Bookclub Dues - November 2025

Event Date is November 18th at 6:30PM! 

Bookends is now closed on Tuesdays--to non bookclub members ;) . Don't be alarmed if you arrive to a "closed" sign - we're either in there or almost there to set up for bookclub!

There are two options for bookclub dues. Both will buy your membership for the month's meeting, which will include drinks, snacks, and a special gift or activity tied to the book's theme. The $40 option will include a physical copy of the book which can be picked up at our store when it arrives. There is also a $25 option that does not include a copy of the book (for all of our audiobook and ebook readers). November 2025 will be discounted $5 for potluck event.

Iron Widow by Ziran Jay Zhao

Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA listeners.

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected - she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way - and stop more girls from being sacrificed.