A Family Curse and a Family Secret

New York for book clubs, William Boyle, Oyinkan Braithwaite, and more ...

January 13, 2026

Book Club News: January Issue

Hello Book Clubbers,

In this issue, we feature our discussion of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s much-anticipated Cursed Daughters, which follows three generations of women grappling with a family curse.

We also share coverage of the domestic thriller and recent paperback release Saint of the Narrows Street, by William Boyle, who we interviewed in our community forum last year. Plus, explore almost 200 other titles set in New York State that are all paired with reading guides.

To start 2026 right with your book club, check out the first-ever edition of The BookBrowse Literary Almanac, which includes an overview of our 2025 content and looks at what’s happening in the book world this year. While you’re at it, browse more curated guides, along with upcoming book club books and Ask the Author interviews.

Thanks for reading,
The BookBrowse Team

Book Club Discussions

Discussions are open to all! If you’d like to participate, you can do so by creating an account here. Please note that discussions can contain spoilers.

Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite

From the Jacket

A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition from the author of the smash hit My Sister, the Serial Killer ("A bombshell of a book... Sharp, explosive, hilarious" —New York Times)

From the Discussion

“This was one of my best reads of the year…I felt like I was growing along with the characters. I loved how the book was about learning about individuality and loving oneself.” —Shabella_G

“Reading this book reminded me a lot of Barbara Kingsolver’s character development in Demon Copperhead. There’s an inherent sadness to each character, but also resolve.” —Maren_C

“I think this is a fun read for anyone who enjoys a good mystery or can relate to living with or growing up around multigenerational households.” —Joyce_Montague

Featured Paperback

Stay on top of paperback releases for your book club with our Recent Paperbacks section, and discover additional content for featured titles, including reviews, “beyond the book” articles, and, where available, discussion questions and interviews. Below is just one new paperback we recommend.

Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle

Gravesend, Brooklyn is the epicenter of Risa Franzone's Italian-American working class community. Her parents live down the street from the ground floor apartment where she and her husband Sav live. Her neighbors see her at church every week; they know about Sav's gambling and philandering, though they may or may not know about the abuse. One fateful night, Sav goes too far, bringing home a gun and using it to threaten Risa, their infant son Fab, and Risa's sister Giulia. In the heated scene that ensues, Risa accidentally kills Sav with her trusty cast iron frying pan—in which, moments earlier, she had been heating up cutlets like a dutiful housewife.

Told in four parts over eighteen years, Saint of the Narrows Street starts in 1986 with Sav's death and then skips forward to pivotal moments in 1991, 1998, and 2004, as various people start questioning Risa's version of that night and getting closer to the truth. Boyle's crime thriller has the drama and pathos of a Greek tragedy as each section introduces another complication to the cover-up. … continued

Review by Pei Chen

New York State Reading Guides

We have nearly 200 featured titles in our New York State reading guides category, all with helpful discussion questions for your book club’s convenience.

Browse recommended fiction and nonfiction set in the Empire State, from bustling city streets to beautiful nature upstate, and discover enticing picks for future discussions.

This is one of 100+ themed categories available to BookBrowse members. Non-members can view a limited version of our category lists.

 

Curated Guides

BookBrowse guides and collections draw from more than two decades of book club research and editorial content. View them all in our Curated Guides section.

In The BookBrowse Literary Almanac 2025-2026, you and your book club will find everything BookBrowse discovered in 2025: the 20 best books that rose above the noise, our editors' personal favorites, the author interviews that revealed the most, the book club discussions that went deepest, and the "beyond the book" articles that added the richest context and were the most thought-provoking. The Almanac also looks ahead to 2026 with our most anticipated titles, the best upcoming books for club discussions, and the trends we're watching in publishing and reading culture.

Whether you're dreaming of starting your first book club or looking to breathe new life into an existing one, A Club of One's Own is your essential book club guide. Expanding on our 2019 Inner Lives of Book Clubs, BookBrowse, a trusted voice in the world of reading groups, offers a practical, inclusive, and inspiring guide to building a book club that lasts. From crafting your club's vision to navigating tricky group dynamics, this guide is packed with insights on everything from choosing discussion-worthy books to leading meaningful conversations.

Discussions & Ask the Author Interviews

Discussions are open to all, so please join us! If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification. You can also find inspiration for your book club among our more than 200 past discussions.

Currently, we’re discussing Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite, among other books.

Starting January 29, we feature Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray and Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley.

BookBrowse is now hosting Ask the Author sessions in our community forum. We invite you to follow along and post your own questions in any future interviews that interest you.

In the meantime, see our recent conversation with Kate Storey, author of The Forgotten Book Club and The Memory Library.

About BookBrowse

BookBrowse offers a cornucopia of resources for book clubs, including recommended books by genre, time period, setting, and a wide range of themes; advice on starting and running a book club; and much more!

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