Category Archives: Silent Book Club

Chuckles and the rustle of pages turning

Several of my silent book club friends are also my neighbours. It’s nice to be able to say “See you at silent book club” when I run into them around the neighbourhood between meetings. Now some of us are suggesting that maybe a month between meetings is too long. Hmmm …

The night before a silent book club meeting, it feels like Christmas Eve. I’m already planning which books I’m going to bring, reviewing the books I read over the past month to share observations on with the group, checking if there are additional books I need to bring to lend to other book club members, getting out my book bag and coffee mug … and in the morning, I get extra help to ensure that everything is packed.

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I left early, wanted to take my dog …

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… and when I got to Press on the Danforth, some silent book club members were already there, ordering their beverages and treats and getting settled in. So, I have the feeling I’m not the only one eagerly anticipating each meeting …

Have you ever heard folks describing what they don’t like about the book clubs of which they’re a part, or which they are reluctant to be a part, or which they’ve abandoned? One thing I know I hear a lot is that the book club is devoted to the book in question for a mere few moments, and then the get-together becomes a gossip session or otherwise goes decidedly off-topic. In the year that we’ve been enjoying this club, we have our usual go round the table to share recent reading delights and disappointments (always constructively couched), and we don’t typically stray too far from the subject of books. Even today, when we did stray a bit, the subjects were still bookish. We all chimed in on a discussion of childhood reading pleasures, some guilty, some forbidden, all adored: Nancy Drew! The Hardy Boys! The Bobbsey Twins! Swallows and Amazons! Puffin Books! Trixie Belden! Nurse Sue Barton! We all chimed in again to sing the praises of Little Library boxes, with which our east end Toronto neighbourhood seems to be particularly blessed.

Here, as usual, is this month’s list of the books we read and discussed at our silent book club. Each title is presented and discussed within the group with readers’ capsule positive, negative or mixed reviews. The list as I present it here has no rating system, just a link to either publisher information or generally positive reviews or informational pieces. The list is not inherently a list of recommendations, just a record of what we discussed. That said, it’s still a rich, varied and thought provoking collection that I think might spark the interest of anyone keeping up with our club.

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As always, you can enjoy our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and perhaps interested in checking ours out, please feel free to contact me for more information.

Happy first anniversary to our mighty fine silent book club!

The weather in the Toronto area went from excessive humidex values to verging on windchill, essentially in the span of a day. It definitely looks and feels like autumn now. I was reminded that one of the best antidotes for that chill in the air is a warm gathering of booklovers. Then I was reminded that there was quite a chill in the air when this particular group of booklovers, or the start of this group, first met – a year ago. How time flies when you’re immersed in great books, enthused about your reading and eager to share it with others. So yes, we toasted – with upraised chai lattes and our rendition of this – how this group has grown and evolved in a year.

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Before we settled in with beverages, treats and much anticipated books for an hour of quiet, concentrated reading, we had our usual go round the table to share recent reading delights and challenges. As well, one of our fellow readers shared a lovely new reading journal she is inspired to use to augment the reading lists and ideas she’s acquiring through this group. Another reader announced something very special that she is planning next month for her 70th birthday: she wants everyone to share with her the gift of stories and storytelling. I hope she won’t mind that I’m sharing some of her words describing what prompted this idea and how it would work:

“Over the last year, and particularly the last few months, I have experienced deep despair about the future of the world. Constant negative news about economic, political, cultural, environmental events and forecasts have had a huge impact on me. And when I talk with others, there is a near universal response of ‘I’ve experienced the same thing’. Many of the events we hear about seem to be beyond our control.

At the same time, every so often, stories crop up of something that ordinary people are doing in their communities or beyond, that make a significant difference in people’s lives. Many have huge ripple effects. These give me hope, and are the antidote to despair. The more I look for them, the more I see and hear.

… So as my gift to the world, I propose to host a birthday party event … that is a storytelling event. It can include people who can physically attend, as well as all my friends, colleagues, and family globally who can participate virtually by sending their stories to me.

… Here’s what I’m asking of you to do as a gift to me and this process: look everywhere for stories of where ordinary people are making a positive difference in others’ lives, and capture them. Tell the stories in your own words, and write them down.

She goes on to say that the captured stories can range from the local to the international and ones in the headlines. I’ve come to see the silent book club as an oasis and respite from all the news and noise that creates the anxiety and despair she mentions here. Her brilliant idea is another way of harnessing the power of storytelling to immensely positive effect, don’t you think?

Here is this month’s list of the books we read and discussed at this latest edition of our silent book club. As I’ve mentioned previously, each title is presented and discussed within the group with readers’ capsule positive, negative or mixed reviews. We do have cases of diverging opinions about some books, but the discussion is consistently interesting and respectful. The list as I present it here has no rating system, just a link to either publisher information or generally positive reviews or informational pieces. The list is not inherently a list of recommendations, just a record of what we discussed, for good, bad or indifferent. That said, I think each list brims with rich and eclectic offerings, and you could indeed use it to spark and expand your own reading.

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As always, you can enjoy our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and perhaps interested in checking ours out, please feel free to contact me for more information.

Exuberant, brimming over, not-so-silent book club

We returned to our comfortable coffee/book shop Press for the latest edition of our silent book club. Our usual table near the back of the top was full, including new members and another guest, this time from Red Deer, Alberta.

Everyone was clearly eager to share their recent and current reading – both the delights and the challenges – with the group. Another interesting evolution in the group since we started it almost a year ago is that we now share not only what we’ll be reading at the meeting, but what we’ve read since the last meeting. (One member who couldn’t attend this month sent along a list of her recent reading and I presented it to the group.) In fact, most of us bring a stack of books and happily distribute recommendations to fellow book club members.

A delicious dilemma arises from this enthusiasm. Our silent book club meetings are regularly scheduled on Saturday for two hours, from 10 am to 12 noon. The first hour is devoted to discussing what we are and have been reading and to exchange books, and then the second hour is for focused, silent reading. The idea is that by finishing by noon, people still have a chunk of Saturday to do regular Saturday errands and activities. We discovered at this latest meeting that we got into such a lively discussion in the “what we’re reading” portion of the meeting that we abbreviated the actual silent reading portion. I do think we want to ensure we have an hour for reading in future readings, but what do we do to still accommodate people’s Saturdays and finish by noon. Start earlier? Somehow limit the discussion before the silent reading portion? I don’t think we want to discourage that. Like I said, it’s a nice problem to have. I’ll report back on how we decide to resolve it.

We had a brief but very interesting side discussion this meeting about authors who seem more noticeably performative in terms of how they present their work. The thought was not that this was a necessarily bad thing, as many authors who seem to be this way can be very entertaining. One book club member made the distinction in thought provoking fashion: “people who write for an audience and people who just write.” Bookish food for thought, eh?

Here is this month’s list of books read and discussed. Each title is presented and discussed within the group with readers’ capsule positive, negative or mixed evaluations, and we do have cases of quite differing opinions amongst members. Note, though, that the list I capture from each meeting has no rating system, just a link to either publisher information or generally positive reviews or informational pieces. The list is not inherently a list of recommendations, just a record of what we discussed, for good, bad or indifferent. Does that make sense?

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As always, you can enjoy our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and maybe interested in checking ours out, please feel free to contact me for more information.

Silent book club in the park

This edition of our warmly anticipated silent book club took to the outdoors, thanks to the weather for permitting. We gathered in a shaded corner of a neighbourhood park (not far from the coffeeshop where we usually meet), toting blankets and folding chairs along with our reading material. The hour before silent book club, some of us enjoyed an invigorating yoga class under the trees. After the class, our instructor, who is visiting Canada from Bangalore, India, joined us for the book gathering. (I’m not-so-secretly hoping she’ll plant some silent book club seeds when she returns home …!) All in all, it was a wonderful way to kick off the weekend.

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Truth be told, our time in the park was also a restorative antidote to a trying week of tragedy and upheaval in Toronto. People everywhere face challenges – individually and collectively – every day. The nature and often relentless tempo of those challenges demand that we find ways to recharge and regain strength and focus to head back into what the world throws at us – as neighbours, friends, family members, employers and employees, citizens. For me, I hope for the friends with whom I gathered in the park today, there was solace, rejuvenation, joy and fellowship with our yoga mats, our books and our contemplative silence together under the trees, with other neighbours nearby.

Again, there are some repeats on our book list, because the group continues to actively share and pass along books among the members.

Here is this month’s list of books read and discussed.

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As always, you can enjoy our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and maybe interested in checking ours out, please feel free to contact me for more information.

Our hardy, hearty, full of heart, good for your heart silent book club

Silent book club was a particularly peaceful oasis after a particularly demanding week (work, politics, you name it … but let’s not …) The conversation was splendid, lively, enthusiastic and edifying – I love what all the silent book club members quite literally bring to the table – followed by an hour of blissful, focused reading.

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Once again this month, there are some repeats on our book list, because the group is actively sharing and passing along books among the members. I would dare say there is a fine trust developing among these fellow readers that is encouraging us all to read outside our comfort zones. It’s heartening and inspiring.

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Here is this month’s list of books read and discussed.

Moments after the hour of silent reading commenced, one of our readers begged a second to read the first sentence of a new book that had charmed and immediately drew her in. (It was from Dead Cold by Louise Penny. I won’t spoil it for you – seek it out!) I wonder if it might be a fun added feature to our gatherings to have each member read the first sentence of what they will be reading during the hour, to kick things off …

Enjoy our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and maybe interested in checking ours out, please feel free to contact me for more information.

So ready for the next silent book club meeting

The week ahead is going to be flat-out busy work-wise. On top of that, the unknowns of a rather tumultuous provincial election hang over our heads, the eagerly anticipated but also dreaded results of which will be announced on Thursday, June 7th. By Saturday, June 9th, I will be so ready for the calm and reflection offered by a good, cozy silent book club meeting – I suspect a few of my neighbours and fellow booklovers will feel the same way.

I’m perhaps particularly yearning for a silent book club meeting because I missed the May gathering. Thank you to Jo for compiling that meeting’s list of books read and discussed, another vibrant and eclectic collection.

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Enjoy our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

Spring is in the air … and our silent book club continues to blossom

I saluted the little green somethings sprouting in our front garden and turned my face gratefully to the warm sunshine as I made my way to our neighbourhood silent book club meeting at bookstore / coffee shop / record store Press this morning. As I`ve chronicled over the last few months, silent book club has seen us through the winter and is now ushering us into spring.

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As I observed in last month’s installment, our silent book club has evolved in some wonderful ways, balancing that quiet, concentrated time to focus on our reading with some truly stimulating book discussion. While the core of the silent book club concept is an hour of reading in companionable silence, I think it’s fair to say that our meetings are now a minimum of two hours long now. The lead-in discussion is as interesting as the reading hour is meditative and satisfying, and I personally look forward to both … both bookends (ha ha) to a great book experience.

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To summarize from my last installment, I’ll mention again what else has blossomed from our gatherings:

  • Recaps of previous reads – Not only do we bring the circle up to date on what we were reading at the previous meeting and how it turned out – good, bad or indifferent – but we now mention other things we’ve read in the mean time.

  • Praise and challenges – The group has developed a level of familiarity with each other as readers that not only are we sharing our reading triumphs and enthusiasms, but we’re now feeling sufficiently comfortable to share our challenges, disappointments and criticisms, too. It’s encouraging to be able to discuss where we’re hitting stumbling blocks in our reading, such as encountering interesting subject matter that is couched in problematic fashion, or being disappointed with a particular book by an author who previously delighted us. Getting advice from empathetic fellow readers on how to soldier on or know when to spell one book with another and other approaches is very gratifying.

  • Sharing and acquiring booksIndian Horse by Richard Wagamese and Stranger by David Bergen have travelled around the group, and other books have been purchased or picked up at the library on the basis of praise from this group. Did I mention that the setting for our meetings is a cafe set inside a vinyl record and bookshop? Club members need only stroll mere feet from our table to act on recommendations from the group – it happened again today!

Here are the books the members our silent book club meeting read and/or discussed today.

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If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and maybe interested in checking ours out, please feel free to contact me for more information.

How essential silent book club has become

As each new meeting draws near, I find myself downright craving the peace, warmth, clarity and community of our neighbourhood silent book club. Today’s was another fine, cozy, restoring and heartening get-together with friends and books.

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In just a few short months, the silent book club has evolved in some wonderful ways, into a comfortable and truly satisfying groove for those of us who not only love to read, but love to discuss what we’re reading and learn and get tantalizing recommendations from others. We’ve got regular attendees coming month after month, so we need to spend less time explaining the concept (although, of course, I’m happy to do that when we do have newcomers). Once refreshments are in place (yay, Press – your coffee and chai lattes and baked goods are fabulous!), we launch right in to …

  • Recaps of previous reads – Not only do we bring the circle up to date on what we were reading at the previous meeting and how it turned out – good, bad or indifferent – but we now mention other things we’ve read in the mean time. This meeting, one attendee admitted ruefully that she had a “bad reading month” because she got too wrapped in some TV binge watching … and then she proceeded to rhyme off an impressive list of titles she read anyhow, even with the siren song of Netflix tempting her.

  • Praise and challenges – The group has developed a level of familiarity with each other as readers that not only are we sharing our reading triumphs and enthusiasms, but we’re now feeling sufficiently comfortable to share our challenges, disappointments and criticisms, too. It’s encouraging to be able to discuss where we’re hitting stumbling blocks in our reading, such as encountering interesting subject matter that is couched in problematic fashion. Getting advice from empathetic fellow readers on how to soldier on or know when to spell one book with another and other approaches is very gratifying.

  • Sharing and acquiring booksIndian Horse by Richard Wagamese has changed hands several times since this book club started. Stranger by David Bergen is now travelling from one reader to another. A couple of Louise Penny books have been purchased on a club member’s recommendation. Did I mention that the setting for our meetings is a cafe set inside a vinyl record and bookshop? Club members need only stroll mere feet from our table to act on recommendations from the group.

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As always, Milo keeps an eye on the silent book club … and our scones.

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Here are the books the members our silent book club meeting read and/or discussed today. (Yes, there is a bit of an Irish theme happening here, in tribute to St. Patrick’s Day!)

It’s only a month until it’s silent book club again!

Interested in starting your own silent book club? Or are you in the Toronto area and maybe interested in checking ours out? If I can help or offer insights, please feel free to contact me.

Morning snow and silent book club bring such peace

Our neighbourhood silent book club meetings have become my light at the end of those inevitable tunnels we have to make our way through – you know, seasonal dreariness, work tedium (even if you love your job, which I do), health challenges (thankfully, wholly survivable) and or even literally, those TTC subway tunnels we all seem to be getting caught in these days.

The glowing light that is our silent book club is comprised of so many wonderful things. It’s a quiet celebration of neighbours and neighbourhood. It’s a lively and enthusiastic gathering to share books and perspectives. It’s an oasis of calm to concentrate, meditate, savour and reflect. As each meeting draws near, I find myself getting excited about what I’ll take along, who I’ll see there, what they’ll share, what I’ll get to share.

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With our fourth gathering, all but one of the nine people in attendance this time had been to at least one previous meeting. We’re getting into such a comfortable groove that we can spend less time explaining the concept (but here it is if you’re new to the idea) and more time just talking about our books and our reading discoveries. Each participant’s turn to speak has evolved from a quick intro and description of their book or books to a recap of what they were reading last time and how that went to what they’re looking forward to reading next. Wonderfully, there is some great cross-pollination of reading happening, too, where we’re borrowing each other’s books or making lists and heading off to the library or bookstore after each meeting. That spreading of good words (and pictures) about good books is happening online, too. One of my Instagram posts about a previous meeting inspired an Instagram follower to purchase a book based on its intriguing title as it appeared on our silent book club table. How fantastic is that?

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Here are the books the members our silent book club meeting read and/or discussed today:

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(… and yes, that’s cafe/bookshop greeter Milo’s fuzzy butt in the background …)

Another month and a bit … and I already see the light glowing at the end of the tunnel!

Silent book club – another warm gathering on a cold winter morning

Our silent book club gatherings are growing … and everyone wants to take part!

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(That envious reader wannabe is Milo, amiable canine assistant at the cafe at which we gather.)

On another cold (but brilliantly sunny this time) Saturday morning, we bundled up, grabbed our books and gathered once again at local cafe Press Books Coffee Vinyl for our third silent book club meeting. Four people attended our inaugural meeting in November, and five gathered for our second meeting in December. This time, after we scrambled a bit to push together another table and grab some additional chairs, our circle was comprised of nine booklovers.

We were together for about two hours or so, and as before, I came away feeling energized and enthused, and pretty confident that fellow attendees felt the same way. The hour of silent reading was both soothing and productive, during which I finished a short story collection over which I’d been lagging and struggling a bit during the week, and also read some poetry. I so enjoyed the discussion beforehand, during which I got to know some neighbours and acquaintances a bit better and learned about the authors and subjects that fuel their individual reading passions, across a range of fiction and non-fiction.

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Here are the books the members our silent book club meeting read and/or discussed today:

Our next meeting is already scheduled for mid-February. Again, I can’t wait. The books, the discussion, the time spent in company with neighbours and devoted readers – it’s all so welcoming and infectious. As I predicted, the warmth of these gatherings is seeing me through this decidedly wintry winter.