The Tenth Muse

 “I couldn’t help but wonder why so many intelligent men aren’t more embarrassed to speak on topics they know nothing about, or why anyone would listen to an economist on such a matter in the first place. How are they so sure of themselves, and why are so many people so eager to listen? I’ve always wished I had the confidence to speak with half the conviction on subjects I’m actually competent to discuss.”
― Catherine Chung, The Tenth Muse

The themes of this book definitely struck some chords with our group. It was a good choice.

We made some other choices last night, and a few changes of note. We chose a date for our next zoom book club - Wednesday, December 16th. We will meet at our usual time and the book will be Hamnet and Judith by Maggie O'Farrell.

As we approached 2021 we had planned to start in January with The Pull of the Stars, but it has proved difficult to find, so we will read Someone by Alice McDermott  We also changed the time of our meeting to 2 pm. The date will be Wednesday, January 13. 

Then we will get to The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue at 2 pm on Wednesday, February 17th.  

On Wednesday, March 17th we will talk about Five Wives by Joan Thomas and on Wednesday, April 14 the book will be Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout.  We will decide in February whether we want to stay with 2 pm or go back to evening meetings. 

Books we noted:

• Someone by Alice McDermott 
  
• Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
• Five Wives by Joan Thomas
 
• The Student by Cary Fagan
 
• The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

 

Ragged People

 

"All that we are is story. From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind. We are not the things we accumulate. We are not the things we deem important. We are story. All of us. What comes to matter then is the creation of the best possible story we can while we’re here; you, me, us, together. When we can do that and we take the time to share those stories with each other, we get bigger inside, we see each other, we recognize our kinship – we change the world, one story at a time…"  - Richard Wagamese

Our next book will be The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung.  We will meet on Zoom on Thursday, November 26 at 7:30.

In December the book will be Hamnet and Judith by Maggie O'Farrell.  

And in January 2021 we plan to talk about The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. 

Books we mentioned

• Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
• Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout
• Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller
• Women Who Blow on Knots by Ece Temelkuran 

 Things to Watch

• The Trouble with Maggie Cole
• Transplant
• Giri/Haji (Netflix)
• Family Home Overhaul
• Hap and Leonard (Netflix)
  
• Trickster
• My Brilliant Friend
• The Ladies in Black 

More Fun

• Fantini Sangiovese
• Mexican Train

 

Reading Circe

We had a great talk about Madeline Miller's depiction of Circe, a witch goddess who has a small part in ancient mythology. Miller's Circe lives a long and rich life that has many points of reference for modern readers, a good book club choice. We miss being together in reality but are grateful for zoom so that we can see each other and chat.

Next we will meet on zoom again, on Wednesday, October 21 at 7 pm.  We will talk about Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese.  

We didn't pick any other dates but we chose books for the next three months.  In November the book will be The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung.  

In December we will talk about Hamnet and Judith by Maggie O'Farrell.  

And in January 2021 we will get to The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. 

Books we mentioned: 

• Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
  
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  
• The Very Marrow of our Bones by Christine Higdon
• The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
• The Reality Bubble by Ziya Tong
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

What to watch: 

• Netflix - My Octopus Teacher 
• Netflix - Cuties
• Tiff - Inconvenient Indian
• Tiff - Nomadland 
  

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: