Notes from August 2013

First of all, down to business:  Last night was at my place because of Lynda's flood damage.  And it follows that I won't be hosting in September - Maureen will.  The date is still Sept. 11 and the book is still The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King.  As for October, we'll be reading Sweet Jesus by Christine Pountney and in November the book will be 419 by Will Ferguson.  We didn't pin down locations for these two evenings, as there were a number of unknown variables.

It was no surprise that everyone had some kind of flood story to report.  For those coping with flood damage, and in reference to The Inconvenient Indian here's the government of Canada's advice about mould.  To be fair, I did find another link provided by Health Canada where the broader public is advised about coping with mould.

Also, on the topic of the ethics of college football and other contact sports, here's the interview that Fareed Zakaria had with Malcolm Gladwell recently.



 Here are the books mentioned last night:

• Maine by J. Courney Sullivan
• 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Last Friends by Jane Gardam
• Just Kids by Patti Smith
• Aftermath by Rhidian Brook
• Red Joan by Jennie Rooney
• Life after Life by Kate Atkinson
• NW by Zadie Smith
• Walls by Marcello di Cintio 
• TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

Here's Thomas King, author of The Inconvenient Indian in a Q&A:




And in preparation for October here's a link to Christine Pountney talking about her book, Sweet Jesus.

Also I forgot to mention last night that I'd recently enjoyed reading The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.

Backyard Book Club - July

It's always a good time when we can hold book club outdoors on a warm evening.  So here's a big thanks to Jane for providing the charming setting, good food and wine; and thanks also to mother nature for giving us good weather.  Mister Pip was a happy choice - everyone seemed to enjoy reading it.

We chose a book for September: The Inconvenient Indian A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King.

A reminder that our August meeting will be at Lynda's when we'll be reading A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson.

Here she is introducing the book:




Other books mentioned were:

• A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam
• The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

We also talked about digital privacy.  DuckDuckGo is the search engine that allows for anonymous searching on the web.   There is more than one service for maintaining anonymity on the web.  One of them is Hide-My-IP and c|net has a list of others. All I know about keeping phone records hidden is what the spies do in the novels I've read.  They are careful to replace phones, or sim cards daily or even more frequently, which is not exactly practical for most of us.  

At the Beach

Thank you to Jo for hosting.  We had a great time, and the report from those who had dinner at your local restaurant Whitlock's sounded very positive too.

Our next gathering will be at Jane's on July 3rd and we'll be talking about Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones.  Here's Lloyd Jones talking about the book:



The book I mentioned having enjoyed was Sweet Jesus by Christine Pountney.  Here's a review.

But I forgot to mention The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.  Just so you know, neither of these books is remotely like a "woman's weepy".  

A reminder that three recipes were requested: Wanda's orange cake, Jan's cheesecake and Jo's spicy shrimp.  

Getting Organized

A big thank you to Jan for jumping in to host our May 1st gathering.  It was a grand evening.  Spring finally made an appearance and allowed us to enjoy the back porch.  Also, thank you in advance for the cheesecake recipe, Jan.  And for future reference is this (cabernet sauvignon) the red wine you served?

Our next three books have been chosen as well as our locations and dates until January 2014.  

Here goes: 

• June 5th at Jo's: The Light Between Oceans by M.L.Stedman
• July 3rd at Jane's:  Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
• August 7th at Lynda's: The Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson
• September 11th at Marian's: TBA
• October 10th at Maureen's: TBA
• November 7th at Saara's: TBA 
• December 5th at Susan's: TBA
• January 9th at Wanda's: TBA  

Lastly, here's a link to Susan's blog.

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).