NEW DATE/TIME: June 1 at 6:30 PM
For the third volume of the litty book club we’ll be discussing Lázár by Nelio Biedermann.
Hailed by the New York Times as “virtuosic… riveting… audacious,” this debut is a gothic saga capturing the rise and fall of an aristocratic Hungarian family against the backdrop of two world wars. At the turn of the 20th century, a child is born to the Lázárs. His birth brings to light the secrets, affairs, and peculiar otherworldly happenings that plague his family. Through one intergenerational epic, Biedermann paints a portrait of a nation.
Join us at @upstartandcrow on June 1st for free! Link in our bio.
Who doesn’t love a novel set in a sprawling country estate?
True to the gothic, Nelio Biedermann’s formidable debut takes place in an isolated summer manor where a child is born to Baron Sándor and his wife, María. Though neither of them have been paragons of fidelity, the child, Lajos, is fated to carry the family name — Lázár.
Meanwhile, the baron’s older brother, Imre, lurks in another wing, struck by visions of a coming catastrophe. And over the course of fifty years, we accompany the Lázárs through some of the most turbulent political and social upheavals in Hungarian history.
🎠 Our pals at @read.litty host a free, bimonthly book club where they introduce readers to the books everyone’s talking about before they’re talking about them.
🎠 They’ll be meeting at Upstart & Crow to discuss Lázár on Monday, June 1 at 6:30 p.m.
RSVP through the link in our bio!
#fictionbookclub #bookclubpick #translatedfiction #hungarianliterature #upstartandcrow
“I don’t believe that blood makes a family … Kin is the circle you create, hands held tight.”
Kin by Tayari Jones is an exciting new release about finding family.
#tayarijones #litfic #2026books
Announcing our May litty prospects 📚:
Homebound — Portia Elan
The Hill —Harriet Clark
Canon —Paige Lewis;
Babylon, South Dakota — Tom Lin
Spawning Season — Joseph Osmundson
Read the books everyone’s talking about, before they’re talking about them!
#books #bookstagram #readinglist #bookrecommendations #mustread
Books mentioned ⬇️
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
Follows the brutal aftermath of a murdered “witch” in a rural Mexican village, unraveling the violence, poverty, and desperation consuming the people connected to her death.
What Am I, a Deer? by Polly Barton
Follows a lonely translator in Frankfurt whose chance encounter with a stranger sparks an obsessive inner spiral about desire, identity, and self-expression.
Books mentioned ⬇️
Earth Children by Jean M. Auel is a series of epic historical fiction novels set 30,000 years ago. About a woman cast out from her own people and raised by Neanderthals as she survives ice age Europe.
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. A genre defining fantasy trilogy about a hobbit tasked with carrying a powerful ring across Middle-earth as war spreads and dark forces rise around him.
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. A self-help book about success through mindfulness, purpose, and spiritual balance.
“I Could Read the Sky” follows an aging Irish labourer in London reflecting on a life marked by emigration, memory, music, and loss. By Timothy O’Grady & Steve Pyke.
Had the best time chatting with fellow book lovers this Independent Bookstore Day at Upstart & Crow! Stay tuned for some of the great conversations we had coming out this week.
Highlighting one of our April prospect titles:
Ruins, Child by Giada Scodellaro
Set in a decaying apartment tower in a possible near-future, Ruins, Child follows six women whose voices form a vivid, fragmented portrait of place and community.
“Ruins, Child is conceptually rich, prismatic, and choral, embodied, and surreal, cinematic and textual. Giada Scodellaro writes us Black life watching Black life.” — Dionne Brand
“Scodellaro refracts and redefines the canon of Black culture, the archive of Black experience. The result is a masterpiece that lives and breathes on the page, every sentence shimmering with wit, musicality, brilliance and verve.” — Katie Kitamura
#books #bookstagram #mustread #bookrecommendations
