Whenever we send out the reminder for our next zoom meeting, our silent book club members respond swiftly and generously. Swiftly, because they’re keen to attend, share and catch up with the group and get some new bookish recommendations and insights (which, admittedly, is perhaps a euphemism for when a member is not able to make a recommendation, but can offer constructive and lively criticism). Generously, because even when members can’t attend on particular dates, they still provide their recent reading lists for inclusion in our blog posts – to share with each other and with the broader circle of readers who enjoy our posts and lists.

As we head into the autumn, we hope we can still augment our virtual book club meetings with some in-person joy. If the weather holds, we might still be able to layer up and head to Stephenson Park for some quality reading time under the trees. We still don’t know what the future holds in terms of indoor in-person meetings, at our not forgotten local, Press or other coffee/book shops. What we do know is that virtual meetings have afforded us the opportunity to enjoy elastic boundaries, where Toronto extends to Edmonton, Jersey City and Pontypridd … and we want fervently to keep up those bookish connections and friendships. We want to keep feeling the presence of our fellow readers.

Our latest combined reading list brims, once again, with variety and vibrancy. 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).

• I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin
• The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
• Pilgrim Bell by Kaveh Akbar
• The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam
• Postbox Kashmir: Two Lives in Letters by Divya Arya
• The Women of Troy by Pat Barker, narrated by Kristin Atherton (audiobook)
• World Engine: Destroyer by Stephen Baxter
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, narrated by Shayna Small (audiobook)
• Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht and David Hare
• The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain
• Follow Me In by Katriona Chapman
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole
• The Madness of Grief by Richard Coles
• Bringing in the Sheaves: Wheat and Chaff from My Years as a Priest by Richard Coles
• Rain and Other Stories by Mia Couto, translated by Eric M.B. Becker
• Things Are Against Us by Lucy Ellmann
• Yes, I’m Hot in This: The Hilarious Truth About Life in a Hijab by Huda Fahmy
• On the Proper Use of Stars by Dominique Fortier, translated by Sheila Fischman
• Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
• I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib
• The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
• The London Train by Tessa Hadley, narrated by Juanita McMahon (audiobook)
• Living Nations, Living Words poetry anthology, edited by Joy Harjo
• Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish (audiobook)
• Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
• The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
• How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones
• Indians on Vacation by Thomas King
• The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
• No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
• Papaya Salad by Elisa Macellari
• The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre
• The Winter Wives by Linden MacIntyre
• Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison
• The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary, narrated by Josh Dylan and Eleanor Tomlinson (audiobook)
• Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
• Duck Feet by Ely Percy
• Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher
• Good Omens: The BBC Radio 4 dramatisation by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, narrated by Mark Heap and Peter Serafinowicz (audiobook)
• New Teeth by Simon Rich
• Love & Courage: My Story of Family, Resilience, and Overcoming the Unexpected by Jagmeet Singh
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• Wayward by Dana Spiotta
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• My Androgynous Boyfriend by Tamekou, translated from Japanese to English by Seven Seas
• Man Descending by Guy Vanderhaeghe
• Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese
• The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman, narrated by Emily Rankin (audiobook)
• Revival Season by Monica West

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:

• Bloody Scotland is Scotland’s international crime writing festival, and a great source of intriguing crime reads.
• The New York Public Library announces their Summer Writing Contest 2021 winners.
• From September 15 to October 15, the New York Public Library invites everyone to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with Latinx book lists, programs and more.
• U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo offers her signature project, Living Nations, Living Words.

Fellow readers everywhere, boost your 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 new and unexpected bookish delights!

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 hiatus, 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 inspired, stay engaged with lots of books, glorious books!