Book club meeting for The Boy With The Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu:
*Edinburgh, 1874. Born with a frozen heart, Jack is near death when his mother abandons him to the care of Dr. Madeleine—witch doctor, midwife, protector of orphans—who saves Jack by placing a cuckoo clock in his chest. And it is in her orphanage that Jack grows up among tear-filled flasks, eggs containing memories, and a man with a musical spine.*
*As Jack gets older, Dr. Madeleine warns him that his heart is too fragile for strong emotions: he must never, ever fall in love. And, of course, this is exactly what he does: on his tenth birthday and with head-over-heels abandon. The object of his ardor is Miss Acacia—a bespectacled young street performer with a soul-stirring voice. But now Jack’s life is doubly at risk—his heart is in danger and so is his safety after he injures the school bully in a fight for the affections of the beautiful singer.*

This is a pretty short book, so it's perfect to ease us into the new year. Like last year, I wanted to do a short book so you aren't feeling a ton of reading pressue during the end-of-year holiday chaos.

It's been a while since I've read this book, but it's very, very dear to my heart (no pun intended?). This novel is translated from French and so fantastical and beautiful. There IS a movie adaptation, although, it's very, very different and had to be made into a children's movie due to budget cuts. (There is more to this story, and I know I'll tell you all about it eventually. I love the movie too.)

**Please tell me asap if you have trouble finding this book**. I can make changes and pick something else if we need to. I'd love to share this book with you all, but if you can't actually read it, I obviously need to do something else.

Our meetings are typically two hours. The first hour-ish will be specifically about discussing the book. Please keep conversation about THIS book. Once discussion starts to fizzle and we're out of things to say, I'll introduce the next book. Then we have our social hour, talk about whatever we want, get to know each other, etc. until we get our checks and head out for the night. We are here to talk about the book of the month, but we are also here to make friends, so I try to make sure there is time for both! In some rare cases, the book discussion is so good, it might take up the whole two hours, but that doesn't happen too often.

When the time gets closer, I will set up a reservation under my name and give you the info. Please feel free to order as much or as little as you want! I try to pick places that have range so people can spend to their comfort level.

I will have a tip jar with me (cash and Venmo) if you enjoy the event and feel like pitching in anything to help with costs for the Meetup app. No pressure at all! Any contributions are greatly appreciated because Meetup is annoyingly pricey.

Hope to see you there!

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Book Club: The Boy With The Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu

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Book Club: The Boy With The Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu

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