The Nod Book Club 

A virtual literary hangout where we handpick one unputdownable book every month

One Golden Summer

Why ‘One Golden Summer’ is the perfect pick this February

About: Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s grandmother says, and it’s true. Alice spent just one summer there at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen—it’s where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life.Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she’s most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she’s been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry’s Bay. But as soon as they settle in, their peace is disrupted by the roar of a familiar yellow boat, and the man driving it.Charlie Florek was nineteen when Alice took his photo from afar. Now he’s all grown up—a shameless flirt, who manages to make Nan laugh and Alice long to be seventeen again, when life was simpler, when taking pictures was just for fun. Sun-slanted days and warm nights out on the lake with Charlie are a balm for Alice’s soul, but when she looks up and sees his piercing green gaze directly on her, she begins to worry for her heart.Because Alice sees people—that’s why she is so good at what she does—but she’s never met someone who looks and sees her right back.

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'One Golden Summer' by Carley Fortune

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Join our Instagram channel to discuss the book of the month as we read it. From every-thought-you-had-while-reading to the author's notes, there's a lot going on here. 

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Kiran Desai in conversation with Sonam Kapoor for The Nod Book Club

Getting Kiran Desai and Sonam Kapoor in a room to talk about 'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny' (and then some) was pure magic. There was laughter, goosebumps, a few misty eyes—and everything in between. We couldn’t have dreamed up a better duo to kick off The Nod Book Club’s very first event.

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For the author of the Morisaki Bookshop series, daily life has its own drama  

19 years ago, she wrote a Booker-winning novel. Now she’s back with another contender

About: In the snowy mountains of Vermont, Sonia is lonely. A college student and aspiring writer homesick for India, she turns to an older artist for inspiration and intimacy, a man who will cast a dark spell on the next many years of her life. In Brooklyn, Sunny is lonely, too. A struggling journalist originally from Delhi, he is both beguiled and perplexed by his American girlfriend and the country in which he plans to find his future. As Sonia and Sunny each becomes more and more alienated, they begin to question their understanding of happiness, human connection, and where they belong.Back in India, Sonia and Sunny's extended families cannot fathom how anyone could be lonely in this great, bustling world. They arrange a meeting between the two—a clumsy meddling that only drives Sonia and Sunny apart before they have a chance to fall in love.The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the sweeping tale of two young people navigating the many forces that shape their country, class, race, history, and the complicated bonds that link one generation to the next.&nbsp;Themes: Family saga, Immigration, Love

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'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny' by Kiran Desai

Why you need to read ‘A Guardian and a Thief’ by Megha Majumdar  

About: In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, containing their treasured immigration documents, has been stolen.Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children’s future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.Themes: Climate change, Family saga, DisplacementRelease date: October 31, 2025

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'A Guardian and a Thief' by Megha Majumdar 

Why ‘Half Light’ by Mahesh Rao is our November pick 

About: In the misty mountains of Darjeeling, a landslide entraps the guests and staff of a dilapidated hotel. Cooped up inside, two men exchange lingering glances. For carefree Neville, this is one of many exhilarating encounters, stolen kisses in stairways and parked cars. But for Pavan, an employee desperate to avoid detection, their entanglement prises open his carefully contained and solitary existence with unforgettable consequences.Four years later, their paths cross again amidst the towering skyscrapers and ghostly smog of Mumbai. Pavan has fled the hills, burying all memories of their encounter, while Neville is now a flailing graduate, craving something more than the naked torsos blowing up his phone. When he glimpses Pavan working behind the reception of a luxurious hotel, he demands a meeting, pursuing him with mischief and menace as the secrets of their time together threaten to tumble into the light.Themes: LGBTQ+ romance, IdentityRelease date: October 31, 2025

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'Half Light' by Mahesh Rao

Why ‘Help Wanted’ by Adelle Waldman is our October pick 

At a big-box store in a small town in upstate New York, the members of Team Movement clock in every morning at 3:55. Under the eye of a self-absorbed and barely competent boss, they empty the day’s truck of merchandise, stock the shelves, and scatter before customers arrive. When a golden opportunity for a promotion presents itself, the diverse members of Movement―among them a comedy-obsessed oddball who acts half his age, a young woman clinging to her “cool kid” status from high school, a college football hopeful trying to find a new path―band together and set a just-so-crazy-it-might-work plot into motion. A darkly comic workplace caper that explores the aches and uses of solidarity, Help Wanted is a deeply human portrait of people trying, against increasingly long odds, to make a living.&nbsp;

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'Help Wanted' by Adelle Waldman

Book Club

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Beyond the Book: Meera Ganapathi in conversation with Megha Majumdar

In times like these, picking Megha Majumdar's ‘A Guardian and a Thief’ as The Nod Book Club's December read was a no-brainer. To wrap up our last pick of the year, we got writer Meera Ganapathi to chat with Majumdar about climate change, why Kolkata anchors the novel, and the uneasy, fascinating questions that sit at its heart.Social Media Editor: Diya ParakhVisuals editor: Ria Rawat~Join our Instagram channel to read along with us: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbaiNjee79flVG5f/More about The Nod Book Club here: https://thenodmag.com/book-club&nbsp;

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Beyond the Book: Parmesh Shahani in conversation with Mahesh Rao

We get attached to our books—and Mahesh Rao’s 'Half Light' was particularly hard to let go of. So, to process this novel's emotional whiplash, we got writer Parmesh Shahani to chat with Rao about queer clichés, why Ahaan Pandey and Taha Shah are their dream leading men, and whether a sequel might be lurking in Rao’s drafts.&nbsp;&nbsp;~Join our Instagram channel to read along with us: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbaiNjee79flVG5f/&nbsp;More about The Nod Book Club here: https://thenodmag.com/book-club

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 Beyond the Book: Namita Dubey in conversation with Adelle Waldman

We’re still not over Adelle Waldman’s 'Help Wanted'—our October pick for The Nod Book Club. So, we called in actor and bookworm Namita Dubey to do what she does best: ask a lot of questions. In this chat, Waldman spills on how her day job inspired the book, who she’d cast in a movie version, and a whole lot more.~The Nod Book Club's Instagram channel: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbaiNjee79flVG5f/More about The Nod Book Club here: https://thenodmag.com/book-club?utm_source=wa

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Beyond the Book: Ria Chopra in conversation with Amrita Mahale

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Beyond the Book: Ahilya Bamroo in conversation with Shelby Van Pelt

To wrap up The Nod Book Club's August read, 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' (aka “that octopus book”), we got author Shelby Van Pelt and content creator Ahilya Bamroo to chat with us about what makes this story feel like a warm hug (literally), why Lewis Pullman is the best ever, and if an octopus can actually operate a copy machine 🐙~Join our Instagram channel to read along with us: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbaiNjee79flVG5f/More about The Nod Book Club here: https://thenodmag.com/book-club

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Beyond the Book: Rohan Joshi in conversation with Silvia Park

To discuss The Nod Book Club’s first pick, 'Luminous', we did the only logical thing: teamed up sci-fi sensation Silvia Park with self-confessed tech geek and comedian, Rohan Joshi. Together, they dive into why Sam Altman probably won’t be your bff, what it actually means to be human, and whether we should just let the robots take over already.Join our IG broadcast channel here: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbaiNjee79flVG5f/More about The Nod Book Club: https://thenodmag.com/book-club

The Nod Book Club

FEBRUARY PICK

One Golden Summer

By Ruhi Gilder

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