May 1st

We're meeting at Jan's place.  Thanks for this Jan!
Here's a video to inspire conversation when we get together.

In March

It seemed that our appreciation for The Headmaster's Wager was enthusiastic, and the evening was a pleasant one.  Actually I always have a great time at book club.

We chose a date for our next get-together (May 1st - not a Thursday!) but didn't choose a location.  There was some talk about meeting at a restaurant or bar.  Two suggestions were 17 Steps and On the Rocks, both on Bloor Street.  For this occasion we will be reading My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor and Left Neglected by Lisa Genova.

Other books mentioned:

• Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan
• Blonde: A Novel by Joyce Carol Oates 
• Pierre Burton's War of 1812 
• A Widow for One Year by John Irving
• The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw

Some time during the evening we talked a little about The Elders, a group of global leaders working together for peace and human rights.

March reminder

Our March book is The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam.  We'll meet on Thursday the 28th at my place (Marian).

February

Thanks again to Jane for hosting our group so graciously.  It's always a pleasure to get together. 
We didn't know when we chose to read February in February that it would be the winner of the Canada Reads contest this month too.

Here's Lisa Moore talking about her win on Q.


And the same week, 31 years after the Ocean Ranger disaster Canada was horrified to learn of another capsizing with the loss of 5 young lives. 

Other books that were mentioned last night:

• The House of the Mosque by Kader Abdolah
• Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Suzannah Cahalan

I forgot to mention a book that I heard Matt Galloway rave about on Metro Morning.  Since he also raved about Let the Great World Spin at an earlier time it might be worth looking up this book.

•  Sweet Jesus by Christine Pountney

Other topics of the evening included 4.48 Psychosis that Jo saw at Canadian Stage Berkeley Street Theatre.  There's more about this play by Sarah Kane here.

Below is Jill Bolte Taylor's Ted talk.

There were some requests to be re-connected with Sue's blog, For Family and Friends.

And finally, here's a video interview of Liz Maloney.

Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique remains scarily current

I found this to be an interesting article on the state of feminism, and the precariousness of women's gains!

Read it here:   Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique remains scarily current

Website Launch

You'll remember that Jo's daughter Corey was one of the enthusiastic founders of a grassroots movement called "Stop the Crazy".  They approached me to help them with a website, and here it is: www.stopthecrazy.ca . We're still adding content to this fledgling website, but it's "live" and you can be among the first to check it out. 

Happy 2013

Bravo Lynda!  Your updated living room was a wonderful setting for a great evening of The Book Club with No Name versus The End of Your Life Book Club, and all the other topics that arose.

Here is Will Schwalbe's web site, Cookstr.com.  The recipe for Chocolate Chip Cranberry Muffins is amazing.  I've also made Fisherman's Pie more than once.  So yummy!

Here's the NPR audiofile on the subject of end of life decisions:



Books that were mentioned:

• The Little Shadows by Marina Endicott
• The Emperor of Paris by C.S.Richardson
• Daughters who Walk this Path by Yejide Kilanko
• The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delaney Begins her Life's Work at 72 by Molly Peacock
• 419 by Will Ferguson
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Those who are free in the daytime may be interested in the lecture series provided by Learning Unlimited Etobicoke.  I'm taking Designs on You this term. They have another series of lectures in the works for the fall.

On the subject of feminism in the twenty-first century here's where you can hear the interview with Sherry Cooper, the retiring Chief Economist and Executive Vice-President of BMO.

We also had a few lively words about file sharing.  This is a video of Aaron Schwartz giving his perspective.