Spring forward

On a magnificent spring evening we talked about The Sisters Brothers at Jane's house.  Thank you Jane for a wonderful time!  Love your new wall colour! 

And we made plans for the months ahead.  For the next meeting we'll go to Jo's home on April 19th and talk about Girls Fall Down by Maggie Helwig, which is the One Book choice for this year at the Toronto Public Library.

On May 24th we'll be at Lynda's.  The book will be The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.

And our June meeting will follow tradition and be held at Jan's home.  I think it'll be pot luck as usual.  The date we chose is June 28th.  We left the book choice for later. 

At Jane's there were several books mentioned.  These are the ones I can remember.

• Far to Go by Alison Pick
• The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
• Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
• The Paris Wife by Paula McLean
• The Paris Journals by Michael Rothenberg
• Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill
• Green Oranges on Lion Mountain by Emily Joy
• King Peggy by Peggielene Bartels

February with Oryx and Crake

It seemed that there was consensus regarding Oryx and Crake.  We found it pretty impressive, and fun to read.  Aren't you glad I didn't serve chickienobs?

For next month we've decided to read The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt.  We'll meet on March 22nd at Jane's.

As for thoughts about other books to read I can remember several:

• Breakthough: the Saga of Jonas Salk by Richard Carter 
• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant
• Something Fierce: Memoires of a Revolutionary Daughter by CarmenAguirre
• On a Cold Road by Dave Bidini
• Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
• Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach

You may enjoy this video presentation of the last book: 

Change of location

Our meeting on Thursday February 16th will be at Marian's place. 

A World Elsewhere

Last Thursday evening we met at Wanda's to talk about A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnston (and try out Wanda's new brie baker, along with a bunch of other yummy treats).  Time well spent indeed! Thank you Wanda.

Our next meeting will be at Jo's house on Thursday February 16th.  The book will be Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.   You may enjoy browsing the CBC's marvelous collection of resources online called Margaret Atwood: Queen of CanLit.

Oddly, nobody seemed to be sharing new books the other evening, except while standing at the door putting on coats and boots, when Bossypants by Tina Fey and Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massey, and P.D.James' Death Comes to Pemberley were all briefly mentioned. 

Visitation at Maureen's

We were a smallish group on Thursday night.  Too bad everyone couldn't be there as we had a really fruitful evening.  Thank you Maureen for hosting, and particularly for all your work in compiling our archive.

The consensus about Visitation was definitely positive.  It was suggested that Erpenbeck's first book, The Old Child and Other Stories might be worth seeking out.  It's available at the TPL.

We established some dates and locations for the next couple of meetings, skipping over December this year.  On January 5th, 2012 we'll be at Wanda's house and the book will be A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnston.   In February we're reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.  I hope someone will let me know if we chose a date and location  - I don't have it in my notes (maybe we left it open?).

Also mentioned were a number of interesting books, perhaps for future dates, including:

• Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller
• Sanctuary Line by Jane Urquart
• Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
• The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
• The Free World by David Bezmozgis
• Divisidero by Michael Ondaatje
• The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
• Breath by Tim Winton
• The Water Man's Daughter by Emma Ruby-Sachs
• Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
  
  

  

Tuesday night in October

As always when we're together the conversation was sparkling and the snacks hit the spot.  Thanks to Susan for hosting.  Should we post the recipe for your sister-in-law's yummy pumpkin bread on this blog?  Just a thought. 

The book for next month at Maureen's will be Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck. The book was published in German in 2008, and translated into English by Susan Bernofsky in 2010.  A reminder that the date is Thursday, November 24th.

After the conversation we had the other night I came across this moving poetry reading: 

Lynda's Veranda

Last evening was perfect in every way.  Thank you to Lynda for hosting our August get-together.  Wonderful!

In September we'll be reading State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.  We'll meet at my place on Tuesday September 20th. 

In October the book will be People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and we'll be at Susan's on Tuesday October 25. 

We chose Thursday November 24th for our next date.  Maureen offered to host.  But we didn't choose a book.  We can figure that out later.  Some of the choices were Divisidero by Michael Ondaatje and The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht. 

Other topics that came up last night included two places to visit across the border.  The first was in Buffalo NY, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.  And in Rochester NY the George Eastman House appears to be well worth a visit.