Maude’s Book Club
Maude’s Book Club
The 10 Best Starter Science Fiction Novels
Happy National Sci-Fi Day!!
If you’ve been a sci-fi reader since the beginning, then you may have read the books on the list below. BUT, if you’re new to sci-fi and want to dip your toes in the genre, then the books below are the best starters to get to know your palette. The beauty of science fiction is that most stories explore the idea of isolation, which makes any reader instantly connect with the protagonist.
Here at MBC we are massive sci-fi fans and encourage everyone to start reading from this genre. Come and join us in the discord for more fun discussions about wicked sci-fi novels!
Maude’s Book Club 2024 First Third OF THE YEAR selections
Maude’s Book Club launched at the beginning of this year, and our 2023 slate was filled with wonderful books. Over the past year, the MBC community has voted on the books we wanted to read, most of which have been winners!
For the first four months of the year, Maude Garrett and book club members have chosen the novels sitting on their TBR. If you are an ACOTAR fan, missed Divine Rivals this year, want to start an R.F. Kuang novel or return to sci-fi with Andy Weir, you should come and join us in 2024!
If You Like ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Add These To Your TBR
We have a new Percy Jackson series now streaming on Disney Plus!!
Fans of the book series have waited an incredibly long time for Rick Riordan’s series to have a good adaptation and it’s finally here. The film adaptation was released in 2010 with Logan Lerman portraying Percy Jackson, but the time of the release wasn’t the strongest. It had to fight alongside Harry Potter and Twilight, which were franchises pretty well-established. There were only two films released and the Percy Jackson fandom had more books to look forward to!
Now on Disney Plus, there will be new episodes streaming every Tuesday and the fans will have their golden trio on screen again. Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri are all incredible in their respective roles.
The 10 Best Christmas Romance Novels
December is the perfect month to cozy up with a Christmas-themed romance novel! Surprisingly, many light and fluffy romances are centred around the Christmas season. The Holiday season does start in November, especially with the Hallmark movies on television. Christmas is the time to be with loved ones and maybe even meet someone to spend the Holidays with.
The Holiday novels below are filled with cute romantic moments that will make any reader swoon. There are romance novels to read year-round, but there’s something special about the Holiday season that makes romance feel different.
The 5 Best Book Adaptations Of 2023
What began as a challenge has become incredibly natural to me. By planning out which books to read, I read even more than I ever anticipated. From one book every two years, I am almost at 34 books by the end of this year. By joining Goodreads, Fable, Storygraph and even the MBC community holding me accountable, I’ve exceeded my own reading goal of a book per month. It is so rewarding to finish a book. As someone whose life is centred around movies, it was necessary to expand my imagination and tap into another medium to explore different worlds. This is the natural progression of joining a book club, and I am eternally grateful that Maude Garrett and the community have made me fall in love with reading again.
The 10 Best Science Fiction Books of 2023
Some Sci-Fi novels on this list received plenty of buzz, and others flew under the radar. And just because they flew under the radar doesn’t mean they aren’t highly rated on Goodreads. The good thing about these sci-fi novels is that most of them are standalone. So, it’s not daunting to start a brand new series constantly.
The 10 Best Fantasy Books of 2023
Some of the Fantasy novels on this list received plenty of buzz, and others flew under the radar. And just because they flew under the radar doesn’t mean they aren’t highly rated on Goodreads. It’s hard to find a new series to start because you have to wait for the next book, but not many authors write standalone Fantasy novels. Fortunately, there are some on this list!
Maude’s Book Club Top 5 Picks Of 2023
Maude’s Book Club launched at the beginning of this year, and our 2023 slate was filled with wonderful books. Our community members came together with Maude Garrett to compile a list of the best books that fantasy and sci-fi offer.
Our community voted for the top five books we have read this year with Maude, and it’s interesting to see the love for each book. After counting all the votes in our Discord, we have our top five plus two honourable mentions.
The 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards WINNERS
The Goodreads Choice Awards Winners have been announced and we couldn’t be happier for the winners! and their opening round is officially open for voting. Even though MBC covers Science Fiction and Fantasy, we love to see books in other genres win!
The 10 Best Books of 2023 From The New York Times
The end-of-the-year wrap-ups have begun, and the New York Times has their top 10 of 2023!
These novels aren’t chosen on their popularity like other end-of-year lists but rather on the importance of the story. The novels listed below have made an impact on readers everywhere because of the events that unravel. Non-fiction and historical fiction are two genres that have dominated the NYT top 10 of 2023.
10 Novellas to Help Hit Your Reading Goal
It’s the final month of the year, and maybe you haven’t been able to hit your reading goal. The reading challenge on Goodreads can sometimes be daunting, but the trick is to read shorter books!
Novellas are the quickest way to add some variety to your reading list. Some of the best authors have incredible novellas that many people don’t know about and they are worth the read.
The books listed below are all 4-star reads chosen from Goodreads that should be added to your TBR, just in case you can’t hit your reading goal.
The 10 Best Holiday Novels To Add To Your TBR
The Holidays are finally here, and if you’re lucky, there is some fresh snow on the ground. ‘Tis the season for gift-giving, spreading joy and spending time with loved ones. It’s also the season to add books to your reading list with a little holiday spirit!
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.
