Fresh from back-to-back silent book club meetings (on zoom, followed by in person at a coffee shop just down the street), I realize so much dazzles me about our gatherings, from the selections our members discuss to the enthusiasm and eloquence with which they describe the books and their reading experiences. Vibrant adjectives abound in each description, of which the ones in this report’s title are just a few – and those were applied to one book, thank you very much!

Why not give a ponder to how you would describe your reading in lively ways … maybe using alliteration the way our fellow reader did. Sweet, sentimental and sensitive? Wild, wicked and whimsical? Thorough, thoughtful and therapeutic? Dark, dazzling and dangerous?

… and oh my goodness, did our online and offline meetings this month produce another delectable combined reading list from the group!

As we always note in these reports, 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 counts for so very much.

• What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts, narrated by Hanako Footman, etc. (audiobook)
• The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
• The Hospital by Ahmed Bouanani
• Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
• Milkman by Anna Burns
• My Beloved Monster by Caleb Carr, narrated by James Lurie (audiobook)
• Not My Type by E. Jean Carroll (audiobook)
• What is Broken Binds Us by Lorne Daniel
• The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers, Shawn Harris
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
• Secrets in the Water by Alice Fitzpatrick
• One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
• This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel, narrated by Gabra Zackman (audiobook)
• The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
• Country by Michael Hughes
• Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
• Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – A Sortabiography by Eric Idle
• The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun
• Jennie’s Boy by Wayne Johnston
• Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones
• Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi, narrated by Sneha Mathan (audiobook)
• Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian by Ellen Jovin
• Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani
• The White Book by Han Kang
• An Evening with Birdy O’Day by Greg Kearney, narrated by Sky Gilbert (audiobook)
• The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Mr Potter by Jamaica Kincaid, narrated by Robin Miles (audiobook)
• Penitence by Kristin Koval
• Between the Woods and the Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor
• Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman
• The Little Book of Drag: Pearls of Wisdom from Your Favourite Glam Queens, published by Headline Publishing Group Limited
• Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan
• Fortunes of War novel series by Olivia Manning
• Fury: A Novel by Clyo Mendoza, translated by Christina MacSweeney
• The Secret Hours by Santa Montefiore
• After Dark by Haruki Murakami
• May Contain Murder by Orlando Murrin
• The New Yorker, August 18, 2025
• All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash
• Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan
• Akira Vol. 1 by Katsuhiro Otomo
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
• How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
• True Grit by Charles Portis, narrated by Donna Tartt (audiobook)
• In Search of Lost Time Volume I – Swann’s Way, Volume II – Within a Budding Grove and Volume III – The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncreiff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright
• The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
• Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
• How to Share an Egg by Bonny Reichert (audiobook)
• Death on the Island by Eliza Reid
• The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl
• The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
• Village Fortunes by Rebecca Shaw
• A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman
• Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, narrated by Nasim Pedrad (audiobook)
• Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

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.

• Check out this great review of a popular video game … about running a Tiny BookShop!
• Silent book club member Catherine loved this U.S. exhibition dedicated to Tove Jansson, the beloved Finnish artist, writer and creator of the Moomins.



• “People may draw particular benefits from thinking deeply about what they read and talking about it with others” … so it is worrying that a new study reveals that from 2003 to 2023, the share of Americans who read for pleasure fell 40 percent, a sharp decline that is part of a continuing downward trend.
• “It’s all about having tea, listening, paying attention, showing up.” Kitchen table readings!

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.) The SBC organization will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall … and our chapter will be celebrating its 8th anniversary not long after that.

You can find information on meetings happening around the world and close to where you live. Every club is different in 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.

Whatever adjectives your readings inspire, savour them all!

As I’ve said before, not everyone makes it to every book club meeting, every month. But the book beat goes on, and individual members and the group as a whole keeps it going, pretty much every month of the year – now going on eight years straight!

Without further ado, here are some images from our group’s July gatherings, followed by another gorgeous combined reading list from the group.

Photo credits: Jess Bootsma, Jennifer D. Foster

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 counts for so very much.

• How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann
• Saltwater by Jessica Andrews
• If I Knew Then: Finding Wisdom in Failure and Power in Aging by Jann Arden
• The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
• Death in Diamonds by S.J. Bennett
• Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, narrated by Cassandra Campbell (audiobook)
• Last Look by Charles Burns
• Black Hole by Charles Burns
• Final Cut by Charles Burns
• What is History, Now? Helen Carr and Susan Lipscomb
• Not My Type by E. Jean Carroll
• The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
• Monica by Daniel Clowes
• The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara Comyns
• The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall by Charis Cotter
• Recipe for a Good Life by Lesley Crewe
• Turncoat by Aaron Elkins
• Fire in The Stars by Barbara Fradkin
• Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert
• The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs
• The Family Recipe by Carolyn Huynh
• Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – A Sortabiography by Eric Idle
• Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
• Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, narrated by Jeff Woodman (audiobook)
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
• Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir by Cyndi Lauper with Jancee Dunn
• Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li
• Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman
• Human Nature by Kate Marvel
• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• The Road to Goderich by Linda McQuaig
• Rag Pickers by Blaine Newton
• Death in Focus by Anne Perry
• Inverted World by Christopher Priest
• In Search of Lost Time Volume I – Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright
• Don’t Let Me Be Lonely – An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
• A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
• The Village Newcomers by Rebecca Shaw
• On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
• The Queen of Sugar Hill: A Novel of Hattie McDaniel by Reshonda Tate
• White Walls: Collected Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya
• Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

Our group’s previous reports and book lists never take the month off, either – they’re 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.) And oh, SBC will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall!

You can find information on meetings happening around the world and close to where you live. Every club is different in 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.

Happy reading till next we meet … or don’t, but that’s OK, too.