Some snow swirling about did not deter us from making it to Press on the Danforth for two silent book club meetings this week. Really, we were quite cognizant that we had nothing to complain about weather-wise. We were grateful we could open our doors to get out to come to our meetings … unlike our fellow Canadians in St. John’s, Newfoundland, who were quite literally house-bound by the storms that hit their region.

Back in September, we hosted two meetings in one weekend to meet continued demand for the somewhat limited number of seats at our silent book club table. As we observed then, by doubling the number of meetings, we were able to welcome new attendees, still have room for our ongoing members, and not compromise the quality of our gatherings – or blow out Press’ walls – with too large a group. Then and now, we also encourage people to seek out the new silent book clubs starting to flourish in midtown Toronto and Mississauga. (Please contact me for more details.)

Another good reason to double up our meetings, when and if we can, is simply because we love them and they’re an excuse to help us through the winter. That’s why we’re doing just that this month and in February and March. So, enjoy this month and stay tuned for the next two months’ reports for especially bountiful book lists which will capture two days’ worth of great discussions and reading.

While we’re always looking to multiply our own bookish pleasures, we had another tremendous opportunity to extend the book manna our group enjoys with others. One of our members is involved in harvesting book donations for Canadian prison libraries, so our group, our generous venue and others gathered more than a carload of books for the cause. (In fact, the donation drive continues to February 14th if anyone reading this report is interested in contributing.) When we are not contributing to specific initiatives like this, we also contribute to the many Little Library boxes in this neighbourhood the books that have made the rounds in our group.

Not only did we get to celebrate the glories of the contents of the books we read and discussed this weekend, we relished the beauty of the physical books themselves. We ooh’ed and ahh’ed over the fine French flaps on the paperback copy of The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker and the lush covers and illustrated interiors of The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders and One Drum by Richard Wagamese. Loveliest of all with the bright jewel of a special edition of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, part of the striking Penguin Drop Cap Editions.

In addition to, as usual, extolling the virtues of the books we’re all enjoying, silent book club members touted this year’s Toronto Public Library Reading Challenge and an under-the-radar online book source, Book Outlet. Oh, and I modeled my recently acquired SBC hoodie (so utterly perfect for cozy reading) from the newly refreshed selection of Silent Book Club merchandise.

And then, after all that, we got down to some companionable silent reading together!

The following list encapsulates two meetings’ worth of books discussed thoughtfully, read voraciously and honoured with love and respect by truly avid readers (also captured in this month’s pictures of bookish affection). This list, presented after every month’s gathering or gatherings, is not only a service to everyone who attends in person, but it’s meant to extend what we share at each meeting to a virtual network of fellow readers – so enjoy! Each title links to additional information about the book, either from the publisher, from articles about the book or author, or from generally positive and/or constructive reviews.

• 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food by Susan Albers (audiobook)
• Sarah’s Scribbles book series – Adulthood is a Myth, Big Mushy Happy Lump and Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen
• Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
• The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Penguin Drop Caps edition)
• Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
• The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
• River of Fundament by Matthew Barney (film script)
• Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) by Dave Barry
• Vitals by Greg Bear
• The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
• Books by Anthony Bourdain
• Trickster Tales: The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Russell Brand
• In The Stacks – Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians edited by Michael Cart
• Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves
• The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
• The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain
• Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
• A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio
• Akin by Emma Donoghue
• Had It Coming – What’s Fair in the Age of #MeToo? by Robyn Doolittle
• The Economist
• Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
• The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
• Forbidden Journey: The Life of Alexandra David-Neel by Barbara M. Foster
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Illustrated Edition) by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Elise Hurst
• Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner
• The Torn Skirt by Rebecca Godfrey
• Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant by Joel Golby
• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
• The Tea Lords by Hella S Haasse
• Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• Pedaling Home on the Arizona Trail by Sarah Ruth Jansen
• The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• I’ll Take You There – Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers and the March Up Freedom’s Highway by Greg Kot
• Female Fortune by Jill Liddington
• That Time I Loved You by Carrianne Leung
• Field Notes for the Self by Randy Lundy
• The Chessmen by Peter May (audiobook)
• The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
• Crow Winter by Karen McBride
• The Year of Reading Dangerously – How Fifty Great Books Saved My Life by Andy Miller
• Late Breaking by K.D. Miller
• On Top of the World: Five Women Explorers in Tibet by Luree Miller
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• The Paris Review
• Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce
• At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
• A Better Man by Louise Penny
• Still Life by Louise Penny
• House Rules by Jodi Picoult
• Popshot Quarterly
• Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta
• The Gown by Jennifer Robson
• The Five: The Untold Stories of the Women Killed By Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
• Chances Are … by Richard Russo
• And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier, translated by Rhonda Mullins
• The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders
• The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine
• Travels with Nasrudin by Tahir Shah
• Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
• Autumn by Ali Smith
• Swing Time by Zadie Smith
• Grand Union by Zadie Smith
• Zero Waste by Shia Su
• Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• Truck De India! A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Hindustan by Rajat Ubhaykar
• The Desert Sky Before Us by Anne Valente
• One Drum by Richard Wagamese
• Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
• Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
• Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall

During each silent book club meeting, we usually spread our books out on the meeting tables, and I take a few pictures (occasionally a video) to give a visual summary of what we read and discussed. For a change of pace, I took some pictures at this weekend’s meetings of our readers proudly and lovingly presenting their books.

As always, you can catch up on our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

We’re pleased and honoured to have been interviewed about the silent book club concept and how to start a club of one’s own.

• CBC Radio’s Ontario Morning (starting at 41:20)
• CBC Toronto web site
• a series of interviews across Canada with CBC Radio, including Toronto’s Here and Now
• The Christian Science Monitor – Witty banter optional: The no-pressure, no-homework book club

San Francisco-based Silent Book Club founders Guinevere de La Mare and Laura Gluhanich were most recently featured in a wonderful piece on the NPR web site (yes, National Public Radio, thank you very much!). Extensive and enthusiastic coverage silent book club coverage includes this piece in the February 2019 issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, describing the club’s genesis and extolling its virtues as the concept and clubs spread worldwide.

If you’ve so far enjoyed the silent book club experience virtually, might you resolve in the new year to experience it firsthand? Via Guinevere and Laura’s Silent Book Club web site, you can find information on meetings happening around the world and close to where you live. If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and perhaps interested in checking ours out, check out the resources on the Silent Book Club web site, or please feel free to contact me for more information.