Book Club News: July Issue
Hello Book Clubbers,
In this issue, we bring you our discussion of a unique novel by David Woo and Margalit Shinar: Merry-Go-Round Broke Down uses interlinked stories to address issues related to the global economy.
We feature our review and other content for Jayson Greene’s UnWorld, just released in paperback, about a near future where people can create copies of their own memories. Plus, less is more for busy book groups, and we have more books paired with reading guides that clock in at under 250 pages!
Also, take a look at our most anticipated books for July through December—both fiction and nonfiction, see our upcoming online discussions and Ask the Author interviews, and enter our latest giveaway for a chance to win copies of Ella Berman’s L.A. Women for your book club.
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.
Merry-Go-Round Broke Down by David Woo and Margalit Shinar
From the Jacket
Fall 2008. The Waldorf Astoria New York. Two armed men storm the hotel's famed bar and hold the occupants hostage: an American corporate raider, a Chinese tycoon, a British hedge fund manager, a Japanese housewife-turned-celebrity, a Mexican undocumented worker, a Wall Street bond salesman, and a Norwegian environmentalist.
Who are these terrorists? What do they want? And what ties them to their captives?
From the Discussion
“It gives a nice look at how globalization has affected the world, not just my little corner of it. I also liked how all the characters were so different, but yet the same in attitudes about money and power.” —Mary_Ann_B
“I have never read a book quite like Merry-Go-Round Broke Down. I enjoyed the connections from one story to the next. I enjoyed the way the authors used realistic situations to spotlight global issues.” —Catherine_O_Callagha
“This is easily one of the best books I have read this year and it is not one that I would have picked on my own, so glad that I requested it and stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit. I found I couldn’t put it down when I started.” —Becky_S
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 discussion questions. Below is just one new paperback we recommend.
UnWorld by Jayson Greene
Jayson Greene's debut novel UnWorld is set in a speculative near future in which people can create digital copies of their memories and consciousness. But when these "uploads" proved to be sentient and able to exist independently from their creators, it sparked debate about their rights and led to the option of emancipation, whereby an upload can leave their human "tether" and exist in a kind of digital limbo, traveling between electronic devices and temporary human hosts, observing, learning, and developing their own thoughts and feelings. … continued
Review by Callum McLaughlin
Reading Guides for Books Under 250 Pages
Sometimes you need to keep things short!
UnWorld by Jayson Greene, featured above, is just one of 700+ recommended book club books (books paired with discussion guides for your club) in our Less Than 250 Pages category.
This is one of 100+ themed reading guide categories available to BookBrowse members.
Non-members can browse a limited number of categories, while members can access the full selection.
Our Most Anticipated Books for July-December
2026 has already been exciting for books, and the second half is looking especially enticing.
Here we have a wide range of contemporary and historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers to keep you up at night, speculative works that reckon with past, future, and parallel worlds, and nonfiction to reckon with the current one. Watch out for these books in our upcoming e-zines, and in our First Impressions program and book club discussions. … continued
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 The Cloak and Dagger Club by Jackie McMahon, among other books.
Starting this week, we feature How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz.
BookBrowse regularly hosts Ask the Author sessions in our community forum. We invite you to follow along and post your own questions in any interviews that interest you.
See our recent conversation with Kayla Rae Whitaker, author of Returns and Exchanges, which was featured in a recent issue of our e-zine.
Book Club Giveaway
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
From the Jacket
An electrifying novel about the complicated friendship between two ambitious and talented female writers in 1960s Los Angeles and the ultimate artistic betrayal: one writes a book based on the other's life… from the author of Reese's Book Club Pick Before We Were Innocent.
Praise
"Berman evokes Eve Babitz, Joan Didion, and the glamour of the 1960s California literary scene in this exciting tale." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The interpersonal drama and vivid depictions of the era's social scene make for compelling reading…Berman's razor-sharp exploration of women's friendships and rivalries is likely to resonate with fans of Anna Quindlen, Elizabeth Berg, and Jodi Picoult." —Library Journal
About This Sweepstakes
We have five print copies of L.A. Women by Ella Berman to give away.
This offer is open to residents of the USA, except for BookBrowse members who are welcome to enter wherever they live. If a member not resident in the US wins, they receive an extension to their membership.
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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!
