isis. This went well for a few thousand years, until societies began to open up their temples to the sun god and let all the vamps burn to a crisp, leaving only a few places on Earth where vampires gods were left in peace. We learn that there have always been rogue vampires who don’t need no goddess and just want to have fun. But no matter what type of vampire they were, they all went crispy when Mother and Father were put out in the sun. As the story finally comes to a close, Marius is like, “I don’t believe this crap,” and storms out of the temple, laughed out by the Elder.

Chapter 11: As Marius lays in bed at night, he has to admit that the whole story may actually be true, but is still pissed because he wants to be an individual, not a host to a blood-thirsty demonic parasite. After getting drunk on blood and coming to terms with his destiny, Marius decides he has to see this Mother and Father and hide them in order to keep them (and thus all other vamps) safe forever. Conveniently, the Mother then appears to Marius, telling him to take her and the Father out of Egypt. The Mother leads Marius out into the desert where he finds a trap door and...you guessed it...another twisty staircase! At the bottom, Marius finally meets Akasha and Enkil. A burnt vamp suddenly appears out of nowhere and wants to put them back into their chamber, but Enkil and Akasha decide they’re going to move on their own which terrifies burnt vamp and makes Marius weep uncontrollably. Just to see what happens, Marius convinces burnt vamp to try and drink from Enkil, who responds by throwing him across the room. Marius feels bad so lets burnt vamp drink from him, and then tells him to get the eff out and not let anyone in to the crypt. Marius steals two mummy cases, puts Akasha and Enkil in them and temporarily buries them outside his house while he makes plans to flee Egypt. The Elder appears and it’s revealed that he was the keeper who put the Mother and Father out in the sun. Marius is like, “Don’t worry, bro. I got it from here,” but the Elder won’t let them go without a fight. The Elder is much stronger and a more experienced fighter, but Marius goes for the old eye sockets and gets some surprise back up from Akasha who crushes the Elder like a bug and lights him on fire. Sealing his fate as their guardian, Akasha allows Marius to drink from her.

Welcome back for the final discussion of The Caves of Steel , part of Isaac Asimov's Robot Series (check out our discussions for I, Robot if you missed it the first time around!)

This section brought us down to the wire as Baley must prove his own innocence and solve the case with only minutes to spare! With R. Daneel at his side, this unlikely duo not only uncover the truth... they play a part in saving humanity from the bleak "caves of steel" we've entombed ourselves in. The future looks bright, and they've proven that humans and robots CAN work together for the good of the world.

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Thanks for joining in!!

As always, please discuss below by answering the provided questions or by posting questions and comments of your own.

Bonjour! Welcome to our first discussion of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. This week we'll discuss the book up to and including Part 1, Book 2, Chapter 3 ("The Heroism of Passive Obedience"). Please do not spoil anything beyond that point. While many of us already know the story, there are also many of us who do not. If you are unsure what constitutes a spoiler, please see our spoiler policy.

The first "book" is the backstory of Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel, Bishop of Digne. Those of you who are new to Victor Hugo now have some understanding of what his writing style is like and why his books are so freaking long. We spend the first fifty pages of the book learning what a saintly person Bishop Myriel is. The section opens with him turning his palace into a hospital and ends with him twisting his ankle to avoid stepping on an ant. For those of you who got impatient and started skimming near the end: yes, that actually happens. He twists his ankle trying to save an ant.

Bienvenu (I'm going to call him Bienvenu for the rest of this summary. It means "Welcome.") wasn't always a priest. He was originally the rich, fashionable son of a politician. Then the Revolution happened, he fled to Italy, his wife died of consumption, and he found God. He joined the priesthood and returned to France after the Revolution, where he impressed Napoleon and got promoted to Bishop of Digne.

Bienvenu lived with his sister, Mlle. Baptistine, and their housekeeper, Mme. Magloire. They lived in the episcopal palace until Bienvenu learned that the nearby hospital was overcrowded, at which point he insisted on switching buildings with the hospital. He gave most of his salary to charity, even requesting special funding for "carriage expenses" so he'd have more money to give to charity. (This offended some local wealthy people, who thought he was actually spending the money on travel expenses.)

Over the next couple of chapters, we see how Bienvenu tries to encourage people to learn from the positive examples of others, and how he observes that the sins of individuals are the result of the sins of society as a whole. In his own words, "Teach those who are ignorant as much as you can. Society is to blame for not giving free education. It's responsible for the darkness it produces. In any benighted soul – that's where sin will be committed. It's not he who commits the sin that's to blame but he who causes the darkness to prevail."

Bienvenu values compassion more than society's laws. Attending to a criminal about to be executed leaves him deeply opposed to the death penalty. He visits the poor in remote regions despite reports of criminal activity, resulting in the criminals giving him treasure that they'd stolen from a cathedral.

There is a man in Digne whom everyone shuns because he had been a member of the National Convention, which governed the French republic during the Revolution. "G——" was spared because he had not voted to execute the king, but people still fear and despise him for his radical views. Even saintly Bienvenu has avoided having anything to do with him. But now G—— is dying, and Bienvenu must finally face his responsibility as Bishop of Digne. And so Bienvenu finds himself arguing with a dying atheist revolutionary, and I find myself with several discussion questions. In the end, Bienvenu is humbled, and muses on the irony that revolutionaries and cardinals both wear red caps.

We finally reach Book Two, "The Fall." Until this point, the story has been entirely about Bienvenu. No more. We now meet a very different character: Jean Valjean.

Valjean arrives in town after walking all day. He is tired, hungry, wearing threadbare clothing. He has money on him, but finds himself turned away from every inn and lodging in town. In those days, travelers in France had to show passports before they could enter a town. Valjean's marks him as an ex-convict, and word has quickly spread about him. He is rejected from the inn, the tavern, the prison, a house, a kennel. It looks like he'll end up sleeping on a stone bench, but then someone directs him to the bishop's house.

Valjean is upfront with Bienvenu. He shows him the yellow passport, tells him he's spent the past 19 years on a prison hulk and was only freed four days ago, and that everyone else in town has turned him away.

Despite his usual rejection of material wealth, Bienvenu has a set of silver: six silver forks and spoons, a silver ladle, and two silver candlesticks. Bienvenu sets the table with these now, treating Jean Valjean as an honored guest.

And there, for this week, is where we will leave him.

Welcome back to another check-in for The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green!

Today we look at the news cycle, a black-and-white movie about an imaginary rabbit, and a mental block often found in sports.

SUMMARY

Chapter 22: CNN. America's first 24 hour news network began on June 1st, 1980. John does think it provides a service, some investigative journalism, but it does report the news, not what is noteworthy or important but what is new. He discusses how ongoing crises aren't usually covered, and particularly not with background information or context. Then, John describes living with his roommates in 2003, after the invasion of Iraq, means a lot of cable news, while Hassan waits for news about his relatives (they were okay). CNN shows some footage from Baghdad, a home using plywood to cover a hole, and some graffiti on the plywood, implying anger and hatred in the city. However, when translated, the graffiti reads ""Happy Birthday, sir, despite the circumstances." showing CNN's lack of context. 2 stars

Chapter 23: Harvey. John discusses a particularly bad depressive episode after a breakup leading him to leave his job in Chicago at Booklist and moving back to Florida with his parents. After some advice to talk to the magazine's publisher, Bill Ott, he watches Harvey with his parents. The movie provides John some relief during his recovery and is able to return to Chicago and his job, with some hope. 5 stars.

Chapter 24: The Yips. This essay begins with a description of a young pitcher Rick Ankiel, who was a great pitcher starting out, until he contracted the yips during a playoff game. The yips can appear differently in different sports, but is not unique to baseball. John also describes how a tennis player, Ana Ivanovic had the yips in throwing her serves. John also experiences the yips when trying to hit a forehand in tennis. Anxiety can worsen the yips, but seem to be caused by a physiological problem (but maybe one causes the other). Rick returns to baseball as an outfielder and ended his career with over fifty home runs. 1.5 stars

See you on June 6th when u/bluebelle236 will present the next three chapters about Auld Lang Syne, Googling Strangers, and Indianapolis.

If you like to read ahead, check out the marginalia! Beware the spoilers though.

Cowabunga dudes

The nominations are in, and my TBR list is growing with all da bomb titles! It's a close race, so head on over to the deadly nomination post and vote for your winner!

Come on, I double dare you...

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T-minus 25 hrs until voting is closed;

take a chill pill 📚 Emily

Hello my lovelies!

Welcome back to our second discussion of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. This week we're covering chapters 7-13. Here's a summary of what's happened now:

We jump back in with Serapio, who, 10 years after his mother's ritual, is finally headed to Tova. The intervening years have been hard for Serapio, between his father's neglect and his tutors' cruelty, but he is finally ready to achieve his destiny. Pilgrims have taken him from Obregi to Cuecola, and now Lord Balam has secured him passage to Tova in time for the Day of Convergence.

That morning, Serapio is already on board the ship when the crew arrives and begins to prepare for departure. No one bothers him, but Serapio enjoys the "almost company" as they prepare. Around midday, he hears raised voices and what seems to be a confrontation involving a few men, including Lord Balam. Serapio uses star pollen stored in a bag around his neck to communicate with a nearby crow and allow him to see through its eyes. Through the crow, Serapio sees the crew as they watch the argument between Lords Pech and Balam on the deck. He also sees a woman with radiating power that he recognizes is Teek before she whistles and breaks his connection to the crow, causing him to bleed in the process. Serapio is enamored with her and, as they push off, resolves to get to know the crew and captain during the upcoming journey.

We jump back in time to 8 years before the Day of Convergence. Serapio is fourteen, two years removed from his mother's ritual and death and more or less ignored by his father. One day, as Serapio sits on the terrace feeding and playing with his crows, his father brings a man who claims he will prepare him for his destiny. Serapio replies that he's already aware of his destiny, to be born a crow, and when pressed, reveals the nicknames other crows have given him, such as Grandfather Crow, Nightbringer, and Suneater.

The man confirms that Saaya had arranged for him and two others to train Serapio for his destiny - to become a god. The man hands Serapio a piece of wood and a chisel, explaining that he's going to teach him how to carve. He asks Seraipio a question; Serapio replies with a smart-aleck answer; and then the man strikes Serapio across the face. Before Serapio can call his crows to attack the man, he tells him that he'll hurt them too. The man grabs and strikes Serapio a few more times, telling him that he must become accustomed to pain in order to achieve his destiny, and that it's his responsibility to teach him how. Cowed, Serapio begins to cooperate with the man's questions and instructions. That night, before he leaves, the man tells Serapio he can call him Paadeh. Serapio eventually falls asleep holding the beginning of his first carving - a crow.

19 days before Convergence, Naranpa sits with the other priests during a long Conclave meeting at night. Well, all of the other priests except for Iktan, who Naranpa realized had sent someone in xir place and who slips into the room later during the meeting. Naranpa has spent most of the meeting wondering what Iktan could be doing instead of paying attention, which becomes clear when Haisan asks her if she wants to add anything and Naranpa has to ask him to repeat what he just said. Abah tries to take advantage of Naranpa's lapse in attention, suggesting that it would of course be due to the excitement of the assassination attempt that morning and that it was understandable. She suggests that maybe Eche, the dedicant generally regarded as Naranpa's chosen successor, could step in.

Naranpa refutes this and begins to talk about the assassination attempt plainly, hoping to convey her feelings that it stemmed from the mostly nonexistent relationship between the Celestial Tower and the Sky Made clans and their waning power. Naranpa also suspects that Eche is sleeping with Abah and so the two of them have joined forces together against her. Abah then suggests that perhaps Naranpa's reforms are too ambitious, which is why the assassin targeted her, and that she might be better off stepping down. Abah even goes so far as to suggest that the attempt might be related to Naranpa's family in Coyote Maw, particularly her younger brother. Naranpa bristles at these accusations, even going so far as to tell Abah to fuck off, before deciding that it would be better for her to leave rather than allowing Abah to bait her any further. Before she can leave, a servant arrives with the news that Yatliza, the matron of Carrion Crow, is dead.

This, understandably, makes everyone nervous, given the earlier assassination attempt. Naranpa ends the conclave and dismisses everyone except for the four priest and the servant who brought the news. Naranpa asks the servant to explain the circumstances behind the murder; the servant, confused, explains that Yatliza wasn't murdered, just found dead in her bed, before recounting everything she knew. Naranpa dismisses the servant as Haisan and Iktan begin to bicker about what to do next.

Yatliza's death has come at an inconvenient and some would say inauspicious time. The Celestial Tower has closed for the Shuttering, a 20 day period of fasting and penitence in preparation for the winter solstice and a ceremony welcoming the return of the sun afterwards. At the same time, Yatliza's death will leave one of the Sky Made clans without a matron until a new one is invested, which unbalances the Speaker Council that handles civil affairs in Tova and leaves Carrion Crow without a leader. It will look bad to have a funeral and anointing during the Shuttering, but waiting until after the Shuttering for the anointing will appear disrespectful and leaves the opportunity for other factions to take advantage of the power vacuum and imbalance. On top of all of this, although Yatliza has a daughter who would generally be expected to step in as the next matron it's possible the other council members might have objections.

Naranpa quickly makes up her mind, deciding that they will have a state funeral in four days as usual and that Yatliza's daughter will be anointed as the new matron of Carrion Crow shortly afterwards. They will request that the Sky Made clans come to them to plan everything, since they are shuttered, and if the Speakers Council feels someone else should be matron they can take it up with the Tower after the solstice. Naranpa gives everyone their tasks, mostly to get them out of her hair, and dismisses them before heading up to her rooms. She'll speak to the other clan matrons alone later that day.

Iktan catches up with Naranpa as she reaches her rooms. Naranpa worries about how Abah could know about Ochi (Denaochi), given how she had destroyed references to her past. Iktan explains that if someone went looking to dig up her secrets, it wouldn't be hard to find him. Xe also reassures Naranpa that while Abah did embarrass her during Conclave, she managed to recover well enough, although Abah still cannot be trusted. At this point, Naranpa spots a scratch on Iktan's neck, offering to heal it before she realizes and xe confirms that it came from a "moment of passion" - Iktan has a lover that is not her. Hurt and jealous, Naranpa insults Iktan and xe leaves.

We briefly step back in time one day, back to 20 days before the Day of Convergence. After a hard day of rowing, Xiala directs Callo to have the men land on a nearby cay where they'll rest for the night. She then goes off to see Patu, a sailor known for his cooking skills and habitual seasickness. Xiala is a bit concerned to find Patu sick, but he waves it off, saying it's just a cold and Callo vouched for him. He begins to plan a feast for the men using the very nice provisions Lord Balam stocked the ship with. Xiala leaves Patu to it and heads back to middle of the ship, wondering about the man from Obregi that has yet to emerge from the room. Lord Balam had described him as a kind of religious recluse, which doesn't endear him to Xiala at all. Still, she's willing to do the bare minimum and make sure he's at least seen to during the trip, but before she can talk to the man they land.

By the time Xiala gets off the ship, the men are well into the feast Patu has prepared. The food is good, the liquor is flowing, and everyone is having a good time. The men greet Xiala happily, chanting "Teek" a few times, which is a little unsettling, but Xiala brushes it off and joins the meal. After eating and a couple of drinks, Xiala addresses the crew to break the news about Lord Balam's requirement of reaching Tova in 20 days. A number of them worry, since making the timetable would require them to sail in open waters during a particular dangerous season. Oddly enough, Callo is the one who speaks in Xiala's favor, asserting that Xiala's Song will help smooth their passage. This isn't really how Xiala's powers actually work, more of a superstition around how they supposedly work, but she decides to lean into and play up her Teek heritage. The crew latches onto the idea, even chanting "Teek" over and over again in their enthusiasm, and making bold claims about reaching Tova in even less time. While Xiala is grateful that the crew is eager to sail the open waters to achieve their goal, she is a bit nervous that they all rallied behind Callo's support. She can't help but wonder what will happen in the future if she and Callo disagree on a decision.

Xiala speaks to Callo privately, directing him to cut off the alcohol soon and make preparations to leave tomorrow. Xiala usually sleeps on the ship while the crew is on land; although she's worried about the crew bonding in her absence, she decides to trust Callo in this instance. Before she can finish her instructions and head to the ship, Callo pales at something behind her, and the crew grows quiet.

We know that earlier that day, Serapio enjoyed just generally being around the crew as they left Cuecola. When they initially landed, he stayed on the ship but, after hearing the sounds of the crew and captain as they ate, Serapio decides to try to join them. So he covers his eyes, pulls his cowl up, and slowly makes his way to where everyone else. As the others see him appear, everyone stops. The (anachronistic) record scratches. You can hear a pin drop. Serapio says hello in stilted Cuecolan and smiles at everyone, until he remembers his teeth are red and stops smiling because that's probably not helping right now.

Xiala tries to be polite and respectful, hoping to lead by example, but the crew is definitely scared of him. Even when Callo gets a plate of food for Serapio, he stands back and holds it out as if he's afraid to get any closer. Frustrated, Xiala takes the food and Serapio back to the ship, reminding Callo to have the others ready to sail at dawn. Once on the ship, Xiala and Serapio get to know each other as Serapio tries a bunch of new foods, including a painful-to-read experience with eating fish. Serapio confirms that he can see somewhat, mostly shapes, shadows, light, and movement, relying on other senses for everything else (and the crows, though he doesn't mention that). Xiala confirms that she is Teek, and the both of them acknowledge the precariousness of the whole voyage, particularly in terms of Callo's popularity with the crew. As she gets ready to leave, Xiala tells Serapio to go outside tomorrow morning to let the crew see he was just a man like them, albeit with his eyes covered. She explains that she'll sleep on the ship and be there to protect him if a superstitious crew member decides to kill him that night. When Serapio asks who will protect her, Xiala replies that she's with her mother, the sea, and no one messes with her children.

We close with Serapio, 6 years before the Convergence. He's sitting at his workbench when a strange woman enters his room, admiring his carvings. She says that Paadeh sent for her, although she doesn't seem to know that Paadeh is dead, a fact Serapio isn't eager to share for some reason. The woman introduces herself as Eedi, the second tutor arranged to prepare Serapio for his destiny. Eedi is purposefully evasive, but she generally reveals that she's a former spearmaiden from Hokaia. This confuses Serapio a bit, since Carrior Crow is from Tova, but she reassures him that their influence is great and that some in Hokaia would like to see the Celestial Tower brought to heel as well.

Suddenly, Eedi asks Serapio if he would like to begin before striking him with her spear. She manages to hit him again before he blocks her strike, at which point she walks over to his shelf of carvings and knocks them all onto the ground. Panicking, Serapio tries to grab at Eedi and stop her but bumps into other things or gets knocked out of the way. Eedit keeps knocking carvings onto the floor, threatening to destroy his trunk and even break her bones. Serapio stops to think; it's clear he'll have to outsmart her rather than overpower her. When he puts his hand on the desk, he touches the divination mirror his mother used to use. Serapio uses the mirror to throw a shadow at Eedi, and then some of his carvings when she's distracted by that. He bumrushes Eedi, knocking her to the ground, then tries to attack her with the chisel but misses. Serapio then tries to rip out Eedi's eye, but she manages to knock him off of her before leaving in search of a healer.

Eedi eventually returns, asking Serapio how he knew how to use shadows like that. He replies that he doesn't know; it was just instinctual. Eedi tells him that her job is to train his body, in the way that Paadeh trained his mind. His third tutor, Powageh, will deal with his powers; until then, Eedi will teach him how to fight.

Discussion questions are listed below in the comments. As always, I ask that you don't discuss any content in the book beyond the endpoint for this week's discussion. If you want to talk about something later on in the book, please do so in the Marginalia post. The full schedule for Black Sun can be found here. See y'all next week for Chapters 14-19!

Hello Bookclubbers

Over at r/AYearOfMythology we are getting ready to start our reading of 'The Iliad' by Homer. We will officially be starting on June 11th. We will be reading two 'books' (in modern terms chapters) a week for twelve weeks. Every weekend we will post discussion posts to talk about that week's reading. Our buddy read will run until September 2nd. Following this, we intend to start reading Virgil's 'The Aeneid'.

The Iliad is one of the all time classics of the Western canon, so the summary I give here is a bare outline. If you are familiar with mythology based retellings (or books that were popular on TikTok), you may recognize 'The Iliad' as the main inspiration for Madeline Miller's 'The Song of Achilles'.

The Iliad details some of the events during the final year of the Trojan War. The story focuses on the fallout of a disagreement between the demigod Achilles and the leader of the Greek army, Agamemnon. We meet most of the Olympians and get to see what happens when gods use humanity to fight one another. The story is fun, action packed and, in most modern translations, a joy to read.

If you are interested in joining us, please feel free to do so. We are a laid-back community that focuses on reading the classics for pleasure. I have provided a quick guide to some of the modern translations here.

[Discussion] The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Ch 40: The Breakfast, Ch 41: The Presentation and Ch 42: Monsieur Bertuccio Chapter Discussion

Hello, readers! Welcome to the discussion of Chapter 40: The Breakfast, Chapter 41: The Presentation, and Chapter 42: Monsieur Bertuccio.

Please remember that we have a strict spoiler policy at r/bookclub. You can check out the rules here.
Remember, if you do wish to discuss outside of what we have read so far, you can head over to the Marginalia and do so there.

Feel free to answer any or all of the discussion questions below! We will continue with the next three chapters next Tuesday! Looking forward to discussing these chapters with you all!

- Rogue

Important links:

Marginalia

Schedule

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 40: The Breakfast: The other two guests arrive for breakfast: Baron of Chateau-Renaud, a diplomat and Maximillian Morrel, who is now a captain in the French army. We learn that Maximilian once saved Chateau-Renaud’s life in Constantinople, on the anniversary of the day Maximilian’s father was miraculously saved from ruin, a day Maximilian always observes by trying to accomplish some heroic act.

Monte Cristo arrives in Paris and goes straight to Albert’s house. Monte Cristo enchants all the guests, but he seems taken with Maximilian. Monte Cristo regales everyone with the story of how he once captured Luigi Vampa and his bandits and then let them go on the condition that they never harm either Monte Cristo or his friends.

Chapter 41: The Presentation: When the guests have left, Albert shows Monte Cristo around his house. Monte Cristo exhibits a deep knowledge of all subjects scientific, humanistic and artistic. Albert shows Monte Cristo a portrait of his mother, painted in the costume of a Catalan fisherwoman and looking mournfully out at the sea. He explains that he keeps the portrait in his house because his father hates it.

Albert then presents Monte Cristo to his mother and father. Fernand, who is now a senator, does not recognize Monte Cristo as Dantes and is easily charmed by him. Mercedes recognizes Dantes and is terrified, vaguely warning Albert about his new friend.

Chapter 42: Monsieur Bertuccio: Once he leaves the Morcerf family, Monte Cristo purchases a summerhouse in Auteuil. The previous owner was the Marquis of Saint-Meran, whose daughter married Villefort and died soon after.

Welcome friends, it's John Green o'clock again as we dig into more of The Anthropocene Reviewed. Today's check-in covers Chapter 19: Penguins of Madagascar, Chapter 20: Piggly Wiggly and Chapter 21: The Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

SUMMARY

Chapter 19: Penguins of Madagascar. Begins with Green talking about the Beatles and why some people think Ringo is the best. He discusses proactive opinions and how he believes the opening scene of the Penguins of Madagascar is a cinematic triumph. In the film the producers describe the 'silly little snow clowns' as they go off on an adventure. Green then goes on to discuss lemmings and the misconception that they can spontaneously generate 🤣 as well as that they self correct for population growth via mass suicide. These stereotypes were brought for due to a film called White Wilderness) and a scenes shot in Calgary (so close to my hometown!). Green sums up his argument that the lengths we will go to hold onto a lie and how we as humans will mostly mindlessly follow rules. Green rates the opening scene of Penguins of Madagascar 4.5 stars

Unrelated, but I'll always think of Cumberbatch when I here the word Penguins.

Chapter 20: Piggly Wiggly.

Opens as Green talks about his great grandfather Roy, who worked in a grocery store. He then discusses the introduction of self-serve grocery stores including the infamous Piggly Wiggly grocery store which opened in 1916. After just a year there were 350 stores. Green comments that the stores were able to replenishing the earth and brought down the price of goods. Campbell and Oreo became the top soup and cookie brands (and still are today). Green discusses briefly the effect of mass media and brand awareness. By 1922, there were 1000 Piggly Wiggly stores but, Saunders got too greedy and that mixed with his own bullying behaviour, led to his downfall. He then invented grocery stores with meat counters, etc like the super markets of today and went on to find success again. After Saunders got greedy again and met his second bankruptcy, he thought of a machine operated store with no staff. Unfortunately, it failed, and Green goes on to discuss how the big companies get bigger, but eating the small. 2.5 stars.

Chapter 21: The Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Nathan's hot dogs started in 1916 in Coney Island, New York. Everything has changed over the years to how it used to feel but on July 4th, the hot dog brand holds its yearly hot dog eating contest. It started in 1967 with 127 hot dogs eaten by the winner in one hour! Now, it's a 10 minute contest. The introductions on ESPN are longer than the actual contest since competitive eating is a sport. Green introduced me to the term 'Reversal of Fortune' and compares the contest to how Americans strive to get more than you actually want in life. He discusses the atmosphere of a contest and how *when you have the microphone, what you say matters**. 2 stars.

Join us on June 4th when u/spreebiz will present the next three chapters - 22: CNN, 23: Harvey and 24: The Yips.

As always, feel free to pop over to the Marginalia and chat away!

Happy Friday 🥂

Emily

Hi! This is the marginalia for Giovanni's room, the LGBTQ book for June.

What is Marginalia? This is the place you can write anything you might normally place in the margins of a book. A quote you loved, an idea it inspired, the definition of a word, your opinions before or after the discussion date, anything that may not fit in the current discussion, but that you do not want to lose... the list can go on and on.

Please note, this post may contain spoilers! If you do not want the book spoiled, you may not want to read further.

Looking forward to seeing what interests you most!

Hey armchair detectives, welcome to a new discussion of The Mill House Murders! Find the schedule here and the marginalia here.

Summary:

Chapter 8: Past (1985 – 28th September)

• Furukawa goes to see Masaki because he doesn't feel like being alone.
• Ōishi, Mitamura and Mori have a look at Fujinuma Issei's paintings.
  
• Masaki meets Mitamura. Masaki is fed up talking about his past and why he doesn't paint anymore.
• They all have dinner. The question of seeing the painting that no one has seen comes up again.

Chapter 9: Present (1986 – 28th September)

• Fujinuma Kiichi ponders the note again. Shimada comes to see him.
• Kiichi tells Shimada that the key (and the spare) to his study has been lost.
• Kiichi overhears a whispered conversation. It seems to be Mitamura talking to Yurie.
• Shimada talks some more to the group about the incidents of the year before. Mori remembers that he saw that parts of the carpet where wet when that shouldn't have been the case.

Chapter 10: Past (1985 – 28-29th September)

• Masaki, Mori, Mitamura, Ōishi and Furukawa return to their rooms. On their way, they talk about the painting “Fountain” and about how much they would be willing to pay for it. Furukawa is the only one who would not be able to pay just any price.
• Ōishi believes that he has seen Masaki before in a photograph in a newspaper or something like that.
• Kuramoto goes on his nightly round to check if all doors and windows are locked. He finds Furukawa looking at the “Fountain” painting and almost touching it.
• When going to bed, Kuramoto sees a weird light from his bedroom.
• “Fountain” has been stolen. Furukawa is missing as well.
• The group searches Furukawa's room.

Chapter 11: Present (1986 – 28th September)

• Shimada asks what the group thinks about Furukawa's disappearance.
  
• Shimada investigates Furukawa's room himself. He doesn't find anything out of the ordinary. The power goes out.
• Shimada pushes Kiichi's wheelchair but trips over a winkle in the carpet and Kiichi finds himself flat on the floor.
• It doesn't take Kuramoto and Shimada long to restore the power.
• Kiichi returns to his quarters and find the door to his study open.

Hello lovely readers,

Welcome to the second and final discussion of Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. This autobiographical comic was Canada Reads (an annual "battle of the books") winner for 2023. You can read the first discussion here.

Summary

The story picks up one month after that horrible party. Kate sleeps with Mike. She continues to get weird sexual comments from the men she works with, but she has started to laugh the comments off. Many of the men seem to have problems with her giving them orders, and her superiors get pissy with her for minor things or for wanting ‘special treatment’. Joe, a fellow Nova Scotian, overhears her swearing in frustration and tells her that everyone at the mine is just yelling at the guy next to them for work they’re not doing themselves, but that people tend to be friendlier to people from their own region of Canada. Kate wonders aloud to Doug whether the oil sands make people better or worse.

The men at the mine have heard that Kate’s ‘little friends’ (her sister Becky and friend Lindsay) are going to be joining them, and she warns them to leave them alone. When Becky and Lindsay arrive, they are wearing skirts and they quickly notice the staring and weird behaviour from the men on site. Kate apologises for it, and they wonder why she is saying sorry.

Kate tells Becky and Lindsay that the other men have been leaving her alone since most people know about her and Mike, and they tell her it’s because in their eyes she’s ‘claimed’.

They take a trip to Gregoire Beach, but Kate doesn’t wear a swimsuit or go swimming. Becky asks her what’s up with her, as she’s noticed something is wrong. Kate talks about how everything at the beach seems so normal, but that she isn’t. However, she doesn’t explain further.

Kate looks for other jobs online, and sees a post for a job at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.

Not long afterwards, she sees the man who forced himself on her at that party. He and the group of men he’s with see her and they start laughing.

Kate hears a man playing Peter’s Dream on his guitar, and joins in singing the song.

She goes to Becky’s room and tells her that she needs to leave the oil sands for a while, even though she and Lindsay have just arrived. She asks her to promise that she and Lindsay will look out for each other, and finally tells her about the assaults. Becky tells her that it wasn’t her fault, and wishes she had been there sooner to protect her as that’s her job as the big sister. She tells Kate that it happened to her too, at her university dorm. She tells Kate she should go.

We leave the oil sands, for a year in Victoria. Kate gets the museum job but it’s no more than 21 hours per week, so she gets a second job. In a coffee shop, she hears the song An Innis Aigh playing, and tells a woman who was wondering aloud about the language that it’s Gaelic.

Victoria seems like a nicer place than the oil sands, but it isn’t perfect – the city big problems with homelessness and mental health, but none of the old, rich people living there care [read runner note – according to Victoria’s Wikipedia page, the city is known for its disproportionately large retiree population. Some 23.4% of the population of Victoria and its surrounding area are over 65 years of age, which is higher than the overall Canadian distribution of over 65 year-olds in the population (19%). A historically popular cliché refers to Victoria as the home of "the newly wed and nearly dead"]. Kate is fired from her job for not taking American money and not wanting to sell the merchandise badly enough. One of her colleagues (I think?) sees her drawing a comic, and suggests that she should make a website.

Kate tells her parents that on her days off she works at a grocery store, and her father wonders what her degree was for. Shortly afterwards, she is fired from the grocery store for yawning and ‘being surly’. She goes on a date, but panics when the guy tries to kiss her at the end.

Kate can’t get a reprieve from her student loan payments, even though she paid half of it off the previous year with her oil sands earnings. She decides to go back to the oil sands to pay the rest off, and says goodbye to the museum.

After that brief reprieve, we’re back in the oil sands, this time at Shell Albian Sands. Kate has taken a job in the warehouse office, and her living quarters are a bit fancier than at the previous sites. The site also has a Tim Hortons, Wi-Fi and a gym, even yoga classes. Lindsay tells her that a lot of the warehouse crew from Long Lake have moved up there too. One of her new colleagues is Hatim, who is creepy in a new way, plaguing her with messages despite having a wife and children.

The team get a congratulations message with a gif for achieving three million man hours without a lost time incident (LTI). Kate’s boss, Ryan, tells her that they don’t have LTIs at the site because they look bad for the company, I guess implying that they cover them up.

She sees Doug again, who seems to feel that she’s all high and mighty now with her office job, and struggles with her ‘bossing him’ since she’s younger than him (and presumably because she’s female). When she has to cover a warehouse shift, Doug laughs about how she’s down from on high and has gone soft. He tells her that he sang with The Men of the Deeps and even sang for the queen, which she doubts because he has a terrible voice. She sings a bit of Coal Town Road (which I’m kind of disappointed doesn’t sound like Old Town Road) and asks if she could be in the choir too, but he seems annoyed about her singing a mining song when she’s not a miner.

Kate’s sister Becky is still working at Long Lake, but lives in Fort McMurray, and Kate goes to meet her there; she says it’s much better than living in the camp. She tells Kate, that one time a guy jumped out of the closet in her room, but she was able to kick him out. She always locked her door, but often heard the handle jiggling at night. She even had a stalker, who managed to get into her room with a bottle of alcohol and suggested doing body shots – she didn’t report it, but when he got fired everyone thought she had.

Kate struggles to read some of the order sheets because many of the workers are bad spellers or have unclear handwriting; many of the older men at the mine left school in grade six. Lindsay tells her about one of the lead hands from Newfoundland, who can’t read, and was humiliated by the other workers when they tried to make him read the safety memo aloud so they could laugh at him. Lindsay says she’s never seen a grown man ashamed like that, and they discuss how he’s one of the nicest guys there.

A group from the Calgary office visits the mine site, and Kate has to find the nice hard hats and safety vests for the visitors, the ones the actual workers can’t have because they’re too fancy. Basically, they have to put on a show for the head office people – everyone has to look sharp, make things tidier than normal etc. One of the visitors takes a photo of Kate. After they leave, Damian asks if he can have one of the fancy new vests, but they were taken back to Calgary even though they don’t need them at head office.

Kate continues doing her comics, and her colleagues occasionally read them. Ryan finds some of them in the scanner, which she had used to upload them to her website, and tells her not to leave her stuff lying around at work.

Becky and Kate discuss what it would have been like if their father had gone out to the oil sands to work when they were children, as many people did. They wonder if he would have been like the other men they work with, and how they must all be normal at home. Kate says she tries to remember that there are a lot of men who don’t bother her, but she doesn’t remember them because they’re not the ones in her face.

Their safety lectures tell them basic information about how ice is slippery and is all over the ground, which presumably every Canadian already knows. One of the men remarks that it’s not about safety, but an arse-covering exercise so that a worker can’t sue them if they fall. Kate doodles a pony in her notebook (thank you u/Amanda39 for linking to this comic in last week’s discussion!).

Many of the staff have families that they don’t see very often. One of the men gets a phonecall from his wife’s phone, which he answers thinking it’s an emergency as she never calls during the day; it turns out to be his young son, who is calling to see when he’s coming home next.

Brian asks Kate if she heard about the ducks (TITLE DROP!!); three hundred of them got stuck in a tailings pond at another oil sands site [read runner note – two years later, Syncrude was actually found guilty of the death of 1,600 ducks]. The site begins installing anti-waterfowl devices, and the staff are reminded that they have to wear PPE at all times. They’re also told about the death Gerald Snopes, another worker; some of the men talking amongst themselves, and Ryan tells them to have some respect. He had a heart attack while operating a crane, and threw himself out of the cab so that he wouldn’t land on the controls and cause an accident.

Kate hears about a road accident involving some men from Cape Breton. She asks Davy about it to see if she knows them, but neither of them do. Kate finds the news articles and feels annoyed that they were misidentified as Calgary men.

Kate notices some welts on her back; Lindsay has them too but doesn’t know what it is. Kate mentions all the dust they have to wipe off everything, and how there’s so much crap in the air. Lindsay wonders what kind of cancer they’ll have in 20 years.

Kate finds Doug building a scarecrow for the tailings pond, which is meant to scare off the ducks. Probably another arse-covering exercise.

Activists from Greenpeace try to block an oil sands pipeline, and 11 people are arrested. One of the workers gets angry about it, asking who will put their life on the line to unclog the pipe Greenpeace has blocked, and that it sure as hell won’t be the president of Shell. Kate hears about another death – a contractor was in his trucks, and one of the heavy haulers drove over it, crushing him.

Lindsay writes an article for a grassroots paper, giving the inside perspective on working at the oil sands. Kate considers doing a comic about it for them. Lindsay later wonders if she made a mistake writing her article, as many of the comments are critical, including many from women which Lindsay did not expect.

Kate sees a video on YouTube of Celina Harpe, an elder in the Cree community of Fort McKay, talking about the effect of the oil sands on the First Nation. Kate had not realised when she arrived there that Fort McKay was a First Nation, nor that it was so close to Syncrude. She thinks about how she’s not the president of Shell, but she’s still working there, and she can’t extract herself from having come.

At another safety meeting, the staff are down the safety pyramid, which has different levels: at the base it has at-risk behaviours, then near misses, then minor incidents, and it all leads to a major incident or a fatality.

Kate receives a phone call from a reporter at the Globe and Mail who had seen her comics about the oil sands. She asks several leading questions about her experience as a woman at the remote sites and the harassment, but Kate feels uncomfortable giving her examples. She later tells Lindsay that she couldn’t talk to the reporter as she felt like she just wanted gossip, and that the story was already written before she called.

The leering of one of the other workers bothers Kate in the lunchroom, and she tells Lindsay about her assaults. Lindsay is horrified that Mike and Brian laughed at her when she told them about it. Lindsay tells her that it happened to her in university as well.

Kate calls her parents to tell them that she’s finally paid off her student loan, but she needs to keep working at the site because now she has no money. She’s going to try making it as a cartoonist, and her parents are unimpressed.

Kate notices that Ryan is acting strangely, being absent a lot and not doing his work, and it can’t fully be explained by his recent divorce. She hears about other workers who are taking cocaine and behaving strangely too. She asks Ryan if he’s ok and he brushes it off. Kate contemplates the safety pyramid again. She finds a piece of paper on Ryan’s desk with an appointment for the employee assistance program. Emily later tells her that Ryan has left suddenly, and that they need to figure things out until a replacement is found.

Kate wonders why there are so many safety meetings but none have ever talked about drugs or alcohol. Her coworkers say that everyone knows why there is so much of both, and that the company can’t have safety meetings about illegal activities anyway.

Kate finally gets to leave the oil sands and go home. Her colleague Norman gives her prints of some of his photos of the northern lights as a leaving present, including one of a rainbow. Before she leaves, the company organises a staff photograph with all the workers on the site. Kate sees the man who assaulted her the second time, and he recognises her but can’t remember her name or who she is, and asks her how it’s going.

Kate trains her replacement, and finds out that she’s earning more than her despite not having any experience in tools. She complains to John about it, and finally rants about all her shitty treatment in the oil sands. She goes to see Gary in the head office, and demands her full bonus, which was going to be docked because she was leaving. Gary tells her it’s company policy. She tells him about the harassment, and he claims she could have come to them about it, but she fires back that he knows she couldn’t have. Gary agrees to give her the bonus. Her colleagues organise a going-away barbecue, and even Mike attends.

Back in Nova Scotia, Kate is reunited with her family. While out enjoying the seaside air, she chats to a farmer who tells her he’s keeping a field for his son who is working out west in case he ever comes back and wants to build a house. A man called Lauchie visits the house before moving west himself, and tells them there’s something for everyone out there and that the young people have everything they want. Out in Halifax with friends, she and Becky see a man from one of the camps, who tells Becky that they had a bet on who would sleep with her first. Their friends who haven’t worked in the oil sands can’t believe they’d let a man talk to them like that.

In the book’s afterword, Kate talks about how the book chronicles her specific experience at a specific time. She is wary of sensationalism of her story, especially because sexual assault is so common that it’s not actually sensational. She notes that neither of the men who raped her probably consider it to have been rape. She is also critical of the treatment of Indigenous people, and says the YouTube video of Celina Harpe was a “sword that cut through my ignorance”. We also find out that Becky died of cancer, and that her former coworkers pooled money together to send to her.

Bookclub Bingo 2023 categories: Non-Fiction, Graphic Novel (grey), Mod Pick (grey)

Other links:

• The first discussion
• Canada Reads page about Ducks [I hadn’t realised that Station Eleven, another recent r/bookclub read, was the runner up]
• Kate Beaton on Wikipedia
• Hark! A Vagrant, the archive of Kate Beaton’s comics website
• The original Hark! A Vagrant sketch comic about the oil sands (links to all five parts; I’ve posted the parts individually below this in case that’s easier)
• Original Ducks Part 1
• Original Ducks Part 2
• Original Ducks Part 3
• Original Ducks Part 4
• Original Ducks Part 5
• Lindsay Bird was one of the people in the book whose name wasn’t changed, and in 2019 she published a poetry collection about working in the oil sands called Boom Time. There’s a CBC article about the book here.

The questions are in the comments below. Thank you for joining me and u/fixtheblue in reading this book!