BRTD Book Club - December 2024🎄 | "The Overnight Guest" by Heather Gudenkauf

Hello and, as always, a warm welcome to all our new BRTD members!👋🏼

Thank you for your patience while I announced our next meeting! It will take place on Saturday, December 14th at 5:30PM at Le Parc Cafe inside the Coral Gables Country Club (997 N Greenway Dr, Coral Gables, FL 33134). I was originally planning to have it on the 7th, but I've had a scheduling conflict come up that day.

***This will be our holiday event as well and will include a White Elephant game and a dessert swap! Participation in the holiday portion is not mandatory, but the more people that participate, the better. Please fully read through the guidelines for participation if you plan to participate. Guidelines are below, after the book synopsis. If you do not wish to participate, you may leave after the book discussion portion of the meeting is done.***

How It Works:

A month(ish) prior to the next meetup, I will create the next event and announce the book we will be reading.📖 These will generally be in the mystery and thriller genre, of course. If anyone has suggestions or a book they've been wanting to read or that they read and loved that they feel would be good for this group, please don't hesitate to let me know!

For those of you who haven't joined us before:

We order drinks/food, I will have some questions for you (love hearing your thoughts!), and the rest is a free-flowing discussion.

This month's read is "The Overnight Guest" by Heather Gudenkauf.

“Fully realized, wholly absorbing and almost painfully suspenseful...The journey is mesmerizing.” —New York Times

A woman receives an unexpected visitor during a deadly snowstorm in this chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf.

"True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them."

White Elephant Gift Exchange Guidelines 🎁 (Participation Optional)

This is a fun, optional gift exchange game! Members can join in if they wish, and the goal is to exchange gifts in a playful way. The gift should be a maximum $20 value and could be book-themed or something fun and unique.

How to Play:

1) Bring a Wrapped Gift: If you’d like to join, bring one wrapped gift (no name tags) valued at no more than $20.

2) Draw Numbers: Each participant draws a number to determine the order of play.

3) Choose a Gift:

• The person with #1 chooses and opens a gift first.

• The person with #2 can either "steal" that gift or pick an unopened one.

• If someone’s gift is stolen, they pick another unopened gift or steal from someone else (except the gift that was just taken).

**Limit on Steals: Each gift can only be “stolen” twice, and after that, it’s “frozen” and can’t be taken again.

4) Continue Around the Circle: Play continues until everyone has a gift. The game wraps up when the last gift is opened.

Dessert Swap Guidelines🍰🍪🍨 (Participation Optional)

Bring a favorite treat to share with the group, and enjoy tasting some festive sweets.

Here’s how it works:

1) Bring Enough to Share: Make sure your dessert has enough servings for everyone to try. This could mean individual pieces, bite-sized treats, or a larger dessert that’s easy to divide.

2) Label Your Ingredients: If your dessert is homemade, please include a list of ingredients. If store-bought, please make sure there is a list of ingredients somewhere on the packaging. This helps those with allergies or dietary preferences make safe choices. For homemade treats, simply write out the ingredients on a small card or sticky note and place it with your dessert.

3) Bring Containers for Leftovers: If you’d like to take home any extra treats from others, feel free to bring a container. (Optional but highly recommended!)

December Event

WHEN: Saturday, December 14th

WHERE: Le Parc Cafe (Coral Gables Country Club)

TIME: 5:30PM

You can find the book on Amazon with options starting at $10.69.

As always, I look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting. I hope you all enjoy the book but if not, at least we'll have a great time discussing it!

Bring your holiday cheer and share your favorite sweet treat with the group!