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Right before we take a little break for the summer (even though it won’t seem to stop raining 😭) we squeezed in one more book club at Waterstones Piccadilly with the one and only Mike Gayle! We had such a fun evening discussing his novel A Song For Me & You with our regulars and some new faces too!

We went straight into discussion in our usual Candid style, talking about how much we love our girl Helen, the heart of the book, how she finds her match in Ben, the influence of their parents on how they hold relationships, the value in representing finding love again at any age and stage of life, and of course the double twist of an ending! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed, it was so fun to dive deeper into the novel. Of course we are HUGELY grateful to Mike for spending an evening with us, giving us all the insight and highlights of a 25 year career 🥳 and a sneak peek of what’s to come too!

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We were so honoured last night to host the book launch of the summer, and celebrate the incredible Poorna Bell! This is Fine is already one of our favourite books of 2024 and it was a pleasure to spend an evening with Poorna and so many of you discussing all things Padma and Myra, what makes Poorna’s second novel so special, all the inspiration and motivations behind the twists and turns of the story, and even baby elephants if you can believe it! (IKYK 🐘💕)

Poorna is truly such a gem of a writer, and we’re so grateful to her for spending the evening with us, signing everyone’s books and trusting us to host the launch of This is Fine to a packed room of fans! We can’t wait for you all to read the book and tell us what you think (at a future book club? Watch this space!)

A special thank you to the team at @waterstonestcr for all the logistics and set up, even matching the flowers to the book - we love a theme! 💐 Another massive thank you to @malsphotographyuk for taking some incredible shots of the event - make sure you follow her page! And a special thank you to everyone who attended, for spending an evening with us and sharing your wonderful questions.

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It was such a pleasure to be in conversation with Ishi Robinson to celebrate her wonderful debut novel, Sweetness in the Skin. We’re so grateful to all who braved the grey skies and made it a full house for Ishi’s first UK event and first ever book club for her book!

The whole room resonated with love for Pumkin, her story and her journey to discover herself. We had such a wide ranging conversation about strong women, expectations, colourism, class and society in Jamaica, and finding your chosen family. Thank you to all who contributed, and especially to Ishi for not only sharing such an amazing story with the world, but for all the insight and history you shared with the room!

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We love our candid book club events, and last night was no exception! In case you missed it, we hosted an evening with the gorgeous Huma Qureshi to celebrate her amazing novel Playing Games at Waterstones Piccadilly!

The vibes were immaculate and we had an amazing conversation in the round about the things we loved and the characters we hated and their accompanying red flags. But what came from the chat last night was how such a story can have such a transformative effect for so many of us! Huma's words have the power to change our feelings, rethink our ideas and help us to reconnect with our loved ones in a more meaningful way. If that hasn't sold you on the book, we don't know what will!

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Another stellar event in the books for us and one we were all highly anticipating - an evening discussing Jaded with the fantastic Ela Lee herself! We were all very invested in this powerful debut and last night was the perfect chance to share that love with you all in the round at our beloved Waterstones Piccadilly home.

Jade/Ceyda’s story has heavy, serious themes and the book does not hold back, so we had plenty to dissect: from being a third culture kid in the corporate world, the power dynamics in the workplace and who should really be held accountable, her escape from a toxic relationship, right through to how justice is never truly served for women who have been subject to abuse and trauma.

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The day after Valentines Day, but there was no lack of love in the room last night for our amazing February event! We had a fantastic time with you all discussing the wonderful novel People Change by Sara Jafari. Back at our Waterstones Piccadilly home, it was the perfect bookish evening for this heartwarming book.

We delved into all things Kian and Shirin; how their childhoods and family lives shaped who they were and their relationship in the present, Shirin’s terrible friendships, and her toxic workplace tribulations. This all culminated in a twist on the classic will-they-won’t-they debate… it was more like should-they-shouldn’t-they, and it was certainly a lively debate to wrap things up!

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Our first book launch and first event of 2024 was absolute magic. We spent the evening celebrating the wonderful Sairish Hussain on the launch of her new novel, Hidden Fires. Having a chance to host the book launch of one of the most talented writers was a total privilege and you could definitely feel all the love in the room at Waterstones Piccadilly!

We set the scene for Hidden Fires, and introduced everyone to Rubi, Yusuf and Hassan, the trio that is sure to steal your hearts. We talked as much as we could spoiler-free about the central themes, Sairish’s inspirations and creative process, and of course her brilliant debut book The Family Tree! As this book came out in lockdown, we really wanted to shine a light on both books as they truly deserve.

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We rounded off 2023 in style, discussing the much-loved debut novel from Taylor-Dior Rumble at Waterstones Piccadilly, with a sell out crowd and the author herself! In true Candid style, we sat in the round to talk all about The Situationship!

Everyone was itching to discuss Nate versus Aaron and we were in firm agreement that our leading woman, Tia was better off without either! We went on to discuss Tia’s journey of self-love, her increasing maturity, the importance of communication and trying to navigate life whilst searching for identity, companionship and recognition in the corporate workplace. Tia’s world felt relatable to many of us and we could’ve kept the conversation going all night!

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Making an exception to our usual book club deep dives, we hosted a fabulous celebration with the one and only Huma Qureshi on the UK publication of Playing Games at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road! We had the privilege to read Playing Games before the official launch and it is a five-star smash for all 5 of us.

It was wonderful to talk about the novel with @humaqureshiwriter, her writing process and the theme of sisterhood and female relationships, and also have some fun getting to know Huma by playing a little game of ‘two truths and a lie’ too.😄 It’s not like us to talk spoiler-free but we managed it, and the excitement in the room to read this story was evident from every single person!

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We hosted a truly one-of-a-kind Candid book club with one of our favourite authors and all you lovely people, coming together at Waterstones Piccadilly to talk about one of our favourite novels this year! We were so honoured to have Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai with us for the evening to discuss Dust Child, a few months after we hosted her book launch, and delved deep into this emotional and important story of the people affected by the Vietnam war.

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The amazing novel by Krystle Zara Appiah definitely gave us much food for thought and we had the best evening in our reading circle with all you wonderful attendees to break this story down!

And break it down we did - we had some incredible input from everyone in the room on as many themes as we could pack into one hour, including motherhood, marriage, mental health and toxic families.

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We were back in the round for another amazing book club with the wonderful Cecile Pin unpack her novel, Wandering Souls! We took a deep dive into many of the themes of the book, including loss of childhood, the burden of grief, the UK immigration systems, assimilation and language barriers, and even the lessons we learn from spirituality and cultural beliefs.

These book clubs would be nothing without the views and opinions all our attendees bring to the table, and the discussion and debate is always illuminating and educating for everyone in the room. Thank you so much to everyone who joined us! And a huge thank you to Cecile for spending the evening with us as we dissected her characters, their decisions and the outcomes, and for sharing the behind the scenes insights to bring everything into context.

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On the longest day of the year, we held a spectacular book club with the one and only Zoulfa Katouh, author of As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow, at our favourite spot, @piccadillywaterstones. We don't know anyone who doesn't love this book, and as usual, we had A LOT to discuss in the round with so many of you wonderful people.

Our discussion flew by as we spoke about everyone's favourite characters; Salama and Kenan, their innocent love marked by fate despite their devastating circumstances, and the ability to read a halal romance without being catfished in some way. As Zoulfa re-confirmed to us, positive Muslim representation in the literature and on-screen remains scarce and this novel is certainly a blueprint for how it should be done.

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The sun was shining, the drinks were flowing and the discussion was lively and then some - all in honour of the amazing debut novel Maame, from Jessica George. We unanimously loved this book and its protagonist Maddie, and we had a lot to unpack and debate, as always in the round at our beloved Waterstones Piccadilly. 🥰

We could have talked for hours, but in the time we had we covered so much, from good female friendships, what bad romantic relationships teach us, the microaggressions and racism Maddie sees and faces throughout her story, and the complicated role of motherhood and its expectations within social and cultural confines. As always, you guys brought your insightful and articulate commentary, spicy takes and relatable scenarios, and we’re so thankful for you all! We’re also so grateful to Jess for taking the time to spend an evening with us, share some BTS on the book and characters, and hear about our love for the novel first hand.

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We’re so glad that so many of you could join us to discuss In Case of Emergency with the author herself, it was an evening to remember!

In true unconventional Candid style, we started with all the spoilers in the middle of the book and worked our way through the themes in the story.

Our discussion took many twists and turns as we spoke about friendship breakups and misunderstandings in our formative years and the hold that these fallouts can have on our adult lives. In the limited time that we had, we covered as much about our leading woman, Bel, as we possibly could! From her growth and self-awareness, her insecurities and weaknesses in her personal life to her fiercely confident persona in the workplace. We could easily have gone on for another hour!

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Making an exception to our usual book club deep dives, we hosted a fabulous celebration with the one and only Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai on the UK publication of Dust Child at Waterstones Piccadilly! We’re so glad that so many of you could join us to hear about this incredible story with the author herself, it was truly an evening to remember. And we’re so honoured, to have been asked to lead this event. Quế Mai’s energy was infectious and inspiring and there was a lot of love in the room! Quế Mai, we hope that this was the launch party you wished for. ❤️

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We kicked off the month of March in style last night at Waterstones Piccadilly for an evening with the one and only Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ and her new novel, A Spell of Good Things.🧡 We’re so glad that so many of you could join us to discuss this incredible story with the author herself, it was an evening to remember!

In true unconventional Candid style, we started at the end of the book and worked our way through all the themes in the story that brought us to that shocking ending - inequality, wealth, education, strong women and toxic men, the deep influence of politics on every aspect of Nigerian life, and the circumstances and choices the characters made throughout.

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We rounded off our February with a brilliant turnout last night in the company of debut novelist, Jyoti Patel at Waterstones Piccadilly. In true candid style we sat in the round to dissect the characters and the ending of The Things That We Lost. Having previously attended our event with Huma Qureshi, it was a pleasure to welcome Jyoti back in our midst as an established author.

We loved Nikhil as a character and invested in his journey to discover more about his father and how he came to be. We found him and his group of friends to be authentic and enjoyed the positive and diverse support system when dealing with grief and depression at a young age. Whilst many of us were frustrated with Avani, by the end we empathised as we heard Jyoti speak about the extensive research and background to this novel. In trying to reverse the narrative and tropes around South Asian stereotypes, we meet a wonderful array of characters who do just that!

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We kicked off 2023 in style, discussing the incredible novel from Joanna Glen at Waterstones Piccadilly, with a sell out crowd and the author herself! In true Candid style, we sat in the round to talk all about All My Mothers.

Joanna began with a reading from page 125 where we met Eva, adamant that her parents aren’t her parents, lost and uprooted as her childhood friend Bridget leaves London. We went on to discuss Eva at length, her self-awareness and surroundings and who was the best mother for Eva in the book - all the women shaping her formative years in their own way. Eva’s family ties, toxic upbringing and trying to navigate life whilst searching for identity, faith, love and home made for a discussion that could’ve gone on all evening!

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We can’t quite believe it’s almost the end of 2022 already, but we rounded off this year in style, discussing the incredible debut novel from Hafsa Zayyan at Waterstones Piccadilly, with a sell out crowd and the author herself! In true Candid style, we sat in the round to talk all about We Are All Birds of Uganda.

In a surprise move, we started the night at the end of the book with that dramatic open ending, and went on to discuss the imperfections of Sameer, his family ties, communication skills and toxic parents, and trying to navigate life whilst searching for identity, faith, love and home as an immigrant of any generation.

Thank you so much as always to our regulars and new faces who contributed to the conversation, so many of you with personal connections to the story; we’re so honoured and grateful to hear your viewpoints, experiences and spicy takes on the topics at hand! Of course a huge thank you to @haffy_22 for taking the time to join us, and adding context and dimension to our discussion, and for writing such a great novel that brought us all together. ❤️