Book Club Night Kit

Threshing Day

Rebecca Yarros

Cozy night

Thirteen short stories set in the Empyrean world, where cadets risk everything for the chance at a dragon bond. It is the rare fantasy pick you can read in warm little sittings, one story per cup of tea.

Thirteen Stories, One Warm Kitchen

Come curl up with Threshing Day, thirteen short stories of cadets, courage, and dragons. Stew in mugs, cider on the stove, and no pressure to have finished every page.

Reading level: Easy Pages: 254

Best for: A club that loves big-hearted fantasy, soft blankets, and letting the conversation wander wherever it wants

Discussion

Warm-up

1.Pour a drink and tell us: which story title or opening page made you settle in and think, okay, I am staying a while?
2.If a dragon were choosing you tonight, what would it have to see in you first, and does that feel like a compliment or a dare?

Digging in

1.These cadets are all competing for something they cannot earn by effort alone. When has waiting to be chosen felt like that in your own life, and what got you through it?
2.Which story warmed you most, and was it the bravery in it or the tenderness underneath the bravery?
3.A bond in this world is a lifelong, no-takebacks kind of belonging. Who or what in your life feels like that, and what does it ask of you?
4.Short stories make you say goodbye quickly. Which cadet did you want to tuck a blanket around and keep reading about?

Going deep

1.Somewhere across these thirteen stories, someone has to accept a version of themselves they did not plan on. How did that land for you, and did it feel like a loss or a relief?
2.Think of the story that left the softest ache when you closed it. What was the ache about, and what would you say to that character if you could sit down with them and a hot drink?

On the table & to sip

To eat

Threshing Day harvest bread with honey butter

Warm, torn-by-hand loaf for a book named after a harvest ritual. Bake or buy, and let people slather it themselves.

Hearty barley and root vegetable stew in mugs

Mess hall comfort for cadets on a cold mountain, served in mugs so everyone can hold something warm while they talk.

Spiced apple hand pies

Pocket pies, the kind a cadet would smuggle out of the kitchens. Store-bought pie dough keeps this easy.

To sip

Dragonfire mulled cider (non-alcoholic) (no alcohol)

Cider warmed with cinnamon, orange, and a whisper of cayenne so it glows a little going down.

Honeyed chamomile and vanilla tea (no alcohol)

A gentle quiet-the-nerves pot for the hour before the bond is announced. Keep it steeping all night.

Spiced hot toddy

Whiskey, honey, lemon, clove: the drink you pour when someone makes it back from the hard thing.