Bangkok Book Club

In Person Meetup/

Note: the book club meet preceding this one is “On Earth We’re Completely Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong on Tuesday 07 May, and to be followed by “Guns & Almond Milk” by Mustafa Marwan on Tuesday 25 June

• What we'll do

Finish reading the book beforehand (not a must, but highly recommended unless you don't mind spoilers!), then join us in person and share your insights over a meal and/or drink(s) at Bar Storia del Caffè, The Salil Hotel. It’s on Soi Sukhumvit 57 and is 5-minute walk from BTS Thonglor station.

Approximately 173 pages. Available at Kinokuniya Bookstore for 558 baht. Or you may prefer to listen to it on your audible.com app. As an ebook on kindle
it’s $11.99

Synopsis

After Rita is found dead in a church she used to attend, the official investigation into the incident is quickly closed. Her sickly mother is the only person still determined to find the culprit. Chronicling a difficult journey across the suburbs of the city, an old debt and a revealing conversation, Elena Knows unravels the secrets of its characters and the hidden facets of authoritarianism and hypocrisy in our society.

• Important to know

No entrance fee, no membership fees. Your patronage of the cafe is highly appreciated, as usage of their facility is without charge. Expect meal/drink to average 400 baht thereabouts.G

In Person Meetup/
Author likely in attendance
https://youtube.com/shorts/iLJqzBBp7og?si=md3RAoHMqVoPz4i5

Note: the book club meet preceding this one is “Elena Knows” by Claudia Piñeiro on Tuesday 28May

• What we'll do

Finish reading, then join us in person, share your insights and possibly converse with the author over a meal and/or drink(s) at Bar Storia del Caffè, The Salil Hotel. It’s on Soi Sukhumvit 57 and is 5-minute walk from BTS Thonglor station.

Approximately 248 pages. Its available at either Asia Books (https://www.asiabooks.com/en/guns-almond-milk-a-novel-299517.html) or Kinokuniya Bookstore (https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/bw/9781623711054).
(As of May 10: for Asia Books, the Central World branch has 26 books on Stock while Siam branch has 2. For Kinokuniya, 9 books at Siam Paragon and 2 at Central World).
In case of request for reduced-price book, pls contact event host

Synopsis

An adrenaline-fueled journey into war-torn Yemen, this novel is the perfect read for fans of fast-paced fiction.

Luke Larson, a British Egyptian doctor, runs from his problematic past in the UK and becomes a war surgeon. When he is taken hostage by Western security contractors in a besieged hospital in Yemen, he realizes that after spending years saving the lives of others, he needs to face the demons of his past in order to save his own.

• Important to know

No entrance fee, no membership fees. Your patronage of the cafe is highly appreciated, as usage of their facility is without charge. Expect meal/drink to average 400 baht thereabouts.

In Person Meetup/

Note: the book club meet preceding this one is “Elena Knows” by Claudia Piñeiro on Tuesday 28May and “Guns & Almond Milk” by Mustafa Marwan on Tursday 25Jun.
• What we'll do

Finish reading, then join us in person, share your insights and possibly converse with the author over a meal and/or drink(s) at Bar Storia del Caffè, The Salil Hotel. It’s on Soi Sukhumvit 57 and is 5-minute walk from BTS Thonglor station.

Approximately 352 pages. It’s available at either Asia Books or Kinokuniya for THB 435. Or get it aon kindle for $12.99. Alternatively you listen to it on audible.com.

Synopsis
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf.

Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble?

As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court's eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess's future hangs entirely in the balance.

• Important to know

No entrance fee, no membership fees. Your patronage of the cafe is highly appreciated, as usage of their facility is without charge. Expect meal/drink to average 400 baht thereabouts.