One-handed entertaining

Maximum respect is due to Janice for pulling off December's book club gathering with a broken wrist, and making it look easy.  Thank you for a great evening!

Our next meeting will be at Mai Bistro at 7 pm on January 4th, 2018.  This will be an opportunity to enjoy food and friendship, and there's no book assigned for January.

On February 22nd we'll be at Maureen's to talk about Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah.

The only decision about March was location - we'll be meeting at Susan's.

In case The End of Eddy is still puzzling here's Edouard Louis on his book:

Books mentioned last night:

• Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
• The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg
• After the Fire by Lauren Belfer
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• The Devil's Making by Sean Haldane
• Red Notice: A true story of high finance, murder and one man's fight for justice by Bill Browder

Film Suggestions:

• Rake 
• Top of the Lake: China Girl 
• Lady Bird
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• The Shape of Water
• Cardinal
• 21 Grams
• Pure
• The Crown
• The Break
• Peaky Blinders
• First They Killed My Father

Have a very merry Christmas everyone, and all the best for the new year.  See you on January 4th. 

The Grapes of Wrath and Dustbowl Migration

Here are links to a few articles about The Grapes of Wrath and the Dustbowl Migration:

http://numerocinqmagazine.com/2012/08/27/the-senses-of-an-ending-the-grapes-of-wrath-novel-and-film-patrick-j-keane/

https://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1355

http://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/dust%20bowl%20migration.htm

The Grapes of Wrath

This was such a great book for discussion, and there was no shortage of great conversation last night at my place: the dust bowl, migration, exploitation of farm workers,  mechanization of agriculture, censorship, politics, the photography of Dorothea Lange, supply management and more.

Our next book club evening will be at Lynda's on December 13th and the book will be The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis.

For January we have decided to meet for dinner at Mai Bistro again.  The date will depend on everyone's schedules.  Watch for an update here.

We didn't have enough people to decide on dates for February; we can finalize that next time.  But we did choose the book: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and Maureen will host for February.

Following that we will be at Saara's in March and Susan's in April.

Books mentioned last evening:

• We'll All be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night by Joel Thomas Hynes
• The Violinist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
• Britt Marie was Here (also A Man Called Ove) by Fredrik Backman
• Minds of Winter by Ed O'Loughlin
• Caught by Lisa Moore
• Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
• An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd
• Running the Books by Avi Steinberg
• Laughing all the Way to the Mosque by Zarqa Narwaz
• Thank You for Being Late:An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Tom Friedman
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett 
• South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914 - 1917 by Ernest Shackleton
• Forged in Crisis by Nancy Koehn

Dorothea Lange photos

Here is a link to photos of migrants taken by Dorothea Lange

The Break

Hoping to enjoy the backyard as the season was winding down, we all came prepared with our warm woolies.  But sanity prevailed - it was just too cold for outside book club.  Jo welcomed us warmly and it turned out to be a wonderful evening, inside. Thank you Jo.

The Break generated considerable conversation.  I believe this is the video that Jo recommended where Jian Ghomeshi interviewed Katherena Vermette:

Don't forget that the next book is The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck.  (If you choose to swerve the novel, the classic film is playing on Netflix). This gathering will be on Thursday, November 2nd at my house.

The following book club will meet at Lynda's and the book will be The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis.  It will be on Wednesday, December 13th.

 Books We Mentioned: 

• Lila by Marilynne Robinson  
• Born to Run (Autobiography) by Bruce Springsteen
• The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray
• The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicolson
• The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols

A worthy podcast is The Sunday Edition on CBC with Michael Enright.

September evening

Janice's screened porch was just the place to gather for our September evening.  We were all cozy and comfortable in our wooly shawls and throws.  Thank you for a wonderfully relaxing evening and for introducing me to some excellent shrimp toast. Yum!

We chose a book for December 13th: The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis.  We'll be at Lynda's home in December. 

A reminder that next time we'll be at Jo's on October the 16th to talk about The Break by Katherena Vermette.

Books that were mentioned:

• Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato
• In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi
• The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol
• Serial Monogamy by Kate Taylor 
• Dreams of my Russian Summers by Andreï Makine
• The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
• The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray
• The Massey Murder by Charlotte Gray
• Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of my Work by Douglas Coupland
• A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré

Prison Book Club

It was a lovely August evening and we were lucky to spend it sitting in Jane's beautiful and welcoming backyard.  Who could tell that the hostess had been subjected to an unsettling early morning wakeup that day (because of this)?  You certainly deserved a few extra hours of sleep on Friday morning Jane.

We made some decisions about future book club meetings, but there was no change to September which will be at Janice's on the 11th. The book is A Spool of Blue Thread.

On October 16th which will be at Jo's house we decided to read The Break by Katherena Vermette.

The November book club location has been changed as we switched venues for November and December.  We decided to read a classic, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and to meet at my house (Marian) on November 2nd.

That means that on December 13th we will be at Lynda's house.  We haven't chosen a book for that date.

Books that were mentioned:

• The Illuminations by Andrew O'Hagan
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
• Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
• Swing Time by Zadie Smith
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• Worst.Person.Ever by Douglas Coupland
• The Long Song by Andrea Levy
• Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
• Quiet Until the Thaw by Alexandra Fuller
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Movie Suggestions: 

• The Glass Castle
• Baby Driver
• Dunkirk
• Dawson City: Frozen Time
• Rumble 

While on the subject of movies, if you are in the Kinmount area, Jo recommended the very unusual and popular Highland Cinemas.

Streaming Video Suggestions: 

• Ozark
• Outlander
• Hinterland
• Border Town
• Thirteen
• Thirteen Reasons Why