Aardvark Book Club is a monthly book subscription box (in both the U.S. & Canada) in which members choose up to 3 hardcover books. In addition to past months’ selections, Aardvark provides 4-5 newly published books to choose from each month. You can also discuss the books with other members in the Aardvark app.
As the end of the month approaches, Aardvark Book Club starts posting hints for their upcoming month’s selection. While the type of hints changes from month-to-month, they remain fun to follow along with. I typically make guesses as to what books they will be in my Instagram stories, but I thought I would also share them here.
I wrote this post with hints #1 and #2 available. I added the additional (book #2) hints as they became available. Hint #4 clarified the romance selection and I updated that section accordingly.
Book # 1
Death Valley
Melissa Broder
In Melissa Broder’s astounding new novel, a woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow—for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path, thanks to a receptionist who recommends a nearby hike.
Out on the sun-scorched trail, the woman encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious and poignant.
Publication Date: October 3
Publisher: Scribner
Book # 2
Update: Hint #4 makes it clear that this book will be The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella.
Original text: This is the one book that I am not sure of at this point. The first hint – Headspace – is an app intended to reduce stress through mindfulness and meditation. The inclusion of Sleeping With Other People in the second hint leads me to believe it is a romance where either two people (1) meet again after many years apart or (2) try to deny their attraction and remain platonic or (3) live in NYC. The Key to My Heart is a romance with a central theme of music in which a young widow receives mysterious messages of love. Office Space could imply it is a workplace romance or one of the characters hates their job. And Eat Pray Love? It could refer to traveling to find love, a woman re-evaluating what is important, or a journey of self-discovery.
With all of this, I think there are at least two books that fit: The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella or Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenburg. To a lesser extent, even Love Interest by Clare Gilmore fits the hints. When I am debating between books, I usually then look at the publishers. Unfortunately, my computer is in the shop, and I do not have access to the spreadsheet where I track the picks and publishers. I am not sure that Aardvark has worked with either Griffin or The Dial Press, although both are imprints of publishing groups Aardvark has worked with. I guess we must see what the third hint will be!
The Burnout
Sophie Kinsella
Sparks fly in this delightful novel about two burned out professionals who meet at a ramshackle resort on the British seaside—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Party Crasher.
Publication Date: October 10
Publisher: The Dial Press
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice
Alison Rose Greenberg
Filled with the romance and angst that defines the years you come to know yourself, with a shifting timeline covering two decades and ratcheting up the tension, Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is a novel of second chances and finding your own way.
Publication Date: October 3
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Book # 3
The Roaring Days of Zora Lily
Noelle Salazar
The discovery of a hidden label on a famous gown unearths the story of a talented young seamstress in this glittering novel of family, love, ambition, and self discovery.
2023, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History: A costume conservator is preparing an exhibition featuring movie costumes from the 1920s to present day. As she gingerly places a gown once worn by Greta Garbo on a mannequin, she discovers another name hidden beneath the designer’s label, leaving her to wonder—who is Zora Lily?
Publication Date: October 3
Publisher: MIRA
Book # 4
I really was unsure what the first hint could be. But the second hint was much more informative. The combination of Despicable Me and Cats & Dogs point to this book being Starter Villian.
Starter Villain
John Scalzi
Synopsis: Sam’s life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiancé, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family’s Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there’s no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right?
Publication Date: September 19
Publisher: Tor Books
Book # 5
Rogue
Mona Awad
From the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother’s unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Can she escape her mother’s fate—and find a connection that is more than skin deep?
Publication Date: September 12
Publisher: S&S/Marysue Rick Books
Book # 6
Black Sheep
Rachel Harrison
A cynical twenty-something must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.
Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly…something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep. When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.
Publication Date: September 19
Publisher: Berkley
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One response to “October 2023 Aardvark Book Club Hints & Selections”
This was super fun! Thank you! I just subscribed and used your code, I am super excited.
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