Sometimes, our silent book club meetings are “pop-ups” – scheduled with somewhat short notice, often on a weekday evening, to mix up it a bit with our more regularly scheduled Saturday morning gatherings. Regardless of when they happen, we always have a good turn-out and a warm exchange of our latest reading enthusiasms and, er, less-than-enthusiasms, knowing we have a crowd with which we can both celebrate and comisserate.

Sometimes, the revelations pop up at us, too. After a lively and varied go-round of book recommendations and reviews, the meeting evolved wonderfully into an open discussion about the joys of rereading and how – with perhaps some concerns about rereading changing our relationship with books beloved at an earlier age – many agreed that rereading offered a path back to our books from the heartbreak and distractions of the past year and a half. And from there, we shared our gratitude for this group and its comforts and support. And from there, one of our members closed the meeting on the perfect note with this quotation from one of the books discussed earlier in the meeting:

“Over the last ten years I’ve had a chance to give readings and talks all over the world and meet thousands of dedicated readers. Their passion for literature has convinced me that there’s a vast underground network for goodness at work in the world – a web of people who’ve put reading at the center of their lives because they know from experience that reading makes them more expansive, generous people and makes their lives more interesting.”

– George Saunders, from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life (2021 Random House)

Every meeting, the books we share comprise an overflowing cornucopia of subjects, formats, genres, styles, voices, perspectives and so much more. The titles featured in each of our reports combine print and digital versions of books, along with audiobooks (which are indicated separately, with narrator/performer information where possible).

• While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams, narrated by Adenrele Ojo (audiobook)
• Beartown by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith
• The Mothers by Brit Bennett
• Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis
• The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole
• The Family Way by Christopher DiRaddo
• Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson
• Poisonous If Eaten Raw by Alyda Faber
• Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
• Howards End by E.M. Forster
• A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
• Bitter Oranges by Claire Fuller
• Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
• Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
• Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
• Mrs England by Stacey Halls
• Plainsong by Kent Haruf
• Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
• Early Morning Riser by Kathryn Heiny
• The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner, narrated by Richard Armitage (audiobook)
• The Making of Us by Lisa Jewell
• When These Mountains Burn by David Joy
• The Line That Held Us by David Joy
• Indians on Vacation by Thomas King
• Grove by Esther Kinsky, translated by Caroline Schmidt
• The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
• Real Estate by Deborah Levy
• That Night by Gillian McAllister
• Apeirogon by Colum McCann
• The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler, narrated by Elise Arsenault (audiobook)
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• Breath by James Nestor
• A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa
• Are You Somebody – The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O’Faolain
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• Skylight by Jose Saramago
• A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
• Busman’s Holiday by Dorothy L Sayers
• Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey
• Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets by Georges Simenon
• The Two-Penny Bar by Georges Simenon, translated by David Watson
• The Night at the Crossroads by Georges Simenon
• The Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
• Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe (audiobook)
• Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
• Test of Wills by Charles Todd
• A Lethal Lesson by Iona Whishaw
• Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• Tin Man by Sarah Winman (audiobook)
• Genius and Ink: Virginia Woolf on How to Read by Virginia Woolf
• Three Women and a Boat by Anne Youngson
• Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

More book-related articles, resources, news, recommendations and more were offered by our members and/or came up during this meeting’s discussions and chat, including:

• Thanks to a fortuitous connection between members of our silent book club group, YA author Faith Erin Hicks ended up with a freshly redesigned web site: www.faitherinhicks.com. Just so happens Hicks’ titles have also come up in our YA book recommendations!
• Audiobooks or Reading? To Our Brains, It Doesn’t Matter … so observes Discover magazine. Our silent book club group feels the same way!
• Further to that very fine George Saunders quotation, enjoy a conversation between him and fellow author Anne Lamott from earlier this year:

 

George Saunders in conversation with Anne Lamott (January, 2021)

Our fellow readers – all part of that vast underground network for goodness at work in the world – are invited to boost their reading with fodder from our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists – find them all here. Perhaps you’ll come across the unexpected!

You can also check out links to articles, interviews and more here – some with San Francisco-based Silent Book Club founders Guinevere de La Mare and Laura Gluhanich, and some with us here in east end Toronto.

Learn more about silent book clubs 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. Some clubs are currently on haitus, but many are running virtual meetings in different formats. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Stay safe, stay well, stay hopeful, stay utterly engrossed in good books!