Held Here at Home

Today we met at my place to talk about Held by Anne Michaels. The book is challenging but rewarding with vivid scenes that stay with you and sentences that make you stop and wonder:  "The shadow of a bird moved across the hill; he could not see the bird."  or "We can only think about the unknown in terms of the known."

We made decisions about the next two months.  On Tuesday May 7th we'll meet at Susan's to talk about Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. 

The book for June will be The Measure by Nikki Erlick. We will meet a Jane's on Wednesday, June 19th to talk about it. 

Some Books We Like

• Death Interrupted: How Modern Medicine is Complicating the Way We Die by Blair Bigham, MD
  
• The Measure by Nikki Erlick
• The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
  
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
  
• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
• Followed by the Lark by Helen Humphreys
  

Fresh Water Finally

The plan was to meet at Lynda's today, then we cancelled, then this morning, suprise! it all came together and the five of us had a perfectly great time. It felt a bit impromptu with the last minute decision, except that Lynda had prepared great snacks for us, and had chosen some soothing music to play in the background.  Lots of laughs and reminiscing. We even spent some time talking about the book, which tells a story about the complicated mix of light and dark in life and love. 

The next book we plan to read is Held by Anne Michaels.  We chose Thursday April 4th, recognizing that the date may have to change when we hear from those who were absent today. It will be at my house (Marian).

Books of Note: 

• Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig
• The Story of Us by Catherine Hernandez
• Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng
• Tenacious Beasts by Christopher Preston 
• The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew 
• The Orenda by Joseph Boyden 
• Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
• Caste: the Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Watchable: 

• The Greatest Night in Pop: We Are the World. (Netflix)
  
• Navalny (Crave)
• Saving Bea (Netflix)
• Hope Street (Britbox)
• Perfect Days
  
• Origin
• All of Us Strangers
• Four Daughters
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things
• Anyone But You
• The Holdovers (Crave)
• Colin from Accounts (Gem)
  

Thursday, January 11, 2024 

January Lunch Meeting

For the first meeting of 2024, Jan, Lynda, Saara and I had lunch at La Veranda Osteria in Etobicoke. Although it is a large restaurant and usually fairly crowded, on that day it was literally empty except for us! The food was delicious and the atmosphere very relaxed--all extremely enjoyable.   Afterwards we came back to my house for orange chiffon cake and tea. Because there were only four of us, and only two had finished the book (Fresh Water for Flowers) we decided that we should wait until February to discuss it. 

In the meantime we talked about the Canada Reads choices for this year, and had a very profound discussion on windows and mirrors, with Saara's comments being especially insightful!!! She will be happy to share them at our next meeting, which will be at Lynda's on February 21st, when we'll be discussing Foster by Claire Keegan (as well as Fresh Water for Flowers)

Canada Reads Books:

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

Denison Avenue by Christina Wong and Daniel Innes

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

Shut up You're Pretty by Tea Mutonji

The Future by Catherine Leroux, translated by Susan Ouriou

Watching:

The Night Agent (Netflix)

Karen Pirie (BritBox)

All of Us Strangers (film)

Last book of the year

We met at Susan's to talk about Lucy by the Sea. There were mixed reviews in the room, and some of us hadn't finished the book. After our discussion will they be curious enough to explore the controversy that the book provoked? We may find out next month. We were in good hands with Susan, who makes hosting look easy. Thank you for a great afternoon. 

Next month we are starting the year with Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin. We will be at Wanda's house on Thursday January 11th at 1pm. 

A reminder that on Wednesday, February 21st we will be at Lynda's to talk about Foster by Claire Keegan. 

Books:

• Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
  
• Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein
• Burnham Wood by Eleanor Catton
• Chrysalis by Anuja Varghese  
• Profit Song by Paul Lynch

Watching: 

• Leave the World Behind (Netflix)
  
• The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem (Netflix)
  
• Miss Scarlet and the Duke (PBS)
• Shetland (BBC - Britbox)
  
• The Gilded Age (HBO)
  
• Dear Child (Netflix)
   

I found this introduction to Fresh Water for Flowers so interesting:

Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas, my book club friends.

Whatever 2024 brings we can always look forward to the time we spend together, talking and laughing - sharing our thoughts and enjoying the goodwill of dear friends. 

Happy New Year to us all!

November by the Lake

We had a great fall day for book club in November 2023 when we talked about Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue.  The events of the book happened a century ago but the themes were quite relevant today and the characters were well drawn and full of life. Jane made us very comfortable in her front room with a lovely array of nibbles. Thanks, Jane!

A reminder that the next book is Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout and we're meeting at Susan's on Thursday, December 14 - at 1:30 (instead of 1:00) because of an unavoidable appointment. 

I don't remember that we spoke about any other books but we did recommend a few things to watch. 

• The Last Detective (BritBox)
• Annika (Masterpiece PBS)
• Unforgotten (BritBox)
• Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
  

It's interesting to be reminded of Lucy Barton as Elizabeth Strout first imagined her. Here's a discussion about the first Lucy Barton book.

Second Summer

It is a week of summer temperatures when a sweater is enough warmth to be comfortable outdoors enjoying the fall colour display.

We gathered yesterday at Wanda's with Janice stepping up to do hosting duties - so both get a big thank you for providing such a pleasant afternoon. The orange theme for Halloween was fun and tasty. 

We took the opportunity of being together to spend some time planning for future pleasant afternoons.

Our next book will be Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue by Christine Higdon. We will be at Jane's house on Thursday November 16 to discuss it.

We will meet at Susan's on Thursday December 14 to talk about Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout.

Moving into 2024 we will begin on Thursday January 11 at Wanda's home again.  The book will be Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin. 

Lynda will host on Wednesday February 21. Our book that day will be Foster by Claire Keegan.

Books We Noted:

• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
• The Company We Keep by Frances Itani 
• The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe
• How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz 
• The Adversary by Michael Crummey 
• The Volunteers: How Halifax Women Won the Second World War by Lezlie Lowe
• Putin: His Life and Times by Philip Short
• The Land of Short Sentences by Stine Pilgaard 
• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng 
• Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry 
• The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright 
• The Book Woman of  Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

September at Saara's

 

First of all - what an amazing piece of art Saara has installed on her balcony! A commissioned work, it was painted by Candice Tatum and designed to withstand the outdoor environment. Besides that, the afternoon was graced with artistically displayed snacks on the artisanal walnut charcuterie boards - and two desserts! The book, All the Colour in the World sparked conversation, and the five of us had plenty to talk about on many subjects. Thank you Saara!

Next month we will be meeting at Wanda's home, and Janice will be the host. The book will be The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt. See you at 1 pm on Wednesday October 25.

Books of Note: 

• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
  
• The Covenant of Water * by Abraham Verghese
• Tom Lake * by Ann Patchett
  
• Milkman * by Anna Burns
• This is Happiness * by Niall Williams  
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
• A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa  
• Foster by Clare Keegan
• Small Things Like These by Clare Keegan
• Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

What to Watch: 

• Bones of Crows
• Unforgotten
• Van der Valk
• Five Bedrooms
• Bad Sisters
• The Whale
• Mary Berry
• Barbie
• Oppenheimer
• Knowledge Network platform