Scarborough

Zoom worked for us again, as we met to talk bout Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez. Much as we agree that meeting in person was better in many ways, we are lucky that technology allows us to see each other and spend this tine chatting during this period of pandemic. 

Remember that we will meet again on Thursday September 24th on zoom to talk about Circe by Madeline Miller. As usual it will be at 7:30.  

We did spend some time talking about how to fill the aimless hours of isolation. Here are some things on tap:

• Hot Docs Curious MInds series 
• Heliconian Club Literary Lecture Series 
• Learning Unlimited Etobicoke 
• Indigenous Canada (University of Alberta) 
• McMichael Gallery An Afternoon of Maud Lewis
• Malcolm Gladwell's podcast Revisionist History
• Pushkin Industries podcast collection (try Cautionary Tales)
• CrowdCast Innocents (Emma Donoghue and Michael Crummey)
• HGTV Family Home Overhaul
  

Books we mentioned: 

• The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
• Hamnet and Judith by Maggie O'Farrell
• Brother by David Chariandy
  

What is Not Yours is Not Yours

We met on zoom again last night to talk about What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi. Maybe we could sum up by saying that this book of short stories confused us. In this interview she attempted to explain some of her ideas. Hmm...



... moving along, we set times and books for the next two months.  We will meet on Thursday, August 20 to talk about Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez.  Watch for a wine pairing for this evening, something new to experience and share. And on Thursday, September 24 the book will be Circe by Madeline Miller.

Books we mentioned:   

• Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis  by Patti Henry
• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
• Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles 
• From the Ashes: My story of Being Metis, Homeless and Finding my Way by Jesse Thistle
• Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
• We've Always Been Here: a Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib
• The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
• The Yellow House by Sarah Broom
  

 And to watch: 

• The Book of Negroes on CBC
• Grizzlies on Gem
• Primary Colors

The Youth of God

Aside from being a page-turning story, this book gave us some insight into the lives of Somali-Canadians who live just down the street from us. We walk past them on the street and see them in schools and malls but we know only superficially about their experiences and culture.

Given it's prominence in the world lately, Black Lives Matter was also on our minds. We had quite a bit of conversation about what people like us, who have not experienced being racialized, can contribute as allies.

As for what's next for our group, we will meet again on Zoom on July 22nd at 7:30.  This is a Wednesday.  The book will be by Helen Oyeyemi - What is Not Yours is Not Yours. Wanda will set up the zoom room for us.

Books we mentioned: 

• Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung
• Days by Moonlight by Andre Alexis
• Barkskins by Annie Proulx
• Bina: a novel in warnings by Anakana Schofield
• Machines like Me by Ian McEvan
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
• How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
  
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
  

And to watch:  

• Lenox Hill (netflix)
• Toni Morrison: the pieces I am 
• Gloria Steinem HBO
• Unorthodox (netflix)
• The Woman who Loves Giraffes
• 93 Queen (Passionate Eye)

Black Lives Matter:

The Long Petal of the Sea

Thank you to Jo for starting off our Zoom meeting and to Wanda for arranging the extension. It really is wonderful to be able to see each other during the pandemic. 40 minutes is not enough when we have so much to say to each other - two new babies since last meeting!

As we talked about The Long Petal of the Sea and the history of Chile a few films came to mind:

• Nostalgia for the Light  
• Influence - Hot Docs
• Missing (1982)

Our next meeting will be on June 24th on Zoom and Wanda will arrange for the invitation to allow us continuous connection. The book will be The Youth of God by Hassan Ghedi Santur. 

Books we mentioned: 

• The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel 
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
• Paris Hours: a novel by Alex George
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• Citizens of London: the Americans who stood with Britain in its darkest, finest hour by Lynn Olson 
• The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
• The Cut Out Girl: a story of war and family, lost and found by Bart Van Es

 

Further to our conversation about Long-term Care in Ontario here's a portion of TVO's The Agenda that was playing simultaneously: 

 

Heroes in my Head

Our second zoom book club meeting showed that we're learning to thrive in the new isolating world. We had perfect attendance, we figured out how to extend our time beyond the allotted 40 minutes and we actually managed to spend some time talking about the book: Heroes in my Head by Judy Rebick. Having learned from our mistakes we did some planning for next month before our zoom room went dark. Next month Jo will organize the zoom invitation for us - 7 pm on May 28th.  Our book will be The Long Petal of the Sea by Isabelle Allende. A reminder that we need to plan for the next few months while everyone is still connected by zoom.

There's a long wait at the TPL for The Long Petal of the Sea. If you are buying, you may want to support local businesses. Two were mentioned: The Novel Spot, and Book City.

Also, support our local restaurants.  Jan recommends Absolutely Fine Foods for their roast striploin of beef on the weekends. Call ahead.

It is becoming more commonplace to wear a mask when out in public. Some of us are making our own. I've been using a modified version of this one from Bijou Lovely Designs for the Million Masks project. Some are for myself and the rest are for a midwifery practice.  These masks are not meant to be complete barriers but in situations where a 6 foot distance can't be maintained, they mitigate the risk. They can be  washed after wearing and re-used, so are also a greener option to the disposable masks.
If you want a fancy one like Jo's you can order from Doll Factory by Damsels. 

Books we mentioned:

• When we Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald 
• Sixty by Ian Brown
• The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
• The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
• She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
• Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

Also recommended: 

• The Capture television series
• zoom games like Jackbox Games Drawful, Scattergories or Trivia.  These use the Screen Share option in zoom settings.

Ian Brown on Sixty

Zoom, zoom!

Due to the new coronavirus, (COVID-19) we were motivated to try book club on the Zoom application, and surprisingly we managed to get almost everyone operational. In the circumstances our conversation had a lot to do with the technology and only a little about the book, The Dutch House.

The rest of our talk was about COVID-19 of course. Because of this catastrophic pandemic, book stores and public libraries are closed. But the Toronto Public Library can still provide digital books, audiobooks and other wonderful online options to watch, to explore and to learn. Given the restrictions on other activities, we now may have time to do some of this.

Our next book will be Heroes in my Head: a memoir by Judy Rebick. You can download Judy Rebick reading her memoir from the Toronto Public Library. I don't recall if we changed the date, from Thursday, April 3rd, but we did make an assumption that it would be on Zoom, so you can stay in your pyjamas, and provide your own laptop, snacks and wine.

The book after that is The Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende.  The date was originally Thursday, May 28th.  Again, we have to assume that it will be in a Zoom chat room.

Stay at home friends and be safe.

Blackwater Lightship

We found much to praise in this deeply compassionate book by Colm Toibin.  We were also impressed with the Hallmark video that was quite true to the novel. The whole production was excellent, though we found the music unnecessarily oppressive.

Susan hosted, and as usual it was lovely. Here's the recipe for her lemon tart. You don't need a Meyer lemon - it may be even better with a plain one. Everyone loved it last night. Yum!

We had already planned to talk about The Dutch House by Ann Patchett next month.  We'll meet on Thursday, March 26th at Jane's.

Planning ahead we decided to read Heroes in My Head: a memoir by Judy Rebick. The date will be Thursday, April 23rd and we'll meet at Janice's. 

After that we plan to be at Jo's on Thursday, May 28th to talk about The Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende.

Books we mentioned: 

• Peace and Good Order: the case for indigenous Justice in Canada by Harold R. Johnson
• All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Transit by Rachel Cusk
• Greenwood by Michael Christie
• Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
• The Accomplice by Joseph Kanon
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
• Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

And on film:

• The Long Shot (Netflix)
• Remember 
• Bombshell
• Parasite