During one of our zoom meetings this month, a silent book club member revealed that she reread a long beloved book that she hadn’t revisited for many years … but she reopened its cover nervously. She likened that moment to “meeting an old friend with trepidation”, worried that time had not treated well her fond memories and connection to the book.

Happily, she reported that the reread was as rich and wonderful as the first meeting with this friend. I’ll let you guess which book it was from the capacious list that always accompanies these posts. May we all have such great experiences, with old friends old and new!

The combined reading list spawned from our group’s meetings and discussions this month will positively dazzle you – trust me! It and all our lists are here to guide you down countless amazing paths. You can contemplate them, you can turn to them when/if you’re having a reading emergency or dry spell – again, trust me/us.

Every title on our group’s generous lists means that at least one (but usually more) readers have given that title considered attention. That doesn’t mean that every work on our lists is expressly recommended, of course. Inclusion on this list always means that our readers have devoted time and thought to a title – and that, fair book lovers, counts for so very much.

• The Power by Naomi Alderman
• The Bittlemores by Jann Arden
• The Incident Report by Martha Baillie
• Critical Injuries by Joan Barfoot
• Havoc by Christopher Bollen
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
• The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier, narrated by Lisa Flanagan (audiobook)
• The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
• The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
• The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis (aka Rowan Coleman)
• The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
• Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
• Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
• Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
• I Who Have Never Known Men by by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz, narrated by Nikki Massoud (audiobook)
• Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes (audiobook)
• Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
• Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
• Raffles by E.W. Hornung
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
• Your Forma (manga/graphic novel format) by Mareho Kikuishi, art by Yoshinori Kisaragi, Tsubata Nozaki
• Your Forma (novel format) by Mareho Kikuishi, art by Tsubata Nozaki, translated by Roman Lempert
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• I Love Dick by Chris Kraus
• Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
• Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew, narrated by Jennifer Hui (audiobook)
• The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
• The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman
• The Two Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman
• The Enigma of Garlic by Alexander McCall Smith, narrated by Robert Ian Mackenzie (audiobook)
• Behind You is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj, narrated by Rasha Zamamiri & Ali Nasser (audiobook)
• A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor, narrated by Marguerite Gavin (audiobook)
• No Comfort For the Dead by R.P. O’Donnell
• BUtterfield 8 by John O’Hara
• Swanfolk by Kristin Omarsdottir
• The Collected Breece D’J Pancake
• The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick
• The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
• The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
• Song of Roland by Michel Rabagliati, translated by Helge Dascher
• Rose à l’île by Michel Rabagliati
• What is Wrong with You? by Paul Rudnick
• A Room Above A Shop by Anthony Shapland
• The Irish Girl by Ashley E Sweeney, narrated by Aoife McMahon (audiobook)
• Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
• Long Island by Colm Toibin, narrated by Jessie Buckley (audiobook)
• Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
• In Winter I Get Up at Night by Jane Urquhart, narrated by Christine Horne (audiobook)
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• This is Happiness by Niall Williams
• Beartooth by Callan Wink
• Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton

Here are some extra book-related articles, resources, news and recommendations, items and tidbits that 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.

• In case you missed it, east end Toronto silent book club member Joylyn Chai recently reviewed Secrets in the Water by Alice Fitzpatrick.
• Enjoy videos of the poet/musician Haleh Liza Gafori, who has translated various Rumi poems.

All of our group’s previous reports and book lists are always available 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 the worldwide phenomenon of silent book clubs via Guinevere and Laura’s Silent Book Club web site. In fall 2023, they welcomed their 500th chapter … and with continuing, breathtaking momentum, they now boast closer and closer to 2,000 chapters … (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.

May your friends old and new – books and readers – warm and buoy your days!