Agreed!

Yes, it was a wonderful book club evening at Wanda's house, with excellent cake. I am particularly grateful that Wanda stumbled upon my purse the next morning, and graciously brought it to me before I'd even missed it!

While on the subject of 'stumbling upon', here's a passage from The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe on the subject of e-books vs. printed books:

One of the many things I love about bound books is their sheer physicality.  Electronic book live out of sight and out of mind.  But printed books have body, presence.  Sure, sometimes they'll elude you by hiding in improbable places: in a box full of old picture frames, say, or in the laundry basket wrapped in a sweatshirt.  But at other times they'll confront you, and you'll literally stumble over some tomes you hadn't thought about in weeks or years.  I often seek electronic books, but they never come after me.  They may make me feel, but I can't feel them.  They are all soul with no flesh, no texture, and no weight.  They can get in your head but can't whack you upside it.

We had some conversation around the Giller Prize.  This year's short list comprises:

• 419 by Will Ferguson
• Inside by Alix Ohlin
• The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler
• Ru by Kim Thuy
• Whirl Away by Russell Wangersky

We also heard about Jan's experience with Ryerson's Life Institute.

Wanda gave us her impressions of Sleep No More which she saw in NY recently.   

Our book selection for next month is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, winner of the Man Booker prize in 2009 and the Orange prize in 2010.  Hilary Mantel has also won the Man Booker prize for the sequel Bring Up the Bodies.

Our book club meeting in November will be at Maureen's house on Thursday November 22nd.  We also set aside a date in December.  There was great enthusiasm for meeting at Susan's house for the December meeting, but we'll probably have to check in with Susan before finalizing our plans.  The date is December 13th.  Maybe we'll read the winner of the 2012 Giller?   

Thursday october 25th

Thanks to Wanda for a lovely evening, and especially for the cake! 

Edna O'Brien memoir

I thought this was an interesting column about Edna O'Brien and her recently published memoir:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/12/country-girl-edna-obrien-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+(Books

September: Finding Nouf

With the first hint of autumn in the evening air, how warm and welcoming was Maureen's hospitality last night!  Thank you Maureen!

Along with the themes that Finding Nouf inspired, we also talked about other topics and other books.  I'll try to remember most of them.

As we considered the restrictions imposed on women in places like Saudi Arabia we considered the necessity for vigilance regarding women's rights on our own country.  Such as the appearance of Bill M-312,  and the threat of re-criminalization of abortion.

Frank Delaney, the celebrated Irish author, has produced a series of podcasts called Re: Joyce in which explains Ulysses.  You can access them here.  He was also interviewed on the CBC show IDEAS on the topic of Mad Ideas and Sweet Dreams for a Better World.

We mentioned several movies worth looking for:  The Queen of Versailles, Incendies, Hope Springs, The Intouchables,  Searching for Sugar Man, Inside Job and the Live at the Met series.

And my sister's choir. 

Books mentioned last night:

• The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
• The End of Men: and the Rise of Women by Hanna Rosin   
• Vagina by Naomi Wolf
• The Age of Hope by David Bergen
• Pay Back: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood
• Canada by Richard Ford
• The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Our next book club meeting will be at Wanda's house on Thursday, October 25th and the book will be The Absolutist by John Boyne.

Maureen's Fruit Cocktail Cake

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 cups four

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

14 oz. can fruit cocktail with juice

Beat eggs slightly.  Add all ingredients except flour.  Add flour and bake in 9 x 13 pan (greased) for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Icing

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla (or 1 teaspoon brandy)

Boil all ingredients except vanilla.  Add vanilla and pour over hot cake.  It makes a lot, but use all of it.

Warm summer evening

In Jane's delightful garden under a blue moon, with a soft breeze from the lake we wiled away the evening sipping wine and chatting.   Many thanks to Jane for providing such a pleasant evening.

Several books were mentioned:

• Gellhorn by Caroline Moorehead
• Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
• The Old Child and Other Stories by Jenny Erpenbeck
• A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories by Margaret Drabble
• Original Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant
• The Watercress Girl by H.E. Bates
• The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates
• The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of his Friend Marilyn Monroe by Andrew O'Hagan
• Harry Hole mysteries by Jo Nesbo
• In the Orchard the Swallows by Peter Hobbs
• Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques
• The Absolutist by John Boyne
• The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
• Green Oranges on Lion Mountain by Emily Joy

We chose a book for next month, Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris.  It's a detective mystery that takes place in Saudi Arabia.  Here's a book trailer:

We will meet at Maureen's on Thursday, September  20th to talk about Finding Nouf.

Here's the recipe for Jane's excellent shortbread:

Beat 6 oz butter (reg salted) until very soft, I used a hand held beater.

Beat in 3 oz granulated sugar.

Beat in 3 oz semolina (cream of wheat) plus 6 oz sifted plain flour (Can use just 9 oz flour)

Work with fingers until it is all well combined, and leaves the bowl clean. Press firmly into a 7.5 inch pan with removable base, and flatten. Prick all over with a fork, to prevent it rising. Bake at 300 deg for about 70 minutes until firm and golden. Allow to cool a little, then cut into pieces. Sprinkle with extra sugar. Remove from pan when at room temperature, and store in an airtight tin.

The Paris Wife

This book provoked quite a bit of conversation, or maybe it was Ernest Hemingway and his larger-than-life persona.   

A reminder that we'll meet at Jane's house next month, on the 30th.  Please be prepared to share a favorite book that evening.

Here are some of the books we talked about:

• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
• The Free World by David Bezmozgis
• The Red House by Mark Haddon 

I nearly forgot to say where I get my Costa Rica shade-grown coffee. 

Happy Canada Day!

I think we can all agree that Janice outdid herself in hosting the June dinner meeting, dedicated to Liz Maloney and the London 2012 Olympics.  The whole evening was perfect.  We probably would have stayed way too late, except that some of us had to get up for work the next day.  Thank you Jan!

Our next time will be at my place on July 26th.  For this evening we will be talking about The Paris Wife.   (Please ignore what I had written here before - it was a brain fart! So sorry!)

After that our next evening will be August 30 at Jane's, and for that one we're all bringing a favorite book to share. 

Here are some of the books that came up for discussion:

• The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
• Tiger by John Vaillant
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D.  Kristof
• Coral Glynn by Peter Cameron
• In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Also,  I forgot to mention (and highly recommend) Snowdrops by A.D.Miller, a short novel that takes place in modern Moscow.