Since November is a busy month for many people, our group decided to read a novella, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. We'll still have plenty to talk about but you won't have to spend a lot of time reading--the book is only 90 pages!

Nnedi Okorafor is an author we're quite fond of at Foggy Pine Books. Her Binti trilogy is an incredible science fiction story (it won the Hugo & Nebula awards for best novella) but she writes in other genres, as well. She has another scifi book, Lagoon, and several fantasy books: Akata Witch (a YA series), The Book of Phoenix, and Who Fears Death--which is being made into an HBO show produced by George R. R. Martin. Plus, she has written a children's picture book, Chicken in the Kitchen. You really can't go wrong with any of her works.

Let's learn a little more about Binti though. Here's the official summary:

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself - but first she has to make it there, alive.

If you want to travel to an galactic university without leaving your favorite chair, we hope you'll join us for the November meeting. This book is a favorite of Mary's and she can't wait to share it with others. 

If this sounds like something you'd like to read, you can get your copy of the book from the store with a 15% discount until the end of November. If you'd like to purchase online, we have the following the formats available:

Digital Audiobook
eBook
Paperback
Hardcover

We'll meet at Foggy Pine Books on November 24th at 7:30pm. We'll have free wine and snacks for book club members to share.  Bring a friend and come discuss the book with us, even if you weren't able to completely finish it or if you didn't like it. You can see the Facebook event & RSVP here.

Tor.com Review-- "Of Jellyfish, Otjize, and Afrofuturism: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor"
​Publisher's Weekly-- "Binti"
Nnedi’s Wahala Zone Blog-- “On That Rapid Puppies Thing and My Hugo Award-Winning Novella Binti”
Lightspeed Magazine-- “Interview: Nnedi Okorafor”

We're so excited for November's book club choice, The Firebrand and The First Lady by Patricia Bell-Scott. You can get the book with a 15% discount at Foggy Pine or you can order online and have it shipped to your home or download the ebook. In addition to the discount, make your purchase in store to get a free bookmark signed by the author!

Because of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to change the day and time of this month's meeting. Instead of meeting on the last Saturday of the month, as usual, we're meeting on November 18th at 7:30pm. As usual, we're meeting at the bookstore and will share a bottle of wine while we discuss the book. However, we're going to take part of our meeting time to discuss the first six books we'll read together in 2018.

A finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and longlisted for the National Book Award, The Firebrand and the First Lady is the riveting history of the unlikely friendship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Pauli Murray, a granddaughter of a mixed race slave and a lesbian, who became a lawyer and civil rights pioneer. The reader discovers the important work they each did, taking stands for justice and freedom, while learning more about each incredible woman. 

In 1938, the twenty-eight-year-old Pauli Murray wrote a letter to the President and First Lady, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, protesting racial segregation in the South. Eleanor wrote back. So began a friendship that would last for a quarter of a century, as Pauli became a lawyer, principal strategist in the fight to protect Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and a co-founder of the National Organization of Women, and Eleanor became a diplomat and first chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. 

A recipient of the Lillian Smith Book Award, nominated for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award, and a finalist for the Georgia Author of the Year--this novel has garnered much acclaim. We're honored to have it on this year's book club list. 

Hello everyone! The holidays are upon us and that means a slightly different schedule for book club meetings over the next couple months. After the holidays, we'll return to our regular Saturday evening meeting time. 

This month, we'll be meeting on Sunday, November 27th at 6:30pm at the bookstore. The book we're discussing is West of Sunset by Stuart O'Nan. It's a fictional telling of the last three year's of F. Scott Fitzgerald's life as he struggles with sobriety and his ever-institutionalized wife, Zelda. We'll have drink and snacks for everyone, just make sure you RSVP here so I can bring enough stuff. 

I still haven't remembered to get a picture of our group to share with everyone but I will try this month. I hope to see you there!

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