Croydon Bookworms 📚🐛 (Book Club in-Person)

Before They Are Hanged (The First Law #2) by Joe Abercrombie
📖 539 pages
Genre: Fantasy • Grimdark • Epic Fantasy

Summary:
The world is at war—and it’s not going well.
In Before They Are Hanged, the fragile peace of the Union shatters as enemies close in from every side. Northmen mass at the borders, the Gurkish Empire threatens invasion, and political games in the capital grow ever more dangerous. Survival will demand unlikely alliances and even unlikelier acts of heroism.
Logen Ninefingers finds himself marching toward a past he can’t outrun. Jezal dan Luthar is forced to confront the gulf between the man he is and the man he pretends to be. Inquisitor Glokta faces enemies both foreign and uncomfortably close to home. And Bayaz, the First of the Magi, leads a perilous quest that may hold the key to everything—or nothing at all.
Abercrombie deepens the chaos and sharpens the stakes. Battles are brutal, victories are hollow, and every choice comes with a cost. If Book 1 asked what happens when the blade is drawn, Book 2 asks what happens when there’s no turning back.

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Join the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series Squad! 🗡️📚
We’re continuing our journey through The First Law trilogy—one book a month. This is where loyalties fracture, stakes rise, and characters are pushed far beyond their limits.

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How It Works:
🪐 Series Focus: This month we’re diving into Before They Are Hanged, Book 2 of The First Law. The world is expanding, the conflicts are escalating, and nothing is as simple as it first seemed.
🙌 No Pressure Zone: Didn’t finish? Come anyway. We’ll unpack character transformations, shifting alliances, brutal set pieces, and whether anyone in this world can truly be called a hero.

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📍 Join us at the Dog in Croydon on the 25th of March 2026 at 7:00 PM
Grab a drink and prepare for a journey where the road is long, the odds are terrible, and mercy is in short supply.

Circe by Madeline Miller
📖 393 pages
Genre: Greek Mythology • Retelling • Literary Fiction

Summary:
Banished to a lonely island for daring to defy the gods, Circe grows up in the shadow of power she was never meant to wield. From the halls of Olympus to the shores of her exile, she encounters legendary figures, monsters, and mortals alike, slowly discovering her own strength in a world ruled by cruelty, pride, and divine politics.
Richly atmospheric and deeply human, Circe reimagines Greek myth through the eyes of a woman finding her voice. It’s a story about transformation, loneliness, love, and choosing your own fate, even when the gods would rather you stay small.

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Join Our Book Club Bingo! 🧿📚
For April, we’re diving into something mythic, emotional, and quietly powerful. Expect gods behaving badly, magic lessons gone wrong, and plenty of moments perfect for ticking off your Bingo card.

How It Works:
🧿 Grab Your Bingo Card: Filled with gods, monsters, curses, banishments, and iconic mythological moments.
✅ Mark Your Cards: Check off squares as we discuss characters, themes, favorite scenes, and retellings of familiar myths.
🎉 Shout “Bingo!” Be the first to complete two rows, columns, or diagonals.
📚 Win a Book: Two readers will leave with a new addition to their TBR pile!

Expect witches, legends, morally questionable immortals, and one woman rewriting her story.

📍 The Dog on Surrey Street, Croydon
📅 15th of April at 7:00 PM

Last Argument of Kings (The First Law #3) by Joe Abercrombie
📖 536 pages
Genre: Fantasy • Grimdark • Epic Fantasy

Summary:
The end is here—and it won’t be clean.
Last Argument of Kings brings the First Law trilogy to its explosive conclusion. War consumes the North. The Union trembles under siege. Old debts are called in, long-laid plans come to fruition, and the true cost of ambition is finally revealed.
Logen Ninefingers must decide what kind of man he really is. Glokta navigates a crumbling political landscape where survival depends on choosing the right master. Jezal is forced into a role he may not be fit to play. And Bayaz’s grand design—patiently constructed over decades—comes into devastating focus.
Abercrombie delivers a finale that refuses easy answers. Power has a price. Justice is rarely fair. And sometimes the last argument of kings is simply who survives to tell the tale. Expect twists, reckonings, and consequences that linger long after the final page.

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Join the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series Squad! 🗡️📚
We’re wrapping up The First Law trilogy together—one last month to debate loyalties, question motives, and decide whether grimdark fantasy has ruined traditional heroes for good.

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How It Works:
🪐 Series Focus: This month’s read is Last Argument of Kings, Book 3 and the epic conclusion to the trilogy. Threads converge, masks fall, and we finally see what this story has truly been building toward.
🙌 No Pressure Zone: Finished it? Fantastic. Still catching up? Come anyway. We’ll dive into the ending, character payoffs, shocking revelations, and whether the journey was worth the bloodshed.

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📍 Join us at the Dog in Croydon on the 29th of April 2026 at 7:00 PM
Raise a glass to fallen heroes, surviving schemers, and a trilogy that proves sometimes the sharpest weapon is the truth.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (292 pages)
Genre: Literary Fiction, Family Drama, Mystery

Summary:
Lydia is the favorite child of the Lee family, and her parents are determined she will fulfill the dreams they could never reach. But when Lydia’s body is found in a nearby lake, the fragile balance of their family shatters. As the truth of her life and death slowly unfolds, each family member is forced to confront long-held secrets, unspoken expectations, and the weight of silence.
Celeste Ng’s stunning debut is a moving exploration of identity, family pressures, and the invisible ties that bind us together.
Trigger Warning: This book contains themes of racism, sexism, parental pressure, and grief. Please take care while reading.

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Join Our Book Club Bingo! 📚💔
For our May pick, we’re diving into an intimate and heart-wrenching family story that blends mystery with emotional depth — with a side of Book Club Bingo, of course!

How It Works:
🎲 Grab Your Bingo Card: We’ll give you a custom card with prompts and themes from the book.
✅ Mark Your Cards: Tick off squares during our discussion.
🎉 Shout “Bingo!”: First to complete 2 rows, columns, or diagonals wins.
🎁 Win a Book: Two lucky winners will go home with a new read!

Expect a night of thoughtful discussion on family expectations, cultural identity, love, loss, and the things we leave unsaid. Come ready to share your reflections and reactions.

📍 The Dog & Bull (in Surrey Street) in Croydon
📅 13th of May 2026 (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM
Are you ready to uncover everything they never told you? 🌊📖