Our latest silent book club meeting once again pushed the boundaries of what we define as “east end Toronto”. We have our splendid bookish stalwarts from Jersey City, New Jersey and Pontypridd, Wales, attendees and contributors throughout the pandemic we now cannot imagine not being part of this group.

Today, they were joined by a first-time visitor from Paris, France. Inspired by the silent book club concept, he was initially disappointed to discover that France was silentbookclubless when he checked the Silent Book Club international chapters map. However, he has hastened to fill that void with not one, but two groups: English-Speaking and en ligne (français). Both groups have already met, and we asked their leader to report back on how it unfolds.

Today’s bookish bounty was generous and diverse, as always, sparking some intriguing questions we need a whole other meeting to explore.

• When a book features a preternaturally gifted artist, particularly musicians, is it the case that they have always made a deal with the devil?
• If a book is not speaking to you, the reader, should you stop reading it and move on to something else?
  This question and variations on it come up periodically in our and, I imagine, many book clubs. It’s a complex and agree-to-disagree kind of question, with contentions that “life is too short” as valid as “but what if you miss something?” and so on. I sometimes use the verb “abandon” instead of “stop reading”, but really, I’m not editorializing about my own stance on this question.
• So, if we agree to disagree on abandoning books, is there a set point at which one gives a book a chance? One of our readers has a 50-page rule, although she admits to applying that rule flexibly at times.
• And, as we agree to disagree on abandoning books, what is the rule for audiobooks? Some set number of hours of listening?
• And, are the criteria for abandoning audiobooks different than for print books? One key distinguisher that comes up regularly with our readers who are particular audiobook fans and aficionados is the critical role of the narrator (whether it is the author, an actor or voice professional, or a cast) in making or breaking the book’s readability.
• We have so many amazing ways to find books, from groups like this and lots of online resources and places to interact, to Little Free Library boxes and more. So, isn’t it even more amazing when … a book finds us, just when we need it most?

Here is our group’s latest combined book list. As I’ve mentioned before, each list reflects the reading of many of our members, whether or not they attended the meeting. The titles featured in each of our reports encompass print and digital versions of books, along with audiobooks.

I’m regularly asked if our group recommends specific books. My answer? Any title on any of our group’s lists means that at least one (often more) readers have given that title some consideration. That is encouragement, I’d say, for other readers reading our reports and lists to consider it, too. Is that a recommendation? It might be, but not exactly or necessarily. It always means, though, that a title has been given attention and thought by our readers, which counts for a lot.

• Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud
• Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander
• Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
• One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
• Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
• O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
• Young Skins by Colin Barrett
• Homesickness by Colin Barrett
• Snap by Belinda Bauer, narrated by Andrew Wincott (audiobook)
• Himawari House by Harmony Becker
• Murder at the Porte de Versailles by Cara Black
• What’s Past is Prologue by Gail Bowen
• The Palace Papers by Tina Brown (audiobook)
• Parable of the Talents by Octavia E Butler (audiobook)
• The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
• Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark, narrated by Laura Jennings (audiobook)
• But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves. by Conyer Clayton
• The Gospel Singer by Harry Crews
• alfabet/alphabet by Sadiqa de Meijer
• The Blood of the Lamb by Peter De Vries
• Some Trick: Thirteen Stories by Helen DeWitt
• Trust by Hernan Diaz
• Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati
• The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Jason Fung
• The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore
• Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby (audiobook)
• The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed – Conversations with Paul Cronin
• Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession (audiobook)
• The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
• The Year of the Puppy by Alexandra Horowitz
• Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk: (social and cultural activities of Nawab-ul-Mulk Syed Husain Bilgrami in Hyderabad) by Saidul Haq Imadi and M.V.S. Prasada Rau
• Mindful of Murder by Susan Juby
• The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish, narrated by Corrie James (audiobook)
• Foster by Claire Keegan
• The Feast by Margaret Kennedy
• Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
• Call of the Night by Kotoyama
• The Matter of Song in Early Modern England by Katherine R. Larson
• The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
• African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou
• Straggle – Adventures in Walking While Female by Tanis MacDonald
• Psychoanalysis: the Impossible Profession by Janet Malcolm
• Death in Venice and Other Stories by Thomas Mann
• The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, narrated by Chris McPherson (audiobook)
• Saturday by Ian McEwan
• Lessons by Ian McEwan, narrated by Simon McBurney (audiobook)
• Murder at Balmoral by Chris McGeorge
• High Kicks, Hot Chocolate, and Homicides by Mary McHugh
• The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
• Alligator by Lisa Moore
• He Drown She in the Sea by Shani Mootoo
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell, narrated by Genevieve Grant and author (audiobook)
• Five Invitations: What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully by Frank Ostaseski
• Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel
• Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath
• Bewilderment by Richard Powers
• Barkskins by Annie Proulx
• We Spread by Iain Reid
• Where the Seals Sing by Susan Richardson
• Fuzz by Mary Roach
• This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says about You by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas
• The state of disbelief: a therapist’s story of love, death and mourning by Juliet Rosenfeld
• Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell
• Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
• Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris (audiobook)
• The Best of Me by David Sedaris (audiobook)
• Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David sedaris (audiobook)
• Live at Carnegie Hall by David Sedaris (audiobook)
• Calypso by David Sedaris (audiobook)
• Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (audiobook)
• The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton
• The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout, narrated by Kimberly Farr (audiobook)
• Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
• The Magician by Colm Toibin
• Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese (audiobook)
• Dislocation: Stories from a New Ireland, edited by Caroline Walsh
• My Grief, the Sun by Sanna Wani
• My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan (audiobook)
• The Changeling by Joy Williams
• Now Is Not the Time to Panic: A Novel by Kevin Wilson, narrated by Ginnifer Goodwin (audiobook)
• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
• The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Here are some 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.

• I guarantee that all fellow readers will become obsessed with the incredible Literature Clock!
• Bob Jackson read all 315 shortlisted books in the Booker Library in less than four years. He explains how he did it and tells us which titles he loved the most – and which were the most challenging.
• Take a look at The Bond of Live Things Everywhere Youth Poetry Contest winning submissions, composed by kids in elementary, middle, and high school who live or study in New York. The Bond of Live Things Everywhere staged Black poetry and performance in the open air during the fall of 2022 in the New York Botanical Garden.
• The New York Public Library showcases their Best Books of 2022, across genres and for all ages.
• The Academy of American Poets recently offered their annual Gather in Poems program, featuring prominent readers sharing some of their favorite poems in the spirit of community and connection. Here is the collection of readers and poems, and here are the readings.
• The Books and Boba podcast discusses Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki … but hey, it has spoilers!

Our previous reports and book lists are always available to inform, delight, inspire and add to your tbr pile … 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.

Are you asking questions prompted by your books? Or are your books asking you questions? Don’t be afraid to ask, and don’t hesitate to answer.