An avalanche of bookish delights from our sometimes not-so-silent book club

I regularly come away from our silent (and often not-so-silent!) book club feeling ready to burst: with book recommendations, with revitalized enthusiasm for my reading (when it has flagged or been kind of muddled in recent months), with sheer joy at connecting and sharing with such an amazing, generous and eclectically inclined group of booklovers.

I’m bursting again as I assemble this report. Just scroll down and you’ll see the brimming reading list resulting from our latest gathering, which was another two-parter: a well-attended and lively zoom meeting with new and longtime group members, followed a short while later by a small, brief but so vital meeting in the early winter sunshine at the nearby park where we’ve met in the past to read silently together under the trees. Utterly rejuvenating, on so many levels …!

Silent book club zoom meeting

Kath's books

Rosanne's books

4 silent book club members in the park

Anita in the park

Jo in the park

Ruth in the park

Sue in the park

Here’s that gorgeous reading list … and when you’ve spent some engrossing time in these digital stacks, keep going. There are more bookish delights overflowing from today’s gathering.

In addition to that rich and intriguing selection of books, we shared some other book-related news and items of interest, including …

  • Elena Ferrante names her 40 favourite books by female authors (The Guardian)
    At least one silent book club member – I’m guessing there will be more! – is looking at this list as reading inspiration heading into the winter.
  • Hay Winter Weekend
    With such a wealth of online literary events these days – festivals, book launches, readings, fundraisers and more – it’s not surprising that avid readers might be double booked (ahem) at times, toggling from one event to another. One silent book club member arrived at our zoom meeting today breathless with enthusiasm about a William Boyd reading and interview, one of many fine offerings from the venerable Hay Festival.
  • Nut Press, curated by book squirrels – blog by Kathryn Eastman
    Our east end Toronto silent book club was delighted to welcome reader, writer, book blogger, rugby fan (can you guess which of the pictures above came from her?) and lawyer Kathryn Eastman of South Wales, UK, to our latest zoom meeting, and we look forward to her joining us in future. Much as we miss our in-person silent book club gatherings, the move to online meetings means we’ve been able to fling the virtual doors open wider to wonderful guests further afield. Kathryn, thank you for your wonderful book recommendations – including Tyler Keevil, a Canadian author now living in Wales – and your warm presence in today’s virtual gathering.

‘Tis the season to think even more than we do the rest of the year about purchasing books, during a year when purchasing books has particular urgency. During today’s gathering, we discussed the importance of doing what we can to support independent booksellers, and we traded recommendations about businesses that offer online, curbside pickup and delivery options.

Our group co-founder Jo paid lovely tribute on the occasion of our silent book group’s third anniversary.

Our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists are here.

You can also check out links to articles, CBC Radio 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.

A silent book club meeting with friends and neighbours, held at and in support of a local business exemplifies exactly the kinds of freedoms we are foregoing now to get through these unsettled and unsettling times … and is where we’re all going to want to be when we get through this. Read well where you are now, gather in the ways that are safe and make most sense, including virtually. Be well and let books buoy your spirits, make our ever changing and challenging circumstances more tolerable, and make the time pass swiftly.

2 thoughts on “An avalanche of bookish delights from our sometimes not-so-silent book club

  1. Diane

    My book club, the ‘rituals’ we have, the lovely, lovely ladies who each has become a friend, and out time together has enriched my life more than I can say. We meet by zoom tomorrow to make our 2021 selections. It’s always a give-and-take.

    Reply
    1. bookgaga Post author

      The connections we make through love of books are so profound. They’ve been especially important and sustaining during these challenging times.

      Reply

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