Aardvark Book Club is a monthly book subscription box in which members choose up to 3 hardcover books each month from a selection of new releases or previous selections. Aardvark Book Club ships to both the U.S. and Canada and provides a platform to discuss books. To get your first book for $4, use the promo code READBETWEENTHESPINES.
It is the end of another month, which means that it’s time for Aardvark to drop book hints! We already had a bit of head start with this month’s books since Aardvark previously posted a few hints. If you are unfamiliar with those, I have a post about them.
I will be updating this post every day once new hints have been posted.
The Hints
Hint #1
This month they have started off with QR Code hints. If you are not familiar with this format, you typically take a picture of the code and then a link pops up on your phone. I have only included images of where the link takes you below.
Hint #2
The second hints for June are presented in a reel. They are 360 degree views of a location on Google Earth. The instructions provided read, “Observe the following locations. They are relevant either literally or thematically to our June books.” I have added screenshots of each hint along with a third picture of my Google Earth search.
Hint #3
The third set of June hints were presented in a reel. The text reads, “There are the Insta stories our June books would post… if they had smartphones and opposable thumbs…”
Book #1
Hint 1.1: The QR code leads to a YouTube video titled, “Tapputi-Belatekallim: The First Chemical Engineer.” The description reads, “A perfumer from Ancient Babylon named Tapputi-Belatekallim is possibly history’s first recorded chemist, and some of the techniques she used are still in practice today.”
Hint 2.3: University of California, Santa Barbara where one of the characters was a student.
Hint 3.1: LA Beach shot, Zoom meme, Diva poodle pic, and Papped announcement
Perfume & Pain
Anna Dorn
A controversial LA author attempts to revive her career and finally find true love in this hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction.
Having recently moved both herself and her formidable perfume bottle collection into a tiny bungalow in Los Angeles, mid-list author Astrid Dahl finds herself back in the Zoom writer’s group she cofounded, Sapphic Scribes, after an incident that leaves her and her career lightly canceled. But she temporarily forgets all that by throwing herself into a few sexy distractions—like Ivy, a grad student researching 1950s lesbian pulp who smells like metallic orchids, or her new neighbor, Penelope, who smells like patchouli.
Penelope, a painter living off Urban Outfitters settlement money, immediately ingratiates herself in Astrid’s life, bonding with her best friends and family, just as Astrid and Ivy begin to date in person. Astrid feels judged and threatened by Penelope, a responsible older vegan, but also finds her irresistibly sexy.
When Astrid receives an unexpected call from her agent with the news that actress and influencer Kat Gold wants to adapt her previous novel for TV, Astrid finally has a chance to resurrect her waning career. But the pressure causes Astrid’s worst vice to rear its head—the Patricia Highsmith, a blend of Adderall, alcohol, and cigarettes—and results in blackouts and a disturbing series of events.
Unapologetically feminine yet ribald, steamy yet hilarious, Anna Dorn has crafted an exquisite homage to the lesbian pulp of yore, reclaiming it for our internet and celebrity-obsessed world. With notes of Southern California citrus and sultry smokiness, Perfume and Pain is a satirical romp through Hollywood and lesbian melodrama.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: May 21
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Book #2
Hint 1.2: The QR code for hint #2 takes us to an Etsy search for a “velvet cloak.” I am not confident about this guess. But I added a book with a green cloak on the cover (Secrets of Rose Briar Hall by Kelsey James) while I search for a better fix in the meantime. My other guesses are How to Become the Dark Lord or Die Trying by Django Wexler or When Among Crows by Veronica Roth.
Hint 2.1: Vianden Castle, Montée du Château, Vianden, Luxembourg
Vianden Castle was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries on the foundations of a Roman ‘castellum’ and a Carolingian refuge. It is one of the largest and most beautiful feudal residences of the Romanesque and gothic periods in Europe. Until the beginning of the 15th century it was the seat of the influential counts of Vianden who could boast their close connections to the Royal Family of France and the German imperial court. Henry I of Vianden (1220-1250) is known as ‘the Sun Count’ for it is duringhis tenure that the holdings, lifestyle and influence of the House of Vianden reached its zenith.
I have some knew possibilities: When Among Crows by Veronica Roth and Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis. But I think until the third set of hints drop, I am going to go with How to Become the Dark Lord or Die Trying.
Hint 3.3: Garlic soup recipes, Castle tours, Inquiry to turn off mirror, and Request for kitchen help
Dreadful
Caitlin Rozakis
A sharp-witted, debut high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards and a garlic festival – all at once. Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, K. J. Parker and Travis Baldree.
It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.
It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you.
Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.
But as he realizes that nothing – from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess – is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all – who does he want to be?
A high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, an evil wizard convocation, and a garlic festival. All at once. All in all, Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.
Genre: Humorous Fantasy
Publication Date: May 28
Publisher: Titan Books
Book #3
Hint 1.3: The third QR code leads to the IMDB page for The Mist (2007). The Mist is a horror/sci-fi movie based upon Stephen King’s short story The Mist.
Hint 2.4: Thira regional unit of the Cyclades, Greece has a population of 293.
Hint 3.6: Wishing for stars, Tempest performance, PSA about cable cars, & Quote about society respecting elders.
The Last Murder at the End of the World
Stuart Turton
Solve the murder to save what’s left of the world.
Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.
On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they’re told by the scientists.
Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn’t solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.
But the security system has also wiped everyone’s memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don’t even know it.
And the clock is ticking.
Genre: Dystopian
Publication Date: May 21
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Book #4
Hint 1.4: The fourth QR code hint leads to a tourism website for Prince Edward Island, where This Summer Will Be Different is centered.
Hint 2.5: Anne of Green Gables Museum, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Hint 3.4: Countdown, Richard’s seafood shot, Anne of Green Gables Museum, and Oyster quote
This Summer Will Be Different
Carley Fortune
This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer, they won’t give into temptation. This summer will be different.
Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.
It’s easier said than done.
Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters, and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: May 7
Publisher: Berkley
Book #5
Hint 1.5: The QR code for the fifth hint takes us to the Wikipedia entry for Mukbang, type of eating show popularized in South Korea. I have two contenders for this hint – either Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour or The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim. I decided to pick The Eyes Are the Best Part simply because of its Korean-American protagonist and author.
Hint 2.6: San Jose & the San Francisco Bay Area, where the book takes place.
Hint 3.5: Table of Asian food, “Feeling blue,” Ice cream scoops, and Men (movie) and ask to follow on Letterboxd, a social platform for sharing your taste in film.
The Eyes Are the Best Part
Monika Kim
Crying in H-Mart meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.
Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her Appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying… yet enticing.
In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family’s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. No, George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.
For no matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.
A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Literary Fiction
Publication Date: June 25
Publisher: Erewhon Books
Book #6
Hint 1.6: The final QR hint takes us to an Architectural Digest home tour article titled, “Inside a Vibrant Countryside Castle Where Colorful Patterns Reign Supreme.” The article features the Castle of Trenton, a Georgian manor built by a nobleman in 1068 and bestowed on the Duchy of Cornwall in 1337.
I am not confident about a book for this hint. I think another hint tomorrow will add a lot of clarity. I considered a few different books, including The Unwedding by Ally Condie and Wives Like Us by Plum Sykes, but I am going with Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan for my guess.
Hint 2.2: Island of Hawai’i (“the Big Island”), Hawaii which is literally on the cover of Lies and Weddings.
Hint 3.2: Airplane travel shot, Hawaii plane picture, British Vogue GRWM, and Birkin bag color poll
Lies and Weddings
Kevin Kwan
From the iconic internationally bestselling author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy: A forbidden affair erupts volcanically amid a decadent tropical wedding in this outrageous comedy of manners.
Rufus Leung Gresham, future Earl of Greshambury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel has a problem: the legendary Gresham Trust has been depleted by decades of profligate spending, and behind all the magazine covers and Instagram stories manors and yachts lies nothing more than a gargantuan mountain of debt. The only solution, put forth by Rufus’s scheming mother, is for Rufus to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort, a veritable who’s-who of sultans, barons, and oligarchs, and seduce a woman with money.
Should he marry Solène de Courcy, a French hotel heiress with honey blond tresses and a royal bloodline? Should he pursue Martha Dung, the tattooed venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops? Or should he follow his heart, betray his family, squander his legacy, and finally confess his love to the literal girl next door, the humble daughter of a doctor, Eden Tong? When a volcanic eruption burns through the nuptials and a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family plans—and their reputation—go up in flames.
Can the once-great dukedom rise from the ashes? Or will a secret tragedy, hidden for two decades, reveal a shocking twist?
In a globetrotting tale that takes us from the black sand beaches of Hawaii to the skies of Marrakech, from the glitzy bachelor pads of Los Angeles to the inner sanctums of England’s oldest family estates, Kevin Kwan unfurls a juicy, hilarious, sophisticated and thrillingly plotted story of love, money, murder, sex, and the lies we tell about them all.
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: May 21
Publisher: Doubleday
