One-handed entertaining

Maximum respect is due to Janice for pulling off December's book club gathering with a broken wrist, and making it look easy.  Thank you for a great evening!

Our next meeting will be at Mai Bistro at 7 pm on January 4th, 2018.  This will be an opportunity to enjoy food and friendship, and there's no book assigned for January.

On February 22nd we'll be at Maureen's to talk about Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah.

The only decision about March was location - we'll be meeting at Susan's.

In case The End of Eddy is still puzzling here's Edouard Louis on his book:

Books mentioned last night:

• Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
• The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg
• After the Fire by Lauren Belfer
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• The Devil's Making by Sean Haldane
• Red Notice: A true story of high finance, murder and one man's fight for justice by Bill Browder

Film Suggestions:

• Rake 
• Top of the Lake: China Girl 
• Lady Bird
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• The Shape of Water
• Cardinal
• 21 Grams
• Pure
• The Crown
• The Break
• Peaky Blinders
• First They Killed My Father

Have a very merry Christmas everyone, and all the best for the new year.  See you on January 4th. 

The Grapes of Wrath and Dustbowl Migration

Here are links to a few articles about The Grapes of Wrath and the Dustbowl Migration:

http://numerocinqmagazine.com/2012/08/27/the-senses-of-an-ending-the-grapes-of-wrath-novel-and-film-patrick-j-keane/

https://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1355

http://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/dust%20bowl%20migration.htm

The Grapes of Wrath

This was such a great book for discussion, and there was no shortage of great conversation last night at my place: the dust bowl, migration, exploitation of farm workers,  mechanization of agriculture, censorship, politics, the photography of Dorothea Lange, supply management and more.

Our next book club evening will be at Lynda's on December 13th and the book will be The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis.

For January we have decided to meet for dinner at Mai Bistro again.  The date will depend on everyone's schedules.  Watch for an update here.

We didn't have enough people to decide on dates for February; we can finalize that next time.  But we did choose the book: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and Maureen will host for February.

Following that we will be at Saara's in March and Susan's in April.

Books mentioned last evening:

• We'll All be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night by Joel Thomas Hynes
• The Violinist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
• Britt Marie was Here (also A Man Called Ove) by Fredrik Backman
• Minds of Winter by Ed O'Loughlin
• Caught by Lisa Moore
• Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
• An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd
• Running the Books by Avi Steinberg
• Laughing all the Way to the Mosque by Zarqa Narwaz
• Thank You for Being Late:An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Tom Friedman
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett 
• South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914 - 1917 by Ernest Shackleton
• Forged in Crisis by Nancy Koehn

Dorothea Lange photos

Here is a link to photos of migrants taken by Dorothea Lange

The Break

Hoping to enjoy the backyard as the season was winding down, we all came prepared with our warm woolies.  But sanity prevailed - it was just too cold for outside book club.  Jo welcomed us warmly and it turned out to be a wonderful evening, inside. Thank you Jo.

The Break generated considerable conversation.  I believe this is the video that Jo recommended where Jian Ghomeshi interviewed Katherena Vermette:

Don't forget that the next book is The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck.  (If you choose to swerve the novel, the classic film is playing on Netflix). This gathering will be on Thursday, November 2nd at my house.

The following book club will meet at Lynda's and the book will be The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis.  It will be on Wednesday, December 13th.

 Books We Mentioned: 

• Lila by Marilynne Robinson  
• Born to Run (Autobiography) by Bruce Springsteen
• The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray
• The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicolson
• The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols

A worthy podcast is The Sunday Edition on CBC with Michael Enright.

September evening

Janice's screened porch was just the place to gather for our September evening.  We were all cozy and comfortable in our wooly shawls and throws.  Thank you for a wonderfully relaxing evening and for introducing me to some excellent shrimp toast. Yum!

We chose a book for December 13th: The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis.  We'll be at Lynda's home in December. 

A reminder that next time we'll be at Jo's on October the 16th to talk about The Break by Katherena Vermette.

Books that were mentioned:

• Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato
• In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi
• The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol
• Serial Monogamy by Kate Taylor 
• Dreams of my Russian Summers by Andreï Makine
• The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
• The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray
• The Massey Murder by Charlotte Gray
• Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of my Work by Douglas Coupland
• A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré

Prison Book Club

It was a lovely August evening and we were lucky to spend it sitting in Jane's beautiful and welcoming backyard.  Who could tell that the hostess had been subjected to an unsettling early morning wakeup that day (because of this)?  You certainly deserved a few extra hours of sleep on Friday morning Jane.

We made some decisions about future book club meetings, but there was no change to September which will be at Janice's on the 11th. The book is A Spool of Blue Thread.

On October 16th which will be at Jo's house we decided to read The Break by Katherena Vermette.

The November book club location has been changed as we switched venues for November and December.  We decided to read a classic, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and to meet at my house (Marian) on November 2nd.

That means that on December 13th we will be at Lynda's house.  We haven't chosen a book for that date.

Books that were mentioned:

• The Illuminations by Andrew O'Hagan
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
• Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
• Swing Time by Zadie Smith
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• Worst.Person.Ever by Douglas Coupland
• The Long Song by Andrea Levy
• Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
• Quiet Until the Thaw by Alexandra Fuller
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Movie Suggestions: 

• The Glass Castle
• Baby Driver
• Dunkirk
• Dawson City: Frozen Time
• Rumble 

While on the subject of movies, if you are in the Kinmount area, Jo recommended the very unusual and popular Highland Cinemas.

Streaming Video Suggestions: 

• Ozark
• Outlander
• Hinterland
• Border Town
• Thirteen
• Thirteen Reasons Why

Happy Canada Day!

In honour of Canada's 150 celebration Wanda managed to colour coordinate the whole evening in red and white.  We all appreciated your creativity, Wanda.  Everything was wonderful. You made it an evening to remember.

Breakfast at the Chaliapin 

The book that we chose for our discussion this time was A Gentleman in Moscow, a clever comedy of manners which showcased the Moscow Metropol Hotel. In case you haven't visited the Metropol you can learn all about it and book a stay here where even the standard rooms have "noble and refined decor...for guests with children the hotel offers adjacent rooms connected by doorways".

Please remember that our next book club will be on August 3rd at Jane's home.  The book for that evening will be The Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley.

Planning ahead we decided to meet on September 11th at Janice's place.  The book will be A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler.

We decided on dates and locations for the following three months, as follows:

• October 16th at Jo's
• November 2nd at Lynda's
• December 13th at Marian's 

We will leave the question of which books to read on these dates for another time.  Keep thinking about suggestions. 

Books that we mentioned: 

• The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
• The Break by Katerena Vermette
• The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols 
• Making it Up by Penelope Lively
• Life after Life by Kate Atkinson
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 
• The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

On the screen you may want to look for:

• Occupied (Netflix)
• A Man Called Ove (Netflix)
• Genius (National Geographic)
• Black Mirror (Netflix)

Recommended lecture series options this fall:

• Learning Unlimited Etobicoke 
• Lifelong Learning Mississauga

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Construction

The street was barely recognizable as construction equipment and safety pylons were everywhere.  Inside though it was serene and elegant with Diana Krall serenading us all evening.  Thank you to Lynda who welcomed us so warmly.

All of us had strong reactions to Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, finding it grimly realistic, unlike Trixie the dress shop sales clerk:

"To Trixie, even the apocalypse is cute.  Scorched earth. Galloping black horses foaming at the mouth.  The shadow of the scythe wielding deal of Fate bearing down on her.  All super cute."

We did a little planning for future book club evenings.  Remember that next month we will be at Wanda's to talk about A Gentleman in Moscow.  Since it's late in the month - the 29th, and since people are travelling here and there, we're skipping July.  Our next book club will be at Jane's on August 3rd. We'll be reading Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley. Maureen's trip to Kingston for the Kingston Pen Tour was the inspiration for choosing this book.

I can't think of any other books that we talked about last night, but some movies were mentioned:

• A Sense of an Ending
• Personal Shopper
• I, Daniel Blake
• Going in Style
• Maudie

And some great TV offerings were also recommended:

• The Handmaid's Tale
• Where to Invade Next
• The Thirteenth
• Occupied
• Black Mirror

James Garden Summer 2016

Let it Rain!

The weather was crummy but it was all sunny smiles at Saara's book club evening.  The food was wonderful; your recipes have been posted.
Thank you Saara!

The next book is Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad.  We will meet at Lynda's on May 11th.

Looking ahead, we made a plan for Thursday, June 29th at Wanda's.  The book will be A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles.

Books:

• Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann 
• Going into a Dark House by Jane Gardam 
• The Pier Falls: and other stories by Mark Haddon
• A Measure of Light by Beth Powning
• If I Fall If I Die by Michael Christie

On Netflix: 

• 13 Reasons Why based on the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Ingredients

7 oz. semisweet chocolate
1/4 lb. unsalted butter
7 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. In a small saucepan melt chocolate and butter over low heat
3. In large bowl beat egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes
4. Gradually beat in warm chocolate mixture and vanilla 
5. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, add remaining 1/4 cup of sugar 1 tbsp. at a time, continue beating until stiff
6. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture
7. Pour 3/4 of batter into ungreased 9 x 3 spring form pan, cover remaining batter and refrigerate, bake 35 minutes
8. 8 Prepare whip cream frosting (mix whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla)
9. Remove cake and cool (cake will drop as it cools)
10. Remove outside ring of spring form pan
11. Stir remaining batter to soften slightly, spread on top of cake, refrigerate until firm
12. Spread whip cream frosting over top and sides, garnish with chocolate flakes
13. Refrigerate several hours, or overnight, may be frozen.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Mexican Shells with Boursin Red Chilli Pepper

Ingredients

• 150g (6 oz.) Boursin® Red Chili Pepper
• 24 round mini nachos shells
• 30ml (2 tbsp.) olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• ½ green pepper, diced
• ½ red pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh coriander

Preparation

Step 1

In a skillet on medium-high heat, fry the onions for 2 minutes in olive oil. Add the peppers and garlic, and then cook for 3 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, turn off the stove and set the mixture aside.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 190 °C (375 °F). In a large bowl, combine the Boursin® with the fried vegetables. Fill the shells with the mixture and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Step 3

Garnish each shell with a leaf of fresh coriander and serve immediately.

Beef Hoisin Mini Meatballs

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 13 minutes

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 8 oz extra-lean ground beef
• 3 Tbsp dry bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp minced green onion

Sauce

• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/3 cup red currant jelly
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 Tbsp water

Garnish

• 2 Tbsp chopped green onion
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. For the meatballs, combine the beef, bread crumbs, hoisin sauce, garlic, egg and onion. Form into 20 to 24 meatballs, about one inch in diameter.

2. Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking oil and add the meatballs. Cook over medium-high heat for three minutes, turning until browned on all sides.

3. For the sauce, combine the hoisin sauce, jelly, garlic, ginger and water in a small bowl. Add to the meatballs and stir well. Cover and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.

4. Serve garnished.

Last evening at Maureen's

Thank you for everything, Maureen. Your home and hospitality are awesome with that little extra grace: an alphabetized bookshelf.  And thank you for providing Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing inspired some enthusiastic conversation about an obscure bit of history.

    

Books we mentioned: 

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
• The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
• The Break by Katherina Vermette
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa
• The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
• Purity by Jonathan Franzen
• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid 

Recommended movies: 

• The Founder
• A United Kingdom

All Our Names

February thaw - Yes!

Thank you to Susan for a special evening. It was perfect as usual.

Thank you also to the groundhog for this amazing weather.

All Our Names has an unusual structure, and most of us found it a little disconnected because of the two narratives and the various locations.  I wish I'd heard Mengestu talk about the book in advance but here he is now talking about his intentions:



There were no changes in the dates or locations for the next few book club evenings.

• March 23 will be at Maureen's and the book title is Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien.
• On April 20 we'll go to Saara's for a discussion of Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall.
• The May 11 meeting will be at Lynda's where we'll talk about 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad.

We are resolved to consult with everyone about future dates to avoid conflicts if possible.

Books mentioned at our meeting: 

• His Whole Life by Elizabeth Hay
• The Hunter and the Wild Girl by Pauline Holdstock
• The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta
• Just Kids by Patti Smith
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Son of a Certain Woman by Wayne Johnston
• Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

With Oscar night nearly upon us, we came up with this list of memorable films: 

• Hell and High Water
• Hacksaw Ridge
• La La Land
• Lion
• Manchester by the Sea
• Hidden Figures
• Fences
• Jackie
• Moonlight
• Arrival 

General Interest: 

• Learning Unlimited Etobicoke will resume again in the fall
• Hot Docs usually lists something interesting, including their festival
• Lifelong Learning Mississauga has spring series on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Netflix Pix:

• Line of Duty
• Rectify
• The Fall
• Paranoid
• Santa Clarita Diet  

Don't miss these (not on Netflix yet): 

• This is Us
• Pure

Evening at Mai Bistro

Last evening, we celebrated our 20th anniversary by dining at Mai Bistro where the food and service were delightful.  Thanks again, Sue, for not only suggesting this cozy spot, but also for selecting the wonderful sharing plates.

It has been 20 years since Wanda got us started and some 200 books later, we are still opining away. A very big thank you, Wanda.

The damper on last night's celebration was that Marian was ill with the flu and could not attend. We toasted you, Marian, with thanks to instituting and maintaining our blog.  Get well soon.

We changed our plans for some of our future meetings:

• The February 22 meeting will now be at Sue's where we'll talk about All Our Names by Dinau Mengestu.
• March 23 (no change) will be at Maureen's and the book title is Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien.
• On April 20 we'll go to Saara's for a discussion of The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall.
• The May 11 meeting will be at Lynda's where we'll talk about 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad.