Escaping to other years, other lives

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“I don’t want to be in 2022, so I’m glad to be in [this book’s] time period instead.”

“[This protagonist’s] life has its problems, but I’m glad to be in hers rather than mine for a bit.”

Somber as those comments might sound, that we could speak them in a warm, safe virtual gathering with bookish friends is immense comfort. This same gathering had a strong undercurrent of giggles running through it, too, you know – teed off by one reader’s disappointing encounter with a sci-fi work’s harsh treatment of a character’s orifices. (We kid you not.) So yes, our meetings run the same rollercoasterish waves that the news, the pandemic and life in general do, but we wouldn’t miss their companionship, humour and solace for the world.

Kath's books

Sue R reading Death in Ten Minutes

Vicki and her books

Even when they can’t attend, because they’re double booked on zoom or zoom fatigued, our silent book club members faithfully share what they’ve been reading lately, so we can always provide a generous reading list with each 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 are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat, including:

Our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists are always waiting for you to read and enjoy them 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 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, and some are re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Keep reading. Just keep reading.

Winter 2022 young adult (YA) reading recommendations

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Our Toronto silent book club member Sundus Butt offers another splendid collection of young adult (YA) titles, accompanied by well-attuned and insightful reviews. For now, this is her final installment, but I hope we can convince to return in future with more! Here are all Sundus’ recommendations collected together for your enjoyment and edification.

January 2022 Young Adult (YA) selections

The Worst Witch by Jill MurphyThe Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (6–9)

Whoever heard of a witch who was scared of the dark?

In England, before Harry and Hogwarts, there were Mildred and Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches. Mildred Hubble is an awful witch. She can’t perform spells properly, ride a broomstick, or even keep her shoes tied, and is just generally a disaster. But armed with her best friend, Maud, and her odd kitten, Tabby, Mildred tries to make it through her first year at the academy.

I adored this book as a child. It’s a short and delightful read about a girl who doesn’t fit in and pretty much rubs everyone the wrong way. But there’s a charm to Mildred (and the story as a whole) and it’s immensely satisfying when she saves the day, with all her flaws in tow.

The Ruins of Gorlan by John FlanaganThe Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan (9–12)

Will became aware of the comforting realization that he was now a part of an exclusive, tightly knit group.

It was a warm sense of belonging, as if, somehow, he had arrived home for the first time in his life.

Will has always been a bit different, even for an orphan raised at Redmont Fief. And when Choosing Day arrives and no one selects him as an apprentice, Will’s heart sinks. But then the mysterious old ranger Halt selects him at the last minute and Will falls headlong into a new and strange life.

With an enjoyable cast of characters, witty dialogue, and some familiar fantastical elements, this is just a really fun, medieval-feeling read.

The Thing About Luck by Cynthia KadohataThe Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata (10–14)

My friends all felt like life would go on forever, but I realized it was something happening now. And yet I didn’t know what to make of it. “It’s because your personality hasn’t settled yet,” my mother liked to say, as if my personality was dust floating in water.

Summer’s family has had a torrid string of bad luck from Summer contracting malaria to her brother’s only friend moving away to her parents leaving for a family emergency in Japan. So it’s just Summer, her grandparents, and little brother, Jaz, who are left to help out for the harvest season.

The highlight of the story is the relationship between Summer and her grandmother. Their back-and-forth banter feels like a real reflection of two people from different generations and cultures, and their dramatic natures make their encounters amusing. The characters are the heart of this simple story, which is a snapshot of a season in Summer’s life as she navigates growing up and dealing with the trials and joys that entails.

Holes by Louis Sachar (11–13)

A lot of people don’t believe in curses.

A lot of people don’t believe in yellow-spotted lizards either, but if one bites you, it doesn’t make a difference whether you believe in it or not.

Unjustly sent to a boys’ detention camp, Stanley Yelnats is forced to dig a large hole every day in excruciating heat at Camp Green Lake, which has no lake, greenery, and is the farthest thing from camp. But Stanley soon learns there’s more behind digging the holes than “building character.”

With some excellently crafted characters and weaving of the past and present, Sachar creates a story that unfolds so well and doesn’t feel too heavy amidst the truly terrible conditions (environmental and human-made) of the camp. And it’s these conditions that make Stanley’s growth even more extraordinary. He learns to uncover and choose courage, compassion, and strength when faced with difficult situations.

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie (9–12)

This woman was holding a dead body and walking off into a cornfield — and I was letting her. Could it be … a crime? The thought was both terrible and thrilling. I was only ten and about to become an Accessory. Was it possible to be disbarred before I even got into law school?

After a heart episode, Guinevere’s (Gwyn’s) mother is oxygen-deprived for so long that she loses all her memories past the age of 13. But even worse, she acts like she’s a child, too. Gwyn’s dad decides moving back to their hometown in Iowa will help restore his wife’s memory and in turn heal the breach in their family. Skeptical of the outcome, Gwyn takes her little sister, Bitty, in hand and makes the best of a terrible situation by befriending some offbeat boys, making a longed-for archenemy, and realizing people aren’t always what they seem.
This is one of my favourite books. It has a terrific opening line and sets the tone for the wonder that is Gwyn. Her narration of this heartwarming (and wrenching) story is poignant and funny. And even though this is set in modern times, it feels like an olden setting, which adds to the charm and fits the story perfectly. The title is correct; once you’ve met Guinevere St. Clair, you won’t soon forget her.

Refugee by Alan Gratz (9+)

[…] A building shuddered and collapsed, smoke and debris avalanching out into the street. Mahmoud jumped when it fell, but Waleed stood still, like this kind of thing happened every day.

With a jolt of surprise, Mahmoud realized this kind of thing did happen every day. Just not to them. Until now.

This book follows three child refugees and their families as they leave their homes to find a new place to live: Josef flees Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel flees Cuba in 1994, and Mahmoud flees Syria in 2015.

Tragically, fear and mistreatment of refugees is a long tradition, highlighted by the similarities in the children’s journeys in three different decades. As expected, this is a heavy, unvarnished look at the incomprehensible situations some people must go through to find a safe place to live. Though written at a young reading level, I think the content skews this book a little higher. And whilst it’s bleak, it does show the tenacity and determination of the human spirit, and some unexpected connections tie these three separate stories together towards the end.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer (9–11)

“[…] as you’ve discovered, so many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.”

Meet Milo. He’s bored with everything in his life and feels like nothing matters. But one day, he receives a mysterious package that he builds into a tollbooth. The tollbooth sends him off into another world where he never knows what to expect from one moment to the next.

It’s hard to describe the enjoyable chaos that is The Phantom Tollbooth. Juster cleverly pieces together the Kingdom of Wisdom with playful puns, descriptions, and a cast of characters who I think would fit right in in Wonderland. As Milo journeys from Expectations to the Doldrums to Dictionopolis and beyond, he realizes the importance of words and that there is so much more to his own world if he takes the time to look a little closer.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (11+)

One magician demanded I show him an image of the love of his live. I rustled up a mirror.

Nathaniel, a young wizard-in-training, summons ancient djinni Bartimeaus and commands him to steal an amulet from a powerful wizard. This theft kicks off a series of events that embroils them both in a dangerous conspiracy set in a dystopian, alternate version of England.

If you don’t already have a favourite djinni, Bartimeaus will fill that space. Funny, troublesome, irreverent, he’s a marvellous character. Split between his perspective and Nathaniel’s, you’re taken through a rollercoaster of magical and chaotic events in a world different yet familiar. With actual footnotes that genuinely enrich the running story, Stroud creates a slightly dark, but unique fantasy tale.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (12+)

The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consequence of this is that I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both.

This extraordinary book follows Liesel Meminger as she comes of age in Nazi Germany. After losing her family, Liesel is fostered by Hans and Rosa Hubermann. One day, a Jewish man arrives at their door, and the Hubermann’s make the brave and dangerous decision to hide him. Liesel’s new family must now pretend nothing has changed when everything has changed in a world tipped into a brutal war.

This is such a beautifully written book. Zusak’s descriptions combined with death as the narrator mark this as a special story right from the start. And in Liesel, you have a broken-hearted, but fierce character who finds small and big ways to defy Nazi authority. Her burgeoning love for language and books is something that resonates with readers and is celebrated. There are lots of stories set in Nazi Germany, but this is one of the very best, with characters that will stay with you long after the story has ended.

A year in reading to redeem the year that was

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Coming round to another January, it occurs to me that the pandemic has turned entire years into Groundhog’s Day. I’m doing my usual ponder of my year in reading, taking a look at the reflections of other readers and the books and reading that filled their year … and it’s all feeling like, well, we’ve been here before, in almost exactly these same circumstances.

That’s not entirely a bad thing. As I remarked this time last year, reflecting on 2020, our reading then was a source of diversion, comfort, inspiration and more, and it was again – as it needed to be – again in 2021.

Early in 2021, I was delighted to team up with writer and blogger Liza Achilles to tackle the subject of how to maintain one’s enthusiasm and focus for reading (essentially, to keep the reading mojo workin’) during the pandemic. We exchanged blog posts, with Liza’s piece appearing here and my piece appearing on Liza’s blog – and what a revealing and energizing exercise that was.

Again in 2021, most of the events and gatherings normally enjoyed live and in-person were online. The silent book club groups in which I take part all moved online during the first wave of pandemic closures and lockdowns, and largely continued on as such this past year. Once again, the attendees of our silent book club gatherings collectively helped each other through struggles with our reading – intermittent concentration, flagging attention span, lessened energy, emotions triggered and so on – and I chronicled some of that in our reports. As I mentioned last year, I was determined to keep up our groups’ reports and not only did that throughout this year, but got many of our group members to write the introductions, all lively and interesting in their own fashions.

Respecting local guidelines and restrictions, our silent book club members still managed to meet for brief, physically distanced, but still heart lifting gatherings in the park … even as the weather grew colder again.

Silent book club in the park in fall

Silent book club in the park in winter

Along with silent book club meetings, most of the book launches and poetry readings I would normally enjoy in person were largely online again in 2021. Virtual gatherings are getting more sophisticated and are smoothing out the technical challenges (although some of the zoom oopsies occasionally add welcome whimsy to the occasion) … but still, nothing can compare to live events. How uplifting that the indefatigable poetry force knife | fork | book was able to present live readings in a singular setting in east end Toronto, as part of the launch of kfb’s retail presence at Great Escape Bookstore. I rhapsodized about it all on Twitter.

knife fork book poetry reading at the Great Escape bookstore

Again this year, I took up the somewhat intimidating but rewarding Sealey Challenge for reading yet more poetry. Started in 2017 by American poet and educator Nicole Sealey, and steered through social media with the hashtag #thesealeychallenge, the idea is to commit and do your best to read 31 works of poetry over the course of 31 days in August. I managed to do it again this year. I always have had a poetry collection on the go, but reading at this pace turns it into a whole new, mind-expanding experience – at times overwhelming but always exhilarating. Again, it was such a boost. Yes, I will aim to do it again. This past challenge, I roughly planned out a reading sequence of full works, chapbooks and a mix of new, new to me and rereads, and am already mapping out my August, 2022 poetry playlist.

I continued my commitment in 2021 to a daily devotion to at least one poem … and usually more, as friends on Twitter continued to generously share their poem choices and reflections via the #todayspoem hashtag. I have now completed 10 years of uninterrupted daily poetry tweets and am barrelling on into year 11.

Another practice that continues to enhance my weekly reading joy as I navigate through books is that of #sundaysentence, championed by author David Abrams. As I’ve observed before, seeking a beautifully or uniqued crafted sentence each week sharpens my attention when I’m reading. I also love discovering new works through the #sundaysentence choices of other readers.

In years past when I’ve looked back on my reading, I’ve reminisced about where I was when I was reading this or that, or I’ve linked to longer notes and reviews here on this blog, on Goodreads, etc. As I refrained in 2020, I’m not going to do that again this year. Somehow, in spite of it all, I had a bountiful year of reading by just ploughing ahead – with, of course, a little help from my bookish friends. I’m going to keep doing that again this upcoming year in reading, and wish the same for everyone.

Here are the books I read, reread and read aloud in 2021.
(For each book on this year’s list, I’ve sought out links to reviews – not my own, but ones with which I concur – author interviews and/or publisher information. Hope this is helpful if you want to learn more about any of these titles.)

My 2021 year in reading, with selected books by Ken Babstock, Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, Elaine Feeney, Christy Ann Conlin and brandy ryan & Kerry Manders

January 2021

1. Rachel to the Rescue by Elinor Lipman
2. One Year at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks
3. Dearly by Margaret Atwood
4. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
5. Swivelmount by Ken Babstock
6. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
7. Word Problems by Ian Williams

February 2021

8. Book of Wings by Tawhida Tanya Evanson
9. The Age of Phillis by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
10. Beasts of the Sea by Kate Sutherland
11. As You Were by Elaine Feeney
12. Me Then You Then Me Then by Kathryn Mockler and Gary Barwin
13. silence, then by R. Kolewe
14. Ask About Language As If It Forgets by Hoa Nguyen
15. After Pulse by brandy ryan and Kerry Manders

March 2021

16. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
17. Phillis by Alison Clarke
18. Their Queer Tenderness by Neil Surkan
19. The Speed of Mercy by Christy Ann Conlin
20. OBIT by Victoria Chang
21. The Devil by John Nyman

My 2021 year in reading, with selected books by Ani Gjika, Michelle Butler Hallett, Yaa Gyasi, Dallas Hunt and Doireann Ni Ghriofa

April 2021

22. Strangers by Rob Taylor
23. Villa Negativa by Sharon McCartney
24. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
25. A Short History of the Blockade by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
26. Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys
27. the debt by Andreae Callanan
28. Against Amazon – Seven Arguments / One Manifesto by Jorge Carrion, translated by Peter Bush

May 2021

29. Magnetic Field – The Marsden Poems by Simon Armitage
30. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
31. Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
32. The Ouroboros by Jim Johnstone
33. Creeland by Dallas Hunt
34. Constant Nobody by Michelle Butler Hallett
35. The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri

June 2021

36. Little Housewolf by Medrie Purdham
37. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
38. Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin
39. Crow – From the Life and Songs of the Crow by Ted Hughes
40. The Beguiling by Zsuzsi Gartner

July 2021

41. The Family Way by Christopher DiRaddo
42. A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa
43. Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

My 2021 year in reading, with selected books by T.S. Eliot, Chad Campbell, Cory Lavender, Selina Boan, Elizabeth Brewster and Joseph Dandurand

August 2021

… including #thesealeychallenge (reading 31 works of poetry in 31 days)

44. Poisonous If Eaten Raw by Alyda Faber
45. Bread on Running Waters by Ani Gjika
46. Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg
47. Imitation Crab by Hamish Ballantyne
48. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
49. The East Side of It All by Joseph Dandurand
50. The Pit by Tara Borin
51. Nectarine by Chad Campbell
52. Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
53. guys named Bill by Leslie Greentree
54. Walt by Shane Neilson
55. The Essential Elizabeth Brewster, selected by Ingrid Ruthig
56. This Is How It Is by Sharon King-Campbell
57. Me by Elton John
58. Deriving by Jennifer Bowering Delisle
59. DBL by Andy Verboom
60. Audio Obscura by Lavinia Greenlaw
61. Too Much Love by Gianna Patriarca
62. Undoing Hours by Selina Boan
63. The Bad Wife by Micheline Maylor
64. Ballad of Bernie “Bear” Roy by Cory Lavender
65. Smithereens by Terence Young
66. The Sacramento of Desire by Julia Bloch
67. Country by Michael Cavuto
68. All the People Are Pregnant by Andrew DuBois
69. Methodist Hatchet by Ken Babstock
70. The Wild Fox by R. Kolewe
71. 1996 by Sara Peters
72. I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin by Valerie Mason-John
73. The Good Dark by Ryan Van Winkle
74. Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood
75. Gospel Drunk by Aidan Chafe
76. Yes, I Am a Corpse Flower by Travis Sharp

My 2021 year in reading, with selected books by Margaret Atwood, Lucy Ellmann, Dana Spiotta, Jaspreet Singh and David OMeara

September 2021

77. Rain and Other Stories by Mia Couto, translated by Eric M.B. Becker
78. Wayward by Dana Spiotta
79. The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam
80. Things Are Against Us by Lucy Ellmann

October 2021

81. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
82. The Tradition by Jericho Brown
83. Masses on Radar by David O’Meara
84. My Mother, My Translator by Jaspreet Singh
85. goodbye, already by Ryanne Kap
86. On the Proper Use of Stars by Dominique Fortier, translated by Sheila Fischman

November 2021

87. Unreconciled by Jesse Wente
88. The Tinder Sonnets by Jennifer LoveGrove
89. Poetry is Queer by Kirby
90. How to Be Happy Though Human by Kate Camp
91. Ghosthawk by Matt Rader
92. To Star the Dark by Doireann Ni Ghriofa
93. Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
94. Myself a Paperclip by Triny Finlay

My 2021 year in reading, with selected books by Salena Godden, Triny Finlay, Silmy Abdullah, Patrick Radden Keefe and Victoria Kennefick

December 2021

95. Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden
96. Best Canadian Poetry 2021, edited by Souvankham Thammavongsa
97. Home of the Floating Lily by Silmy Abdullah
98. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
99. Dante’s Indiana by Randy Boyagoda
100. The Historians by Eavan Boland
101. Disorientation – Being Black in the World by Ian Williams
102. Eat or We Both Starve by Victoria Kennefick

In 2021, I read a total of 102 works. That broke out as:

  • 27 works of fiction (novels and short story collections)
  • 63 poetry collections and
  • 12 works of non-fiction.

I reread 5 books. I read 5 works in translation, read one graphic work and read 64 works by Canadian authors. My husband and I read 2 books aloud to each other this year – A Promised Land by Barack Obama and Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe – both absorbing works that felt like long but very worthy journeys.

I also kept track again this year of the publication dates of the books I read. In 2021, the oldest book I read was published in 1925 (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos), but only read four books before 2000, kind of backtracking on my intention in recent years to read more older books. More than half of the books I read this year were published in 2020 or 2021.

So far in 2022, I’ve read or have in progress:

  • Hell Light Flesh by Klara du Plessis
  • Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
  • Undersong by Kathleen Winter
  • The Storyteller by Dave Grohl (read aloud)

To wrap it up in consistently Groundhog Day-ish fashion, here are my observations from a year ago, which are still very applicable again this year:

For yet another year, I’m looking back with quiet satisfaction (and with gratitude to the practices and people who helped and inspired) on my reading during an extraordinarily difficult year, and looking forward with quiet optimism to where my reading this new year will take me. I’m grateful to the writers, publishers, reviewers and fellow readers who have spurred on and broadened my reading. I’m thankful as always for the bounty of beautiful words that came to me via so many conduits, evoking such an array of ideas, trains of thought, memories and associations, providing so much off the page, too.

I’ll simply conclude …

It’s not how many books or works you read (in whatever form) that counts. It’s that you read that counts – and it counts so very much.

Those twinkling lights in the darkness

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Some of those twinkling lights were hanging in the trees of our beloved park in east end Toronto, where a few of us assembled for one last bookish go-round and exchange of good wishes for the end of this trying year. How appropriate to be in the place where we gathered when we could to share in person the companionship of reading together.

Some of those twinkling lights beam from our twice monthly regular zoom meetings to share our reading delights and challenges. Yes, we’re weary and even frustrated with those screens. Thank goodness books in all forms give us good reason to turn away from them when we can. And yet, we still show up for those virtual connections, don’t we?

Some of those twinkling lights spark off the pages of the books that divert us, comfort us, guide us, inspire us.

Emilia's reading, with Luna the cate

Lyla's reading, including The Malahat Review

Jenn's reading, including Miss Dior by Justine Picardie

Vicki's reading, including Disorientation by Ian Williams

Silent book club member Sue in the park, with a book by Lauren Groff

Silent book club member Jo in the park, with a book by Eden Robinson

Silent book club member Catherine in the park, with a book by Louise Penny

Silent book club member Vicki in the park, with Tilly the Airedale and a book by Doireann Ni Ghriofa

Our last combined reading list for 2021 is as bountiful and diverse as ever. 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 are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat, including:

Our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists are always waiting for you to read and enjoy them 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 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, and some are re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

To those who make books possible – writers, publishers, booksellers, reviewers, bloggers and more – and all those who adore books in all forms: wishing you a safe, peaceful new year filled with happiness, hope and all the reading you need to sustain and buoy your mind and spirit.

Silently (and not-so-silently) celebrating Canadian small presses

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How we gather has changed profoundly over the course of the pandemic.

How gathering has been curtailed and modified has challenged us. We haven’t always executed it successfully or derived from it what we did before, in person and in beloved spaces.

But gather we have, and sometimes we’ve gained unique connections, insights and solace in these new forms of meeting.

Silent book clubs – long chronicled here – have always been about readers gathering to share each other’s company in the act of reading. The being-in-the-company-of-readers part is where the “silent” comes from, but interestingly, the gatherings were often book-ended (!) with considerably less than silent sharing of enthusiasms and challenges around one’s reading. While “club” echoes the concept of traditional book clubs, where there was something of the likeminded in choosing a single book for all participants to read and discuss, these gatherings were more like community, where any book in any form was warmly welcomed and not judged.

While we’ve missed sharing coffee and scones around a cafe table with our fellow readers, the conversation and community has continued online. In fact, we’ve been able to fling open those coffee shop doors to welcome people from around the world. It’s the comforting trade-off to not being able to meet with the people just around the corner.

When the Meet the Presses collective approached me about hosting a silent book club zoom meeting as part of the group’s second virtual small press book fair, I was delighted to be asked. I was equally delighted to realize that the silent book club model could work for other book-related communities.

Meet the Presses

Meet the Presses values small presses and the authors they publish. The organization supports the ongoing creation of new literary work in all formats and across all genres. Meet the Presses’ annual Indie Literary Market is an invitational event for independent literary publishers — presses, micropresses, zines, and journals — as selected by this volunteer collective. Since 1986, Meet the Presses has also awarded the annual bpNichol Chapbook Award. This year and last, the group replaced its the vibrant in-person market, readings and professional sessions with virtual events. The 2021 schedule featured:

A cozy (for zoom) gathering of about 10 writers and publishers gathered for the Small Press Silent Reading Group. In the notably non-silent portion of the meeting, we celebrated the bounty of small press beauty, largely but not exclusively in chapbook form, that has been capturing our hearts and minds and helping us all get through challenging times. The following is part of that cascade of small press delights.

My silent book club book and chapbook selections

I was fortunate to enjoy two silent book club meetings the day of the Meet the Presses event. Here are all my silent book club book and chapbook selections, all lined up.

Interestingly, the discussion segued into observations about how many forms of reading can provide distraction, solace and more during trying times. Beautiful World, Where are You by Sally Rooney was just one example … but the best tribute was to – wait for it – Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, delivered in a captivating, rhapsodizing near-rap. Riding that wave of singular energy, we departed the zoom room to enjoy our respective allotments of silent reading bliss.

Thank you to Gary Barwin and Tali Voron to inviting me to host and take part in a special silent book club gathering that tells me yes, communities of those devoted to beautiful words beautifully assembled will always find a way to celebrate.

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betts-foundry-300

christakos-dear-birch-300

earl-bugs-300

rajan-mothcover-300

A gloriously unabated flood of books

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Our latest silent book club meeting report is introduced by longtime member Rick Plume.

Rick Plume is a retired photo editor who worked with The Canadian Press for almost 44 years. He’s now a wanna-be reader who loves spending time with his wife doing the things they love and laments there’s just not enough time in a day to fit everything in.

Silent book club member Rick Plume

Books. Books for entertainment. Books for learning. Books for a different opinion.

I’ve had a life-long love affair with books. They’ve been my constant companions and friends through life’s adventures. Always there. Always offering up something new.

And then came Covid and my wife’s “Retirement.”

To say my reading has undergone a change is an understatement. Prior to these life-changing events, my wife worked, and I, being already retired, could read whenever I wanted. Long, glorious hours curled by with a good book, a cup of coffee and a couple of cats. Life was good.

That changed when my wife was forced to work from home. At first she worked away in the library or, when the weather was nice, in the garden. Life was still good. While she worked I could read.

And then she noticed. She noticed that retirement looked good – she might even be able to have some free time to read books.

And then things changed. She retired. And she had time. Lots of time. But, and here’s the big “But.” We didn’t sit down and read our books, as reading is a solitary pleasure. We started to do things together. We have a lifetime of “things” we wanted to do built up and we’re doing them. Life is still good, but in a different way.

Reading is taking a bit of a hit these days. I still get in an hour or two some days, but it’s usually in the overnight hours, when my wife and the cats are asleep. I miss the in-person meetings of the Silent Book Club. When they resume, I think I’ll invite someone new …

Anita's books

Anita's books

Anita's books

Jenn's silent book club holiday greetings

Kath's books, presented by Squizzey

Sue R, reading

Vicki's books

Silent book club group on zoom

Our latest combined reading list is a veritable Jólabókaflóðið (’tis the season!) of bookish delights. 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 are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat, including:

Our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists are always available right here for your enjoyment and edification, not to mention gift-giving ideas – even gifts for yourself, of course! New discoveries, old favourites and more – we guarantee there’s something in our generous reading lists that will keep your bookish appetite fueled.

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, and some are re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Stay safe, stay well … and immerse yourself in a flood of books this holiday season!

Fall/early winter 2021 young adult (YA) reading recommendations

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Our Toronto silent book club member Sundus Butt offers another splendid collection of young adult (YA) titles, accompanied by sensitive, perceptive reviews. These and all Sundus’ recommendations just might help you with some last-minute holiday gift giving ideas, not to mention some new year’s reading resolutions.

November 2021 YA book selections

schmidt-wednesday-200The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (10+)

There was only my sister left. To ask your big sister to be your ally is like asking Nova Scotia to go into battle with you.

One of my favourite books, The Wednesday Wars is set during the late 60s and follows seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood. Holling is one of the most enjoyable characters to read. He’s dramatic, witty, compassionate, and Schmidt does a wonderful job of ensuring Holling feels like a kid whilst also having profound moments of strength and clarity. There is so much contained within this book, including the imperfect dynamics of family, the Vietnam War, an amazing teacher, the love of Shakespeare (that I wholeheartedly concur with), all of which make this is a truly special coming-of-age story.

stead-list-200The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead (9–12)

“What’s it like to have a sister?”
[…]
“It’s like there’s someone else in my boat. Someone I don’t have to explain things to.”
“Because she knows?”
“Yeah, I mean she doesn’t know what it’s like to be me, but she knows a lot of the reasons I am me.”

After Bea’s parents get divorced, they give her a notebook with a list of things that will not change, which is topped by her parents always loving her. But now things are changing as her dad is about to marry his long-time boyfriend, Jesse, and Bea is about to inherit her very own sister — something she has always wanted.

Bea is a great character made up of a jumble of anger, guilt, joy, and kindness. And throughout the story, she must deal with the complexity of her feelings whilst also dealing with the people around her, and all the joy and pain that encompasses. Stead has a gift in taking everyday stories and making them feel extraordinary, and this is no exception.

applegate-wishtree-200Wishtree by Katherine Applegate (9–12)

It is a great gift indeed to love who you are.

Who knew a tree could be such a charming character? Applegate masterfully brings Red, an old oak tree, to life and narrates a full and engaging story from its perspective. Red has seen and survived a lot over its many years, and as the local wishtree, it has a special place in the community. But things are changing, a Muslim family has moved in and isn’t welcome, Red’s attempt to make two children become friends is failing, and now Red is on the verge of being cut down. Armed with its best friend, Bongo the crow, and all the other animals that call Red home, Red must find a way to make things better. This is a lovely story told in a unique way.

mcanulty-miscalculations-200The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty (8–12)

Life is like an equation and mine is perfectly balanced. Nana + Uncle Paul + math = happiness. Other people might need to add in friends or sports or money or something else, but my equation is already solved.

After being struck by lightning, Lucy Callahan develops acquired savant syndrome making her a genius at math. She’s been homeschooled for years, but finally her grandmother, concerned by Lucy’s isolation, decides Lucy has to go back to school for one year at least. As Lucy enters fourth grade, she encounters all the trials and tribulations that school entails, especially when you’re different.

McAnulty does a great job in making Lucy and her struggles feel real. At school, Lucy tries to hide her gift for math, but she can’t hide her OCD or her discomfort with social situations, and while gifted with numbers, they can also drown out Lucy’s thoughts when she’s anxious or unsure. It takes a combination of family, a great teacher, some quirky friends, a dog shelter, and Lucy’s own bravery for her to realize her life is more than a simple calculation and that’s something to be celebrated.

pierce-alanna-200Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (10+)

“… you seem to think we won’t like you unless you do things just like everyone else. Have you ever thought we might like you because you’re different?”

This fantasy story follows Alanna Trebond who wants to be a knight more than anything. But knighthood is forbidden to girls, so Alanna convinces her twin brother to trade places so he can go learn magic, and she can learn to be a knight. Fiercely determined, but also full of doubts and vulnerability, Alanna is an engaging character you root for right from page one. Pierce has been creating wonderful female protagonists long before it was normalized — Alanna was one of the first I encountered growing up and she’s stayed with me through the years.

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol (13+)

People might think that five-year-olds can’t be cruel, but I have some strong evidence to the contrary.

Told with humour and horror, this is a great (and unusual) graphic novel about teenager Anya struggling with her identity. Anya feels embarrassed by her Russian heritage, worries she’s overweight, and struggles to fit in at school. When Anya finds an unlikely friend at the bottom of a well, things start to look up. But Anya soon learns that things aren’t always what they seem.

Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (10+)

One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armour dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to let down my hair, I would pelt them with peach pits until they went home.

Meet Calpurnia Virginia Tate. She’s 11 years old (practically 12), growing up on a farm in Texas in 1899 with six brothers. But Callie is different from most other girls. She loves examining the natural world, and by befriending her odd grandfather, Callie is able to go exploring and develop her love for science. This is alarming to her mom, who decides to inundate Callie with “lady-like” work so she can’t get too carried away with her scientific pursuits. Not to be deterred, Callie continues her scientific investigations when she can, even while facing the numerous barriers set before a girl of her time period.

Kelly does a great job of creating a certain setting, time (sometimes with backwards language and views), and some special characters. Callie’s wit and fierceness make her a joy to read. Her perspective adds to this fun coming-of-age story about breaking norms and finding your place even as a kid.

Celebrating all of the books – upstairs, downstairs, in gorgeous, precarious towers

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Our latest silent book club meeting report is introduced by one of our long-standing members, Catherine Dorton.

Catherine Dorton is a Toronto-based editor and aspiring writer who is behind on her reading but ahead in her walking. Learn more about Catherine here.

“I’m 200 years behind in my reading.”
— Aleksandar Lemon, author, in conversation with Eleanor Wachtel

Silent book club member Catherine DortonMy sister visited me last weekend and calculated that, based on my pre-pandemic reading pace, I would need three years to get through my TBR piles, the three precarious towers that lurk in the corners of my living room. And these are only my “downstairs books.”

I know I’m not alone in this sweet hoarding of books. I’m drawn to other book lovers, and the east Toronto Silent Book Club is the perfect place to find kindred spirits. I’ve been a member for about three years — an old-timer! — and I used to love waking up on a Saturday morning, gathering my small pile together, and meeting at the local coffee shop to talk books. But what followed — the silent reading hour, where we committed to stay put on uncomfortable chairs amid the noise and distractions of the café — was a kind of transcendental discipline that I really miss.

We meet on zoom now, and I find I’m a little shy (read anxious). It’s a testament to the community that Vicki and Jo have built that I still come, though I often choose not to speak (putting “silent” back in the group’s name). Our wonderful facilitators have really upped their already superlative game by adding popups and even park meetups when the weather is fine.

This morning, a Silent Book Club Saturday, my husband asked me to go buy a Christmas tree, anticipating this year’s shortage. I explained my predicament. “But you have 12 months a year for book club,” he said, and I wondered for a minute if he was being reasonable. I decided not. I looked around my living room, at those piles again. If we lose out on the Christmas tree lottery, I have more than enough books to make a really majestic, eclectic, enticing DIY book tree and string it with some twinkly lights. A win-win!

Book pile of silent book club member Sue R

Book pile of silent book club member Vicki

Here, in all its usual glory, is our latest combined reading list. 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 are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat, including:

  • Thank you to Paula Prober and her blog Your Rainforest Mind. Her praise of silent book clubs sent several new book club attendees our way this past month.
  • Several of our members are eagerly anticipating the latest from Olga Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob. Her new work is part of the 15 best historical fiction books 2021 list from The Times UK.

Our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists are always available right here for your enjoyment and edification, not to mention gift-giving ideas – even gifts for yourself, of course! New discoveries, old favourites and more – we guarantee there’s something in our generous reading lists that will keep your bookish appetite fueled.

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, and some are re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Stay safe and stay well, and as we exhorted all of you at the end of our last report: keep your reading supply chain flowing!

The supply chain to our bookish heads and hearts

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As we’ve kvelled in the introduction to many a report here, our virtual silent book club gatherings have been a vital lifeline and inspiration for many of us throughout the pandemic. (You can read the many ways we’ve waxed poetic and – well, not prosaic exactly, but whatever is the equivalent in prose – here.)

Not only are we a collegial and bonded group of readers and friends, but are we ever a trusted recommendation engine on overdrive! It’s fair to say that most of us depart these meetings seeking out new titles via our favourite booksellers and libraries. In fact, some of us are making purchases and putting holds on books during meetings, thank you very much. And as our enthusiasm spills out to social media and offline discussions with family and friends, the bookish love continues, we know for a fact.

Bearing in mind that global supply chain issues exacerbated by the pandemic are also affecting books, we agreed at our latest meeting that we needed to get our holiday book purchasing done, well, yesterday …!

Kath E's books

Sue R reading one of her books

Vicki pointing at her books

Without further ado – time’s a-wasting! – here’s our latest combined reading list. 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 are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat, including:

  • Senior Reading Raccoons is a book recommendation Facebook group enthusiastically touted by one of our silent book club members.
  • The Decameron Project short story collection by The New York Times is inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s “The Decameron”, written as the plague ravaged Florence in the 14th century. This project offers stories capturing this pandemic’s moments, featuring authors including Margaret Atwood, Edwidge Danticat, David Mitchell, Colm Toibin, Mona Awad, Rachel Kushner, Esi Edugyan and more.

Our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists are always available right here for your enjoyment and edification, not to mention gift-giving ideas – even gifts for yourself, of course! New discoveries, old favourites and more – we guarantee there’s something amongst our reports that will keep your reading appetite fueled.

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, and some are re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Stay safe and stay well, and keep your reading supply chain flowing!

As the months grow darker, books and friendships will light the way

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Our latest silent book club meeting report is introduced by one of our founding members, Kathy McCormick. Not only does she have great bookish thoughts to share, but she’s right in keeping with seasonal themes!

Silent book club member Kathy M

“I guess there are never enough books”
– John Steinbeck

I have been a lifelong introvert who also happens to be shy and suffers from fairly acute social anxiety. Not a great combination for living a large life out in the big wide world. Books have been a comfort to me since early childhood as I learned to navigate life in a world that expected much more from me socially than I would ever be able to give.

I freely admit to riding the social coattails of my much more outgoing and gregarious spouse for the past three decades. When she first came home and mentioned that one of our neighbours (the lovely @bookgaga) had invited us to join a local chapter of the Silent Book Club I have to admit my first thought was “no, of course not”. But once I found out that the meetings would be held at a local establishment and we could read whatever we wanted, well, I was finally willing to take the plunge. And readers, it has become a highly valued thing to me, with many new friendships resulting. I have been inspired to try books I would never have considered before and have appreciated insights and perspectives of the group. They are kind and considerate of every type of written word.

At this time of year, as the days grow shorter and we approach the winter months, my reading always turns toward the spooky, creepy and macabre. I love the Hallowe’en season. I have always been intrigued by the concept of things that exist outside of material reality. I have never understood the peculiarly western obsession with a materialistic worldview which dismissed anything that could not be measured, tested, documented and experimented on. I feel deeply my ancestral roots from island nations steeped in the lore of faeries and banshees, pagans and witches. Give me a good ghost story and I am happy any time of day (though will confess to having slept with the lights on more than once in my life). I am not too fussy about genre but there must be an otherworldly aspect to the stories. No slasher flicks or serial killers: human monsters do not interest me. Give me vampires, zombies, unknown creatures, chain rattling ghosts or books sent flying from shelves by unseen hands. The shadow seen out of the corner of your eye; that strange light in the sky; those footsteps heard overhead when you are home alone … yikes, I’m getting scared now, let me turn on all the lights …

Wait, did you hear that? … WHAT IS THAT!

May your reading and friendships light your way through the coming dark months …

Squizzey joins the zoom meeting

Squizzey presents Kath's books

Vicki's books

Don’t be afraid to dive into our latest combined reading list! 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 are often inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat, including:

Our previous silent book club meeting reports (online and in-person incarnations) and book lists are always available for your enjoyment and edification – find them all here. New discoveries, old favourites and more – we guarantee there’s something amongst our reports that will keep your reading appetite fueled.

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, and some are re-emerging carefully with in-person gatherings. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

Stay safe and stay well, and let treasured books continue to light your way!