The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires - by Grady Hendrix

EmilyAnn Raynor

November 8, 2020

Bella Book Club Monthly Selection by Nichole Miller

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix, provides an unusual combination of classic horror and old Southern charm. Patricia Campbell is a stay-at-home mom who is trying her best to raise her teenage children and care for her senile mother-in-law. Her husband, a psychiatrist, is never home and is little help, and Patricia’s sanity is starting to run thin. After embarrassing herself at the snooty local ladies’ book club, she walks out to find some of the other members forming a new book group where she is introduced to true crime stories and a group of amazing women and lasting friendships.

One night Patricia is attacked by her elderly neighbor, who later dies. While attempting to pay her respects, she meets the handsome stranger next door. James Harris is charming and charismatic, but something isn’t quite right. What happens next will take you on a wild ride that had me both laughing and yelling, possibly at the same time. This quirky book ranges from laugh-out-loud funny to absolutely terrifying in a turn of a page. Set in Charleston, South Carolina, during the late 1980s, this book is an interesting take on what a mother will do to save her family. While this book seems at times light and almost satirical, darkness lies within the story in true horror fashion.

Nikke is a busy nurse practitioner but in her spare time is an avid reader of all genres. Other hobbies include kayaking, writing, and sleeping. She and her husband have two daughters, three cats, and one kombucha scoby. To rationalize her book addiction, she will be bringing us a monthly book club selection.

Bella Book Host

EmilyAnn Raynor

How long have book clubs been around? It seems that the history of people gathering to discuss books is as old as the printing press. From the 1600s on a ship bound for Massachusetts, to enlightenment-era Paris salons, from Oprah’s book club of the late 1990s, to today’s COVID-era virtual clubs that meet via Zoom and Facebook, we just love to read and discuss books. There are around 5 million book club members, predominantly women, in the United States.

I think that the selection for Bella’s Book club this month is particularly fitting for several reasons. First of all, it is about a book club. Not only that, it’s about the expectations that many have around book clubs, women’s roles, and family traditions. Finally, it’s about vampires, and although it will be November when this is printed, it was just before Halloween on one of our rare crisp fall days that I started reading this. It just felt fitting. If you like your horror with a side of humor, then this is definitely the book for you.

EmilyAnn Raynor is a native of Aiken, South Carolina, with more hobbies than time to do them. Among other things, she is a nurse, ballet costume designer, and mother of two human children and three fur children.

Local Book Clubs

If you are missing your book club, we have a few other solutions for you as well.

ACA Literal Blast Online Book Discussions

Aiken Center for the Arts invites everyone to meet the authors and join the conversation through our new Literal Blast Online Book Discussions.

Get to know local authors, the minds behind the book covers and the written word, from the comfort of your own home. Registration includes a copy of the book and two group Zoom sessions with the author. After you register at AikenCenterfortheArts.org you will receive a copy of the book and Zoom meeting invitations.

A Literal Blast kicks off in November with Sasscer Hill’s Travels of Quinn. Join us Tuesdays, November 10 and 17, from 7 – 8pm. Fee is $30.

Travels of Quinn

Sasscer Hill, a former Maryland racehorse breeder, trainer, and rider, uses the sport of kings as a backdrop for her mysteries. Quinn was born an Irish American Traveller, and her father and stepfamily raised her to be a con artist. Can she escape a binding marriage contract and a life of crime? Jailed for theft, Quinn pays restitution by working on a horse farm. Unfamiliar with horses, her love for them surprises her. They make her hope for a better world. Until the farm’s owner is brutally murdered and Quinn is the prime suspect.

The Aiken County Library Online Adult Book Club

The Aiken County Library Adult Book Club has gone virtual for the time being. The book selection for November is The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg. Sign up at the reference desk by calling 803.642.2020 x1131 and a meeting link will be sent to you.

The discussion will take place online on November 17, 2:30 – 3:50pm. The Book Club will not meet in person at the library until further notice.

EmilyAnn Raynor

EmilyAnn Raynor is a native of Aiken, South Carolina, with more hobbies than time to do them. Among other things, she is a nurse, ballet costume designer, and mother of two, and she can recite her family genealogy for at least 6 generations in any direction.

EmilyAnn Raynor

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