WVBC monthly: chapter 10
celebrating West Village Book Club's 3rd birthday and Halloween!
Hi, dear readers!
We’re writing to you coming off one of the most magical days of the year in NYC: Halloween! The city is always buzzing on the 31st with city kids trick-or-treating on brownstone-lined streets and the iconic West Village Parade closing down 6th Avenue. It feels like Halloweentown come to life.
WVBC had a very festive month!!! hosted our October meeting, and her invite came with strict instructions to come dressed in costume as a book character. No surprise, everyone delivered! We had sweet-as-honey Christopher Robin, ‘70s besties Camila and Karen from Daisy Jones and the Six, New York’s one and only Serena Van der Woodsen (XOXO!), the forever chic Holly Golightly, and the most timeless of all: Daisy Buchanan.
We pulled tarot cards over candlelight and wished both and West Village Book Club a happy birthday! Can you believe this marks three years of WVBC? We feel like we’re just getting started…
Last night, our very own hosted us for a housewarming-meets-Halloween party at her new Brooklyn Heights abode, where we got to celebrate a good old-fashioned Halloween, handing out candy to trick or treaters, making smoky Vampire Negronis, eating pizza from a local spot (Jules!), and indulging in all of the sweet treats. We even made it out to a local dive for karaoke. Read all about it in Chels’ latest Substack, linked here! xx WVBC
Now, let’s get into it! Included in this month’s edition:
Recap of our October WVBC pick: Wild Dark Shore
Small Business Love: Prima Après
WVBC Turns Three!
What else we’re reading right now: a peek into our ‘Just Read’ lists
Ps. if you’re new here (welcome!) or missed last month’s recap, be sure to check it out below!
WVBC October Pick: Wild Dark Shore
A thriller for October? Groundbreaking! We were, in fact, thrilled* to lean into the spooky vibes this month with Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore… which received tons of praise from our friends, followers, and fellow readers! And for good reason, it was an excellent read.
Wild Dark Shore follows a mysterious woman named Rowan who washes up on a dying Antarctic island where a man and his three kids are living alone in what used to be the world’s largest seed bank. She quickly realizes something’s very wrong: sabotaged radios, a fresh grave, and a father with serious secrets. It’s a tense climate thriller about what we’re willing to do to survive when the world is, quite literally, drowning around us.
The author released a series of questions to ask as book club discussion starters! Download them here.
Small Business Love
While we typically do a feature on a ‘local’ business, this month, we wanted to shine a spotlight on a small business that helped make our October meeting even sweeter! A special shoutout to Prima Après, an elegant, quick-service restaurant brand selling comforting pasta dishes and decadent dessert pavlovas both in our stores and online. Co-founder Abney Harper was kind enough to send us both pasta and pavlova from her shop, which made prepping for book club all the more simple! If you’re party planning for the holidays, be sure to check out her lovely selection of products, which can be shipped nationwide.
WVBC Turns Three!
In addition to ’s birthday, this month we were celebrating West Village Book Club turning three! It’s hard to believe that it’s been three whole years since we first gathered in ’ studio apartment, some of us meeting for the very first time that night when now it feels as though WVBC is such an integral part of our lives. This is us encouraging you to start your own book club!!!! It can be as simple as tapping two friends who like to read and asking them to each bring one friend—and voilà, that could be the start of something that can provide immeasurable purpose to your life!
What We’re Reading and Loving this Month
Chelsea’s Corner
Connect with Chelsea on Goodreads, Instagram, and subscribe to her Substack!
Night People by Mark Ronson is a book I think we have all read here at WVBC! I loved the NYC nightlife lore, felt the nostalgia of some throwbacks, and also felt like I learned a bit more about my city. Also can we go back to that level of fun?!
Worthy: How to Believe You Are Enough and Transform Your Life by Jamie Kern Lima is a book I finally finished (started it months ago and then picked it back up this month), that I highly recommend listening to on audio book for a little daily pep talk. If you have struggled with any self-worth issues, this is a worthy read.
Laura’s Corner
Connect with Laura on Goodreads and Instagram
The Price of Illusion by Joan Juliet Buck was recommended by Lauren Sherman on the Fashion People podcast and this memoir completely captivated me. Joan Juliet Buck—who I had no idea was the only American editor-in-chief of French Vogue—tells her story with sharp insight, wit, and a deep love for style, words, and illusion. If you’re fascinated by the inner workings of magazines and publishing, this sits perfectly alongside Tina Brown and Graydon Carter’s memoirs.
Don’t Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders is a tense, twisty psychological thriller about a new mother whose life unravels when her husband’s estranged daughter moves in. Full of gaslighting, buried secrets, and a creeping sense of danger—perfect for fans of domestic suspense with an unreliable edge.
A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch is the book I can’t stop recommending to everyone. If you devoured Yellowface and can’t resist a story with an unreliable narrator and a fast-moving, slightly unhinged plot, A Novel Obsession belongs on your nightstand. Set in New York, this debut delivers everything I love in a book: messy, complicated female friendships (and rivalries), the intoxicating world of writing about writing, and the kind of psychological tension that keeps you reading past midnight.
The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis is a dual-timeline mystery that imagines what life inside the Frick mansion might have been like. Ahead of my first visit to the Frick Collection this year, I picked up The Magnolia Palace — and I’m so glad I did. While the story uses the real Frick family as inspiration, it’s a work of fiction that artfully embellishes and reimagines history for the sake of a compelling narrative. I enjoyed how the novel brought the museum’s past to life, adding an emotional layer to my anticipation of seeing the space in person. A great read for fans of historical fiction with a touch of intrigue.
It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin by offers a fascinating look at how Jane Birkin became such a lasting cultural icon. I enjoyed learning more about Jane Birkin through this book — especially the story behind the iconic Birkin bag. I was surprised to learn that Jane was actually British, even though she’s so often held up as the epitome of “French girl” style. I also didn’t realize she had such a rich music and acting career beyond her fashion influence.
Caylee’s Corner
Connect with Caylee on Goodreads and Instagram
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall earned a spot on my favorites shelf this year. Absolutely devoured this book. I will always love a first love trope (a curse of mine!) and my god this story evoked all those layered, frenzied, too big emotions. Flawed characters, mystery and suspense woven throughout, some twists and turns. Phenomenal.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors is another fan fave of this group and for good reason. This book is as much a love story between Frank and Cleo as it is with the author and New York City. Should be required reading if you live here. Perfectly captures the essence and reminded me of a storyline that could have been on a season of GIRLS.
Night People by Mark Ronson has been read and reviewed by pretty much all the WVBC girls by now so I’ll spare you a lengthy review! I enjoyed it on audio bc Mark has a sexy voice (kind of transatlantic given his London <> New York upbringing) and his stories made me want to get drunk and go party.
Jenna’s Corner
Connect with Jenna on Goodreads and Instagram
107 Days by Kamala Harris is a candid recounting of Harris’s historic race for presidency. If your political views align with WVBC’s, you’ll enjoy the honest peek behind the curtain this book offers. If not, keeping scrolling— and tbh, maybe consider unsubscribing (sorry?).
I’ll Have What She’s Having by Chelsea Handler was a quick read and a bit of a palate cleanser for me this month. I’ve had this on my shelf for a while after attending her book launch event with Tinx earlier this year. The novel explored deeper topics than I would’ve expected while still providing plenty of levity and giggles.
Kayla’s Corner
Connect with Kayla on Goodreads, Instagram, and subscribe to her Substack!
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams has left me in complete awe of how naive Facebook was in its early days of the impact it would have on elections and governments around the world. This book was written by a woman who was one of the first to work on public policy at the organization and shook me to my core, particularly for how she portrayed Sheryl Sandberg.
Night People by Mark Ronson LOLOL that we have literally alllll read this by now. Can you tell we share a soft spot for Mr. Ronson? Admittedly, I’m probably the last music-versed in our group, but I loved hearing how in the 90s, the club scene wasn’t what it is now…here’s to a world where going out is less about bottle service and more about good vibes.
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover was one I picked up ahead of the release of the movie adaptation. I had the chance to go to an early screening of it with Threads and thought the film was so well done! I know diehard literary people like to come down on Hoover’s work as being terribly unserious, but I think she hits on what the vast majority of readers are looking for today: pageturners! This one is cute.
Thanks so much for reading! What titles have you gotten into and loved lately? Let us know in the comments!
Keep the pageturners coming,
xo WVBC