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. 

 

The Book of Ayn

Author: Lexi Freiman

Who Picked the Book: Lindsay

One-sentence summary: An author who is "cancelled" by society seeks wildly different methods to dealing with that in her life.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 2

Our favorite thing about it: That it wasn't too long.

Our least favorite thing about it: The poop talk. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Satire, Narcissism, Cancel Culture, 

Our favorite quote: "Artist: a grandiose and insecure person who feels especially destined and uniquely condemned and, deep in their heart, fears that they must be empty."

Notes: Well. We universally disliked this book. We have never rated a book this low before. We all agreed that the poop talk was gross and not appreciated - and there was far too much of it. We felt like the first and second halves of the book felt like two different books. We didn't like the main character at all. We didn't identify with her or her motivations for her terrible decisions. She was actually really annoying. It was overall not an enjoyable read for any of us. We know this book was supposed to be a satire and many reviewers called it "hilarious" and "funny" - we did not find it funny at all. Not even a little bit. We wondered what was supposed to be satirized? Cancel culture? Any Rand? Los Angeles? Maybe all of it? 

In the end, we decided this book was probably written for a very niche group of people who understand a certain New York City and Los Angeles subcultures that we just do not understand. Therefore, the book not only didn't resonate with us, we didn't actually understand the point. There was no plot, no development, no growth, no takeaway. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: We celebrated Rachel's birthday with a dinner at Maggiano's and had our book discussion in the large lobby of Lindsay's hotel. We got to witness a rousing game (or two) of Jenga between a wife and husband, who took photos for us. 

What We Ate: Maggiano's! We had bread with olive oil and balsamic drizzle and shared the fried zucchini appetizer. Our entrees, were: Branzino, fettuccine bolognese, salmon, and shrimp diavolo. We also enjoyed some desserts: chocolate mousse cake, warm apple crostada, and Gigi's butter cake. We were treated to a plate of lemon cookies to celebrate Rachel's birthday. 

The Unmaking of June Farrow

Author: Adrienne Young

Who Picked the Book: Rachel

One-sentence summary: A woman uncovers a special ability she has while discovering an entirely different life that she has to fight to save. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8 (unanimous)

Our favorite thing about it: The story was interesting with lots of twists.

Our least favorite thing about it: We didn't love the non-communication, however central to the story it was. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Marriage, Memory, Self Identity, Motherhood, Religious Fanaticism, Time Travel

Our favorite quote: “The curse on the Farrows had broken the natural laws of the world, and with it had come so much suffering. But in this, there'd been the most unexpected of gifts.”

Notes: While we were all annoyed by the various characters who didn't communicate vital information to other characters, we universally enjoyed this book. It was a tad slow in the beginning until June walked through the door, but most of us found it very easy to read. The characters were developed well for the most part. We have read several time travel books and it's always interesting to see how each author sets up the "rules" in their novel. This one was no exception. However, we did find some of the timeline hard to follow and understand. In the end, we all just said, "whatever," and continued reading. Some of the plot points became predictable as we found out more about the characters, but the unfolding of the story was still well done and enjoyable. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: This was our Christmas meeting so we exchanged gifts, played our Jeopardy game (made by Lindsay this time!), crafted photo ornaments from one of our cruise photos, and missed Stephanie since she was in California.

What We Ate: Christmas Lasagna with homemade bolognese and pesto ricotta, focaccia with garlic olive oil dip, roasted Brussels sprouts, and Brown Butter Snickerdoodle cobbler with vanilla ice cream.