Good-bye 2010

Thank you Susan!  We all LOVE your Christmas treats. 

Our next book club meeting will be at Lynda's on Tuesday January 25th.  We'll be reading A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert.

The following month we'll be reading E.L.Doctorow's novel, Homer and Langley and getting together at my place.  The date is Thursday, February 24th.

In March the book will be Room by Emma Donoghue. 
Maureen will be hosting on Thursday, March 24th. 

Also mentioned the other night were:

• Sylvanus Now by Donna Morrissey
•  The Lizard Cage and Burmese Lessons: A Love Story by Karen Connelly
•  Annabel by Kathleen Winter.

Wishing everyone a merry Christmas.
Welcome 2011!

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Hear Helen Simonson discuss her book on this podcast. 

"book" cake

next meetings

We are reading The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb--at Jane Addis's house on Tuesday, November 23rd. And on Thursday, December 16th, we will be at Susan's house, and reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

Change of date

The date has changed to October 28th.  See you soon.

Next time @ Wanda's

Our next book club meeting will be at Wanda's on Thursday, October 21.  The book will be The Amazing Absorbing Boy by Rabindranath Maharaj

Here's a trailer for the movie version of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Le Herisson.



Here are the books that I can recall being mentioned the other evening:

Room by Emma Donoghue

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared M. Diamond

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb

Never Let Me Go

Now a movie playing in Toronto:

Pakistan Relief

Books books books

Three things:
1. Thank you to Lynda for providing a perfect summer evening on her backyard porch.

2.  Our next book club will be at my place on September 28th and the book will be The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. 

3.  We shared many books last night and I scrambled to take notes.  Hope I didn't miss any. 
The Laugh (short story/Atlantic Magazine) by Tea Obreht 
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott
What They Wanted by Donna Morrissey
The Amazing Absorbing Boy by Rabindranath Maharaj
The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville
The Blythes are Quoted by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The War for Civilization by Robert Fisk
Remembering the Bones by Frances Itani
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker
Beatrice and Virgil by Jann Martel
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The Shack by William P. Young

Change of date

Can we assume that there was consensus on the change of date from August 26th to Wednesday August 25th?  Looking forward to seeing all of you soon.

Dinner on Jan's screened porch....

...on a perfect June evening.  What can we say?  It was deliciously delightful.

We made plans for getting together in July and August.  In July we're going to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.  

Maureen will be hosting on July 22nd.

In August we're not choosing a particular book.  Everyone is invited to share something you've been reading - any genre.

We'll meet at Lynda's on August 26th.

Other books mentioned the other night were American Pastoral by Philip Roth and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

Due Preparations for the Plague

Due Preparations for the Plague is by Janette Turner Hospital, who also wrote one of our book club choices Orpheus Lost.

Another spy thriller,  Due Preparations for the Plague explores many timely themes.  Here's a review .

Thoughts about Charity

Kiva is an organization that facilitates microloans.  If you scan through their web site you can get an idea of how it works and be inspired.

Giving What We Can is the web site where you can learn about maximizing the effect of giving in relation to the amount invested.  The page about Recommended Charities has the information about very inexpensive but effective projects like de-worming.

Today I came across a real grassroots charity undertaken by a music teacher at the Toronto Board of Education.  It's called the Dekpor School Development Organization.  Something to think about!

Yann Martel reads "Beatrice & Virgil"

Follow this link to watch Yann Martel reading from "Beatrice and Virgil" followed by an interview with Carol Off.

A Change? A Clarification?

Maureen has a conflict on April 1st so we're going to meet at Jo's instead. 
Are we all in agreement with that?

And about May, my notes indicated that Jane would host, but they didn't specify which Jane.  Was it supposed to be Jane M?  I guess we can confirm that for sure when we're together in April. 

Also mentioned

Having heard nothing I'm going to go with Children of Dust by Ali Eteraz because it does sound like one we might like to read.

And now I remember we talked about The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery too.

Children of Dust?

Please help me out.  I'm not even sure who suggested this book. 
Was it Children of Dust by Ali Eteraz?  Or Children of the Dust as I wrote in my notes? 

I'm Impressed

This blog is amazing....photos of the book covers!!!!! Well done Marion.

Looking ahead

Last night we made a plan for the next few months as follows:

On April 1st we're meeting at Maureen's place to talk about Half A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

On May 25th the book will be The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon and we'll be at Jane's.

As usual the June meeting will be at Jan's for dinner. The date we chose is June 24th and the book is The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger.

Also mentioned last night were:



Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

More about Elizabeth Strout

Here are a couple of interviews that Elizabeth Strout has given about Olive Kitterage.

On Point with Tom Ashbrook has this audio file (click on LISTEN TO THIS SHOW button near the top).

Another audio file is here, at a blog called Pen on Fire by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett.

Elizabeth Strout talks with Robert Birnbaum here (text interspersed with chunks of audio).

The Disappeared by Kim Echlin was mentioned last night as an interesting read.

Here's a review at the National Post, and another at Quill and Quire.

See you all at Jan's on Wednesday March 3rd for The Bishop's Man.

Infidel, Murder in Amsterdam and Submission

Well that was certainly a spirited conversation! Thank you Wanda for hosting.

Our next book will be Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

Jane has offered to host for Olive Kitteridge on Monday, the 25th of January when Saara will be visiting and able to join us.

Following that we decided to read The Bishop's Man by Linden Macintyre. We'll meet at Jan's place on Wednesday, March 3rd.




Among the books mentioned last night were
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson,
and People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

Video