Where are here and there … when you’re reading and when you’re with fellow readers?

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I’m guessing our sense of place – both collective and individual – has changed significantly in very recent years. Where we are when we are here, when we are meeting, when we are with someone and so on has sharp new meanings when coupled with how we resorted to social media platforms or different renditions of virtual connection to stay in contact (one definition of contact, anyhow) when we were not able to be in physical proximity or contact. I won’t fill this blog post with too many meandering thoughts about what we might still be going through with respect to connecting or not connecting and what that means, because I do want to get to the latest brimming and delicious book list our group has amassed. But here are some questions and thoughts that popped up for me as I was prepping this month’s silent book club report:

  • When we meet virtually with fellow readers, even if most of those gathering are within walking distance of each other, is someone zooming with us from across a border or an ocean here with us? (The edges of east end Toronto extend here and here, so my answer is a hearty “yes!”)
  • When we meet in person on a patio, in a park or in a coffee shop with fellow readers from the neighbourhood, is the here that location or is the here the places we inhabit in our books once we’re reading silently together?
  • When we are reading by ourselves in our living room or on our balcony or porch or cottage dock, are we there with our other fellow readers, too … while we’re here wherever our books have taken us, as well as here in a comfy reading spot?

In some ways, maybe it’s neither here nor there, eh? We’re blessed to be able to read, we’re fortunate to have access to many ways to read, we’re privileged (in all good senses of that word that remain) to read what we want to read when we want to read it – and to lend our voices on behalf of those being deprived of that right.

Here (see what I did there?) are some of the places our readers and their books were this past month:

Silent book club member Philippa visited the Grolier Poetry Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts
(Here’s an interesting piece from The Paris Review in 2013 on this destination literary landmark.)

Silent book club member Philippa visiting the Grolier Poetry Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts - Elegantly bespectacled and wearing a green-gray blazer and white and green scarf, Philippa gestures to the book table beside her. She is surrounded by tall bookshelves and pictures of poets on the walls.

Bookshelves of Canadian poetry at the Grolier Poetry Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts

More bookshelves at the Grolier Poetry Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the tail of a beagle visible in the bottom righthand corner of the picture

Books arranged on a desk, with a Snoopy mug, including Dearly by Margaret Atwood, Emma by Alexander McCall Smith and more

Silent book club member Mary's beagle Abby guards Mary's stack of books, including The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

Silent book club member Kathryn (at the Wales side of east end Toronto) stacks her books in a chair with a cushion with the caption

New Zealand silent book club member Marilyn's books are stacked on the seat of a lovely red/pink chair with a red and gold multi-hued cushion. Books include Wild Honey - Reading New Zealand Women's Poetry by Paula Green

Sometimes other activities – like piloting an inflatable loon on a northern Ontario lake – distract one from proper cottaging activities like reading. But then again, with a beverage holder and some way to protect one’s books or reading devices from the water, an inflatable loon on a northern Ontario lake would be as dreamy a reading place as a hammock … just sayin’ …

Silent book club member Vicki, wearing swim trunks, a life vest, a green neon Tilley hat and wielding a canoe paddle, rides an inflatable loon on a northern Ontario lake

Silent book club member Vicki leans back in an inflatable loon, wearing a life vest, a green neon Tilley hat and sunglasses, contemplating how to read in such a comfy setting

Here (yes, here) is our group’s latest combined book list, gathering up books mentioned and discussed at our end of July meeting. Each list reflects the reading of many of our members. Many provide their reading lists even when they can’t attend a 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 (but often more) readers have given that title some consideration. That’s encouragement for you and other readers checking out our reports and lists to consider it, too. Is that a recommendation? It might be, but not exactly or necessarily. (This is rare, but a reader confided this month that one of the titles on this list offered one of their worst reading experiences ever …) That said, that same title might be one of your best reading experiences – who knows? Inclusion on this list always means that a title has been given thoughtful consideration and attention by our readers, which counts for a lot.

Some other silent book club and reading items of interest …

  • Here’s what looks like a wonderful there for silent book club members in New Zealand to meet!
  • A reader in Seattle has the broader silent book club network abuzz, thanks to her excited discovery and effusive praise of the silent (maybe not so silent?) book club experience.

    Silent Book Club “head office” offers an email listserv for those who organize and manage sbc chapters around the world, and that community is talking up a storm about the wave of interest and influx of new member requests that @hellomandyo’s video has generated. (Yes, we’ve welcomed lots of new inquiries, too – and look forward to meeting some new readers in the months ahead!) Some chapters run significantly higher capacity events than others (more on that another day), and some chapters are still virtual versus in-person, so how one engages with each group is different. I imagine the delight in reading, reading together and sharing reading delights with other readers, as captured by @hellomandyo, is consistent across all chapters around the world!

Our previous reports and book lists are always available to interest and amaze, not to mention threatening to send your tbr pile toppling! The reports and lists are always right here, growing every month.

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. Every club is a different size, format (in-person, virtual or combinations) and vibe, so contact a club’s organizers beforehand if you have any questions or preferences. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Here, there and everywhere, we hope your reading nurtures head and heart!

When our reading choices surprise us

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This month’s “go round” silent book club meeting offered up another intriguing recurring observation. Almost to a person, each reader reported that something about their recent reading surprised them – mostly pleasantly, but not always.

Do we / should we always go into our reading with expectations? If so, are those expectations set by our previous experiences with that author or publisher, by awards conferred or good reviews garnered that suggest a certain standard or quality to the work, by recommendations from trusted sources (such as a really great group of book club members?) Or, might we head into the pages of a particular book with lowered expectations because you don’t trust the recommendation or recommendations, but feel obliged to read the book for some reason? And then – oh my! – the reading experience is better than you expected?

Do obligatory reads take the joy out of the reading experience … even if there’s the chance the book you really didn’t want to read might reward your efforts? Is it even possible to open (or start playing/streaming) any book with truly no expectations?

That recurring comment or allusion, and the cascade of questions it provokes, just might become the topic for further discussion at our next themed discussion meeting. That’s what happened last month, when the amusing and enigmatic title Duck Eats Yeast, Quacks, Explodes; Man Loses Eye led to a discussion of how sometimes an alluring title, an enchanting book cover design, or a wonderfully tactile, well-constructed book object draws us in to, perhaps, an enchanting reading experience …

I was so absorbed in this latest discussion (we’ve scheduled them mid-month every month since the start of this year) that I didn’t keep complete notes, but some observations and examples jumped out of what little I did scribble down:

Piles of silent book club member Emily's books, including Come As You Are by Dr Emily Nagoski

Silent book club member Kathryn concentrated on one book for a month-long read-along: The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

An adorably scruffy kitten curls up atop a shelf of lovingly dog-eared (see what I did there?) books - picture provided by silent book club member Lyla

Silent book club member Vicki is on her computer screen, getting ready for the zoom meeting, with her books piled by the computer keyboard, including the new Lucinda Williams memoir

Here is our group’s latest, always tempting and yes, often surprising combined book list, gathering up books mentioned and discussed at our end of June meeting, plus some mentioned in passing during our mid-month themed discussion. (You are probably going to have to click on every link to check each book’s cover!) Each list reflects the reading of many of our members. Many provide their reading lists even when they can’t attend a 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 (but often more) readers have given that title some consideration. That’s encouragement for you and other readers checking out our reports and lists to consider it, too. Is that a recommendation? It might be, but not exactly or necessarily. It always means that a title has been given thoughtful consideration and attention by our readers, 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 surprise, delight, captivate, challenge and add to your tbr pile. They’re always right here, growing every month.

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. Every club is a different size, format (in-person, virtual or combinations) and vibe, so contact a club’s organizers beforehand if you have any questions or preferences. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

We hope your reading is surprising you in good ways every day!

That Unusual, Quirky, Mysterious, Non Sequitur-ish Title That Sometimes Pulls You Into A Book

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Sometimes unexpected forces draw us into the books we end up reading. Who could resist, as one of our readers mused aloud during our latest silent book club zoom meeting, a title like this: Duck Eats Yeast, Quacks, Explodes; Man Loses Eye? We all thank Gary Barwin and Lillian Necakov for an initial enchantment leading, assuredly, to more delights and revelations we might have missed if that title didn’t reach out to us.

Striking book covers sometimes reach out to us first. As our group discussed earlier this month, sometimes the announcement of an award grabs our attention. Sometimes, those announcements do not impress us at all and in fact, might actively send us in other directions. The combination of kismet and trust when the minds of readers meet, virtually or in person, directly or indirectly, seems to have more and more power and influence over how we discover books and writers, and what we read next.

As I’ve mentioned in silent book club blog posts this year, we now balance our silent book club virtual meetings each month with a mid-month themed discussion. This month, award and reviews were on our minds. The passing reference to that captivating book title has, I think, planted a discussion seed for a future meeting …

Jenn and Sven's books are piled in a sunny, plant-filled window - titles include Post Office by Charles Bukowski, An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim and several more.

Kathryn's books are piled on the back of a chair, in front of a window with the blinds open - titles include God's Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu, Limberlost by Robbie Arnott and more.

Catherine holds up the graphic memoir Messy Roots by Laura Gao, with a colourful cover showing a drawing of a rueful young woman in jeans and a red T-shirt

Vicki is on her computer screen, getting ready for a silent book club zoom meeting, with her books piled next to the computer, along with an orange and a bagel - titles include Boat by Lisa Robertson, Mercy Gene by JD Derbyshire and several more.

Here is our group’s latest and always tempting combined book list, gathering up books mentioned and discussed at our end of May meeting, plus some mentioned in passing during our mid-month themed discussion. As you know, each list reflects the reading of many of our members. Many provide their reading lists even when they can’t attend a meeting. The titles (yes, often quirky and captivating!) 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 (but often more) readers have given that title some consideration. That’s encouragement, I think it’s fair to say, for other readers checking out our reports and lists to consider it, too. Is that a recommendation? It might be, but not exactly or necessarily. It always means that a title has been given thoughtful consideration and attention by our readers, 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 available to spark interest, intrigue, entertain and add to your tbr pile. They’re 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. Every club is a different size, format (in-person, virtual or combinations) and vibe, so contact a club’s organizers beforehand if you have any questions or preferences. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

However books call out to you, we hope you heed those calls, make some great discoveries and continue to relish your reading. We hope our reading lists and discussions here are a help and inspiration!

Peeking over shoulders … of writers, characters and our fellow readers

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Yes, yes, we know April showers bring May flowers, and we’re grateful for that … but while April is doing that dreary thing, how better to pass the time than in the company of a warm gathering of readers?

As one of our readers observed this time round, she enjoys the experience in her reading of peeking over the shoulders of different characters and observing them living their lives, thinking their thoughts and so on. By extension, we get in some respects to peek over the shoulders of writers sharing their craft and of course, groups like ours get to peek over each others’ shoulders as we read and absorb the work before us. And further, you get to peek over our shoulders when we share our discussions and reading lists with you every month.

We now balance our silent book club virtual meetings each month with a mid-month themed discussion, and a month-end round-up of our reading delights, challenges and recommendations – not quite bookends, but just as desirable, sturdy and reliable.

Now that we’ve given ourselves space for exploring themes, more seem to surface every time we gather. In this most recent meeting, interestingly, many readers reported balancing dark reading – different degrees of forbidding, depressing, disturbing, unsettling – with light – entertaining, amusing, diverting, perhaps somewhat less demanding. Maybe that could be expanded into a discussion, along with what The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler might invite: why do popular and/or acclaimed authors slip off readers’ collective radar?

During her trip to Dordrecht, Netherlands, silent book club member Beth encountered this charming little library box, light blue paint a bit faded, a peaked roof, two bookshelves
During her trip to Dordrecht, Netherlands, silent book club member Beth encountered this charming little library box

Silent book club member Anne-Louise acquired a stack of delicious books from the Fairlawn United Church book sale, the event for which is shown on a phone screen next to a stack of books which includes Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald and From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
Silent book club member Anne-Louise acquired a stack of delicious books to replenish her tbr pile from the Fairlawn United Church book sale, celebrating its 60th anniversary

Silent book club member Catherine borrowed a bundle of colourful poetry chapbooks from the New York Public Library, shown here displayed on a black tabletop
Silent book club member Catherine borrowed a bundle of colourful poetry chapbooks from the New York Public Library

Silent book club member Sue R's book pile of recent reading includes Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Silent book club member Sue R’s book pile of recent reading

Silent book club member Tom's dog Aspen, an affectionate husky, lies on a wooden floor next to an e-book with the title You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith on the screen.
Silent book club member Tom’s dog is an affectionate reading companion

Silent book club member Vicki (me) on a computer laptop screen, starting a zoom session, with books piled next to and on the laptop keyboard, including In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas, with a dog calendar and a cup of coffee in the background.
Me, getting ready for our silent book club’s latest zoom meeting

Here is our group’s latest combined book list, reflecting books mentioned and discussed at our end of April meeting. As you know, each list reflects the reading of many of our members. Many provide their reading lists even when they can’t attend a 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 (but often more) readers have given that title some consideration. That is encouragement, I’d say, for other readers checking out our reports and lists to consider it, too. Is that a recommendation? It might be, but not exactly or necessarily. It always means that a title has been given thoughtful consideration and attention by our readers, 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 available to captivate, amuse, intrigue 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 on hiatus or modified schedules, many are running virtual meetings in different formats, and many are back to running in-person and hybrid gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Even when you can’t make it to our book club or your book club, or you don’t currently have a book club to gather with bookloving friends, we hope our readings lists and discussions here providing nourishing, bookish fodder for everyone!

Our at-times-not-so-silent book club, popping up to discuss book-related themes

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At the start of the new year, our silent book club group members pondered and decided to try switching up the format of our meetings to delve into some of the themes we touch on and skim over during our regular meetings. The usual refrain from those of us moderating each meeting was, “But that’s a subject for another day …” Well, we decided to make those subjects the focus of another day and another meeting.

Themed discussions depart from but did not replace our usual meeting format, where we go round the real or virtual circle and invite everyone to update the group on recent reading delights and challenges. Since we have continued to keep up the twice-monthly tempo we established at the start of the pandemic, we decided to still have our Saturday morning, month end meetings for those regular and very lively go-rounds. Mid-month, we have what are called pop-up meetings, because they pop up with somewhat less advance notice than the Saturday meetings, typically take place in the early evening on a weekday, but vary from month to month. We’ve made the pop-up meetings our themed discussion meetings.

We’ve now had four such meetings, and I think it’s safe to say they’re a successful addition to our silent book club community. The meetings have somewhat fewer attendees – maybe 7-10, versus 12 to 15 or more for our go-round meetings. Striving to keep the meeting to around an hour, maybe a bit more, everyone in these smaller gatherings has plenty of opportunity to contribute to the conversation. In fact, I wonder if the somewhat smaller gatherings make it a little more comfortable for all to speak up. (We continue to offer a “listen only” option for all of our meetings, but I don’t recall if anyone has opted for that during our themed discussions.)

Here are the topics we’ve delved into in our themed discussion meetings so far. We always have two topics ready to go at the start of each meeting, in case one discussion runs out of steam or runs its course – although most of the discussions seem to have lots of momentum.

  • Rereading – Do you revisit books, or do you always forge ahead to something new? If you do reread, what kinds of experiences have you had – more or less appreciation for a given work, etc.? Is a revisit more likely if you are rereading with your eyes or ears (relistening to an audiobook)?
  • Influential authors and books – What is the book or who is the author that has been the greatest influence on you as a reader, and has stayed with you over the years? What is the book or author that has inspired some of your fondest or funniest memories?
  • Unpleasant reading – What if a book turns unpleasant and out of your comfort zone? If an author is doing a commendable job of creating a graphic, disturbing or overly suspenseful situation, but it is not a comfortable reading experience, do you carry on or stop?
  • Authors and lived experience – To what extent must an author have lived the experiences of their characters? As a reader, are you concerned or do you even check first to find out if an author knows firsthand about the socio-economic status, race, functional abilities, credos and so on of their characters? Or can an author achieve convincing authenticity with research, imagination and sympathy?
  • Literature in translation – Do you read works in translation? (If not, why not?) What is satisfying or leaves you with questions about reading works that you are not able to read in their anguages of origin?

Highlights from these discussions are included in our previous meeting reports.

This past week, we tackled this timely subject:

  • Literary awards, lists and competitions – Are they important, are they resources that guide your reading decisions, do they influence what you read? Or not? In addition to how they serve readers, how do awards, competition and bestseller lists best serve writers and publishers?

Certainly not to downplay the monetary benefits to writers and publishers of awards purses and increased book sales, our readers were less convinced that such recognitions still serve readers particularly well. Not all awards shortlists and bestseller lists seem to offer the sense of revelation and discovery that maybe they used to – are some awards performative for the founders or organizations behind them? Or is a group like ours already pretty fortunate to, well, have ourselves and our collective and diverse reading experiences to steer each other in new and interesting directions? Other readers might not have those same trusted connections and resources, so award and the like are still useful literary starting points.

One thing we did agree on is that awards and initiatives that bolster emerging talents and underrepresented demographics were worthy and offered that sense of discovery many avid readers crave. How interesting that a day or two after our discussion, this reaction to how some Canadian awards are being administered – for good or for bad – came out:

Two Canada-connected literary prizes have announced shortlists short on Canadians
by Marsha Lederman
The Globe and Mail
April 21, 2023

Scuffed award sticker mars the book cover of Joy Harjo's poetry collection Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings
Are some award stickers look a bit tarnished these days?

We have more topics and questions banked and are always on the lookout for provocative articles and debates, which will likely keep our at-times-not-so-silent book club fueled for lots of future such meetings and discussions. Through them, we’ll continue to grow as readers, as neighbours and as a reading community and, I’m sure, as people who have become friends through books.

Busy, but never too busy to pick up a book …

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… or to assemble a list of my and my book club friends’ discerning and eclectic reading!

Stack of books (with more rows and shelves of books in the background) from March 2023 silent book club meeting, including titles by Claire Keegan, Leslie Greentree and more

Here is our group’s latest combined book list, reflecting books mentioned and discussed at our meetings in March. As I’ve mentioned before, each list reflects the reading of many of our members, whether or not they attended the meetings in question. 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? It might be, but not exactly or necessarily. It always means that a title has been given thoughtful consideration and attention by our readers, which counts for a lot.

At mid-month, we enjoyed another meeting focused on themes rather than on our specific books read in the last month. This time, our main topic of discussion focused on authors and lived experience – that is, to what extent must an author have lived the experiences of their characters? As a reader, are you concerned or do you even check first to find out if an author knows firsthand about the socio-economic status, race, functional abilities, credos and so on of their characters? Or can an author achieve convincing authenticity with research, imagination and sympathy?

It was another rich, varied discussion. The overall discussion leaned towards authors having at least some exposure to the subject matter/circumstances/lived experience for believability/authenticity. As a counterpoint, we also explored the notion that any author worth their salt, imagination and research should be able to convincingly depict a character or experience – because, for example, what if it is a sphere in which no one could possibly have experienced it (e.g. science fiction, fantasy, etc.)? What we concluded is that this is a question that provokes much great and interesting debate, and one that cannot be sewed up neatly, can it? I sense this and other such questions will keep our group fueled for lots of future such meetings and discussions.

Even when you miss a meeting, a good book club sustains you (part 2)

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I know I’ve mentioned before that the east end Toronto silent book club is very fortunate to have a sister silent book club group in midtown Toronto. (Here is founder Beth Gordon’s story about how it got started.)

Midtown was always a short subway ride away from east end Toronto pre-pandemic, and they’re still close at hand via zoom. Here is their latest combined reading list, from a meeting just a few days ago. Full disclosure: I had to miss the meeting – and miss it a lot I did – but I volunteered to compile the reading list from all attendees, proving once again that even when you miss a meeting, that good book club and its wise and wonderful readers can sustain you.

Even when you miss a meeting, a good book club sustains you

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Here is an adorable but seemingly unrelated-to-books picture of an Airedale puppy brimming with teenaged attitude.

An adorably scruffy Airedale puppy sits on a gray carpet, gazing with some puppy defiance at the camera - dog toys are in the background

Mavis* has just started attending obedience classes. Those classes are as necessary, if not more, for us two-leggeds as for the four-leggeds. If the class happens to fall at the same time as a silent book club meeting – well, hard choices must be made.

* Yes, her name is in part inspired by Mavis Gallant – so, further proof our puppy is book-related!

But, while Mavis and I were marching studiously around a small gymnasium*, I was also happy that our book club was carrying on and in good hands. Our February meeting was kindly and very ably led by longtime member Sue Reynolds.

* The dog obedience class location is just steps away from one of our group’s favourite bookstores, The Great Escape! Even more proof this is all book-related!

It’s so gratifying to see that our 5 1/2-year-old group need not rely on any one person to thrive. At the same time, while the whole is perhaps more than the sum of its parts, it’s each part, each reader, each unique library of books and authors and genres and subjects, that makes this group (and, I’m guessing, every silent book club group around the world) unique and vital to each of its parts. Each person and their reading choices and insights are essential to the group’s chemistry, vibe and steadfast reliability as a resource and source of comfort. Can the same be said of the more single-book-oriented groups from which many silent book club members have come?

What also made me happy as I was dog-obediencing instead of silent-book-clubbing was that when it came time to compile a list of the books discussed in the meeting, I know I would hear the voices making recommendations and offering brief critiques. I hope everyone enjoying these reports can hear those voices, too.

At mid-month, we again convened a meeting focused on a couple of discussion topics:

  • Influential authors and books – What is the book or who is the author that has been the greatest influence on you as a reader, and has stayed with you over the years? What is the book or author that has inspired some of your fondest or funniest memories?
  • Unpleasant reading – What if a book turns unpleasant and out of your comfort zone? If an author is doing a commendable job of creating a graphic, disturbing or overly suspenseful situation, but it is not a comfortable reading experience, do you carry on or stop?

Surprise, surprise – the discussion was lively and eclectic, once again! The influential authors and books cited ranged from one’s early reading days to the present. We all realized that those significant writers and works that inspire, inform and take our reading in new directions can come to us at any time or age. It’s not just about the compelling Nancy Drew formula that got us into a early reading groove, is it?

How we each face or work around unpleasant reading – be it graphic, troubling, triggering or otherwise problematic – made for a discussion during which, in the safe space that we’ve created with our group, readers could reveal how certain kinds of words and images have troubled and challenged us. If reading is viewed as a comforting diversion, an escape from the world’s cruelties, is one obliged to let those cruelties intrude on the page? As one group member observed, if a writer has gone to the arduous task of putting difficult things on the page, maybe we need to honour that work and look.

After two such meetings, it feels like what we’re learning about each other and ourselves – as readers and as people – means we’ll be tackling some more book-related themes together in the months to come.

Here is our group’s latest combined book list, reflecting books mentioned and discussed at the meeting at the end of February. As I’ve mentioned before, each list reflects the reading of many of our members, whether or not they attended the meetings in question. 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? It might be, but not exactly or necessarily. It always means that a title has been given thoughtful consideration and attention by our readers, which counts for a lot.

Our previous reports and book lists are available to tantalize, entertain, provoke 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 on hiatus or modified schedules, many are running virtual meetings in different formats, and some are carefully running in-person and hybrid gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Even when you can’t make it to our book club or your book club, or you don’t currently have a book club to gather with bookloving friends, we hope our readings lists and discussions here help sustain you as a reader.

The many ways books nourish us

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How many ways have we shared and celebrated with our silent book club group members how books feed our minds and spirits? Every time we assemble, virtually or in person, I find myself counting the ways and never stopping … from inspirational subject matter and moving depictions in specific books, to the warm company and often eye-opening insights of fellow readers.

Let me add to those many ways another delicious angle, thank you to one of our readers’ delightful perspective. We all love cookbooks, whether we cook, aspire to cook better or differently, or are cooked for (what a blessing!). Cookbooks vary in terms of the quality of their instructional layout and design, and the beauty of the ingredients, processes and finished products they illustrate. But how about cookbooks as literary experiences, too? That reader mentioned that she was indulging in some time off from work to immerse herself in Mi Cocina by Rick Martinez not only for the culinary inspiration, but to relish (see what I did there?) the storytelling. As the linked article says, “For Martínez, every recipe in the book is connected to a memory.” So, many kinds of nourishment …!

Heading into this new year, our group members pondered and decided to try switching up the format of our meetings to delve into some of the themes we touch on and skim over during our regular meetings. This departs from but does not replace our usual meeting format, where we go round the real or virtual circle and invite everyone to update the group on recent reading delights and challenges.

At mid-month, we convened a meeting focused on the topic of rereading: Do you revisit books, or do you always forge ahead to something new? If you do reread, what kinds of experiences have you had – more or less appreciation for a given work, etc.? Is a revisit more likely if you are rereading with your eyes or ears (relistening to an audiobook)?

The discussion was lively – I know, I know, so surprising with this group! For some, rereading is an exercise in comfort and recapturing another time in one’s life. For others, it’s a challenge or reinvestigation, to give a work a second chance, to seek new insights or clarification. From rereading, we wandered to other lovely topics, such as signing and annotating books and treasuring those books that hold our loved ones’ handwriting. Specific book titles came up during the discussion, as vivid examples and subjects of debate on the merits (or not) of rereading.

That first themed discussion meeting went so well, we’ve decided to try it again next month. Stay tuned for more on the topics we tackle next time.

Silent book club member Emily's lovely corgi Delta, sitting in a chair with the book The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell

Silent book club member Philippa's Blind Date with a Book (wrapped in brown paper) turns out to be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Silent book club member Philippa's Blind Date with a Book (wrapped in brown paper) turns out to be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Silent book club member Vicki, on screen, with her pile of reading next to the computer, including books by Ian McEwan, Colin Barrett and Claire Keegan.

Silent book club members Jo and Philippa met in person at the restaurant Budapest on the Danforth in east end Toronto and read silent together. A pastry sits on a plate next to an ebook reader.

[In addition to our virtual meetings this month, two group members had a mini in-person meeting to read quietly together at Budapest, a local restaurant here in east end Toronto.]

Here is our group’s first combined book list of the new year. This list reflects books mentioned and discussed in two meetings in January: our themed discussion at mid-month and our end-of-month go-round with all readers. As I’ve mentioned before, each list reflects the reading of many of our members, whether or not they attended the meetings in question. The titles featured in each of our reports encompass print and digital versions of books, along with audiobooks.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m regularly asked if our group recommends specific books. I answer that 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 that a title has been given thoughtful consideration and attention by our readers, 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 available to intrigue, amuse, provoke 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 on hiatus or modified schedules, many are running virtual meetings in different formats, and some are carefully running in-person and hybrid gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Hoping your new year in reading is off to an amazing and scrumptuous start!

The happy blur of another year (2022) in reading

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Looking back on my years in reading in 2020 and 2021 was challenging because those were uniquely challenging years for all of us, in all ways. Enough said.

Looking back on my year in reading in 2022 is also proving challenging. The third year into whatever-we’re-calling-this-stage-of-yes-it’s-still-a-pandemic, we’re all coping, semi-resuming pre-pandemic activities and practices and forging new versions of normal. Some of the challenges I’m finding are actually not so bad, like, say, this challenge to this bookish household:

Mavis the Airedale puppy sits on a black leather ottoman, surrounded by books

Actually, Mavis (named after Staples, Gallant and Wilton) joined this household late in 2022, so she didn’t so much distract my reading as distract me from assembling my customary “year in reading” post this month. After work, playing with puppy, reading and hanging out virtually with book friends, writing about my reading feels kind of further down the list these days. And in all fairness to Mavis and her mentor, Tilly, our dogs are generally conducive to our reading, not a distraction. I am still feeling sharply the loss of a very dear reading companion, Jake, who was also a silent but influential presence at many of our silent book club zoom meetings.

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

Here are the books I read, reread and read aloud in 2022.
For each book on this year’s list, I’ve sought out links to reviews – not my own, but ones with which I concur – author interviews and/or publisher information. Hope this is helpful if you want to learn more about any of these titles.

I’ve remarked on the following in reference to our silent book club combined reading lists. I realize more and more that the same thing applies to me as a reader, one with a penchant for finishing all or most of what I start: 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 that a title has been given attention and thought by our readers, which counts for a lot. So, that I have devoted my precious time as a reader to every book from the first page to the last means – at least to me, I hope to you too – that everything on my reading lists every year have been fully considered and overall, at least appreciated, often much more than that.

I’m also incorporating a feature in this year’s list that is perhaps as close as I’ll ever get to a “top x reads of the year” kind of distinction. As I was laying out this list of titles, some of them just glowed with memories of particularly satisfying or striking reads, likely paired with good settings, ideal company (or not), perfect timing and more. So, I’ve bolded those glowing titles. That’s it.

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the poetry collection Hell Light Flesh by Klara du Plessis

January 2022

1. Hell Light Flesh by Klara du Plessis
2. Undersong by Kathleen Winter
3. The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin
4. Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
5. The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the poetry collection Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz

February 2022

6. Strange Things by Margaret Atwood
7. Some Integrity by Padraig Regan
8. Emma by Jane Austen

March 2022

9. Reacher: Killing Floor by Lee Childs
10. Next Time There’s a Pandemic by Vivek Shraya
11. Such Color by Tracy K. Smith
12. Infinity Network by Jim Johnstone
13. Hail, the Invisible Watchman by Alexandra Oliver

April 2022

14. H of H Playbook, Euripides translated by Anne Carson
15. Gabriel by Edward Hirsch
16. Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah
17. Mad Shadows by Marie-Claire Blais, translated by Merloyd Lawrence

May 2022

18. O Cidadan by Erin Moure
19. Suit by Samarth
20. Cluster by Souvankham Thammavongsa
21. A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe
22. Shaheen Bagh by Ita Mehrotra
23. Say This by Elise Levine
24. Chhotu by Varud Gupta and Ayushi Rastogi
25. Still Point by E. Martin Nolan

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the graphic novel Chhotu by Varud Gupta and Ayushi Rastogi

June 2022

26. Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin
27. Almost Visible by Michelle Sinclair
28. Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
29. The Space a Name Makes by Rosemary Sullivan

July 2022

30. The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft
31. The Worst Truth by John Metcalf
32. Blue Portugal and Other Essays by Theresa Kishkan
33. State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton, narrated by Joan Allen (audiobook)
34. Poguemahone by Patrick McCabe
35. None of This Belongs to Me by Ellie Sawatzky

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the novel-length poem Poguemahone by Patrick McCabe

August 2022

36. Swelles by Sina Queyras
37. Personals by Ian Williams
38. Who is your mercy contact? by Ronna Bloom

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the poetry chapbook Who is your mercy contact? by Ronna Bloom

39. Romantic by Mark Callanan
40. Third State of Being by Cassidy McFadzean
41. The Day-Breakers by Michael Fraser
42. The Bannisters by Paul Muldoon
43. Mother Muse by Lorna Goodison
44. Patient Frame by Steven Heighton
45. The Junta of Happenstance by by Tolu Oloruntoba
46. These Are Not the Potatoes of My Youth by Matthew Walsh
47. Starting With the Roof of My Mouth by Claren Grosz
48. Deepfake Serenade by Chris Banks
49. I’ll Fly Away by Rudy Francisco
50. The War Works Hard by Dunya Mikhail, translated by Elizabeth Winslow
51. Skin & Meat Sky by Klara du Plessis & Kadie Salmon
52. Palaces for the People – How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg
53. Answer to Blue by Russell Thornton
54. DC Poems by Joe Neubert
55. Pebble Swing by Isabella Wang
56. Durable Goods by James Pollock

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the poetry collection Durable Goods by James Pollock

57. Paper Radio by Damian Rogers
58. The Lost Time Accidents by Sile Englert
59. Guest 16 [A Journal of Guest Editors], edited by Kirby
60. Letters in a Bruised Cosmos by Liz Howard
61. Pilgrim’s Flower by Rachael Boast
62. The Affirmations by Luke Hathaway
63. The Deleted World by Tomas Transtromer, versions by Robin Robertson
64. Blue Sonoma by Jane Munro
65. Selected Poems [1926-1956] by Dorothy Livesay
66. The Alphabet in the Park by Adelia Prado, translated by Ellen Watson

September 2022

67. Be Ready for the Lightning by Grace O’Connell
68. On the Trail of the Jackalope by Michael P. Branch
69. Not the Apocalypse I Was Hoping For by Leslie Greentree
70. Intruder by Bardia Sinaee
71. Sweet Home by Wendy Erskine
72. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the short story collection Not the Apocalypse I Was Hoping For by Leslie Greentree

October 2022

73. The Story by Michael Ondaatje, drawings by David Bolduc
74. Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles
75. Dubliners by James Joyce
76. The Whole Singing Ocean by Jessica Moore

November 2022

77. Straggle – Adventures in Walking While Female by Tanis MacDonald
78. My Grief, the Sun by Sanna Wani
79. The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the essay and poetry collection Straggle by Tanis MacDonald

December 2022

80. But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves. by Conyer Clayton
81. Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell
82. Shimmer by Alex Pugsley
83. The Year of the Puppy by Alexandra Horowitz
84. Foster by Claire Keegan
85. To float, to drown, to close up, to open by E. Alex Pierce

My 2022 year in reading, reflected in a page of my handwritten Book of Books, next to the short story collection Shimmer by Alex Pugsley

In 2022, I read a total of 85 works. That’s down from the dramatic-for-me total of 102 works in 2021, but it’s still darned good. That total broke out as:

  • 26 works of fiction (novels and short story collections)
  • 49 poetry collections and
  • 10 works of non-fiction.

I reread 13 books. (I’ll blog about it next – our silent book club inaugurated its new themed format meetings with a discussion about delights and pitfalls of rereading.) I read 7 works in translation, read 3 graphic works and read 52 works by Canadian authors. My husband and I read 5 books aloud to each other this year, a lively and intriguing cross section of subjects and authors:

  • The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
  • Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin
  • Palaces for the People – How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg
  • On the Trail of the Jackalope by Michael P. Branch
  • The Year of the Puppy by Alexandra Horowitz

I also kept track again this year of the publication dates of the books I read. In 2022, the oldest book I read was published in 1816 (Emma by Jane Austen), and I read 8 books before 2000, improving on my intention in recent years to read more older books. More than half of the books I read this year were published in 2021 or 2022.

So far in 2022, I’ve read or have in progress:

  • The Descendants by Robert Chursinoff
  • The Thinking Heart: The Etty Drawings (1983-1984) Claire Wilks by Jessica Hiemstra
  • Towards a General Theory of Love by Clare Shaw
  • Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan
  • Lessons by Ian McEwan
  • Young Skins by Colin Barrett

To wrap it up in consistently Groundhog Day-ish fashion (just barely before Groundhog Day, actually), here are my observations from the last couple of years, which are still very applicable again this year:

For yet another year, I’m looking back with quiet satisfaction (and with gratitude to the practices and people who helped and inspired) on my reading during an extraordinarily difficult year, and looking forward with quiet optimism to where my reading this new year will take me. I’m grateful to the writers, publishers, reviewers and fellow readers who have spurred on and broadened my reading. I’m thankful as always for the bounty of beautiful words that came to me via so many conduits, evoking such an array of ideas, trains of thought, memories and associations, providing so much off the page, too.

I’ll simply conclude, once again …

It’s not how many books or works you read (in whatever form) that counts. It’s that you read that counts – and it counts so very much.

And I might add … If you can read in good company, be it a partner, a four-legged reading companion and/or a group of trusted bookish friends, your reading will always be imbued with a special, warm glow.