Welcome Summer

Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day! 

In perfect weather, on the day before the summer solstice we met on Lynda's lovely back porch to talk about Nothing But the Truth by Maria Henein. The view of Lynda's leafy garden, and sharing snacks with friends only encouraged our conversation. Thank you to Lynda for hosting a pleasurable afternoon. 

Next month we will be at Jo's to talk about Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley. This will be on  Wednesday, July 12 at 1 pm.

On Thursday afternoon, August 10, we will be at Marian's condo. The book will be Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

Books We Mentioned: 

• 48 Clues in the Disappearance of my Sister by Joyce Carol Oates
• Old Babes in the Woods by Margaret Atwood
• The Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck
• Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck
• On Earth we are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan
  

And What We're Watching: 

• Anatomy of a Scandal (Netflix)
• Deadwood (Crave)
• Transatlantic (Netflix)
• Cunk on Earth (Netflix)
• Never Have I Ever (Netflix)
  

Here's a sampling of Philomena Cunk's interviews: 

Afternoon with friends

Those of us who could make it, met yesterday afternoon at Susan's. Top of mind was reminiscing about Maureen, and talking about how to memorialize her. We are looking for old photos if anyone has any, to bring to the celebration of her life. Also we will contribute to the collection for a park bench by the lake. We miss her.

Susan set out a lovely nosh for us, as usual. We talked about Rabbit Foot Bill, made plans for the next three months and shared other books that we have been reading or thinking about reading. 

In June, we will be meeting at Lynda's - Tuesday, the 20th at 1 pm - to talk about Nothing But the Truth: a memoir by Marie Henein. 

We will follow that in July with another Canadian memoir, Run Towards the Danger: confrontations with a body of memory by Sarah Polley. The date in July is Wednesday, the 12th and we will be at Jo's. 

I (Marian) will host on Thursday, August 10 and the book will be Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - getting back to fiction.

Books we mentioned: 

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul
• Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan Henry
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
• Old Babes in the Woods by Margaret Atwood
  

Here are some more book suggestions from Jo:

Jasmine Sealy took home the $60,000 prize for The Island of Forgetting. The book, which is loosely inspired by Greek mythology, follows four generations of the family as they grapple with their past and try to shape their future.  The Vancouver-based Sealy was awarded the prize at an event at The Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto on Wednesday evening.

The other shortlisted authors, who each receive $6,000, include Billy-Ray Belcourt A Minor Chorus and André Forget for In The City of Pigs.

Rounding out the short list are Jessica Johns for Bad Cree, William Ping for Hollow Bamboo and Kai Thomas for In the Upper Country.

What we are watching: 

The Fabelmans

Women Talking

May 30 Meeting

Just for continuity let us record our most recent plan:

We will meet on Tuesday, May 30 at 1:00 pm at Susan's house. The book will be Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys. 

It will be good to spend the afternoon together.

Missed it again

 I'm sorry that an urgent dental issue kept me from our last book club meeting. The following is taken from Jo's emailed notes.

Jane's place was lovely as always, the dogs were very well behaved and made everyone feel cozy. Food was great - some very lovely little samosas as well as other edibles and Tira Misu for dessert! 

The six of us took the liberty of choosing the book for next session - April 25th at Jan's apartment - Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphries - there are plenty of copies in the library. 

Books 

• Ducks by Kate Beaton
• Moon of the Crusted Snow by Wabgeshig Rice
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
• Brown Boy by Omar Aziz
• When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O'Neill
• This Time That Place by Clarke Blaise
• Fayne: A Novel by Ann-Marie MacDonald
• Old Babes in the Woods by Margaret Atwood
• Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
  

Movies & TV

• A Good Person (movie) with Morgan Freeman and Florence Pugh - written, directed by Zach Braff
• Mr. Corman (series on Apple TV) about a grade 5 teacher written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
• Maestro in Blue ( series of Netflix). takes place in Corfu

Conversation between Emma Donoghue and Helen Humphreys to watch on YouTube

 

Here in February

Wanda hosted our February gathering yesterday afternoon. It was perfect. Together we found glimmers of hope and personal reasons to celebrate in a troubled world. Our book was Here the Dark by David Bergen. It was thought provoking; we might have spent more time talking about it.
It seems there is never enough time. 

One thing we did accomplish was a tentative plan for the spring months. We have chosen a few dates, and are starting again to host in alphabetical order. That means that Jane will be hosting the next meeting. It will be on April 4th at 1 pm and the book will be Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

We chose April 25th for Jan to host, but are prepared to make a change because Jan did not actually have a say in this choice, being away yesterday. I believe that we chose May 30th to meet at Jo's place. I was answering a phone call when this was decided so I may have it wrong. There should be plenty of lead time to make a correction if needed. We did not make any further book selections. 

Some webinar lectures were recommended. Possibly lecture series like  Learning Unlimited Etobicoke, Lifelong Learning Mississauga and Thornhill Lifelong Learning are only improving since they have moved to an online format. 

Books we Mentioned

• China Unbound: a new world disorder by Joanna Chiu
• Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley
• Snow Falling on Cedars by David Gutterson
  
• Lungfish by Meghan Gilliss
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
  
• Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Relatives by Camilla Gibb
• This is Happy by Camilla Gibb
• Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

What we are Watching

• Away from Her
• Tar
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• The Banshees of Inisherin
• The Fabelmans
• Anne with an E
• The Detectorists
• The Undeclared War
• Truth and Lies
• All Creatures Great and Small
• Son of a Critch
  

 

Happy New Year

 

Goodbye to 2022 - welcome 2023!

Burning Questions

• What are we reading this month? 
• Where and when will we meet? 
• 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. 

Some Books:

• Here the Dark by David Bergen
• Unseen by Roy Jacobsen
• Women Talking by Miriam Toews
• Run towards the Danger by Sarah Polley

And a Movie:

• Women Talking
  

First Snow

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. 

Books we Mentioned:

• Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
  
• Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
• Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley
• Women Talking by Miriam Toews
• Halloween Party by Agatha Christie
• The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr

What We Are Watching: 

• Belfast
  
• Women Talking
• The Crown (Netflix)
  
• Recipes for Love and Murder (Acorn)
  
• Tár
  
• The Banshees of Inisherin
• The Silence of Water
  
• Coda 
• White Lotus (season 2)