December book - Akin

Sue hosted a hybrid meeting with optional Zoom for those stuck at home. Combining a real and virtual get together worked was an excellent compromise when indoors. The book was entertaining and so was the conversation. Susan, as usual, wowed everyone with a range of homemade Christmas baking. 

Our next book will be How the One Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones. We will meet at  1 pm at Wanda's house on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, corona virus permitting. 

What we're reading:  

• Apeirogon by Colum McCann  
• What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
• China Room by Sunjeev Sahota 
• Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford 
• American War by Omar El Akkad 
• The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
• The Strangers by Katherena Vermette 
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason 
• All my Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews 
• Fight Night by Miriam Toews 

On the screen: 

• The Aging Brain and The Italian Renaissance (lecture series at Lifelong Learning Mississauga)
• Belfast - Cineplex
  
• The Power of the Dog - Netflix
• Landscapers - HBO
• Le Havre - Criterion
• Minari - Prime
• The Club - Netflix 
• Unforgivable - Netflix
• Fallet - Netflix
• Leonard and Marianne - Netflix
  

 Watch Cherie Jones talk about How the One Armed Sister Sweeps her House

Meeting indoors again!!

As we have all been fully vaccinated for a while we dared to meet indoors this month, and it was quite a treat. Jan's condo overlooking the city was a marvellous location. Book club discussions are certainly enhanced by sharing wine, snacks and some decadent butter tarts. A big thank you to Jan for hosting. There was so much more we could have said about Greenwood but we seemed to be distracted by catching up with each other's lives.  In the circumstances who can blame us?

Next month we plan to read Emma Donoghue's comic novel, Akin. We will gather at Susan's on December 14th at 1 pm if pandemic concerns don't force us back to zoom.

Thank you friends. This is a special surprise. I'm a little overwhelmed.

What we are reading:

• Blindness by Jose Saramago
• This is Happiness by Niall Williams
• I Couldn't Love you More by Esther Freud
• The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  
• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
  
• The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman
  
• American War by Omar El Akkad
  
• What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
  
• The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia
  
• Premonition: a pandemic story by Michael Lewis
  
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
  

Backyard Book Club

What a special occasion it was when we could meet in real life after resorting to zoom for so long. Jo's backyard room was the perfect location complete with twinkling lights. I appreciated the effort Wanda took to allow me to be there virtually even though zoom filtered out speakers' voices very often, forcing me to guess what was going on. I hope the important things filtered through. Let me know if I've got it wrong. We were meeting to discuss Five Little Indians, and the difficult topic of residential schools. The novel was very real and sympathetic in the telling.  

We plan to meet on Wednesday November 17 at 1 pm to talk about Greenwood by Michael Christie.  The meeting will be at Jan's condo, details to follow. 

Books:

• This is Happiness by Niall Williams - hint: the audiobook is a perfect reading by Dermot Crowley
• Foregone by Russell Banks 
• I Couldn't Love you More by Esther Freud 
• Good Citizens Need Not Fear by Maria Reva

Jan recommends Hot Docs - Reading the 60s, Writing the Revolution

Here's Michael Christie talking about Greenwood. 

Anticipation

Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar provoked some great conversation last night as it illustrated some of the most urgent themes in modern American life. But the upcoming federal election was also on our minds. There are only a few more days to go and this election appears to be a nail-biter. Some of us have voted already to avoid pandemic line-ups. No trace of apathy was apparent in our group. 

With vaccination uptake on an uptick, we are finally daring to plan an in-person book club event. The date of our next book club is tentatively October 21 and that's when we will be talking about Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. If the pandemic allows we will meet at Jo's house in the backyard at 1 pm. Fingers crossed everyone. 

Lynda has recommended this video  - Doctrine of Discovery

Books: 

• Greenwood by Michael Christie 
• The Matter with Morris by David Bergen
• Out of Mind by David Bergen
• The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams
• I am a Red Dress by Anna Camilleri
• Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
• The Library of Legends by Janie Chang
• The Chef's Secret by Crystal King 
  
  

Indians on Vacation in July

So, we're in Prague.
In Prague, we stay at the Hotel Certovka in the shadow of the historic Charles Bridge. Second floor. Some of the rooms overlook the Vltava River.
Ours doesn't.

We enjoyed the interplay between Bird 's ennui and Mimi's enthusiasm. Parts of the novel were  laugh-out-loud funny particularly for our group of avid travellers.

Next month the book is Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar. We are thinking of moving this discussion to August 18th at lunch time but it may also happen at the original time - August 19th at 7:30. TBD later on.

We also chose the next meeting time - September 15th at 7:30. We will discuss Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, probably on zoom.

***NB:
We skipped the August meeting and will be discussing Homeland Elegies in September.  This moves Five Little Indians to October, at a time to be determined.***

A reminder to check out Raven Reads, a subscription service that delivers Indigenous literature and giftware for adults and kids.

Books:

• Likeness by David Macfarlane
• The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
• While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
• The Dime Box by Karen Grose
• Clara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline 

To watch:

• Politics at the Movies - Hot Docs
• Sweet Tooth - Netflix
• Never Have I Ever - Netflix
• Penguin Town - Netflix

Saara's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 T molasses
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats
1 3/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Beat butter I minute
Add sugars and cream for 3 minutes
Add eggs, molasses, vanilla
Beat 1 minute on high
Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt
Add oats and chocolate chips
Chill 45 minutes
Bake 350 for 13-14 minutes

House on Endless Waters

 We agreed that this book by Emuna Elon is special, both in the way it explores its themes and in its elegant prose. The interweaving of past and present along with the mystery of the narrator's origins held our interest.  A new favourite. 

We are meeting next month on Zoom. The date and book are as already determined: Indians on Vacation by Thomas King on July 22 at 7:30. 

After that we are meeting on Zoom (or perhaps outdoors?) on August 19 to talk about Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar. Here's a link to a conversation with Akhtar hosted by the Toronto Public Library.

Books:  

• Swamp Angel by Ethel Wilson
• Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
• Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
  
• Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Komes du Mez
  
• The Arsonist's City by Hala Alyan
  

What we are watching:

• Shtizel - Netflix
• Orthodox - Netflix
• Navillera - Netflix
• Lupin - Netflix
• Ted Lasso - Apple
• Intouchables - Netflix
• Bonfire of Destiny - Netflix
• Mare of Easttown - HBO
• Sweet Tooth - Netflix 
• Hacks - HBO
  

Speak, Silence

We met on Zoom to talk about Speak, Silence by Kim Echlin. This is a work of fiction that revisits the tragedy of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The book centres on trials that were held in the Hague exposing the sexual violence experienced by thousands of women. The difficult subject is countered by masterful writing. Not all of us read the book, but those who did are recommending it. 

Our next book will be House on Endless Waters by Emuna Elon. We'll meet on Zoom on June 17th. On July 22nd we will meet on Zoom to talk about Indians on Vacation by Thomas King. These Zoom meetings will be held at 7 pm.

Books we Mentioned: 

• Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder: a Memoir by Julia Zankarin
• The Opening Sky by Joan Thomas
• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
  
• The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams
  
• Piranisi by Susanna Clark
• The Splendid and the Vile by Eric Larson

What to Watch: 

• The Return: Life after Isis - documentary (just played at HotDocs)
  
• Rare Bird Alert CBC documentary
  
• Hap and Leonard - Netflix
  
• The Father - Prime
  
• Indian summers - Prime (PBS)
  
• Atlantic Crossing - Prime (PBS)
  
• Perry Mason - HBO
  
• Lupin - Netflix
  
• Minari 

I forgot to mention something. This spring I've been enrolled in a lecture series about propaganda where the lecturer recommended the Netflix series Five Came Back about the place of film to shape public opinion during the WWII era.  And from my lecture series on religion, secularism and liberalism this book - Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

 

April and Olive, Again

 Wanda set up our zoom meet-up again so we could talk about Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout. The book collects stories, most of which are about Olive in her later years.  If you haven't see the HBO serial Olive Kitteridge it is available on Crave and some other streaming sources - and it is highly recommended watching. 

Trailer - Olive Kitteridge

 

On May 11th at 7 pm we'll meet on Zoom to talk about Speak, Silence by Kim Echlin. 

The following month the book will be House on Endless Waters by Emuna Elon. This will be on June 17th at 7 pm.

We chose a book for July too.  It is Indians on Vacation by Thomas King and we'll hold that Zoom meeting on July 22nd at 7 pm. 

 Books We Talked About

• A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
• The Opening Sky by Joan Thomas
• Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas
• House on Endless Waters by Emuna Elon
• Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes du Mez

Recommended Watching

• Us - CBC and Gem
• Hemingway - PBS
• How the Victorians Build Britain - PBS
• Atlantic Crossing - PBS
• Delhi Crime - Netflix
• The Gift - Netflix
• Rita - Netflix
• Hap and Leonard - Netflix
• Fleabag - Prime
• A Suitable Boy - Prime

 Below is the TPL Culture interview with Kim Echlin about Speak, Silence

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March 2021 - nearly spring

 We met on Zoom to talk with enthusiasm about Five Wives by Joan Thomas, a fictional retelling of the events of Operation Auca. This led to curiosity about other books by the same author, listed below. 

Let's hope we will soon be able to meet without resorting to digital technology, but until then it is wonderful to be able to see each other. Thanks to Wanda for setting up the Zoom. 

 Looking Ahead: 

• On April 15th at 7 pm on Zoom - Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout  
• On May 13th at 7 pm on Zoom - Speak, Silence by Kim Echlin

Books we Mentioned: 

• Dirt Road byJames Kelman
• The Opening Sky by Joan Thomas
  
• Curiosity by Joan Thomas
• Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas
• Amphibian by  Carla Gunn
• A Children's Bible by Lydia Mallett
• The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman 
• Johnny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
• The Reason you Walk: a memoir by Wab Kinew 
• Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese
• Trio by William Boyd
• Indians on Vacation by Thomas King 
• Speak, Silence by Kim Echlin

Aside: You can get a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle of Reposado Bar. Cool!

What We're Watching: 

• Gino's Italian Escape - TLN 
• David Rocco's Dolce - TLN
• Stanley Tucci - Searching for Italy - CNN
• Delhi Crime - Netflix
• Pretty Hard Cases - CBC
• Bad Banks - CBC Gem
• Ethos - Netflix
• Frazier (reruns) - Prime
• Ted Lasso - Apple TV+
• Hamilton - Disney+
• Lupin - Netflix
• A Suitable Boy - Acorn TV
• Superstore - Netflix