Announcing Our November/December Book Club Pick: ‘Hum’ by Helen Phillips

Hum, by Helen Phillips, opens with a woman trying not to flinch while a needle approaches her eye. Because, in this situation, if human error causes anything to go wrong, it’s entirely her fault; the surgical needle is being wielded by a humanoid robot called a “hum.” The hum steps back, reapplies numbing gel, and gives the woman time to collect herself. 

The surgery this woman, May, our protagonist, is getting will modify her face just enough that she’s rendered invisible to facial recognition cameras, and, most importantly, it will pay her lots of money, allowing her to continue to support her family after being laid off from her job building … the technology that powers hums. 

There’s nothing particularly subtle about this setup: We’re in a near-future semi-dystopia. Especially when it comes to other elements of that setting—terrible air quality; constant ads; no more forests; very few jobs other than gig work—it’s not that hard, as a reader, to tell how we got there. 

With her new infusion of cash, May takes her family to an expensive getaway in the Botanical Garden, and that’s where things go (even more) wrong. And that’s where I zip my lips, and tell you to get ahold of Hum, because we’re reading it for Jezebel’s November/December Book Club!

We’re relaunching our Book Club as we head into the winter months with a couple of tweaks. Every two months, we’ll pick a new book for the larger Jezebel audience to read; at the end of that period, Jezebel Editor-in-Chief Lauren and I will chat about the book—occasionally with special guests!—and share that conversation in a post, where we’ll continue the conversation in the comments. 

Pivoting our Book Club chats to a post and comments will allow us to reach more potential participants across more time zones, and also keep up an ongoing conversation (something a Zoom meeting unfortunately cannot do, however nice it is to chat face-to-sort-of-face). 

We initially launched our Book Club for subscribers and are now opening it up to everyone, but don’t worry subscribers, there’s still a special perk for you—be sure to read your next subscriber email carefully. Plus, our Book Club Discord channel is still for subscribers only. And if you’re not a subscriber yet but are dying to get in on the secret, it’s never too late to join. 

You may know Helen Phillips from her earlier work, including her acclaimed 2019 novel The Need, another excellent horror-adjacent novel about motherhood—but also so, so much more. Please join us as we dive into Phillips’ latest foray into speculative fiction! We can’t wait to talk about Hum with you.