The Joy of July

It was lovely to be able to sit out in Jane's garden on a warm summer evening - something to remember fondly in the cold winter months.  We talked about The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.  Here is an interesting interview he gave on NPR.

The topic of anti-semitism is once again current in Canada as the CPCCA made its final report on July 7 provoking some controversy.

Having made a bit of a mess of planning for July we were careful to get it right for August.  The date will be Tuesday, August 30 and Lynda will be hosting.  All good, but the real success was pinning down a novel for August - Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese.  Verghese talks about his book in this video:




Other books mentioned in July:

• Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers 
• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
  
• Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay
  
• The Translator by Leila Aboulela
  
• Outskirts by Sue Goyette (not sure of the title but this is her latest)
• Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

There was also some talk about the famine situation in the Horn of Africa countries.  It's good to see today that our government has stepped forward with aid. 

Jan's screened porch

It was a grand evening on Jan's screened porch with its elegant garden view.  Once again the food was wonderful. 

It seems that we forgot to pin down which Philip Roth book for next month.  Maybe it was American Pastoral or maybe The Plot Against America.  I'll update this if someone can remember which. It'll be July 19th at Jane's house. 
UPDATE: A few of us met and after a little discussion, decided to go with The Plot Against America.

Several books were mentioned the other night.  These are the ones I remember:

• The Outlander by  Gil Adamson
•  Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
•  Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay
•  Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
•  Sanctuary Line by Jane Urquhart
•  The Translator by Leila Aboulela
•  In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

More about The Story of Stuff is here. 

And more about Read For the Cure here, scroll down the page.  The event at the Old Mill will be on  November 22nd.  Who's going?

Some of us went to the Luminato event Modern Day Shahrazads.  You can hear the podcast of this event here on the CBC program Writers and Company.