Chicago SF Book Discussion: Someone You Can Build a Nest in (John Wiswell)

On August 23, we'll be discussing "Someone You Can Build a Nest In" by John Wiswell, a nominee for the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Please note that this meeting will be held on the FOURTH Saturday of the month, because our regular meeting date conflicts with Worldcon in Seattle (August 13–17).

As always, this discussion is free and open to anybody and everybody.

This meetup is hybrid -- we meet both in-person at the Oak Park Public library and online via our Discord channel ("Chicago-SF-book-discussion"). A link with which to log on will be published shortly before the meeting. We meet once a month, normally on the third Saturday.

Follow here, or on Facebook, or our Discord channel for updates.

For those attending in-person, the meeting will be at the Oak Park Public Library, at 834 Lake St, Oak Park, IL (708) 383-8200. The library is close to free street parking to the north (inquire in comments for the best spots), has its own dedicated parking garage, and is within a short walk of both the Metra and Green line train stops. There is also an inexpensive parking garage 2 blocks away at 720 North Blvd. Please be aware that the library's parking garage closes at 5 pm. (For tips on the best street parking, please post a request in the discussion.)

Those who are able to meet in person at the Oak Park Public Library usually have dinner at one of Oak Park's many nearby restaurants afterwards.

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From the publisher:
Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by impolite monster hunters, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.

Badly hurt by the hunters, Shesheshen’s nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human. Homily is kind and would make a great co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young can devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, Shesheshen realizes that eating her girlfriend isn’t an option.

Just as Shesheshen’s about to confess her identity, Homily reveals something else: she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?

Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, so now she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As Shesheshen’s hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, the bigger challenge remains: learning how to build a life with, rather than in, the woman she loves.