Monthly Archives: August 2021

Celebrating reading in every form with our silent book club friends

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Our latest silent book club meeting report is introduced by long-time member Kim Maxwell. Kim is a retired bookkeeper/income tax preparer, widowed with 2 children and 2 grandchildren. She is a long time Toronto East Ender and a fervent fan of audiobooks. Her many interests include life enhancement learning, the arts and travel. She inherited her love of reading from her mother who always said “If you have a book to read, then you will never be bored or lonely”.

Silent book club member Kim MaxwellI have always wanted to join a book club but felt inhibited by the required book selection and the fact that I am a slow reader. When I heard about the SBC in East Toronto, I was intrigued. Not only could I read a book of my choice but would have the opportunity to read silently for an hour without guilt. I rarely sat at home alone to read due to many chores that were beckoning. Hence my love for audiobooks. I could “read” while I worked, cooked, cleaned etc. – no time wasted and boredom at bay.

I have been an audiobook fan for many years. It started with being stuck in traffic on my way to work and discovering that listening to audiobooks helped me pass the time without frustration – the only downside was that sometimes I was so engrossed in the story that I missed my exit but that just gave me more time to listen. Audiobooks are becoming more mainstream now with an abundance of titles. Almost any book in print can be downloaded as either an e-book or an audiobook. At one time there was a snobbery with regards to reading versus listening; the former being supposedly superior. It was as if “listening” to a book did not count. Fortunately, that attitude has changed.

To me, the narrator is the most important feature of the book. If the story is dull but the narrator is excellent, then the experience is ok, a decent time waster. If the story is compelling but the narrator speaks in a monotone, then the book is only good for sleep inducing and you will wonder what all the fuss is about. But if the story is interesting and/or exciting with the addition of an outstanding narrator, then the experience is absolutely joyful. Currently, the trend is to use talented, versatile and often well-known performers to narrate these audiobooks. In my opinion, the voice makes all the difference to the audio experience.

My biggest surprise in joining the SBC was not the luxury of reading silently for an hour but rather being exposed to so many different authors and types of reading material. I listen intently to the reading choices of the other members, noting their reviews, both good and bad. I certainly have expanded my reading interests and have been introduced to quite an eclectic list of authors and titles. For me this has been one of the best benefits to my belonging to this book club.

Again this month, our silent book club meetings ranged from zoom gatherings from our homes and cottages to, thankfully, the great outdoors of our favourite local park.

Catherine Xu's poetry exercise

Catherine Xu's poetry exercise

Kathryn Eastman's books, with our favourite bookish squirrel

Lyla's books<img loading=

Vicki's books

Silent book club gathering in Stephenson Park

Silent book club member Sue in Stephenson Park

Silent book club member Beth in Stephenson Park

Silent book club member Jo in Stephenson Park

Silent book club member Vicki in Stephenson Park”

Our always generous reading list is especially extensive this month because it combines discussions from two meetings, a pop-up weeknight evening meeting and our regular Saturday morning 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 were offered by our members and/or came up during this meeting’s discussions and chat, including:

  • The Sealey Challenge started in 2017, when American poet Nicole Sealey challenged herself and others to read a poetry work a day for every day in the month of August. I took up the challenge again this year and am in the homestretch, after also successfully completing it in 2020. Those taking part note their progress on social media using the hashtag #TheSealeyChallenge. Take a look and, maybe, dip into some poetry yourself.
  • August is also Women in Translation Month (#WITMonth). It was initiated in 2014 by book blogger Meytal Radzinski. She grew up speaking English and Hebrew, and her multilingual family often encouraged her to read literature in translation.
  • Book festivals around the world are looking at hybrid versions of their series, with online programs and carefully mounted, social distancing compliant live events. Some recommended by our members include the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Brooklyn Book Festival.
  • As A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is much beloved by many of our book club members, it’s no wonder Towles’ latest, The Lincoln Highway, is highly anticipated.
  • Lighten your heart with selections from the Comedy Women in Print 2021 longlist. This is the UK & Ireland’s first comedy literary prize.
  • Who Said It: Pooh or Proust? Thanks to the New York Public Library for this diverting quiz.

Fellow readers, you are always welcome to boost your reading with fodder from our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists – find them all here. Perhaps you’ll come across new and unexpected bookish delights!

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, but many are running virtual meetings in different formats. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Stay safe, stay well, stay hopeful, stay immersed in wonderful, inspiring and rejuvenating books!

More young adult (YA) reading recommendation goodness – the fifth of a series of review round-ups

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We are grateful for and delighted with Toronto silent book club member Sundus Butt’s ongoing collections of young adult (YA) titles and recommendations. Enjoy all the monthly YA installments here.

July 2021 Young Adult book recommendation

When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson, illustrated by Victoria Jamieson and Iman Geddy (9+)

I had been a horrible friend to Jeri. No one would want a friend like me back.
But the good news was, we weren’t friends.
We were brothers.
And the thing about a brother is, you don’t need words to understand each other.

This graphic novel follows Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, as they spend years in a Kenyan refugee camp. The hardships they face from lack of food to lack of medical care for Hassan (who is largely non-verbal) are heartbreaking. And although the story focuses on the interminable despair and waiting refugees face, it is also full of hope and light. What stayed with me most was the remarkable way people are able to create a sense of family and home even in the grimmest of places.

Alexandria of Africa by Eric WaltersAlexandria of Africa by Eric Walters (9–12)

“You and the other Maasai I saw on the road always wear red. Why?” I asked.
“Some people believe it is a warning to the lion. He sees the red and runs away.” Nebala explained. “Others say that the lion is attracted to the red because it looks like the blood of a fresh kill, so he goes for the warrior and leaves the cattle alone.”
[…]
“It can’t be both,” another person objected.
“One thing can be many things,” he said.

Alexandria is a spoiled rich teen who has been caught stealing (again). She and her family decide to take a deal where Alexandria must go to Africa with an international aid group rather than spend four months in juvie.

Walters does a good job of making Alexandria feel convincing. And although it’s difficult to read from the perspective of a character that you’d like to pick up and throw across a room, the impact the Kenyan people and environment have on Alexandria is satisfying. Overall, this is a light read, but it shows how a person’s perspective can shift (even if it’s slightly) when exposed to ideas and cultures outside their own.

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (11–14)

“[…] the person you encounter is often more than the person you see.”

Abilene Tucker arrives in Manifest feeling abandoned by her father and counting down the days until she’s reunited with him at the end of summer. But Abilene quickly finds there’s a lot more to her father’s old town than she first thought.

This is a charming read full of the simple joys of childhood exploration and discovery. The olden setting and variety of characters feel real almost instantly. Combined with Vanderpool’s warm writing, this is an enjoyable coming-of-age story.

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly HuntFish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (10–13)

My grandpa used to say to be careful with eggs and words, because neither can ever be fixed. The older I get, the more I realize how smart my grandpa was.

This story follows Ally as she struggles through school without anyone (including herself) understanding why. A new teacher is able to discover that Ally has dyslexia. With hard work and belief, Ally discovers she’s capable of more than she imagined.

Hunt does a great job of conveying Ally’s isolation and shame in being unable to read properly and ask for help. You really feel for Ally right from the start with her behavioural issues and a slew of misunderstandings that arise from her dyslexia. But as she begins to understand why she’s had so much trouble, Ally slowly gains confidence and hope, and realizes that people are built differently and learn differently, too. This story celebrates those differences between us, and also those amazing teachers that go deeper and genuinely change a child’s life.

The Giver by Lois LowryThe Giver by Lois Lowry (13+)

Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything.

Set in a colourless (figuratively and literally) world of conformity, this story focuses on 12-year-old Jonas as he’s assigned to The Giver to receive memories of the past. As Jonas begins to receive these memories, he discovers experiences and ideas that cast his world in a new light.

Lowry packs a lot of social commentary into this short novel, not just by what she chose to include, but also by what she omitted. The atmosphere in the story is well crafted. The sterility of Jonas’s environment and in the people he speaks to feels tangible and it clearly communicates a world that has lost all sense of what it means to live a life and live it fully.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth AcevedoClap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (15+)

You do not call bad spirits into the room, & you do not smudge a person’s dignity by pretending they are not still alive & right in front of you, & perhaps about to receive a miracle.
You do not let your words stunt unknown possibilities.

Written in verse, this novel follows two 16-year-old girls, Camino (in the Dominican Republic) and Yahaira (in New York City), who never knew about each other, but are now connected by the tragedy of their father’s death.

Acevedo beautifully and commandingly crafts a story that covers so many different ideas including the imperfections of family, culture, identity, grief, poverty, as well as the dangers of being a young woman. This is a raw and emotional story delivered in a unique, lyrical way.

The Thief by Meghan Whalen Turner (13+)

Discretion prevented me from saying that I thought she was a fiend from the underworld and that mountain lions couldn’t force me to enter her service.

Gen, a boastful (but apparently unsuccessful) thief is plucked from a prison by the king’s scholar, the magus, to attain an ancient lost treasure. The story largely centres on their journey, revealing the history and political intrigues of the different regions along the way.

The writing in The Thief is excellent. There isn’t a lot of action, but Whalen’s descriptions and mini-myths are so enjoyable to read. On the character front, the wit and banter provided by Gen is terrific—he’s a lot of fun to follow (and I imagine he was a lot of fun to write, too). The Thief is a wonderful, old-world fantasy and kicks-off a great series.

Silent book club journeys

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Lyla and friendsOur latest silent book club meeting report is introduced by long-time member Lyla MacAulay, parent and teacher in Toronto, avid and eclectic reader, and fosterer of many kittens.

This week during Silent Book Club, I thought about journeys and how far we have come.

When I was invited to join Silent Book Club, it seemed no small thing to haul myself from west to east Toronto. To read. Silently. Which I could do in my own cozy space. But I did it, and was richly rewarded by meeting wonderful readers and the amazing variety and depth of the books they introduced me to.

Fast forward to pandemic times. Vicki and Jo were heroic in welcoming us to Zoom, and while our physical spaces got more and more restricted, our book space grew and grew! Paradoxically, shrinking to a screen opened SBC to readers from southwestern Ontario to Wales. And we shared worlds in other ways; we had glimpses of shelves and kitchens, gardens and mugs, partners and pets, tantalizing views of each others’ lives that we would not have seen with our meet-ups at Press Vinyl (still on our radar!), or in the park.

Lyla friend!It seems to me that in expanding our places and our members, we have expanded our hearts and imaginations. Our group is so supportive of the struggles we’ve had, and grateful for the time we have together, and I don’t think that would have happened as easily and inclusively if SBC was bounded by physical presence.

At SBC we all have a reading journey, and they aren’t linear! From meeting to meeting we wander through subjects and genres, we are fluid in our choices, and we are nudged into other paths by each other. Who knows where we are going? Inspired by The Sealey Challenge (a book of poetry a day in August), I started The Complete Poems of Cavafy. In “Ithaca”, Cavafy reminds us of the value in the journey itself.

When you start on your journey to Ithaca,
Then pray that the road is long,
Full of adventure, full of knowledge

This week’s journey, as Lyla has captured so beautifully, took us from our respective homes and cottages to zoom to sunny Stephenson Park.

Silent book club zoom meeting

Beth's reading spot

Jenn's books and knitting

Lyla's books

Sue R and one of her books

Sven and Jenn's books

Irina in the park

4 sbc readers in the park

Lyla in the park

Jo in the park

Ruth in the park

Sue R in the park

3 sbc readers in the park

Vicki in the park

Once again, this meeting has culminated in a positively overflowing reading list that will take you in many directions, on many wide-ranging journeys. 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 were offered by our members and/or came up during this meeting’s discussions and chat, including:

  • The Sealey Challenge started in 2017, when American poet Nicole Sealey challenged herself and others to read a poetry work a day for every day in the month of August. All who take part (I’m taking up the challenge again this year, after successfully completing it in 2020) note their progress on social media using the hashtag #TheSealeyChallenge. Follow along … and, maybe, dip into some poetry yourself this upcoming month.
  • Books admired and beloved by this silent book club group have surfaced on the Booker Prize longlist – take a look!
  • The Kitchener Public Library was an important and formative part of one silent book club member’s early years as a reader … and is an important resource today for another member we were fortunate to have join us online since the start of the pandemic.
  • East end Toronto booklovers rejoice! The Scribe is a new bookstore addition (antiquarian) to the Danforth, near Chester.

Our fellow readers – don’t forget, you’re all part of a vast underground network for goodness at work in the world – are invited to boost their reading with fodder from our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists – find them all here. Perhaps you’ll come across the unexpected!

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 haitus, but many are running virtual meetings in different formats. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Stay safe, stay well, stay hopeful, stay utterly engrossed in great and rejuvenating books!