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A Problematic Jellyfish & WWII Crow Friends
Fiction about families working together, free member titles, and more ...
BookBrowse Highlights
Hello Readers!
You’ve never encountered a beach read quite like this before. This week, First Impressions reviewers are diving into Tessa Yang’s The Jellyfish Problem, a suspenseful story about a menacing sea creature with surprising literary depth.
In Editor’s Choice, we explore another novel perfect for lovers of animal literature. Ray Nayler’s Palaces of the Crow is World War II fiction at its finest, set in the dark reaches of the Lithuanian forest.
Enjoy a “beyond the book” reading list of books featuring family businesses, a fertile subject for authors, as part of our coverage of Kayla Rae Whitaker’s Returns and Exchanges.
Also, check out our latest batch of free books for members to request, and upcoming discussions and Ask the Author sessions in our community forum!
Thanks for reading,
The BookBrowse Team
First Impressions
Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on one recently released title.
The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang
“Jo has been captivated by jellyfish since she was a kid. But when she answers a distress call from her former best friend and lover to help with a jellyfish problem on a small island in Maine, she is not just captivated. She becomes an actual captive. She and all the other folks who've laid eyes on Clementine, the island's resident humongous jellyfish. This is a book about the power of community and the cost of insularity. It is chock full of fun facts about jellyfish, but it also deals with grief and survival, love, guilt, demons (both personal and spectral), the risks of connection, growth, and regrowth, and the thing that breaks you open when you've been sealed shut.” —Ann_Beman |  |
“The Jellyfish Problem is unlike any novel I have read. I really loved this story!…This novel would be an excellent choice for book clubs and we can find so many metaphors to unpack!” —Ruthie_Arnold
“You immediately are transported to this quirky island and it was a book I couldn't put down because I wanted to know what was causing the problem with the jellyfish. A fun read for someone who is looking for a beach read in the non-traditional sense because while this book takes place by the ocean, it actually feels a bit like a psychological thriller.” —HannahT
For Members
Members! This month's First Impressions and Book Club books are now available to request. Offer closes end of Saturday, June 6.
Books are provided free of charge to BookBrowse members resident in the US with the understanding that they'll do their best to either write a short review or take part in an online discussion forum (depending on whether the book is assigned for First Impressions or the Book Club). Our basic membership guarantees you at least four books a year when you request each month.
Free books are one of the many benefits of a BookBrowse membership. Join by this Saturday (for just $5.00 a month) to request and receive a book from this list. Don't wait!
Editor’s Choice
Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler
In Ray Nayler's outstanding WWII novel, Palaces of the Crow, Neriya, a young Jewish girl, spends her summers at her family's home outside Vilnius, Lithuania's capital. She passes her time befriending the crows there, feeding them, teaching them games, and studying their intelligence. One day, as Neriya wanders in the nearby woods, one of the birds refuses to let her return home, flapping violently and pecking at her, driving her farther and farther into the forest. When she's permitted to return the next day, she finds the town has been burned to the ground, its residents apparently slaughtered. Trapped in a war zone between the German and Russian armies, she hides in the forest, soon encountering others affected by the conflict … continued Review by Kim Kovacs |  |
Beyond the Book
Books About Family Businesses
Family businesses provide fruitful ground for writers. The interpersonal dynamics at play are uniquely high-stakes, and there's a lot of room for things to go fascinatingly wrong. Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker focuses on a family that owns a chain of discount stores. Here are five other books that use fact and fiction to explore what happens when family and business mix. … continued
Article by Jillian Bell
Curated Guides
Get the most out of summer reading with our curated guides and bundles, including The BookBrowse Anthology, our Reading Deeply collection, coverage of WWII fiction featuring women, and our own book club guide. Our compilations and guides are drawn from over two decades of book club research and editorial content. |  |
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 When No One Else Will by Amanda Skenandore, among other books. Beginning this week, we feature A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. |  |
BookBrowse regularly hosts Ask the Author sessions in our community forum. Stop by to post your own questions and follow along in any interviews that interest you. Check out this week’s conversation with Zayd Ayers Dohrn, author of Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young, a BookBrowse First Impressions selection. |  |
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