Chuckles and the rustle of pages turning

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

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

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I left early, wanted to take my dog …

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

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

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

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

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

2 thoughts on “Chuckles and the rustle of pages turning

  1. theresa

    Lovely to read this on a Sunday morning, in bed, waiting for my coffee, a whole stack of books nearby to be read (or re-read), quietly: William Fiennes, The Music Room; W.S. Merwin, Garden Time; On Paper, Nicholas Basbanes; Louise Penny, Glass Houses; M.F.K. Fisher, To Begin Again; and more…

    Reply
    1. bookgaga Post author

      Thanks, Theresa. (I feel like you’re a virtual member of our silent book club!) Sounds like you’re having a glorious Sunday morning.

      Reply

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