Afternoon at Lynda's

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.*

Books we mentioned:

• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
  
• Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell
• What Strange Paradise by Omar el Akkad
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

Here is Kazuo Ishiguro with some interesting ideas. 

The Sympathizer

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. 

VoteWell is a tool for those of us wanting to vote strategically to bring down the Conservative majority in Ontario. The advice is based on an aggregate of statistical data from various polls, so is only as accurate as the polling industry overall. But worth considering.

Books of Note:

• The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
• Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
• Secrets of the Sprakkar by Eliza Reid
• The Final Case by David Guterson
• The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
  
• Noopiming: the Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
  
• The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
  
• Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín
• The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey
  
• Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti detective series
• Andrea Camillari's Inspector Montalbano detective series 

And to Watch:  

• Anatomy of a Scandal - Netflix 
• Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy - CNN
• Supernova - StudioCanalUK

 Islington Reads, a book club in our neighbourhood, asked Marianne Cronin to talk about One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot:

And .... back to Zoom!

 

Lynda offered to host the meeting in April, but COVID-19 had other plans, as we struggled through the sixth wave, forced to negotiate  will we?/won't we? for every event. We settled on won't this time.  Though it was unfortunate to miss Lynda's hospitality we had a good discussion about The Strangers on Zoom. 

Next month, on May 11 at 1 pm we will meet at my place to talk about The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.  If all goes well.

Books we mentioned: 

• One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
  
• Braiding Sweet Grass: indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  
• Pluck: a memoir of a Newfoundland childhood and the raucous, terrible, amazing journey to becoming a novelist by Donna Morrissey
• Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce
  
• Noopiming: the cure for white ladies by Leanne Simpson

Books we didn't think to mention: 

• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
• Stray Dogs by Rawi Hage
• In Love with the World: a monks journey through the bardos of living and dying by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Helen Tworkov
  
• These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
• Nothing But the Truth by Marie Henein

Viet Thanh Nguyen on his book The Sympathizer

March by the lake

We met at Jane's on a foggy day to talk about A Town Called Solace, a book that we all enjoyed. Jane entertained us with wine and snacks, and two sweet miniature poodles. It was so enjoyable to meet and chat.  Thank you Jane!

Next month we will be reading The Strangers by Katherena Vermette. We'll meet at Lynda's on April 13th at 1 pm.

A reminder that we will meet at my place on May 11th at 1 pm to talk about The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. 

One of the things that we talked about was an initiative called NORC Ambassadors. The acronym stands for Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities. This is a grassroots project to facilitate seniors empowering seniors. It is a project of OpenLab, a member of the University Health Network (UHN).

Books of Note: 

• Still Life by Sarah Winman
• Still Life by Louise Penny
• Through the Garden: A Love Story (with cats) by Lorna Crozier
• Fight Night by Miriam Toews
• All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
• Women Talking by Miriam Toews 
• Oh, William by Elizabeth Strout
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

 And to Watch: 

• Visionary Gardens - Vision TV 
• The Great - Prime
• The Adam Project - Netflix
• Women Talking (in production) 

Katherena Vermette talking about The Strangers

Meeting in February

We gathered at Wanda's for an afternoon of companionship and conversation, as well as sharing thoughts about our book Watching You Without Me.  It should be mentioned that Wanda provided yummy nibbles to fortify us throughout the afternoon and in every way made sure we had a great time.  Thank you Wanda!

Our next book is A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. We will meet at Jane's for this on March 16, 2022 at 1 pm.

We made plans for the next few months as follows:
On April 13, 2022 at 1 pm we will meet at Lynda's house to talk about The Strangers by Katherena Vermette.

And our meeting on May 11, 2022 at 1 pm will be at my house (Marian). The book will be The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Books we Mentioned:

• Sufferance by Thomas King
  
• The Strangers by Katherena Vermette
  
• The Overstory by Richard Powers
  
• The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
  
• Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
  
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
  
• Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
  

What to Watch:

• Stay Close - Netflix
  
• In from the Cold - Netflix
  
• Inventing Anna - Netflix
  
• Derek - Netflix
  
• The Lost Daughter - Netflix
  
• The Beautiful Lie  - Gem
  
• Elizabeth if Missing - PBS Masterpiece
  

Mary Lawson talks about writing A Town Called Solace

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House

The pandemic interfered with our plans to meet at Wanda's this month to talk about How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House.  We met on Zoom instead, and counted ourselves lucky that this technology allows us to meet and chat virtually. Enough about that. Sigh....
How can we complain while imagining the relentless nightmare invented for the characters in the book? And then again there's nothing to prevent us from dreaming of a better future elsewhere for Lala and Tone.

Next we will read a few books that are not quite as dark in theme. On February 16th, 2022 at 1 pm we'll try to meet at Wanda's again - or on Zoom if the pandemic continues to rage. The book will be Watching You Without Me by Lynn Coady

For March our book will be A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson.  We will get together at Jane's house at 1 pm on March 16th, 2022. 

Books of Interest

• The Maid by Nita Prose
• Butter Honey Pig Bread by Frencesca Ekwuyasi
  
• Love Lives Here by Amanda Jette Knox
  
• The Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig
  
• Apeirogon by Colum McCann
  
• Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch  by Rivka Galchen
  
• Little Labours by Rivka Galchen
  
• Pluck by Donna Morrissey
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

What We Are Watching

• The Tragedy of Macbeth - Apple TV+
  
• Afterlife - Netflix
  
• Don’t look up - Netflix
  
• Maid - Netflix
  
• Dead to Me - Netflix
  
• The Lost Daughter - Netflix
  
• Station Eleven - HBO
  
• Clickbait - Netflix
  
• Yellowjackets - Showtime
  
• Hang Ups - Gem 
• Ted Lasso - Apple TV+
  
  

December book - Akin

Sue hosted a hybrid meeting with optional Zoom for those stuck at home. Combining a real and virtual get together worked was an excellent compromise when indoors. The book was entertaining and so was the conversation. Susan, as usual, wowed everyone with a range of homemade Christmas baking. 

Our next book will be How the One Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones. We will meet at  1 pm at Wanda's house on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, corona virus permitting. 

What we're reading:  

• Apeirogon by Colum McCann  
• What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
• China Room by Sunjeev Sahota 
• Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford 
• American War by Omar El Akkad 
• The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
• The Strangers by Katherena Vermette 
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason 
• All my Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews 
• Fight Night by Miriam Toews 

On the screen: 

• The Aging Brain and The Italian Renaissance (lecture series at Lifelong Learning Mississauga)
• Belfast - Cineplex
  
• The Power of the Dog - Netflix
• Landscapers - HBO
• Le Havre - Criterion
• Minari - Prime
• The Club - Netflix 
• Unforgivable - Netflix
• Fallet - Netflix
• Leonard and Marianne - Netflix
  

 Watch Cherie Jones talk about How the One Armed Sister Sweeps her House