Welcome to the West Village Book Club
Rounding up WVBC's 2024 picks!
Hi, book lovers!
First of all, thank you for being here. It means so much to us to start the year with this extension of the West Village Book Club to a broader community.
As the plan stands (though, you know what they say about the best-laid plans so…there’s an invisible asterisk here!), we intend to pop into your inbox once a month — ideally on the 1st — to share what we read the previous month, details about how we approached hosting book club, and any paired discussion questions. Of course, the hope is that this can help you implement similar concepts into your own book clubs!
Otherwise, we’re also looking to help those seeking fellow readers to start their own book clubs. For our New York City-based readers, we’re working on looking at how quarterly events could help facilitate these connections, and it sounds like we’re on track based on the below message from a community member…
As we build out our February 1st send, we’d love to first get a temperature check on how many readers here are interested in in-person events! Please feel free to chime in directly in the comments if this applies to you, and we’ll ensure the details reach you once we’ve worked out a venue and date.
January
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doer
We adored this transportation historical fiction novel (recently adapted by Netflix) about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
Perfect to pair with a French-inspired menu! Boeuf Bourguignon à La Julia Child is sure to win you some fans.
February
GOOD MATERIAL by Dolly Alderton
With our entire WVBC crew either recently married, engaged, or in the throes of dating, Dolly’s latest hit home big time. We also had the chance to see her live in New York and were spellbound by her quick wit.
Perfect to pair with conversations about your dating stories. These stories are sure to come out naturally as you discuss this book, but a prompt like, “Andy feels women are able to access a deeper or more complex plane of emotion than men. Do you agree or disagree?” could get you talking all night!
March
BYE, BABY by Carola Lovering
We couldn’t resist picking Carola’s latest with it’s references to the West Village. Trigger warning if you have any new moms in your book club, maybe stay away from this one? Otherwise, it’s a fun, fast-paced read that calls questions about friendship and motherhood into question.
Perfect to pair with any nod’s to Ralph’s coffee shop. This café is mentioned in the book, so we paired this meeting with Ralph’s chocolates. Plus, since it was nearing Easter when we met, everyone got an Easter basket to take home.
April
EXPIRATION DATES by Rebecca Serle
WVBC are all suckers for Rebecca Serle’s ability to incorporate magical realism into her stories. This one was her first real ‘love story’ and had us all enthralled with the concept the book is predicated on: getting a note with a date on it indicating the end of a relationship.
Perfect to pair with discussion questions around not just Serle’s characters navigating love, but the question about whether you’d want to get a note that would tell you if a relationship would last!
May
THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE by Jo Piazza
This book really got us into our European Summer mentality as author Jo Piazza took us to Sicily. Collectively, this was one of our fave picks of the year for the thoughtful way it bridged past and present.
Perfect to pair with Italian cuisine! Lasagne and cannolis may just be required if you ask us.
May bonus chapter: Paris offsite!
THE LAST DRESS FROM PARIS by Jade Beer
One of our absolute highlights of the year was when four of our WVBC members were able to make travel schedules align for a Paris meeting. We chose to pair this offsite with a Paris-based book that brought us directly into the scenes. It was pure magic.
Perfect to pair with a visit to La Galerie Dior, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Musée de l'Orangerie, and Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Prés which are all mentioned in the novel.
June
THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT by Carley Fortune
For the past couple of summers, we’ve picked up Fortune’s latest release, and this one set on Prince Edward Island didn’t disappoint! We’ll be reading her next summer release in 2025 to continue the trend.
Perfect to pair with oysters from PEI and vinho verde which is mentioned throughout the novel.
July
SWAN SONG by Elin Hilderbrand
Oh, Elin, what can we say? This was a bittersweet one as it was her final Nantucket summer novel. We read THE PERFECT COUPLE last summer and will continue trying to incorporate her work into our annual lineup as she delves into her campus novels coming soon.
Perfect to pair with a picnic-style setting. We met in Montauk for this one which lent itself perfectly to margs and more.
August
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig
It was fun to do a backlist title that many of our girlies hadn’t read! Trigger warning for suicide in this one, but it brings up incredible discussions about what it means to be content with the path you’ve chosen. Special thanks to The Mercer in Soho for hosting us for this one!
Perfect to pair with questions about which unexplored life you’d like to live out if given the chance.
September
THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach
As a Read With Jenna pick and the Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Favorite Fiction (!!) we’re not telling you anything new by sharing how poignant this story is. While on its surface it’s about wedding culture, the layers go much deeper. 10/10 recommend!
Perfect to pair with your version of “Vacation in a Cup” as a nod to the novel. Here are our discussion questions!
October
THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore
October is a fun month to do a spooky read, so we chose to pick up this propulsive thriller about a teenager who vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp. It was also WVBC’s second birthday, so we celebrated with Magnolia (duh) and our annual tradition of each bringing birthday cards for WVBC and reading aloud our messages about what book club has meant to us in that given year.
Perfect to pair with Halloween! Nothing like reading a mystery as it starts to get spooky out.
November
BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS: A MEMOIR by Ina Garten
I mean…what can we say other than this is a textbook-perfect memoir? Highly recommend getting this one on audio so you can hear Ina read her touching story to you!
Perfect to pair with any of Ina’s recipes! We all tried our hands at her dishes which made for the perfect friendsgiving.
December
WINDOW SHOPPING by Tessa Bailey
Admittedly, this smutty Christmas read wasn’t our style, though, it did make for a more fun book in an otherwise hectic season.
Perfect to pair with a favorite things exchange!!! This was a highlight of our meetings this year, with each member bringing two gifts, each valued at around $40; we drew names out of a hat and everyone got to pick from under the tree. This was easily our coziest meeting of the entire year, too, with the sweetest menu, made complete with hot cocoa and a PJs dress code.
Until next time,
Caylee, Chelsea, Hilary, Jenna, Kayla, Laura, Nicole, and Xan
West Village Book Club
Very interested in any in person events!!
Totally interested in an in-person event and connecting with others in NYC looking to start a book club!
(P.s. love the idea of the book/food pairing!🥰)