Your March Invitation: Our Book Club for Writers and Curious Readers

March Book Pick: THIS TIME TOMORROW by Emma Straub - a discussion about dual timelines, light magical realism in contemporary novels, and how it all works

Evelyn Skye

Feb 26, 2024

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teacup with art latte — Photo by Jordan Christian on Unsplash

Hello, lovelies!

Mark your calendars, because you are officially invited to the launch of our book club! Details below—

For those of you who are new here, our Book Club for Writers and Curious Readers is a very different kind of book club that will change the way you talk about books. Each month, we will discuss a novel from a writer’s perspective (super casually!) and it’ll be led by me, New York Times bestselling author and Netflix collaborator Evelyn Skye. I ran a similar book club for 7 years in the Bay Area, but now I’m expanding to all of you!

Our Book Club for Writers and Curious Readers

Your March Invitation!

WHO: Writers who love reading and want to examine stories more closely, and Readers who are curious about why they feel the way they do about a book.

WHAT:

Book Discussion (30-ish minutes)—What makes this book tick? We’ll talk about things like whether the plot worked and if not, why not? Where was the pacing great and where did the tension dip, and why? And why do some people love Character A but others hate him, while Character B is universally adored?

Bonus Writers’ Chat (30 minutes): After the book discussion, we’ll have an optional hangout to share what we’re working on, ask each other for advice on writer’s block, finding a literary agent, doing book publicity, etc.

WHEN: Sunday, March 24th, 2024 at 8pm EDT / 5pm PDT

(Meetings will generally be at the end of each month, with book picks announced the month prior.)

WHERE: Zoom (feel free to come with your video off, introverts!)

(Zoom link will be sent out 2-3 days before. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it!)

WHY: Because it will be so much fun to look at published books through a writer’s lens!

HOW: Bring your smart insights and your “dumb” questions, and always lead with kindness, generosity, and a spirit for learning! (Because most of us are writers, too, and we know how much hard work goes into creating the books. And those of us who aren’t writers love books so much, we come from a place of admiration for the authors).

March Book Club Pick:

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

This will be a fun one to discuss because there are parallel timelines, and I can’t wait to dive into that structure—how often were there interludes from the past? Did it affect the pacing? Did the story unfold in a way that wasn’t confusing?

This novel also has time travel, but not how you’d normally imagine. It’s more like diving into memories—one day she’s in the present, one day she’s in the past with her dad. The space-time mechanics are done with a light hand so that you don’t really even think about how it works. However, we will look closer at the “magic system” that’s hidden inside this contemporary novel and talk about whether it works, as well as discuss: what is the line between just a touch of magic but still “general fiction” vs “magical realism” vs “fantasy”? Or are those just marketing labels?

How I Choose our Book Picks

Based on my many years of running another book club for writers, I’ve come up with some guidelines for our Book Picks:

We never read our members’ books — this was a hard and fast rule from my last book club, because even though we discuss our book picks with kindness and curiosity, it’s still virtually impossible for a writer to listen to other people critique their work, especially if it’s already published and there is nothing they can do to change things. (And sometimes, hearing analysis from their friends is the hardest thing!) So if I ever accidentally choose one of your books (or one of a dear friend whom you’d rather not hear analyzed), please let me know and I’ll pick something else. We are a supportive community and want everyone to feel buoyed by what we do!
Paperbacks, not new releases — For the most part, I will pick books that have been out for a while and already in paperback, because this makes them more affordable to buy and/or accessible via libraries (because new releases tend to have longer wait lists). There may be occasional exceptions if you all are hankering to read a specific new release, though.
Varying genres — We have writers and readers of all different genres in our wonderful community, so I’m going to try to reflect that. I find that even when a novel might initially not be what I’m normally inclined to read, I am often the most surprised and delighted by those very books. Plus, there is always something interesting to study and learn, no matter what the genre.