Distance posting

It was disappointing to miss book club again this month, which is the reason why this post lacks substance. Thank you to Jane for sending me an update. It sounds as if you all had a good time at Maureen's though.

Yes, Brother was about a sad topic. Personally I found I've Been Meaning to Tell You very touching too.

We will meet at Mai Bistro on January 10th at 6:45 pm.

In February we have arranged to meet at Susan's on the 20th to talk about The Reason You're Alive by Matthew Quick.

We will be at Saara's on March 21st and the book will be The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill.

October meeting at Wanda's home

Thank you to Wanda for a lovely get-together.

Saara, Jan and Marian were not able to be there. The rest of us enjoyed discussing Ann Patchett's book Commonwealth, which is, perhaps, semi-autobiographical. There was much conversation, including comparison between Ann Patchett and Ann Tyler.

We talked about Heart Berries by Therese Marie Mailhot, a memoir about a First Nations woman.
 Also movies were mentioned, The First Man, with Ryan Gosling, about the moon landing,   The Wife, with Glenn Close, who has been nominated for an Oscar, and The Sisters Brothers, the book we read.

Next month's meeting will be at Maureen's home, we will be talking about two books by David Chariandy:  Brother, and I've Been Meaning To Tell You.

In January, we will get together for our annual dinner at Mai bistro. Then in February we will meet at Jane's house, both dates to be finalised at December's meeting.

The Tenth of December in September

Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits. - Samuel Butler 

The Tenth of December made quite an impact on us and we had a lot to say about these vivid stories. I had listened to the audio book, which was read by the author.  Below is a video of George Saunders reading from one of the stories Semplica Girl Diaries, so that you can hear his voice too.  Maybe it opens a more intimate connection with the work to hear him read it?  

We tentatively chose some dates for the future, still to be confirmed with the few of us who weren't around last night.

We chose to meet on December 5th at Maureen's.  We will read two books that night by David Chariandy, Brother and I've Been Meaning to Tell You.

We thought we would keep up the tradition of starting the year with dinner at Mai Bistro. The date we settled on is January 10th.  Both of these dates will be confirmed next month.

A reminder that next month we will meet at Wanda's on Thursday, October 25th.  The book will be Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.

Book Suggestions:

• Vinegar Girl by Ann Tyler
• The Accidental Tourist by Ann Tyler 
• Blood Meridian by Cormac Macarthy
• One Station Away by Olaf Olafsson 
• The Reluctant Pioneer: How I Survived Five Years in the Canadian Bush by Thomas Osborne
• A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
• Yes Please by Amy Poehler 
• The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell

 What to Watch: 

• The Children Act
• The Black Klansman
• Fahrenheit 11/9
• Dead Wind (Netflix)
• Border Town (Netflix)

Others:

• Dufferin County Museum  
• Blackwell's Limited (UK online book source you might find helpful)

Sharing

Jo hosted our August gathering at her backyard retreat. Storms were a possibility but never materialized and the weather was just perfect for outdoors. If there were any mosquitoes they were discouraged by a little spritz of deet.  Thank you Jo for a beautiful evening.

There was no book assigned for August, but we shared what we had been reading.

• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
  Wanda took a course through Oxford Open Learning and recommended the Approaching Shakespeare podcast lectures by Emma Smith. You can subscribe on iTunes. The text for this was The Norton Shakespeare by Steven Greenblatt.
• A Disappearance in Damascus by Deborah Campbell
• When We Were Birds by Maria Mutch 
• The Optimistic Decade by Heather Abel
• In Every Moment We are Still Alive by Tom Malmquist
• Less by Andrew Sean Greer 
• The Girl Who Smiled Beads A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya
• Brother by David Chariandy (I forgot to mention this wonderful book last night)
• Yo no tengo solidad by Pablo Neruda 

Es la noche desamparo
de las sierras hasta el mar.
Pero yo, la que te mece,
¡yo no tengo soledad!

Es el cielo desamparo
si la Luna cae al mar.
Pero yo, la que te estrecha,
¡yo no tengo soledad!

Es el mundo desamparo
y la carne triste va.
Pero yo, la que te oprime,
¡yo no tengo soledad!

• Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines

• Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly 
• The Epic of Gilgamesh 
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Next month we are meeting at my house (Marian) to talk about The Tenth of December by George Saunders.  The date is Thursday, September 27th.
On Thursday, October 25th we will be at Wanda's to talk about Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.

A screened porch in July

We do love to meet in Jan's screened porch on a beautiful summer evening, always so comfy and welcoming.  It was even better because we were able to welcome Lynda back to book club.  It was reassuring for the rest of us to see such rapid progress which surely wasn't easy to accomplish.  Thank you to Janice for hosting.  Well done, Lynda - you look marvellous!

You are reminded that our next event will be at Jo's on Wednesday, August 29th.  We didn't choose a book. Instead, it will be a time for sharing the books we've been reading with each other.

Books of note: 

• You Think It I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld (enthusiastic recommendation)
• The Lion in the Room Next Door by Merilyn Simonds
• Brother by David Chariandy
• I've been Meaning to Tell You: A Letter to my Daughter by David Chariandy
• Selection Day by Aravind Adiga

Video:

• Secret City 
• The Sniffer 
• Collateral
• Hannah Gadsby
• Please Like Me

Two books

After some oppressively steamy weather the cooler air on Tuesday was refreshing, and then we also had Jane's garden as a perfect setting complete with orioles. Thank you Jane for providing such a beautiful evening.

We had a little catching up to do with two books to discuss this time - And After the Fire as well as The Ten-year Nap - both of which provided plenty of topics for conversation.

Speaking of catching up, here's the photo blog of my trip to Italy: sistersinitaly.blogspot.com

We  made plans for future months.  On Wednesday, July 18th we'll be meeting at Janice's house.  The book will be Vi by Kim Thuy.

August will be at Jo's.  The date is Wednesday, August 29th.  No book has been selected for this occasion - please bring a book to share with everyone.

In September we will meet at my house on Thursday, the 27th.  The book will be The Tenth of December by George Saunders.

And on Thursday, October 25th book club will be at Wanda's.  The book will be Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.

Book mentions:

• You Think It I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
• The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Jean E. Pendziwol
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• Kudos by Rachel Cusk
• Shrewed by Elizabeth Renzetti
• The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman
• Warlight by Michael Ondaatje 
• The Lion in the Room Next Door by Merilyn Simonds
• Gutenberg's Fingerprint by Merilyn Simonds
• Brother by David Chariandy
• American War by Omar El Akkad
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Demaline
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
• Heave by Christy Ann Conlin
• Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
• Red Notice by Bill Browder
• The Boat People by Sharon Bala
• Your Mouth is Lovely by Nancy Richler
• Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
• Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto
• Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik
• Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick DeWitt
• The Second Child by Caroline Bond
• Barkskins by Annie Proulx
• We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
• Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot

On video: 

• The Accountant of Auchwitz
• CBC Back in Time for Dinner 

Good to know: 

• TIFF Reference Library  Here's an audio introduction. 
•  TPL Kanopy: video streaming service 
• TPL Lynda.com: tutorials for technology

Kim Thuy talks about Vi: 

April and The Little Red Chairs

Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway. ~Emory Austin

As always it was both relaxing and uplifting to spend the evening together with friends and good conversation.  Saara deserves a medal for hosting beautifully while undoubtedly under the weather. Well done and feel better!

Lynda was in our thoughts with all our hopes that she will recover fully and soon be back in our midst.

We decided to read The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer for our June 19th meeting. That's a Tuesday and we'll be at Jane's.

Our next book will be And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer.  We will meet on Thursday, May 24th at Wanda's home. You can hear the music that Lauren Belfer mentions in And After the Fire on Spotify.

Books that we mentioned:

• Brother by David Chariandy
• Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
• The Night Stages by Jane Urquhart
• Shrewd by Elizabeth Renzetti
• Red Notice: A true story of high finance, murder and one man's fight for justice by Bill Browder

We didn't get to talking about what to watch but I did glean some suggestions on the subway ride home.  Here's what I remember:

• Seven Seconds
• Babylon Berlin 
• Scandal
• Homeland
• The Good Fight
• Twenty Twelve

Thank you Saara -  a wonderful dessert!

A Visit from the Goon Squad

This time book club was on the second day of spring, not very warm yet, but still something to celebrate. Thank you to Susan for hosting.  And the dessert! Wow! The recipe is below.

A Visit from the Goon Squad captured a lot of interest and gave us much to talk about. The PowerPoint chapter. 

Someone named Tyler J. Petty has worked out timelines for the book. See if you agree.

Here is The New Yorker magazine version of the story Black Box, narrated by Lulu and originally published by Jennifer Egan bit by bit on Twitter.

The next book will by The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien.  We will be at Saara's on April 19th.

Books we mentioned: 

• Brother by David Chariandy
• Hag-seed by Margaret Atwood
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy 
• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Worth watching: 

• This is Us
• Occupied
• Broadchurch
• Bull
• Homeland
• Network
• The Newsroom

Susan’s Grated Apple Tart  

Base:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp white vinegar

In a food processor pulse first 3 ingredients until well blended.  While food processor is running, add vinegar and pulse briefly.  Dump into an 8” springform pan and pat into the bottom and sides. 

Filling:

3 cups grated apple (Cortland, Macintosh)

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Grate apples and mix with the other ingredients.  Pour into shell and smooth top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.  Let cool and turn out onto plate. 

Born a Crime

A young Trevor Noah and his mom

Thank you to Maureen for a great evening at the lake. With full attendance we had a lot of catching up to do. The snacks were a hit and the blueberry upside down cake was special.  Here's the recipe, with a reminder that Maureen used frozen wild blueberries in place of the giant fresh kind.

Born a Crime was an interesting read, and an intimate view of life in South Africa. There are quite a few chances to see Trevor Noah on Netflix at the moment.  There are his comedy specials Trevor Noah: Afraid of the Dark and Trevor Noah: African American and a documentary, You Laugh But it's True and he shows up in an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. 

We made some plans for the future months.  In March we'll be at Susan's and the book will be A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.  The date for this is Wednesday, March 21st.
In April we'll be reading The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien.  We'll meet at Saara's on Thursday, April 19th.
May will be at Wanda's.  The book is And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer.  The date is Thursday, May 24th.

Other Books We Mentioned

• The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
• The American War by  Omar El Akkad
• The Lotteries Plus One (children's literature) by Emma Donoghue - Proceeds support Room to Read, a charity supporting education and literacy around the world. 
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
• Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill

Jennifer Egan talks about A Visit from the Goon Squad 

2018

An excellent start to the year at Mai Bistro last night!
We'll meet again at Maureen's on Febuary 22nd to talk about Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.