Cocktails & Conversation

Once again, we’re going to double down on sci-fi. One night for proper sci-fi (robots, AI, the whole futuristic shebang), and another for sci-fi lite (but deep enough to win a French literary award). Feel free to pick one event or both (with the understanding you might get just one).

The first pick? A book that ambushed my brain so hard, I’m still recovering. And I don’t even like sci-fi. It’s the kind of story that latches on and won’t let go, the kind you’ll want to shove at friends just to get their views. Pro tip: AFTER reading, hunt down a hardcover version, discreetly strip the cover, and stare at what’s underneath. Trust me. Just wait.

What makes us human . . . ?

Life has thrown Zelu some curveballs over the years, but when she's suddenly fired and her latest novel is rejected, all in the middle of her sister's wedding . . . come on.

Disabled, unemployed and from a nosy, high-achieving, judgmental family, she's not sure what comes next. In her hotel room that night, Zelu takes the risk that will define her life when she decides to write something crazy and unlike her other books. A sci-fi drama about robots and AI after the extinction of humanity.

And everything changes. Every thing. Because sometimes a story really does have the power to reshape the world . . . ?

448 pgs
science-fiction

We’re going to double down on sci-fi again. Last week's event was for proper sci-fi and this one is more sci-fi lite. Not to worry, it’s still deep enough to have won an obscure French literary award. Feel free to pick one event, or both if you’re feeling really adventurous.

This event is the people’s choice - our ‘Official’ Sci-Fi Winner! You all voted for it, despite the warnings, so no take-backs. Let’s cross our fingers and dive into our next reading adventure. Regrets? Let’s read and see.

Welcome to Femlandia . . . It’s no place like home.

In the 2040s, the world is unsafe for a woman alone. Miranda’s life has unraveled in a matter of months. Her home seized, her job erased, her husband gone. With nowhere left to turn, she sends a desperate message to the one person she swore she’d never ask for help. Her mother. The woman who vanished decades ago to build Femlandia, a secluded, self-sustaining community where women live free from the violence of men. A utopia for women.

And while the invitation is a lifeline, it isn’t the sanctuary expected. Behind its pretty facade, something festers. Miranda isn't so sure she wants to join the Sisterhood. The women smile too wide, their loyalty to the cause borders on fanatical, and the rules? Unspoken but ironclad. No questions. No doubts. No men.

Yet, babies are born here . . . Always daughters, never sons. And the deeper Miranda digs, the more she realizes that her mother didn’t just escape the world. She remade it. But at what cost?

Life outside the gates is full of danger, but there’s something just as sinister going on within.

336 pgs
science-fiction

We are going back to Sunken Meadow for our 4th Annual Summer Beach Reads! Please bring something to sit on and meet us at the boardwalk by Concession Stand, where there's food/beverages/wine available. And not to worry, we haven't lost a member yet!

1st STOP - HOPE FALLS, ENGLAND 🇬🇧

Eden Fox and her husband recently moved into Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls. A pretty village on the coast. She's an artist and before her first exhibition, sets off for a run. When she returns home, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And this stranger insists that she is the wife.

One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.

Six months earlier . . . There is this shady London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death. And after visiting, when secrets start unraveling, she feels compelled to right some old wrongs . . .
[mashed-up publisher blurbs]

310 pgs
Thriller/Mystery