This year, our silent book club is managing to have three gatherings a month, two virtual and one in-person. Our “go-round” virtual meeting keeps all of us up-to-date on the books delighting and/or challenging members. Our in-person meeting has a quick “go-round” to kick things off, and then we settle in with books and beverages for the bliss that is sharing silent reading together with bookish friends. The hustle and bustle of our lovely neighbourhood coffee shop (thank you, East Toronto Coffee Co!) becomes the warm soundtrack to each of the worlds we slip into …

We continue to devote a second virtual meeting every month to a bookish topic of discussion. The topic of this month’s themed discussion meeting was:

Book recommendations / endorsements on book covers – Do you pay attention to them? Do they influence your decision to read a book (or not)?

As always, the discussion was lively and had a great balance of the ways in which the brief statements or blurbs – sometimes just a word or two – on book covers and opening pages of books do or do not help to convince us to pick up particular books. The celebrity of an endorser might or might as easily not influence us. (Hmm, what’s in it for them, eh?) What if someone endorsing a book also appears in the author’s acknowledgements? What if someone appears to endorse lots and lots and lots of books?

At any rate, the topic inspired me to ask our members how they would blurb our silent book club group. Here’s a selection of their fine, pithy and eminently trustworthy statements:

“Our silent book club is a platform for book lovers to share what they choose about what they read. Our group of readers engages in thoughtful dialogue inspired by thematic elements, aesthetics, and the diverse insights contributed by our members. One activity we share is reading alongside fellow readers, cherishing our books alone, together.”
– Tom

“Silent Book Club: A virtual meeting space where a diverse collection of people share their even more diverse book recommendations.”
– Sven

“Silent Book Club: Quietly expanding your TBR list.”
– Jenn E

“A delightful mix of other worlds made known through the words of fellow bookworms.”
– Lisa

“Silent book club – where you’re guaranteed to find a book to keep you reading past 50 pages! ;)”
– Jenn C

“Bountiful book buddies!”
– Anne-Louise

Needless to say, but I’ll say it again because I’m always delighted to say it: you’re going to love our group’s latest combined book list, and titles on it are going to call out to you – guaranteed! This list gathers up books mentioned and discussed by the end of our March to early April 2024 meetings. Each list reflects the reading of many of our members, so dedicated to the group that they regularly 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.

Every title on our group’s lists means that at least one (but usually more) readers have given that title thoughtful consideration. Does that mean every work on our lists is expressly recommended? Not exactly or necessarily. Inclusion on this list always means that our readers have devoted time and attention to a title, which means a lot.

• Interesting Facts about Space by Emily Austin, narrated by Natalie Naudus (audiobook)
• Molloy by Samuel Beckett
• The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, narrated by Robin Miles (audiobook)
• All the Queen’s Men by SJ Bennett, narrated by Jane Copeland (audiobook)
• Murder Most Royal by SJ Bennett, narrated by Jane Copeland (audiobook)
• The Legacy: A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery by Gail Bowen
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
• Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
• A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
• Wrong Norma by Anne Carson
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, narrated by Simon Prebble (audiobook)
• Sharp Notions, edited by Marita Dachsel and Nancy Lee
• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
• The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (audiobook)
• Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck
• Ask the Dust by John Fante
• The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
• The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini (audiobook)
• Bitter Oranges by Claire Fuller
• Troy: the Greek myths reimagined by Stephen Fry (audiobook)
• A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E Grant
• The Exchange – After the Firm by John Grisham
• Soundtrack of Silence: love, loss, and a playlist for life by Matt Hay (audiobook)
• Permanent Astonishment: Growing Up Cree in the Land of Snow and Sky by Tomson Highway
• Ethel on Fire by Helen Humphreys
• Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson
• Denison Avenue by Daniel Innes & Christina Wong
• Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin, narrated by Farah Kidwai (audiobook)
• Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper
• Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, narrated by Kate Rudd (audiobook)
• A Meditation on Murder by Susan Juby, narrated by Lisa Larsen (audiobook)
• Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes (audiobook)
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Firestarter by Stephen King
• The Stand by Stephen King
• We are the Brennans by Tracey Lange, narrated by Barrie Kreinik (audiobook)
• Yellow by Kwon Yeo-Sun
• Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
• Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? The Path of Purposeful Aging by Richard J. Leider and David Shapiro
• An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim
• Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
• Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan
• Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon
• How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire by Andreas Malm
• How Canada Works by Peter Mansbridge
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
• Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
• The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary by Sara Ogilvie
• Unravelling Canada: A Knitting Odyssey by Sylvia Olsen
• Dare to Do: Taking on the Planet by Bike & Boat by Sarah Outen
• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
• Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets by Al Purdy
• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld (audiobook)
• Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp
• The Caretaker by Ron Rash
• Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
• Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
• The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, narrated by Jonathan Davis (audiobook)
• Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo
• Starter Villain by John Scalzi
• Palestinian Walks – Forays into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh
• Also, the Cat by Rachel Swirsky
• By the Ghost Light by R.H. Thomson
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, narrated by Marin Ireland, Michael Urie (audiobook)
• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghes
• Seven Days in June by Tia Williams, narrated by Mela Lee (audiobook)
• Nine Billion Turing Tests by Chris Willrich

Want some extra book-related articles, resources, news and recommendations? 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.

• “The best kinds of books are the ones with attributes that are unquantifiable, which is a big reason why people are so much better at recommendations than algorithms are.“
• Dublin has a new silent book club group – spend an evening with them!

You can always find our previous reports and book lists 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 the worldwide phenomenon of silent book clubs via Guinevere and Laura’s Silent Book Club web site. Last fall, they welcomed their 500th chapter … and they’re well past 600 chapters now. (There were around 60 chapters when we joined as the first Toronto chapter in 2017.) 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.

“Beautiful!” “Entrancing!” “Vital!” “Satisfying!” However you would sum it up, wishing you blurb-worthy reading till next we meet!