club

When perusing our final list of the 101 best book club picks, my eyes popped. My book club had just read two books that made the final cut.

And they were, on average, both our favorite and least favorite of the year. “Martyr” by Kaveh Akbar was layered and moving. “Big Swiss” by Jen Beagin was spicy and fun but too over the top.

Still, both led to fervent conversation peppered with oh-my-gods. So it goes with book clubs: Even if you don’t love what you’re reading, it can still offer something interesting to tease apart.

To make our lineup, The Times surveyed more than 200 authors, publishers, journalists and general book club enthusiasts to select the best book club reads in 10 categories, including romance, mystery, memoir and literary fiction.

Did we miss any books your book club loves? Tell us in the form below by April 20. We may include your suggestions in a follow-up story.

ITV’s The 1% Club host Lee Mack was left mortified after his joke confused a contestant during a Coronation Street question

ITV’s The 1% Club host Lee Mack kicked off the programme with a string of gags, but it soon caused confusion.

While the comedian is no stranger to cracking jokes, one quip proved poorly timed and left a player utterly baffled. The show’s format presents questions to contestants beginning with simpler ones, gradually ramping up in difficulty with each round.

Within the opening minutes, one of the more straightforward questions displayed on screen was a “spot the difference” featuring the Coronation Street set.

Two images were placed side by side, with one reading Rovers Return Pub while the other read Ravers Return Pub. As the 30-second countdown began, he reminded contestants they needed to identify the difference between the two pictures, before quipping: “One’s on the left and one’s on the right.”

Regrettably, one contestant took the remark at face value, convinced he might be dropping a hint and that it was a “trick question”, so she wrote that down.

Lee was utterly gobsmacked when he called out to her in the audience to find out what had gone wrong, only to discover his throwaway joke was the culprit.

The host confessed to feeling rather guilty as he noted: “In the history of the show, no one has taken the joke as the actual clue.” The contestant laughed it off good-naturedly, before Lee asked her, as he does with every player, what she would have spent her winnings on, to which she revealed it would be her house plants.

An embarrassed Lee then told her: “I’m glad you haven’t won. What a waste of money!” before laughing it off and pressing on with the remainder of the programme.

At the close of the show, contestants are given the choice to either pocket £10,000 or take a gamble on the 1% question, which would award them the full prize fund, standing at £94,000, reports the Express.

The 10% question eliminated eight of the nine contestants, leaving just one participant, Tessa, aged only 19, to be offered the opportunity to tackle her 1% question. In a surprising turn of events, she revealed to Lee that she was a hobby opera singer and even treated her fellow contestants to a brief glimpse of her vocal talents.

She ultimately opted to take the safe route and pocket £10,000 rather than risk it all for the £94,000. Had she chosen to proceed, her question would have been: “Using only two letters to fill in the blanks, what is the world below?” With P—E–I-N spelled out. Fortunately for her, she didn’t know the answer and walked away with the £10,000.

Spotify wants to give historic venues such as the Troubadour and the Paramount — and the independent musicians who play there — a boost.

The steaming giant on Wednesday said it is partnering with the National Independent Venue Assn. (NIVA) to promote local music nationwide, including at dozens of clubs in L.A.

In the yearlong partnership, the company said it aims to boost visibility for independent music venues through its live events feed that will feature links to music from local artists and their performances at clubs in the Los Angeles area.

As part of the initiative, NIVA will choose someone who books the acts for these indie venues to work with Spotify’s editorial team and create a playlist featuring artists.

Spotify is launching the playlist this summer to celebrate and highlight the people shaping independent live music from behind the scenes.

The Regent Theater, Gold Diggers, the Teragram Ballroom and the United Theater on Broadway will be included in the program, Spotify said in its statement.

“Independent venues are the heartbeat of live music,” said Rene Volker, Spotify’s senior director of live music. “They’re where artists take risks, build devoted communities, and where fans discover what they’ll love for the rest of their lives.”

Spotify’s history in the music industry is complex, and it has previously faced some criticism over how it compensates artists whose songs stream on its platform.

Bill Werde, the director of Syracuse’s recording and entertainment industries program, said Spotify’s support for indie musicians could help them during a difficult time.

“It costs money to market, to collect good data and to do most of the things required to break through in today’s attention economy,” Werde said in a statement. “This creates a disadvantage for smaller music companies and smaller artists, who may not have the resources of larger acts and larger venues.”

Clavicular, the manosphere influencer leading the “looksmaxxing” movement, was rushed to the hospital Tuesday after a suspected overdose in a Miami nightclub.

The controversial internet celebrity, born Braden Eric Peters, was live streaming to his hundreds of thousands of followers from a Miami hot spot Tuesday night when the party took a dark turn. Live stream footage showed Peters hanging with friends outside of the club when he took a swig from a tiny bottle and said he was going to be “done for,” and “that was giga,” meaning that whatever he had taken was a large dose.

Inside the club, with cameras still rolling, Peters found a place to sit down with his friends and started to say “Oh my God” repeatedly and rubbing his eyes. A friend sitting next to him, influencer Androgenic, asked “How f— are you?” and then repeatedly offered him an “addy,” which is short for Adderall, a prescription stimulant used to treat ADHD that’s often sold as a party drug. Peters started to mumble, sway and close his eyes as the camera panned away.

TMZ obtained the audio from a 911 call alerting emergency services to the possible overdose of a 20-year-old man. Additional videos, taken by bystanders, have since made their way online showing Peters being carried out of the nightclub.

A source close to Peters told the Times that he was hospitalized for the overdose and checked himself out Wednesday morning.

“Just got home, that was brutal,” Peters wrote early Wednesday on X. The influencer, who has said he has autism, also posted a selfie with dried blood on his face. “All of the substances are just a cope trying to feel neurotypical while being in public, but obviously that isn’t a real solution. The worst part of tonight was my face descending from the life support mask.”

On his Kick channel Wednesday, Peters live streamed as he played online slots and said that “it could have been worse” and he wouldn’t “do that s— anymore.”

He also said that in the hospital, doctors asked what he planned to do after he was discharged. “Then I was like, ‘Dude, I got the club grand opening,’” he said, adding that doctors advised him to get rest and shouldn’t attend. “I was like, dude, gotta be on the grind.”

The influencer, who rose to fame helming the “looksmaxxing” movement — a subculture hyperfocused on taking extreme measures to perfect one’s physical appearance — has been candid about using drugs, from steroids, peptides and testosterone to methamphetamine and Adderall. He has also said he chisels his face by smashing his bones with a hammer.

Androgenic, the influencer videotaped asking Peters if he needed “an addy” as Peters swayed and lost motor function control, has also been vocal about his own drug use. He recently posted on X that he was on “Walter White’s batch” when someone snatched his wig off his head and ran away. (Walter White is a fictional chemist and crystal meth manufacturer from the show “Breaking Bad.”)

A source close to Peters told The Times that Androgenic was escorted away from the hospital where Peters was being treated for the overdose Tuesday night.

Androgenic has not responded to The Times’ request for comment.

Tuesday’s suspected overdose is the latest in a series of incidents involving the manosphere personality. Last month, Peters was arrested in Florida on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office alleged Peters instigated a fight between his girlfriend, Violet Lentz, 24, and a 19-year-old influencer in February at a short-term rental in Kissimmee, Fla.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission launched a separate investigation into another of Peters’ videos involving an alligator in the Everglades.

In that video, the influencer appears to come across what is seemingly the carcass of an alligator floating in the water and shoots it repeatedly. Peters has not been charged with any crime in that incident.

According to Peters’ Kick live stream, the influencer is headed back out Wednesday night to celebrate Miami’s Bacara Club streaming launch party.

SINGER Rochelle Humes made jaws drop as she confessed she made more cash from being in S Club Juniors than she did in The Saturdays alongside stars Frankie Bridge and Una Healy.

The businesswoman launched her career as a singer in 2001 when she joined S Club Juniors after being selected for the band on the reality TV show S Club Search.

The juniors, who released their first single One Step Closer in 2002, accompanied S Club 7 on their huge tour as the supporting act.

After just three years in the girl band, Rochelle joined The Saturdays in 2008 and despite their chart topping success, the star revealed she made more money at the beginning of her career.

Speaking on the Great Company with Jamie Lang podcast, Rochelle said: “When I look back on it I made more money from S Club Juniors than I did in The Saturdays.”

Made In Chelsea star Jamie was so baffled by Rochelle’s revelation that she jokingly asked him to call Frankie Bridge, who was also in both bands, to confirm their experience.

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Explaining why she thought she made more money from S Club Juniors, Rochelle said: “The music industry… the money just went out of it.

“It wasn’t the same space to be in anymore.”

The star added: “At the time your the chosen one, you never want to rock the boat because your like do you know how many girls would be whipping these extensions out ready to put them in their hair.

Rochelle joined S Club Juniors in the early noughties, when she was just 12-years-old, alongside Frankie Bridge, Aaron Renfree, Jay Asforis, Stacey Franks, Calvin Goldspink, Daisy Shelvey and Hannah Richings.

While the girl band was successful, The Saturdays were huge with 11 top 10 singles including All Fired Up and What About Us.

The 37-year-old explained that when she was part of The Saturdays she was paid a “salary” and was expected to live a certain type of lifestyle.

But, most of her money actually came from brand deals and touring rather than the group’s singles.

“When someone says your record deal is X amount of money, that doesn’t mean that’s what we’re making. That means they’ll put this money into the album, pay these producers, the marketing budget,” she said.

Rochelle continued: “The tours and the brand deals was where you would make your money. The records weren’t for us. So we’d be the face of a shampoo and all have our own scent – that’s where we’d make our money.

“But then record labels changed their whole strategy…they would then also take a cut of the brand [deals], and then take a cut of the live performances. You’ve got to remember everything you earn, split that in half, basically with tax and an agent. And then there’s five of you. You’re expected to live a lifestyle that you can’t always prop up.”

During her candid interview with Jamie, Rochelle also revealed her uncle is an England footie legend.

Her uncle is none other than Paul Ince, who had 53 caps for England and played most notably for Premier League teams West Ham and Man United.

Paul was the first black player to ever captain the England team and later the first black British manager to coach in the highest tier of English football.