Category Archives: Silent Book Club

Love of books, beaming and caroming around the world

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Even the smallest of our zoom gatherings cast an intense glow as we gather from our reading chairs, home offices, bedrooms, cottages, condo balconies and more. Not only do they warm our very close here’s and now’s, but those beams carom around the world, bounce back and connect us in marvellous, often revelatory ways.

Here’s an example of that wonderful caroming effect from our latest meeting:

  1. Silent book club member in Wales describes and recommends The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley, a historical novel set in Peru.
  2. Silent book club member in Canada duly notes, obtains and reads recommended book, falls in love, pursues the author’s other works.
  3. Silent book club member in Canada remarks on amazing book to daughter, who responds “I’ve been telling you to read this!”
  4. Silent book club member in Canada recounts this during zoom meeting while …
  5. Silent book club member’s daughter is texting her from Peru …!
  6. Silent book club member in Wales, also on zoom call, is thoroughly delighted.
  7. Other silent book club members (and now you, reading this blog post, scanning down to the book list) add this book to their tbr lists.

Of course, the fact that the Silent Book Club movement boasts 300+ chapters around the world means that these moments of bookish connection are happening all over the globe. Because many of these clubs have gone from local to hybrid/online events, inviting booklovers to “visit” meetings in other countries, means the effect is blossoming everywhere – and readers, authors and publishers all benefit.

Silent book club member Anne-Louise's book choice

Silent book club member Dawn's book stack

Silent book club member Kathryn's book stack, with Squizzey in attendance

Silent book club member Vicki on screen, getting ready for zoom meeting, with book stack next to the computer

As always, our latest combined book 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. 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? Not exactly or necessarily, but it means a title has been given attention and thought, which counts for a lot.

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.

Our previous reports and book lists are always available to inform, delight, inspire and 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.

Sending beams of book love your way, as always …

Riffing off each other’s reading

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Our silent book club group’s collected reading, which we regularly share here, is not just lists of titles, author’s name, publishing information, reviews – although they’re still mighty fine lists we hope everyone is sparked by, inspired by and enjoys.

In its tidy, alphabetical arrangement, the list cannot convey all the intriguing interminglings and intertwined intimacies that our conversations lend it, but oh, they are there. That is the alchemy of our books, our readers and our wonderful interactions. Today’s meeting was no exception. One reader’s update flowed to the next reader’s, and recurring themes and connections emerged. Zoom might have its shortcomings, but it’s easy to see when everyone is smiling – some smiles tinged with surprise and unexpected realization – and nodding in agreement.

In that intoxicating conversational flow from book to book, from book experience to book experience, from insight to insight, here are some of the flashes that glinted off the waves.

  • As instructive and empowering as reading a respected book on how to make a marriage thrive, is coupling that with a comforting reread of Pride and Prejudice. In fact, don’t Elizabeth and Darcy offer an interesting model for constructive or productive fighting, perhaps?
  • One book club member observed that she’d ending reading a lot of romance and relationship books of late. Even more satisfying than how many of those books concluded, she remarked “I love watching relationships develop.”
  • Another member commented on how she slogged through but did not ultimately savour a book with an unlikeable main character. Isn’t it interesting, though, how we might appreciate the writer’s craft in creating an authentically unappealing or unsympathetic, but that same craft might alienate us from the book?
  • Revisiting books from our past can be a comforting return to old friends and familiar words. It can be a revelation, as we see and learn new things absorbing the same words at different ages, from different life vantage points. It can also be fraught, as words and how they are used are now interpreted differently, through different social, historical or other lenses. Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind by Alan Jacobs posits some challenging approaches to books from other eras, whether or not they are part of our personal past reading.
  • Reading aloud to a loved one is like your own personalized audiobook, isn’t it?

Delta the corgi poses with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Silent book club member Vicki, getting ready for our zoom meeting, with her stack of books next to the computer

As I note with every report, our latest combined book list gathers the recent reading of many of our members, whether or not they attended the meeting. 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). 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 enough, to my mind, to say that another reader reading our reports and lists might consider it, too. Is that an out-and-out recommendation? Not necessarily, but it means a title has been given attention and thought, which always counts for a lot.

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.

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

Wishing you reading that flows and riffs and ripples from one entrancing experience to the next …

Organized or spontaneous reading, or organizing the spontaneity of our reading – it’s all good

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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?

Chairs set out in The Great Escape garage, awaiting readers. The Great Escape sign over the garage doors is covered with vines.

The vine draped entrance of The Great Escape garage

The silent book club group assembles in The Great Escape garage, with the back garage doors open and a chandelier and fairy lights overhead.

A silent book club member reads at The Great Escape garage.

A silent book club member reads at The Great Escape garage.

A silent book club member reads at The Great Escape garage.

A silent book club member reads at The Great Escape garage.

A silent book club member reads at The Great Escape garage.

Silent book club readers gather in The Great Escape garage to silently read.

The Great Escape bookstore dog Scout looks out the back garage doors as we read.

The poetry collection Intruder by Bardia Sinaee (House of Anansi Press) sits in my lap. My legs in black jeans and my feet in purple Fluevog sneakers are visible.

Silent book club member Catherine sits in a wooden chair reading Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. Her bicycle is leaned up against the wooden wall of the garage in the background.

The Great Escape bookstore dog Scout sits on the rug amidst a group of silent book club readers in the garage.

Me, holding the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, standing in The Great Escape garage. The walls are wooden and rough hewn, decorated with dried flowers and lights. A colourful rug is rolled out on the floor. I have frizzy hair (of course) and am wearing black jeans, a black T-shirt from the Children's Book Bank, and purple Fluevog sneakers.

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

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:

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.

Books where nothing happens, and other things we silent book clubbers love

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“I love books where nothing happens!”

… and all the silent book club members shimmering in another magical zoom gathering smiled and nodded knowingly. We readers know, don’t we?

We also love to ensure our reading is close at hand, whether we’re home or going afar. When the email notifications for our latest meeting went out, one of the first replies was from longtime group stalwart Catherine D. She revealed that she was sending her message while on vacation in Italy. She said she wouldn’t be able to zoom in for the meeting, but would be reading in solidarity while on a train during the meeting time. She also revealed that, even after lots of good advice from a recent in-person in-the-park silent book club gathering at which she’d received lots of good advice on which books to pack for her trip … well, she still had to purchase more books when she reached her destination. Isn’t that always the way? She sent us a digital postcard – shared on the zoom meeting, of course – of her in front of The Almost Corner Bookshop in Trastevere, Rome. We love everything about this.

Silent book club member Catherine in front of the Almost Corner Bookshop in Rome

We also clearly love carrying our books with us wherever we go – to the beach, for example, or to a shaded spot in the backyard. (How perfect that an Eastern Comma butterfly perched on one of our readers’ chairs in the backyard in a small post-zoom meeting gathering.)

Beth holds up When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman while at the beach

Eastern Comma butterfly sitting on the back of a chair

Most movingly, the images of people who value books carrying them to keep the books safe, to preserve books, to share books with others, emerged as an interesting motif in our discussions today. In 1937 Nanking in The Library of Legends by Janie Chang, the protagonist and her university classmates and professors carry the eponymous books 1,000 miles to safety in China’s western provinces when their city is bombed. In 1930s Appalachia, a traveling librarian in The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson rides by mule to bring books and periodicals to isolated rural Kentuckians. Although she was not conventionally literate herself, medieval wife, mother, and mystic Margery Kempe convinced those who could write to tell her story in what is considered the earliest autobiography written in the English language. Her voice from the early 1400s is carried to us today in book form.

Text from autobiography of Margery Kempe

THE FIRE OF LOVE
fig. 1 Add. MS 61823, f. 43v. Reproduced with the permission of the British Library.
In figure 1 Margery’s first experience of ‘þe fyer of loue’ (88/32) is boldly noted with a stylised drawing of flames, and a Latin gloss: ‘ignis diuini amoris … so s[eint] {or scilicet?} R[ichard] [of] Hampall’.

We love to share our book discoveries and challenges, and carry them to you here.

Kathryn E's stack of recent reading, with a squirrel calendar set to July 30th

Vicki's stack of recent reading, with Jake the beagle-basset under the desk

As always, our latest combined book list – this one is immense! – gathers the recent reading of many of our members, whether they attended the meeting in question or not. When I send out meeting notifications to the group, I get swift and diligent replies back and whether or not someone is joining the meeting, they regularly send their recent reading.

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). 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 enough, to my mind, to say that another reader reading our reports and lists might consider it, too. Is that an out-and-out recommendation? Not necessarily, but it means a title has been given attention and thought, and that always counts for a lot.

More book-related articles, resources, news, recommendations and more are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat. Here are the latest:

  • President Barack Obama’s annual summer reading and music lists are always eagerly anticipated.
  • This year’s Booker Prize longlist includes titles already familiar to our silent book club group, along with new titles to challenge and delight.
  • Recommend Me a Book is an intriguing web site that helps you find new books to read without first judging the them by their covers. It offers up the first pages of novels without bias, and reveals the author and title if you indicate you’re interested. Even if you already have great sources of book recommendations – like, say, a really awesome silent book club group – you are likely to become obsessed with this site.
  • Learn more here and here about the Almost Corner Bookshop in Trastevere, Rome, which our silent book club friend visited recently.

Our previous silent book club reports (for online and in-person meetings) 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.

Be sure to carry good reading with you, wherever you go!

Comforting routines and rejuvenating surprises in our meetings and reading

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Another silent book club zoom meeting popped up last week and it was, as it always is, a warm and joyous thing. (Well, not too warm. In fact, it was also pretty cool.)

We’ve all developed coping mechanisms and methods of resilience to get through the particular demands and challenges of the last couple of years, haven’t we? We’ve often turned to the comfort of the predictable and familiar routines, leavened from time to time with measures of spontaneity and surprise.

That describes well how our silent book club group members have gathered, largely virtually, since early 2020. We settled pretty quickly and adaptably in a twice-monthly pattern: one predictably scheduled Saturday morning zoom (and occasional careful in-person) meeting, and one not-so-predictably anticipated weekday evening meeting, deemed a “pop-up” meeting only announced shortly before its date.

Not surprisingly, the more predictably scheduled meeting typically welcomes more attendees. The more spur-of-the-moment meeting, less so in terms of numbers, is decidedly not lesser in terms of liveliness and range of discussion. At our latest meeting, for example, my comments on the brisk essay/review The Worst Truth by John Metcalf (Biblioasis) has us all sharing thoughts on what constitutes a Canadian “classic” work, maybe even questioning what we previously revered.

The alternating rhythms of routine and surprise – in our meetings and our reading – have served us all well.

Me, on screen, getting ready for a silent book club zoom meeting, with my stack of books and a glass of wine next to the computer

Our latest combined book list gathers the recent reading of many of our members, whether they are in attendance or not. 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). As I observed in another recent report from our group, any title on any of our group’s lists means that at least one (often more) readers have given that title some consideration – and that is enough, to my mind, to say that another reader reading our reports and lists might consider it, too.

More book-related articles, resources, news, recommendations and more are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat. Here are the latest:

  • Perhaps we’re a bit biased, but we think silent book club groups and meetings and reading lists are good for what ails you when you’re in a reading slump. But if you need a few more tips, here are some from the Washington Post.
  • Some of us did not know that cozy mysteries are a thing. Not only do we know that now, but we’re totally up on cozy mysteries by themes. You will be amazed!
  • In Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, the English writer, broadcaster, classicist, and comedian takes a fresh look at the ancient world, creating stand-up routines about figures from ancient Greece and Rome.

Our previous silent book club reports (for online and in-person meetings) 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 re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

May your reading afford you the perfect balance of routine and surprise, comfort and spontaneity you so desire!

Welcoming every reader and every book

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Our silent book club group welcomes every reader and everything every reader reads and shares with the group. I’ve said this outright and heaven knows it is a strong current running through all our discussions, meetings and reports.

That is not to say that our conversations are blandly diplomatic and devoid of critical perspective. On the contrary, over the almost four years our group has been in existent, our members have become very comfortable not just with sharing wonderful reading experiences, but with being very candid about less-than-satisfactory experiences with particular works.

While the first rule of Silent Book Club is definitely *not* that we do not speak of Silent Book Club … what happens in our conversations seems to largely stay in silent book club, which is decidedly special. Even when the conversation gets lively, shall we say, there is always an abiding respect for other readers and their preferences, for authors, for publishers, for performers (such as those who narrate audiobooks, for example) and more.

Jenn and Sven's books on a shelf

Sue R hiding behind a book

Philippa's 1960 Cookery Book

Vicki on screen, getting reading for the zoom silent book club meeting, with her books stacked next to her computer

Jo's shady reading spot in her backyard

Catherine reading in the park

Sue reading in the park

What then is the meaning of the book lists we present with our meeting reports?

Empirically, they list alphabetically by author surname all of the recent reading of many of our members, whether they are in attendance or not. (Many members kindly provide their monthly reading lists, whether they are able to attend a meeting or not.) 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).

Qualitatively, the lists do not indicate what each reader had to say about a given title. But during our meetings, our readers might praise and recommend a work, might recommend it with caveats or reservations, or might firmly reject a work – but only for them, not necessarily for others. So, nothing is condemned outright (although some reviews can be pretty, ahem, vehement), but might be presented with, well, cautions attached.

Minus our group’s cumulative, ongoing commentary and the special alchemy of our interactions and earned trust of each other’s opinions, adding words of criticism or praise here have no fair context. Does that make sense? And doesn’t that confirm that the secret sauce here is the book lists and information coupled with the chemistry of our fellow readers?

Objectively, any title on any of our group’s lists means that at least one (often more) readers have given that title some consideration – and that is enough, to my mind, to say that another reader reading our reports and lists might consider it, too.

Here’s the latest!

Our previous silent book club reports (for online and in-person meetings) 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 re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Wishing everyone happy reading … and the chance to discuss that reading – happy or not – with other readers.

Bookish heaven – oh, we found it!

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Was it a dream? Still aglow a day later, I can say no, this special event was real …

We made our way through a heavenly bookstore portal (pausing to browse and make some purchases), then down a lush garden path, over a welcoming threshold to absolute silent book club paradise, complete with a chandelier, fairy lights and lovely, chill bookstore dog Scout. The Great Escape Bookstore so generously provided us with a magical space for an unforgettable bookish gathering.

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

The pleasures of reading silently together as a group all came flooding back, as if the last two years have been some other kind of strange dream. The Great Escape garage was a peaceful balance of the hum of nearby neighbourhood activity, and the comforting sound of pages turning, readers shifting in their chairs or nibbling snacks, a dog slipping gently amongst us from time to time … and oh, those shared happy glances when two readers looked up from their books at the same time …

That first hour went by so quickly, and then we took another hour to chat, to describe what we’d been reading, to share excerpts and other recent reading experiences and challenges. The only thing that could have further intensified the magic was to have even more zoom-to-real-life transformations – more of our reading companions who have been with us before, and with us throughout these challenging times – with us there in that perfect setting.

As we ventured home with replenished book bags and replenished hearts, we know more gatherings like this will be in our future.

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

And now, I’ll just let a few more pictures of our bookish heaven speak for themselves.

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Silent book club meeting at The Great Escape bookstore

Heading into a season of the dreamiest, most idyllic reading experiences

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The east end Toronto silent book club is very fortunate to have a sister silent book club group in midtown Toronto, featured a year ago in this blog post by founder Beth Gordon. The midtown Toronto group is taking a summer hiatus – just from meeting, to be clear, certainly not from reading, especially during a season perfect for some of the most idyllic reading experiences. Before they go offline for a few months, the midtown group members would like to share their latest combined reading list, from which you might find some great summer reads.

In addition to some great reading suggestions, the midtown group also offers some most excellent settings in which (and reading companions with whom) to enjoy your reading. So, dear readers, get to it!

Beth's reading spot

Gould reading spot

Sue W's reading spot

Vicki's reading spot, with reading companion Tilly the Airedale

Gathering virtually, reading al fresco

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A couple of years ago, many of us probably thought online meetings and gatherings were a temporary measure. We were willing for a time to put up with technical challenges and zoom fatigue to conduct business, to keep in touch with family and friends, to be entertained, to maintain all types of connections and so on. But eventually we would go back to in person activities, back to, er, normal – right?

Even as our silent book club group contemplates and actually makes good on live gatherings – and enjoys them immensely – we know that the online component, which often continues to be a genuine lifeline, is not going away. Because our virtual meetings have allowed us to include participants from elsewhere in the world, expanding our horizons and enriching our bookish camaraderie, we can’t and won’t close that door now that we can potentially head back to coffee shops and local parks. We still haven’t mapped out how a hybrid meeting would or could work, but as pictures from this month’s online and park gatherings attest, we’ll be doing both henceforth – and we’re all better readers and friends for it.

Abby the beagle poses with Mary's books

Me on screen preparing for the popup silent book club zoom meeting

Tilly the Airedale in my office, with my computer and lots of books nearby

Kath E's books

More books

Catherine D in the park with a book

Sue R in the park with a book

Jo in the park with a book

Silent book club members in the park with books

Sue W in the park with Ruby the cockapoo and a book

Me in the park with a book

Our latest combined book list gathers the recent reading of many of our members, whether they are in attendance or not. This list is distinctly (blooming!) plentiful, as it gathers books mentioned in both May meetings, our mid-month “pop-up” and our regular end-of-month Saturday meeting. 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).

More book-related articles, resources, news, recommendations and more are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat. Here are the latest:

Our previous silent book club reports (for online and in-person meetings) 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 re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

How our silent book club has opened up our (sometimes locked down) world

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Toronto silent book club member Catherine Xu introduces our latest silent book club meeting report with singular style and perspectives. She joined our group during the pandemic and has become a steadfast presence in the year (happy anniversary!) she’s been with us. As we’ve observed in the last couple of years, meeting virtually means that we’ve been able to fling our doors open wider and extend the boundaries of what constitutes east end Toronto, which includes both Pontypridd in Wales and Catherine’s home, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.

Silent book club member Catherine XuGreetings from Catherine in New Jersey, USA. Reflecting on my past year attending regular Toronto silent book club meetings, I found myself much more immersed in the world of books, audiobooks, poetry, and more. I am truly thankful to Vicki and Jo for welcoming me into this circle and everyone’s recommendations. Below are just a few new activities I have enjoyed.

  • Listen to more audiobooks and seek out favorite narrators.
  • Bring reading outdoors. Nature offers the best reading soundtrack.
  • Attend poetry events, including Bryant Park poetry readings and Governors Island Poetry Festival.
  • Try more non-fiction, especially related to natural sciences.
  • Learn to talk about a book and formulate my thoughts around it, beyond just “I liked/hated it”.
  • Research and select book reviews, author interviews, and book club discussion guides.
  • Enjoy poetry read out loud (in forms of podcasts and audiobooks). And then read it on my own and share it with a group.
  • Discover and share New York Public Library events, resources, and exhibitions.
  • Join more book clubs! While we don’t have assigned reading in Silent Book Club, I do enjoy expanding genre/medium with various book clubs that offer assigned reading. I have joined a few different ones through work, hobby groups, the library, and the local bookstore.

As the world opens up, I would love to welcome silent book club visitors who find themselves heading to New York City. Jersey City is just across the Hudson River. Check out:

  • Jersey City Waterfront: Walk along the waterfront to take in the Manhattan skyline
  • Van Vorst Park – beautiful park and garden situated across the street from one of the Jersey City libraries. Wonderful flowers all year around and a weekly Farmers Market
  • Word bookstore – My very first book club experience (in-person) was hosted by this bookstore. They have since moved to online book club meetings so anyone can join the book club discussions.

Catherine likes to read in parks

Reader Profile / Ice breakers

Reader Name: Catherine

Professional field: Financial Services

Location: New Jersey, USA

Reading Format: Digital ebooks and audiobooks on Libby library app (New York Public Library)

Favorite Reading Nook: any outdoor park (non-winter). Couch with virtual fireplace (winter)

Most memorable book from the past year: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. I appreciated the quiet and introspective part of this book, while the world was slowly opening up. The narrator offers a good balance of snail facts with her own personal interactions with her pet snail.

Best bookstore for visitors: Toss up between the NY Library shop and the Strand.

Recent booklish accessory: bookshelf themed iphone case

A bookstore discovery from your travels: Powell’s bookstore in Portland, Oregon. I spent quite a few hours here!

Non-reading related hobby: dance

Non-traditional reading?

  • Podcast interview transcripts/show notes: See Tim Ferris show or How to Save a Planet call to action
  • Department of Salad newsletter
  • Hand-written notes in public places. Examples include Letters to Trees at Madison Square Park and Questionnaires at the Rubin Museum “How do you start healing?”. I enjoy reading handwriting and also ruminating on the Q’s and responses that people provide. A cafe I visited in Seattle a few years ago also had large guest books where people wrote love notes, doodled, and their reviews of the cafe/surrounding area. It was really great reading through it and adding my own words to the collection.

Tell Me the Truth About Love by W.H. Auden - part of Philippa's reading

Born in Blackness by Howard French - part of Lyla's reading

Jo's reading chair

Vicki's stack of books, including The Books of Jacob, with Jake the beagle-basset under the table

Lyla, Sue and Jo with their books in Stephenson Park

Jo with her reading in Stephenson Park

Lyla with her reading in Stephenson Park

Sue with her reading in Stephenson Park

Vicki with her reading and Jake the beagle-basset in Stephenson Park

Our combined reading list gathers the recent reading of many of our members, whether they are in attendance or not. 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).

More book-related articles, resources, news, recommendations and more are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat, including:

Poet Raymond Antrobus reads the poem “Dear Hearing World” from his poetry collection The Perseverance (on this month’s reading list)

Our previous silent book club reports (for online and in-person meetings) 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 re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.