Tag: the light we lost

I’m so excited about this because 1) I’m starting a book club 2) I’m finally reading those dang books I’ve had on my shelves for years.

The objective of the Backlist Book Club is to read the books we’ve had on our shelves for years. Every month, I’ll announce a book published any time before the current year. For example, in 2018, anything published in 2017 and older is game to read. However, I do want to outline some other important pieces of the book club:

1. We will mostly choose standalone novels. It’s tough to start a brand new series or read a book mid-series if everyone else isn’t reading it too. There’s a ton of standalone books I haven’t read yet and I want to get into those instead.
2. I’ll announce the book prior to the month it’ll be read and then live-read the books on social media mid-month. It will always be around the 15th of the month. You’re more than welcome to join me in reading that weekend, but if you can’t make it, use hashtag #thebacklistbookclub to join in on the fun.
3. The authors will be a mix. I was thinking of doing only authors of color or only female authors, but in truth there are some books that I want to read off my shelf that follow neither category. I do want to be mindful of who we’re reading, so it’ll always be a little bit diverse.
4. The books should be accessible. Because I’m choosing books that were published prior to the current year, these books should be accessible through your library holds and the like. Hopefully. If anything, I’ll find you deals for books and share them with you.
5. I want this to be our book club. Being inundated with brand new books all the time means books you wanted to read get put on the back burner. I want this to be an effort for all of us to continue choosing books on our shelf. Also, I want this book club to be about us. This means that I want you to help in the process of picking books in the future. For now, I’ll just pick the books off my shelf and I’ll introduce polls on Twitter for new reads.

Finally, I’m announcing our first book for December. This book was published in 2017, been sitting on my shelf for the last six months and making its debut on my TBR. That book is…

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story—their story—at the very beginning.

Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated—perhaps they’ll find life’s meaning in each other. But then Gabe becomes a photojournalist assigned to the Middle East and Lucy pursues a career in New York. What follows is a thirteen-year journey of dreams, desires, jealousies, betrayals, and, ultimately, of love. Was it fate that brought them together? Is it choice that has kept them away? Their journey takes Lucy and Gabe continents apart, but never out of each other’s hearts.