Maude’s Book Club
Maude’s Book Club
Maude’s Book Club 2025 Spring Book Picks
If you need Spring books to whiz through, Maude’s Book Club has the next three months on lock for you. Maude’s Book Club launched last year, and our 2024 slate was filled with wonderful books. This year, we’ve already voted on the following three MAIN BOOKS and BONUS BOOKS to carry us through the seasonal change.
Maude Garrett and the book club members have chosen most of the novels on their TBR for the next three months. We are starting a new series, diving into a familiar fairy world, navigating Star Wars lore and ending with one of Maude’s favourite authors.
If You Like ‘Mickey 7’ Add These to Your TBR
Our little fantasy/sci-fi book club always looks for book adaptations of our favourite novels.
Science fiction is imaginative and often explores the universe through a humanistic lens. It expands our minds and asks relevant existential questions many don’t know how to answer. At the very least, sci-fi allows us to reconnect with the world and our role here on Earth.
The newest book adaptation is Mickey 17, directed by Bong Joon Ho (Okja, Parasite), who has taken the concept from Edward Ashton’s novel and fused it with his visionary creativity.
Would you want multiple versions of yourself to be regenerated after you die? Would you contemplate how the memories would translate from one version to another?
Ashton raises these questions in Mickey 7 and Antimatter Blues. He tackles how invaluable and disposable people may feel, especially when working with corporations that don’t care about their employees.
Book of the Month Preview: ‘Words of Radiance’ by Brandon Sanderson
After completing the first book in the Stormlight Archive, The Way of Kings, it was necessary to follow up with the second book in the series!
Our BOOK OF THE MONTH for March is Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson.
MBC has had wonderful discussions about this series so far. Her admiration for Sanderson grows with each book she has read.
Book Review: ‘‘Onyx Storm’ by Rebecca Yarros
February is the month of love, so naturally we had to fit in a Romantasy series for our book club! Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros was out BONUS BOOK of the month.
Rebecca Yarros surprised everyone with the release of Onyx Storm and January 21st, 2025 couldn’t come fast enough!
Many have said the same thing about the third installment. It was hard to get into at first. It became a fast-paced adventure once Violet and her squad searched the Isles for irids.
‘Onyx Storm’ Map of the Isles Breakdown
We know our Fantasy readers LOVE maps.
The first half of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros was a whirlwind of information. Some of the names being thrown around were overwhelming because some of us are visual people. Attempting to link the names to isles or even riders to dragons was difficult. However, once Yarros breaks it down in the second half of the book as they travel to each Isle in search of the irids, things become easier.
Which ‘Onyx Storm’ Fan Art is Your Favourite?
Hello, Onyx Storm fans!
We LOVE diving into the Empyrean series as our BONUS BOOK of the month. This month we chose Onyx Storm after reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros for book club last year.
Whether you’re a fan of Violet Sorrengail, Xaden Riorson or Violet’s besties Rhiannon, Sawyer and Ridoc, here’s some unique fan art for everyone!
Book of the Month Preview: ‘The Eye of the Bedlam Bride’ by Matt Dinniman
Maude Garrett has been raving about the LITRPG series Dungeon Crawler Carl. Our club members have loved all five books in the series. We are continuing with the sixth book in the series, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride.
Gamers, are you ready to dive in with our book club?
MBC has had such wonderful discussions about this series so far. Garrett interviewed Matt Dinniman, and our members gave insightful questions.
Bonus Book of the Month: 'Onyx Storm’ by Rebecca Yarros
Maude Garrett and the MBC community love our BONUS BOOKS!
For those who want to start with one of the best sci-fi books of the past couple of years, join us in reading Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. If you’ve been with us since Fourth Wing and Iron Flame then you know how much we love our dragon riders! If you’ve been waiting for a good time to start Onyx Storm join us this February!!
Join our book club today and help us vote for our 2025 books.
5 Standalone Sci-fi/Fantasy Novels To Get You Out Of Your Reading Slump
Every so often people fall into a reading slump, myself included. You may have a stacked TBR and three books on the go, but sometimes the books aren’t clicking. We’ve all had the same experience and discussed it in our discord, but we all have different ways to get out of the slump!
Sometimes it helps to read a book totally out of your comfort genre. Other times it’s best to avoid a full series and read standalone novels. What we often do at MBC to reinvigorate our love of reading is pick a book with a lighter page count or something not as dense as other Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels with more world-building.
Here are the five books we recommend to those struggling to get through some pages!
The 10 Most Anticipated 2025 Book Releases
We are in the middle of winter and kicking off a new year!
And that means another quarter of the most-anticipated novels to look forward to! If you’re a mood reader, there is always a shift in the new year. If you’re like me, there’s a shift to more cozy, uplifting reads or a fantastical place to escape. At the start of the year, there are debut novels from authors, and other authors have returned with another great addition to their bookography.
If you’re a fantasy lover or are ready to tackle a new sci-fi novel, there’s something for everyone this winter!
Bonus Book of the Month: ‘Starter Villain’ by John Scalzi
Maude Garrett and the MBC community love our BONUS BOOKS!
For those who want to start with one of the best sci-fi books of the past couple of years, join us in reading Starter Villain by John Scalzi. It was a Nominee for Readers' Favorite Science Fiction (2023) on Goodreads and a finalist for Best Novel in 2024 at the Hugo Awards.
Book of the Month Preview: ‘Light Bringer’ by Pierce Brown
One of Maude Garrett’s favourite series is Red Rising by Pierce Brown. We have been reading the series for a while, and Maude has even interviewed Brown herself.
The BOOK OF THE MONTH for January is Light Bringer - the sixth book of the Red Rising series.
Join Maude’s Book Club!
We know that the internet can be a tough space to navigate and that’s why we want to create a safe space for everyone in the reading community to be able to discuss their favourite books with other bookworms.
Not only do community members interact with other book lovers and creator Maude Garrett, but Maude connects with the authors of the books directly so the community can also discuss the book with their favoruite authors.
