The last time it happened, we wondered if it was a dream. Well, it happened again, so I guess it wasn’t a dream … but it was truly dreamy.

Once again, we made our way through The Great Escape bookstore, out the back door, through the urban oasis of a blooming pollinator garden, through the vine-draped entrance to the charming space where we once again realized absolute silent book club paradise. By the late summer afternoon light angling through the back garage doors, perfectly enhanced with a chandelier and fairy lights, with occasional visits from sweet store dog Scout, we settled into our chairs for an hour of peaceful reading – neighbours’ voices and nearby traffic just a pleasant hum in the background.

We followed that with an hour of just the right depth of discussion about the books we’ve been reading, the ones that have enchanted us and the ones that have perhaps disappointed us. That conversation segued into some reflections on how we all progress from one book to the next – sometimes checking off titles from some kind of list or some kind of organized map of subjects or authors we want to work our way through, and sometimes spontaneously and with no plan or preconceived notions at all.

Those of us who didn’t acquire a few books on the way in made sure to acquire a few on the way out. How many kinds of perfect was our return trip (not the last – the snow is not flying just yet) to bookish heaven?

Here are the books we read and discussed at The Great Escape:

• Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, narrated by Campbell Scott (audiobook)
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler
• Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
• Dancing After Ten by Vivian Chong
• My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
• Grendel by John Gardner
• Not the Apocalypse I Was Hoping For by Leslie Greentree
• Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
• Letters in a Bruised Cosmos by Liz Howard
• Overcoming Bias – Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences by Tiffany Jana and Matthew Freeman
• The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• A Crooked Tree by Una Mannion
• North Korea Journal by Michael Palin
• This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
• Durable Goods by James Pollock
• The Death of Francis Bacon by Max Porter
• Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
• Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
• Intruder by Bardia Sinaee
• When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

Again, we have additional book-related articles, resources, news, recommendations and more. These items and tidbits are often companions to books on the list, or are inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat. Here are the latest:

• One of our attendees at The Great Escape meeting was toting her books in gorgeous book sleeves which the rest of us coveted. Turns out we need not covet, but should all head straight to the Always September Shop on Etsy to get our own from a delightful selection of designs.
• “I’m going through hell for the sake of art. Tolstoy or Henry James could learn a thing or two” Author Adrian Chiles recounts the challenges of recording an audiobook of his own work.
• A number of our silent book club members have enjoyed Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud. Trevor Corkum of 49th Shelf recently chatted with Elamin about what a captivating read the debut memoir is.

Our previous reports and book lists are always available for you to enjoy and get some reading inspiration right here.

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 or modified schedules, many are running virtual meetings in different formats, and some are carefully running in-person gatherings again. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Organized, spontaneous, organizedly spontaneous, spontaneously organized … however you approach it, keep enjoying your reading.