Croydon Bookworms 📚🐛 (Book Club in-Person)

The Blade Itself (The First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie
📖 515 pages
Genre: Fantasy • Grimdark • Epic Fantasy

Summary:
In a world where heroes are rare and survival often means getting your hands dirty, The Blade Itself throws us headfirst into the brutal reality behind epic fantasy.
We follow a cast of unforgettable characters: a crippled torturer who hates his job, a barbarian trying (and mostly failing) to be a better man, a vain nobleman desperate to prove he’s more than a pretty face, and a dangerously clever wizard with plans far bigger than anyone suspects.
Joe Abercrombie flips traditional fantasy on its head—this is a story where victories are costly, morality is murky, and violence has consequences. Sharp dialogue, dark humor, and morally grey characters drive a gripping introduction to a world teetering on the edge of war. This isn’t about chosen ones—it’s about what people are willing to become when the blade is already drawn.

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Join the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series Squad! 🗡️📚
If you’ve ever wanted to start a fantasy series but didn’t want to go it alone, this is your crew. We read one book a month together—enough time to savor the story, debate the characters, and unpack the twists without the stress.

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How It Works:
🪐 Series Focus: We’re starting a brand-new journey with The First Law trilogy. This month’s read is The Blade Itself, Book 1 of Joe Abercrombie’s gritty fantasy saga. New world, new characters, fresh start.
🙌 No Pressure Zone: Didn’t finish the book? No worries. Join us anyway—we’ll dive into themes, character arcs, favorite lines, shocking moments, and whether this is a series worth continuing together.

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📍 Join us at the Dog in Croydon on the 25th of February 2026 at 7:00 PM
Grab a drink, sharpen your wits, and step into a world where magic is dangerous, heroes are flawed, and the line between good and evil is anything but clear.

Educated by Tara Westover (334 pages)
Genre: Memoir, Nonfiction, Family, Resilience

Summary:
Tara Westover grew up in a strict and isolated survivalist family in rural Idaho, with no formal education until the age of 17. Determined to forge a different path, she taught herself enough to enter university, eventually earning a PhD from Cambridge. Educated is her extraordinary memoir of family, self-invention, and the transformative power of learning. Honest, raw, and inspiring, it explores what we owe to ourselves — and what it costs to break away.
Trigger Warning: This book contains themes of abuse, neglect, and family trauma. Please take care while reading.

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Join Our Book Club Bingo! 📚✨
For our March pick, we’re exploring a moving and thought-provoking true story about resilience, identity, and the pursuit of knowledge — with a side of Book Club Bingo, of course!

How It Works:
🎲 Grab Your Bingo Card: We’ll give you a custom card with prompts and themes from the book.
✅ Mark Your Cards: Tick off squares during our discussion.
🎉 Shout “Bingo!”: First to complete 2 rows, columns, or diagonals wins.
🎁 Win a Book: Two lucky winners will go home with a new read!

Expect a powerful evening diving into themes of family, memory, independence, and the courage it takes to rewrite your own story. Bring your thoughts, your favourite lines, and your biggest questions.

📍 The Spread Eagle in Croydon
📅 11th of March 2026 (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM
Are you ready to discover what it means to be educated? 🎓📖

Circe by Madeline Miller
📖 393 pages
Genre: Greek Mythology • Retelling • Literary Fiction

Summary:
Banished to a lonely island for daring to defy the gods, Circe grows up in the shadow of power she was never meant to wield. From the halls of Olympus to the shores of her exile, she encounters legendary figures, monsters, and mortals alike, slowly discovering her own strength in a world ruled by cruelty, pride, and divine politics.
Richly atmospheric and deeply human, Circe reimagines Greek myth through the eyes of a woman finding her voice. It’s a story about transformation, loneliness, love, and choosing your own fate, even when the gods would rather you stay small.

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Join Our Book Club Bingo! 🧿📚
For April, we’re diving into something mythic, emotional, and quietly powerful. Expect gods behaving badly, magic lessons gone wrong, and plenty of moments perfect for ticking off your Bingo card.

How It Works:
🧿 Grab Your Bingo Card: Filled with gods, monsters, curses, banishments, and iconic mythological moments.
✅ Mark Your Cards: Check off squares as we discuss characters, themes, favorite scenes, and retellings of familiar myths.
🎉 Shout “Bingo!” Be the first to complete two rows, columns, or diagonals.
📚 Win a Book: Two readers will leave with a new addition to their TBR pile!

Expect witches, legends, morally questionable immortals, and one woman rewriting her story.

📍 The Dog on Surrey Street, Croydon
📅 15th of April at 7:00 PM