While welcoming and celebrating in the early hours of the New Year, my friends started talking about having the goal of wanting to read more in 2026. I absolutely loved hearing this and that’s how our first ever Book Club began.
What started with just three of us, quickly grew to nine, all committing to meet monthly to discuss a book and, most importantly, enjoy some incredible food together.
To keep things fair, someone is assigned each month to suggest 3 book options to the club which we vote for, majority rules. Next up for July we will be reading Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark.
Our May pick, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, eventually turned into our June pick due to life events getting in the way and also this book was a much chunkier read (700+ pages) than what the majority of the club had been used to however don’t let that put you off!
We met up at Chur Bae cafe located at City Works Depot, I’d been a few weeks earlier and I was eager to go back to try more of the menu. As per usual we were the last ones remaining till closing as we enjoyed the winter sunshine, delicious food and great chats.
A Brief History of Seven Killings is a re-imagining of the attempted assasination of Bob Marley set in Jamaica in the 1970’s. Although it is a fictional novel the assasination attempt did take place which I was not aware of going into the book and also features several characters inspired by real people at the time that were involved. One interesting comment from our discussion was that most of our picks so far have been based on parts of history that they never knew existed so it’s been a whole learning experience from month to month.
One thing worth highlighting is that most of the novel is written in Jamaican Patois. This can take a few chapters to get used to in the beginning to settle into the rhythm and flow of conversations between characters. It really adds to the story and immerses you into the setting. It took Marlon James 4 years to write this book with a team of researchers, you can really appreciate the level of detail that has gone into developing the story and why it went on to win the Booker Prize in 2015.
Bernadine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other) has written the foreword that I think is worthwhile taking the time to read beforehand. It helps to prepare you for the wild ride you are about to embark on as this book is not for the faint hearted. It’s gritty, gripping and action packed, I could visually see this as a TV show as it gave me The Wire or Narcos vibes throughout. Everyone really enjoyed this one! I’m really looking forward to Marlon’s upcoming book The Disappearers which is releasing in September. I highly recommend reading A Brief History of Seven Killings in preparation!
Listen along to the soundtrack of the book to really set the scene!
Our April pick was Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, a book that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022. It’s set in a small Irish town during Christmas in 1985. At just 110 pages, it’s a short novella but carries a lot of depth and emotion. When delving into it deeper it hints at the Magdalene laundries that were present in Ireland at the time and for many years. Many of us also watched the film adaptation starring Cillian Murphy after finishing the book.
We wanted to keep with the theme for our April pick with a suggestion that we visit an Irish pub to experience a spice bag for our meet up, however timings didn’t quite work out but a few of us were craving yum cha since our first lunch back in January so majority ruled in its favour. I had no idea what a spice bag was so naturally I had to google it and I’ll definitely be trying one soon. If you are also unfamiliar, a spice bag is a popular dish in Ireland which consists of fries, chicken, capsicum, onion and a whole lot of spices and chilli, sounds like my jam!
Overall, Small Things Like These gave us plenty to think about and discuss that we didn’t even notice that we were the last customers left at yum cha!
Small Things Like These
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022
By Claire Keegan
Small Things Like These may just only be 110 pages, but it delivers a powerful emotional impact as Claire Keegan puts a spotlight on the Magdalene laundries in 1980s Ireland.
The heart of the book will have you reflecting on morals, struggle between in-action or taking action knowing there would be consequences causing a huge ripple effect across the community.
I love Keegan's writing and this story has definitely stayed with me long after the final page. - Shirl's Pick
To keep with the theme of our March book pick, we decided to meet up at Dweji, a Korean spot in Newmarket. The menu had a variety of comforting Korean dishes like bibimbap and tteokgalbi. I opted for their summer dish, a refreshing raw fish salad on rice with avocado, served alongside a delish umami-rich soup on the side.
Human Acts was a book we all agreed we enjoyed, though that hardly feels like the right way to describe it. It’s a deeply heavy read, especially given that many of us weren’t aware of the real-life event in South Korea that inspired it, or how closely it was connected to the author. I liked how the story unfolded through different characters, each perspective adding more depth.
Human Acts was my first Han Kang read, and it definitely won’t be my last. I've got The Vegetarian sitting in my TBR, which I’m now even more excited to get to. We ended our meet up on a sweet note with a stop at Duck Island ice cream, the lime and apple pie flavours did not disappoint!
February’s pick was Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico. This time we met up at Bestie Cafe in St Kevin’s Arcade on Karangahape Rd, enjoying a round of their amazing cheese toasties. The book definitely triggered most of us and sparked a heightened sense of self-awareness among us all. We came away reminded to appreciate the awesome things we have right now in our lives and to stay present.
I thought I would ease everyone in with one of my favourite books, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It’s one of those books that pulls you in right from the first page and when I had read this back in 2022 I immediately knew my friends would connect with it through its gaming, computer science and pop culture references. I’d been recommending it for years and finally I had the perfect excuse to make them read it!
Our first meet up was at a yum cha spot, and in classic Shirl style, I couldn’t resist adding a few playful touches to bring the book to life so I brought along some fun activities related to the book for the club to enjoy: A Sam-style maze inspired by Sam Masur and his love of puzzles and game design and themed recipes (you can find these here). Our discussion was fun and thoughtful, but we kept it informal for our first gathering.
I’d love to hear about your book club experiences. Do you have one for 2026? What have you read and discussed so far?