American Dirt

Author: Jeanine Cummins

Who Picked the Book: Amberly

One-sentence summary: A woman and her son must run for their lives from Acapulco to the United States to escape the head of a cartel who killed their entire family. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: The writing was fantastic.

Our least favorite thing about it: The heartbreaking nature of the story and the fact that it's at least partially true for so many people. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Humanity, Violence, Survival, Moral Dilemmas, Retribution

Our favorite quote: "Lydia is dubious at first, but if you can’t trust a librarian, who can you trust?"

Notes: We all enjoyed this book so much and all rated it very high - and that despite the fact that this story is brutal. And that we know it's a similar and true story to so many migrants. Even so, this book was beautiful for it's stark, but incredible writing. Nothing was held back, but it was told so beautifully. It was not an easy story to read (especially in times like these), but it was an amazing book. 

Here are some of the things we discussed:

The whole journey was about how much of your humanity would remain vs. just simply surviving at all costs. Who would each migrant be when they reached the end of their journey?

We thought it interesting that the author made the deliberate choice to have Lydia have a friendship with Javier. It gave her an insight into his mind and also served to make her pain greater in a way. It also humanized Javier to the extent that's possible. 

We talked about the "missionary dilemma." Would we have sent migrants with innocent teens to cross a cartel-monitored check point? We also talked about the implications the author made about the teens attitudes toward the environment and the Mexican people. The push/pull between the husband and wife (especially considering where they were both from) was interesting - as was the subtle change in the relationship between Lydia and the wife after the wife objected to helping them. 

When paying for the girls' release with the very last of their money, we all acknowledged that Lydia was trying to be the person she believed herself to be. And that her son already thought she was. To not do so would have violated her sense of self. 

We found it so interesting and insightful the way the author showed how Javier - and types like him - are so bent on what they perceive as retribution for wrongs done to them, when it's really their own actions that led to the consequences they experience. They simply cannot face their complicity. Javier's daughter's death was a direct result of her revulsion of her father. But instead of facing that, he turned outward and blamed Sebastian for revealing his true nature to his daughter. 

We discussed why Javier might not have wanted to kill Lydia. And why that statement toward the end of the book when they're on the phone together ("if I'd wanted you dead, you would be.") was so true and interesting. What did he want from her? Why pursue her, then? 

Overall, we found a lot to discuss and a lot to appreciate about this heartbreaking story. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: Both Stephanie and Lindsay were able to attend this meeting! 

What We Ate: Amberly made us the most delicious chicken and beef tacos with guacamole, spicy jalapeno dip, Spanish rice, Mexican pastries, chocolate cake and ice cream PLUS sangria and margaritas.

A Town Called Solace

Author: Mary Lawson

Who Picked the Book: Rachel

One-sentence summary: A girl with a missing sister, a man recently divorced, and a woman about to die converge in a small, Northern Canadian town in unexpected ways. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: This was an easy to read, engaging story.

Our least favorite thing about it: The pacing was off and the ending felt both rushed and abrupt. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Parenting, Starting Over, Dying, Love, Responsibility, Childhood

Our favorite quote: "Adults in general were less reliable than they should be, in Clara’s opinion."

Notes: This story held our attention while reading. It seemed short to us - especially since the ending came fast and ended the book quickly. The rest of the book took a leisurely look at these characters, their lives, and how their stories converged. There was a heavy theme of "bad" parenting - telling lies to kids to keep them from painful truths, ignoring or not even trying to relate to your child, and emotional neglect. We wondered if Elizabeth was a completely reliable narrator about her past with Liam. Was she telling the whole truth about his parents/mother? Or was she seeing what she wanted to see in order to take him in as her own? During our discussion, it was brought up that Elizabeth's storyline played into some not-so-nice tropes about infertile women. And while it did make for a good story, that's definitely true. Although none of us really picked up on that while reading. We all thought Liam's relationship with the handyman was a nice piece of small-town life and also a welcome addition to the story. Overall, we liked this short, but interesting story and enjoyed reading it. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: We were caught in a BIG storm while enjoying our hot chocolate and crepes at Sweet Paris! We waited out the rain and got back to Rachel's house relatively dry. We were supposed to swim earlier in the day, but the storm looked like it was going to come earlier and cancelled that part of our fun. 

What We Ate: Rachel took us to Petra Mexican Restaurant for enchiladas, tacos, guac, queso and margaritas. Then, we went to Sweet Paris for crepes and hot chocolate. 

Our Missing Hearts

Author: Celeste Ng

Who Picked the Book: Lindsay

One-sentence summary: A family is separated by a cruel policy, but ultimately brought back together (briefly) by hidden meaning in stories and determination. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: The theme of stories.

Our least favorite thing about it: Reading about child/family separations.

Main Topics of Discussion: Resistance, Poetry, Parenting, Sacrifice, Separation, Survival

Our favorite quote: "Why did I tell you so many stories? Because I wanted the world to make sense to you. I wanted to make sense of the world, for you. I wanted the world to make sense."

Notes: For many of us, reading this book was simply too real for our current situation in America. We did all enjoy the story. We loved the themes and how the stories we tell lead us back to each other. Even though the story didn't end completely happily (and some of us were annoyed by the decisions made at the end), it was satisfying enough. The characters and all of their motivations - some unclear for most of the book - were interesting and ripe for discussion. The hardest part was reading about children being pulled from their homes. Had we not seen real-life examples of this and were we not seeing it now, this might have hit in a different way. Much of it was just too close to home. This is a very powerful story and so well-written. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: We were able to swim and get in the hot tub at Christina's house. 

What We Ate: Lindsay got Mi Chante Mexican food for us - various dishes - with Elote Street corn, calamari, and churros

Sunrise on the Reaping

Author: Suzanne Collins

Who Picked the Book: Dara

One-sentence summary: Haymitch tries to fight back against the Capital during the Second Quarter Quell Hunger Games but his attempts ultimately end in tragedy.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 9

Our favorite thing about it: The tie-ins to the other books and the back story to Haymitch and other characters.

Our least favorite thing about it: The tragic ending. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Complex characters, The Raven Poem, Sacrifice, Rebellion

Our favorite quote: "And that’s part of our trouble. Thinking things are inevitable. Not believing change is possible."

Notes: Despite how tragic this story was, it was incredibly written and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It helps that we have read ALL the other books in the series and are invested in the story and characters. But Collins just nailed the story with this one. The tragedy is realistic and earned. The tie-ins to the characters from the "first" books were welcome and interesting. We discussed Plutarch since he makes a re-appearance in this book. He's a classic complex character that we compared to Snape in the Harry Potter series. They both have to allow terrible things to happen in order to work toward a greater good - that might not happen. Even Effie was made more nuanced as a character by learning how she came into her role and how she met and worked with Haymitch. She continues to flesh out the perspective of the Capital inhabitants, which is interesting as well as instructive when you consider their range of responses to the Hunger Games - from complacency to excitement. We had two thoughts about the Raven poem that is woven into the final action of the book. 1) Some of us thought that using the whole poem almost got to be a little much. The poem is LONG and it kind of broke up the rhythm of the storytelling. 2) We all agreed that the poem really drove home the theme of what was happening to Haymitch - complete loss and terrible, unending grief. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: Dara cooked a wonderful Italian meal for us. Lindsay was able to join us.

What We Ate: Caprese Salad, Aperol Spriz, Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad, Linguine with Bolognese, Ding Dong Cupcakes

The Trap

Author: Ava Glass

Who Picked the Book: Christina

One-sentence summary: An English spy finds herself unraveling a deadly plot in Edinburgh right as world leaders are convening.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: It was a fun, easy, fast read with an interesting story.

Our least favorite thing about it: The story could have been a little better. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Thrillers, spy novels, Undercover Spy Work, Plot

Our favorite quote: "It would be malpractice not to exploit his weakness to find out what the Russians were planning."

Notes: Overall, we enjoyed reading this book. We liked the main character and the story. We did think the plot had a few holes and inconsistencies. It was also devoid of any interesting twists and had an anticlimactic ending. So, it could have been better. We could tell this was part of a series, but the author did bring us up to speed - since we had not read the first two books in the series. But we enjoyed the reading experience enough that we would read more in the series. It was good, but not great. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: Christina took us to a fun, new (to us) restaurant in Celina. We had our meeting back at her house for the rest of the evening. It was unseasonably cold!

What We Ate: We had gnocchi, lasagna, brisket tacos, hot pimento cheese dip, chocolate cake and key lime pie. 

Shades of Grey

Author: Jasper Fforde

Who Picked the Book: Stephanie

One-sentence summary: In a world classified by colors, a young man slowly discovers the dark side of the rules and norms of his society.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: Those of us who listened (audiobook) appreciated the humor.

Our least favorite thing about it: The style of the novel was not to our taste.

Main Topics of Discussion: World Building, Character Development, Religion, Suppression, Knowledge

Our favorite quote: “I didn't set out to discover a truth. I was actually sent to the Outer Fringes to conduct a chair census and learn some humility. But the truth inevitably found me, as important truths often do, like a lost thought in need of a mind.”

Notes: We did not hate this book, but it also wasn't one of our favorites. That's the best way to sum up our feelings. We all found the story hard to get into. The first half of the novel was slow and not as interesting so it didn't hook us. After sticking with it, we did like the second half better because we had a better sense of what was going on, how everything was structured in this new world, and things actually started happening. It was hard to be engaged when we didn't understand anything and not much was being revealed. 

We did not feel any connection to any of the characters. That's not to say they weren't likeable at all - we just weren't made to really care about any of them. We do usually prefer character-driven stories - we like getting to know characters and feeling invested in their story. We felt neither for any characters in this book. 

Some of the comparisons of this "color" society to aspects of religion or other regimes was interesting and we had some good discussion about that. We also noticed the common factor in all societies like this one - the suppression of knowledge is required to make it work. 

The book ends on a cliffhanger and we're left wondering what happens to our two main characters after the end. There is a second book and some of us plan to read it. Others are fine being done with this story. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: Stephanie flew in to meet with us and Lindsay drove in as well. We had dinner at Venezia's Italian Restaurant and went to Dessert Avenue again for dessert and discussion.

What We Ate: Lots of great Italian dishes and desserts plus coffee and tea. 

The Lion Women of Tehran

Author: Marjan Kamali

Who Picked the Book: Amberly

One-sentence summary: Two childhood friends navigate the changing political landscape of life in Iran both together and apart.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 9

Our favorite thing about it: We loved the incredible story.

Our least favorite thing about it: LOTS of bad things happen to both characters.

Main Topics of Discussion: History, Friendship, Politics, Religion

Our favorite quote: "Someday, you and me — we'll do great things. We'll live life for ourselves. And we will help others. We are cubs now, maybe. But we will grow to be lionesses. Strong women who will make things happen."

Notes: We universally loved this book and this story. We liked the 2 main characters and felt engaged in the story the whole time. We loved the historical aspects and the things we learned about Iranian history and culture. We discussed childhood friendships and how they change through the years. We talked about loyalty. We also discussed religion and politics - as they're central to the story. It was hard to read the story, knowing what would happen in Iran after the overthrow of the Shah. We did think an extraordinary amount of terrible things happened to our two main characters - lots of historical tragedies were personally tied to their stories. But, we excused it because the story and writing were so good. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: Amberly took us to Little Persia for some authentic Persian food. And we spent the rest of the night at Dessert Avenue in Murphy eating and discussing the book. We wore our new book club sweatshirts for the first time together. We also celebrated Rachel's and Amberly's birthdays.

What We Ate: We had Sekanjabin drink (sweet and sour Ancient Persian Syrup and water), felafel with a spicy sauce, Beef and Chicken Kebabs with Rice. Then, at Dessert Avenue, we had various crepes, tea, and coffee.