Was someone was taking notes at Saara's in December.
A Plan
The current plan is to meet at a restaurant on the lakeshore where we can eat, drink and make plans for our next few months. We will meet on January 17th at 1 pm at Eden Trattoria, on Marine Drive.
With miserable timing the weatherman dumped the first snow of the season on our November book club meeting. Not that it wasn't beautiful to see the view from Maureen's place all frosted.
It turned out that the afternoon was perfect after all, and the drive home was much easier. Thank you to Maureen for your hospitality, and sending us all home smiling. Here's a link to Maureen's amazing Fruit Cocktail Cake.
We talked about both Milkman (by Anna Burns!) and Less is Lost, and as usual many other topics.
Next month the book will be The Candy House by Jennifer Egan. It will be at Saara's on Thursday, December 8th at 1 pm.
It is always a high point in the month when we can meet in person. We discussed A Woman of No Importance, a biography that touched on many topics with current relevance. Thank you to Susan, always a gracious host. The recipe for her pumpkin cake is below.
We missed a few people due to illness. Here are some get well flowers. Hope to see you next month.
We admitted some difficulty getting into Milkman by Anna Burns (not Hope). Possibly the audiobook is preferable if it is available. I have found that the audiobook captures the rhythm of the Irish diction and the humour of narrator's voice. But we decided to choose an alternate book for November anyway. It is Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer. Check back for an update on the location for next month.
Combine all cake ingedients, except nuts and raisins. Beat at low speed to combine then 2 minutes at medium before stirring in nuts or raisins. Pour in greased pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes until done. Cool completely before frosting. For frosting combine all ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread on cooled cake and refrigerate.
The threatened storm didn't materialize. It might have been dramatic to watch, but as it turned out there was no rain at all and we we were treated to panoramic view of the city from Janice's condo. There were other treats of course - nibbles, including Saara's butter tarts, fine wine and enthusiastic conversation. Thank you Jan for hosting.
Susan will be our next host on Wednesday October 26th when we will talk about A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell.
On Tuesday November 15th we will go to Maureen's to talk about Milkman by Anna Burns.
The meeting on Thursday December 8th will be at Saara's and the book will be The Candy House by Jennifer Egan.
We were down by 3 of us, but we had a great time around Jane's dining room table wolfing down a wonderful spread! Everyone liked Instructions for a Heat Wave, so most of the conversation was enjoyably social.
We are meeting next on Wednesday September 21st at Jan's condo apartment instead of in Port Hope since Jan has to be in the city for the next morning. We did talk about a little "pre-bookclub" swim in the the condo's lovely pool, but we will wait for confirmation from Jan!
Books we mentioned:
Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America 20th anniversary edition by Barbara Ehrenreich.
What could be more comfortable than a shaded veranda on a summery afternoon? Lynda's outdoor room with a garden view was a wonderful location for our book club. Thank you for hosting, Lynda. It was such a pleasant afternoon!
We took the opportunity to make a few decisions. We'll meet on Wednesday, July 13 at 1 pm in Jo's backyard. This is a change of location. The book for this afternoon is Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pierce.
August's book is Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell. We can expect to find this a little more complex than the previous books. Are we ready? The date is Wednesday August 24th and we'll be in Jane's backyard. Again this is a new choice of location.
We decided to pencil in Jan as hostess for September 22nd. The book stays the same, The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. *Update: It looks like we will move September's book club to Wednesday, September 21st instead of the 22nd. Let's confirm when we are together again.*
We had our book club discussion about The Sympathizer yesterday at my place. I admit to being a little rusty about entertaining after a long period of isolation but I certainly enjoyed the afternoon and hope everything was OK. More about the surprise box that came in the post - it wasn't wine in the bottles but lemon flavoured oil and vinegar. How special!
The book definitely resonated with everyone in view of the steady movement of desperate refugees uprooted by war in our world. This is a dark topic. As antidote we have tried to follow up with books somewhat lighter in tone.
In June the book will be One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. We will meet at Lynda's for this on Wednesday, June 15th at 1 pm.
July's book will be Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce. We chose Wednesday, July 13th at 1 pm but we will need someone to step up to host.
Jo has invited us to her backyard on August 24th. We couldn't come up with a book for this date. Maybe we could leave it open as an opportunity for each of us to share what we have been reading. Just a thought.
The book for September will be The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. I don't have any recollection of a date or location for this but there's still time to figure out the missing details.
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