January 4th, 2015

Hello and Happy New Year!

I am very excited to be hosting book club on Monday, January 4th at 7pm. My address is 547 Delaware Ave N (north of Geary, south of Davenport).

Seeing as this is my first time hosting, please let me know if you have any allergies/restrictions when you RSVP.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Julia

Dear Mr. You

I saw the Mary Louise Parker Book, Dear Mr. You, on this list of "missed books" for 2015. Thought I would share.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/12/books-we-missed-in-2015/420360/?utm_source=SFFB

Jane

Book Club Picks of 2015

• Dec. = Dear Mr.You by Mary Louise Parker
• Nov = Outline by Rachel Cusk
• Oct = The Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie
• Sept = A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
• August = How to be both by Ali Smith
• July = Almost Famous Women by Megan Mayhew Bergman
• June = Everything I never told you" by Celeste Ng
• May = It's What I Do by Lynsey Addario
• April = The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
• March = Adult Onset by Anne Marie Macdonald
• Feb - Women In Clothes by Shelia Heta
• January = life after life by Kate Atkinson

Books in Translation

I looked around a little and found several lists of books in translation. There is huge variety. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a translation. Talk about plot....  The first list is probably more of what Caroline had in mind. The last is a lot of older works.

http://flavorwire.com/415153/50-works-of-fiction-in-translation-that-every-english-speaker-should-read

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/59274-the-20-best-books-in-translation-you-ve-never-read.html#path/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/59274-the-20-best-books-in-translation-you-ve-never-read.html

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/translated-into-english

Another year....

Christine you did an awesome job hosting our Christmas celebration - thanks so much for a wonderful meal.  And the gift exchange was as always super fun!

It seems we've come to agreement to begin next year's book selection on a six month trial starting in January with the theme for book selection being international books that have been translated into English.  Other than being a translation there are no rules, you can select any book you'd like - fiction or non fiction it's your choice.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season with plenty of time for reading - see you in 2016!

END OF YEAR CELEBRATION

I have the honour of hosting you all this Monday December 7 at 7pm!
It's our annual College Street Book Club Secret Santa gift exchange.
Please bring a secret wrapped gift (approx. $20 value - no gift cards).
Remember do not park in front of my house  - you can park south of the stop sign - south of the Church and Mansfield Ave.
7PM at 114 Grace Street.
See you all then. Let's celebrate another year of book clubbing!

Planning for 2016

This is a notice about planning for 2016.

At our book club meeting on December 7, we will spend some time planning our meeting dates and theme for the upcoming year. Come to book club with your calendars, holiday plans, work schedules and ideas of what you want to read.

As for the dates, it looks like we are not affected by New Year’s or Easter but that’s just my view. Here are the dates that look appropriate to me:

January 4

February 1

March 7

April 4

May 2

June 6

July??

August??

September 12

October 3

November 7

December 5

The usual process is to draw months for hosting and book selecting/facilitating.

As for themes, we haven’t had any themes in a few years. Previous themes included: Pulitzer Prize winners, Canada Read’s Winners, Commonwealth Prize Winners, Orange/Bailey’s Winners. We can decide a theme or decide to let everyone pick whatever they want.

See you all in December!

Always fun when the author attends book club...

Another terrific book club gathering, amazing food, great discussions and Barb schooled us on affairs of Buckingham Palace!  Thanks Mariana for hosting and cooking such a wonderful meal.  Carolyn thanks for arranging our guest Author.

Next month's book is Barb's choice and she selected "Outline" by Rachel Cusk.  Christine is next month's host and for those who like to plan early we'll be doing a secret Santa which Christine will post more info about later in the month.  Look forward to seeing those who missed this month next month as you were missed!

November Book Club

Hello Everyone,

Happy Halloween!  I am looking forward to hosting book club on Monday.  Please let me know if you can make it.  Hope to see you all at 7PM at 146 Westminster Avenue.

xo
Miriana

My friend Sharon Butala is launching her book "Wild Rose" in Toronto October 23. I'll be out of town and won't make it, but I was at her reading and launch in Calgary last month and it was terrific. Sharon is a wonderful writer and it's a great book, historical fiction, uber Canadian and feminist and a ripping good story. If any of you are interested and go, say hi to her for me. Also, here is the link to the review from Quill and Quire:  http://www.quillandquire.com/review/wild-rose/

OCTOBER 23, 2015

Toronto – Wild Rose Book Tour @Another Story Bookshop, 315 Roncesvalles Ave – 7 pm

October 5th book club - small but mighty

Julia, Jane, Christine and I met to discuss A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. The questions, the insights and the observations for this book ran deep. We couldn't stop talking about it. The writing was challenging but the story that emerged was powerful and disturbing. Thank you Jane for facilitating the discussion and special shout out to our new member Julia who not only read a very difficult book but came prepared with questions, ideas and self-reflection. I'm confident that all book club members will enjoy meeting her and discussing books with her.

Next month we will read Sisters of Versailles. Miriana is the host and we will have the author attend. Looking forward to seeing everyone November 2nd.

October 5th Book Club

A few changes, but I think it will all work out nicely. We will meet in a restaurant this month. Miriana will host in November and Christine will host in December.

Details for this month:
Real Thailand
570 Bloor Street W (Bathurst)
7:00 pm

I made the reservation under my name. Jane will facilitate the discussion.

Looking forward to seeing everyone. Please respond on the blog if you are coming or not.

OCTOBER BOOK CLUB

Hello Everyone,

I am scheduled to host in October and I have just found out that I will be out of town for that week. I have a shoot in Vancouver that I need to attend.  I thought maybe we could push by a week but that brings us to Thanksgiving.  I know it is very last minute (hello commercials!) but I am wondering if anyone would be able to switch with me.  Many apologies for the inconvenience.  I will be able to do any other month.

Miriana

A Gorgeous Late Summer Evening in the Garden

It was a beautiful evening under the pergola. Thank you Laura for an excellent meal and for showing us your new backyard. It was so lovely and we were having had such a good time that we totally lost track of time. Before we knew it it was after 10:00.

There were mixed reactions to the book.  About half really liked it and half hated it or found it too much work. Those who read the modern story first all finished the book. Those who started with the artist found it hard and some were discouraged. Thanks Christine for facilitating the typically lively discussion.

We have book picks for the next two months. Next month's choice is "A Girl is a Half-formed Thing" by Eimear McBride. For November we will read "The Sisters of Versailles" by Sally Christie. In November the author will join us for the discussion. Thank you to Carolyn for coordinating this.

See everyone next month.

September Evening in the Paddington Garden

Hi Ladies:
Looking forward to hosting you Monday at 3 Paddington Place. Bring a sweater because my hope is for us to be outside in the almost finished garden Reno of the summer. We're still missing the grass and armour stone....nothing that will deter from an outdoor evening of book club discussion. Let me know if your're coming out to Ford Nation. And I need to know what kind of cake is Nat's favourite.

Eat, drink, laugh... Oh and talk about almost famous women!

Another stellar book club, Jane thanks for hosting and cooking up a storm!  Seems the book was liked by most, some really liked it and thanks to Jane's insight we also realized how well written and crafted the writing was.

Next month is at Laura's house... Apparently it's Natalie's birthday and Laura, Nat has already requested her favourite cake, you just need to ask!  We seemed to have missed toasting Christine's 35/53 b-day so we need to raise a glass to her health and happiness as well!

For next  month we are reading "How to both" by Ali Smith.  Enjoy!

Hi Everyone. Next book club is August 10 at my house,
Looking forward to discussing the book of short stories "Almost Famous Women" with you.

Little note: our house flooded. The disaster team is in doing clean up. But I'm pretty sure I can still make it work by August 10. Shrug of shoulders and move forward, yes?

If anyone has any food concerns they would like to share, please let me know.

Cottage Book Club Retreat

Hi Ladies
I sent you all an email to your personal accounts with directions to the cottage. Please email me from there. Looking forward to seeing you all. Confirm via email you got my message.
Can't wait.
Laura

I'm coming to cottage book club

Your summer reading...

Carol's pick for June is "Everything I never told you" by Celeste Ng

Marney's pick for July is "Almost Famous Wonen" by Megan Mayhew Bergman

Quite the discussion!

Although I arrived late I'd say the book selected was a success as it provoked heated discussion throughout the entire meal!  Barb, thanks for the tasty summer salads and delicious cake - you are a wonderful host.

Next month book club is at Laura's cottage and then Jane has kindly offered to host in August.

Happy June 1st - happy almost summer!

June and July books

Carol is on deck to select June's book but I thought I'd bring July's book on Monday as well so if anyone is headed out on vacation they have plenty of reading material.  Plus I'm missing July @Laura's cottage but I'm on deck for August and I'm hoping I'll find time to read the full book myself tween school readings!

New Feature

I enabled a feature that automatically emails you when a new post is published to the blog.  Leave a comment to let me know if you are ok with this. I can turn it off by individual so everyone can be happy :-).

If you haven't already done so, please refer to the previous post to let me know if you will attend on Monday.

June Book Club at the Loft on Croft

I will be hosting June Book Club at my place near the recent fire on College Street. Fortunately the fire didn't spread to our house, however our security light on the side of the house melted. Ironically, one of the buildings burned is the one with the mural of the great fire of Toronto started accidentally by John Croft in 1904.

Monday June 1
7:00 pm start
4 Croft Street (1.5 blocks east of Bathurst, just north of College)
Park on College (paid) or side streets Lippincott or Borden (free)
We have room for bikes on our first floor if you want to bring them in.

I haven't decided the menu. Let me know if you will be attending.

A good list of books

I saw this list this morning and thought it was a good one to share. 21 books from the last five years that every woman should read. I pass it along even though it has "should" in the title.

I'm looking forward to meeting you June 1 at Barb's.

Thanks Carolyn

This past week Carolyn graciously hosted book club in a local pizza joint in the Annex. It was a fun experience and the food was very tasty. I especially liked the Nutella Pizza. Thank you Carolyn for hosting us and taking care of all the details so all we had to do was talk and eat - luckily we are good at both!

Only Christine and Carol finished the book which might be a record for the lowest completion rate in club history. However the discussion made me want to finish it. Knowing the outcome isn't the same as understanding the story.

Jane Cawthorne will be joining the club starting next month. I look forward to seeing and hosting you all at my place on June 1st.  As per the protocol, I'll post a formal notice in a few weeks. Enjoy May.

MAY BOOK PICK

Hello Everyone!

I am so sorry to be missing the discussion on The Dovekeepers on Monday.  And I am also sorry to be missing your always entertaining company.

For our May read I have selected It's What I Do by Lynsey Addario.  Here is a link to the site with with some more info.  http://itswhatidobook.com

Happy reading and look forward to seeing you all next month.

:)

Miriana

I've Put A Spell On You

I'm changing it up this month and will be hosting at Famoso Pizzeria, 386 Bloor St. West at 7pm.

I'm curious to see if my attendance spell will work on everyone...

Hosting / RSVP protocol

A quick review of what was discussed re: confirming what's what for book club

If you are hosting you need to post info online the WEDNESDAY prior to the Monday of book club 

Regardless of whether you are attending or not by end of day FRIDAY each book club member needs to confirm whether they are attending that month's book club.  

It was agreed that no one is so busy that they can't take a moment to RSVP in a 48hr window of time.  Confirmation by Friday allows the host to shop for the appropriate number of people eating.

I believe that's everything discussed but if I missed anything feel free to add on here!  Marney.

First time ever!

It was the first time ever (for me at least) that everyone read the book and everyone didn't like the book.  That being said this disliked book brought forth great conversation so perhaps it was in fact the perfect book club choice!  Thanks Nat for hosing a wonderful evening and moderating a vibrant discussion.  Let's see what next month brings!

Book Club Tomorrow (April 13)

Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Address is 166 Manning Ave, just south of Dundas (one way south).  You can park on the street or in a Green P just north of Dundas - in which case you will need to come down from College Street.

Nat

April's Read: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Hello Ladies,

I have decided on The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.  Below is summary - Enjoy!

Blends mythology, magic, archaeology and women. Traces four women, their path to the Masada massacre. In 70 CE, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on a mountain in the Judean desert, Masada. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived.

Four bold, resourceful, and sensuous women come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the horrifically brutal murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her twin grandsons, rendered mute by their own witness. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman, who finds passion with another soldier. Shirah is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power. The four lives intersect in the desperate days of the siege, as the Romans draw near. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets — about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love.

Elva

APRIL 13TH IT IS

Happy Easter Ladies.

Will see you in a bit over a week.  April 13th at my house...

Nat

APRIL'S BOOK CLUB - April 6 or 13?

Hey Ladies:

Do we want to do book club on Easter Monday (April 6th) or the following week (April 13th)?

My personal preference is the 13th, because I am hosting Easter dinner on the 12th, however, if most are keen to do the 6th I can always take you for pizza...

Please let me know.

Nat

Adult's Onset = March's book

Next month's book... See everyone at Nat's house!

Monday's Dress Code

Here are your choices.... Wear what you see as your "signature look"... Or.... Wear your best fashion find... Or... Bring photos of yourself from years gone by in what at the time was fashion chic... Or bring photos of your mom dressed in her best fashion... Or....do all of the above or none of the above!

Basically this will be a very different book club as this was a very different book to read!

Next Monday's book club

In the spirit of this month's book "Women in Clothes" next Monday's March 2nd  book club involves some fashion planning!  Please come to book club wearing either your own personal "signature" item of clothes or if that's not you then come show off your all time best fashion find by wearing that!  Either way it's a dress up affair and once Carolyn walks us through the survey we may never look at fashion the same way again... Should be great fun!

My address here is 218 Rusholme which is south of Bloor, west of Douvercort.  My house phone is 416-535-5785.  Let me know if you can make it so I know how much cake to buy!  Marney

Do survey then read book!

Ok before we move on to next month's book we need to thank Christine for amazing birthday cake AND a delicious meal.... It was a small gathering but very fun... Who knew so many of us have parts of our lives we would "do differently"... All which seem to involve men and choices we've made!  Very fun discussions had by al, what is said at book club remains at book club!

Next month's book is Carolyn's pick and she has already stated you do not need to read the entire book for March BUT you do need to find time to do the survey as that will be the springboard for our discussions,  Here's the link http://www.womeninclothes.com/survey/

The book is " Women in Clothes" by Shelia Heta.  Enjoy!

FEBRUARY BOOK CLUB

Hi everyone - where did January go??

February book club is coming up.
Monday February 2 , 2015 @ 7pm 114 Grace Street. (College & Grace) 416 532 4770 (do people still use their land lines?)
Remember please do not park in front/near my house - you will be ticketed. Park south of Mansfield ave- south of stop sign/church.

Book Discussion: Life After Life
my questions:
Do our lives exist in a parallel universe?
If you could time travel at any moment in your life - what change would you make?
Would you be pushing your maid down the stairs? or, Not kissing that one guy?
Do you believe in the new theory that because the universe is expanding at the rate it is,
we actually are time travelling, and living in the past? This very moment.

Book Selector for next month: Carolyn

Life After Life for February

Hello Ladies:
Sorry for the delay, we are reading the highly acclaimed Life After Life by Kate Atkinson . Thanks everyone for coming to Ford Nation for a vegetarian flop! Next time I'm cooking meat with Veggies on the side ;) Christine is the host for February. Carolyn B is the book selector. Welcome to our newest member Lilly, Elva's friend.  Can someone smarter than me post the following schedule to the side of our site:
Month         Host.              Book Selector
February.     Christine.      Carolyn
March.         Marney.        Natalie
April.          Natalie           Elva
May.            Carolyn.         Mirianna
June.             Lilly.             Carol
July.              Laura.            Marney
August.          Barb.             Christine
Sept.               Carol.            Lilly
Oct.                Mirianna.       Laura
Nov.                Elva.               Barb

Cool that December after gift exchange etc. our year will reset!

Stay warm,
Laura

New Book For January

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

I will be hosting in February.

Book selector for February??

Happy New Year from Etobicoke

Hi Ladies:
Looking forward to hosting you out here in Ford Nation.  Our evening will be my last day of regular eating before I start my annual cleanse and detox.
Looking forward to seeing you at:
3 Paddington Place
There are only 12 homes on our street so the numbers go in order, we are the third house on the right.

Happy New Year!

I know Laura is hosting Monday's book club but I'll still be in Florida on my last day of vacation.... Passing up book club to read on the beach!  Here's hoping 2015 is a great year full of good reads and good times for all, see you in February.