The Time Traveler's Wife at Tequila Bookworm

cross post from Blurty Blurt Blurt...

We had our monthly book club meeting last night, and we went to Tequila Bookworm. What a great place for a book club! We sat at the back, in the comfy cozy couches, and had a really good-looking waiter serving us. Always a bonus!

The food was a little disappointing, but I knew this going in (I'd read a couple reviews)... my bagel was burnt, but the cream cheese on my bagel was full of chunks of roasted garlic, which made up for the "Cajun-style" bagel. The cafe mocha was yummy, but looked like it was just coffee with some hot chocolate powder mixed in. Prices were pretty steep; my "cafe mocha" was over $3, and the bagel was also over $3. Alas, the price (literally) we pay to hang out at a really cool café on Queen Street West.

The discussion of the book was really in-depth; a roller coaster ride of opinions. The Time Traveler's Wife makes you think hard. While you're reading it, and once your finished. The book is about a man named Henry who has a genetic disease, which causes him to uncontrollably blip out of time and space, traveling back or forward in his life. But like I said last night, I wouldn't say this book is about a guy who time travels. It's a love story, about the struggles Henry and his wife Clare go through, caused by Henry's tendency to disappear every now and again, as well as the tough times any married couple would experience.

The big question of the evening was whether or not this book should be classified as Science Fiction. Technically, the book is about something that is not humanly possible (as far as we know). But because the book is written with such a realistic tone, I don't think it counts as Sci-Fi. It certainly doesn't look like a Sci-Fi book! Nestor said he really didn't like the cover, so we hopped online (thanks to the free wireless at Tequila Bookworm- god I love my new laptop), to see some of the other covers out there for this book. Here's what we found:


But the best image we found was this one by Jess the Fink on MySpace. I'm guessing she read the book, got inspired, and then drew this really cool illustration... Awesome, eh?

Another good question the book addresses is the age-old argument... Are our lives pre-destined, and therefore we have no control over the paths we take? Or do we have a certain amount of free will, and are able to change the route of our lives through the decisions we make? In the book, Henry is unable to change the outcome of anyone's life, even though he can travel back to integral moments over and over again (eg: he watches his mother die in a car crash numerous times). I think we concluded that it depends on your own faith/belief/spirituality. (Isn't that just always the answer- "it depends"?)

All in all, we rated this book 5 out of 5. I personally think it's the best book we've read in book club... even better than Three Day Road (which I picked last spring)!

We also took lots of photos while we were there... here's a link to the set on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157594388000551/

Started the Book....

... And I'm LOVING it. I'm so glad we're reading this book... it's amazing! And I'm only on page 127!

For some reason, I'm really equating this book with that new show Hereos (which is also awesome, you should watch it). AND, the premise is kinda similar to that movie The Lake House, with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in it.

Time travel. It's hard to wrap my head around. Do you think one day it'll be possible?!?

OMG GUYS!

ok so i'm almost done the book and some things are starting to make sense about the books style and length. it........... is ........... all........... intentional!

i'll tell u more about it later ;-)

Love, time, cholera

love, time, cholera
Originally uploaded by kurmidt.

October 2006, Love in the Time of Cholera. At Hemingway's for book club.

Henry's to Hemingway's

Henry's is where I work, and Hemingway's is where we met last night to talk about Love in the Time of Cholera. I just like the way it sounds. Henry's to Hemingway's. Like a song!

The discussion went well, I think, and everyone had fun answering the quiz questions I had printed out. Some of them were too easy, and some of them were a bit ambiguous- but I didn't have the answer sheet, so it didn't really matter! I think my favourite question was...

The song Florentino writes and plays for Fermina is called:
(A) Crowned Goddess
(B) Rockabye, Sweet Fermina
(C) Like A Virgin
(D) Share Your Love With Me

Haha... Like a Virgin... There were many instances of weird, quirky, and dare I say, illegal sexual encounters in this book, but since it was set around 1900, I don't think it really mattered. I was grossed out by the affair between the protagonist and his teenage lover, but I understand the value of the relationship within the story. The old people sex scene was a little unnerving, but funny at the same time. LOL

My personal opinion on this book? I think it could've been much shorter. And at time, it felt like a chore for me to read. I'm not sure if this had to do with the fact that it was translated from Spanish, or if it's because it written in a very classical language (as opposed to pop lit, or something closer to a soap opera, although the premise of the story would've fit nicely into say, The Young and the Restless). I know that the book was supposed to be humourous in places, too, but only a couple of times did I actually laugh out loud.

The story was interesting, though, the themes (suffering from love/cholera, and the fear of death) were relevant, and the characters were developed nicely. Nestor pointed out that he liked the way the author would time travel, to inform the reader of the character's past. Sometimes I found this a bit confusing, but I was thankful for it. I also found the names of the characters a bit confusing (see my previous post).

Ultimately, I think we all enjoyed the book. It was also great to see Daniella (our newest member), and her seeing eye dog Roger, who was super cute (especially when he licked Julia's knee)! John didn't make it out (even though he was the one who chose the book), because he was sick. Feel better John!!

Next book- The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. Nestor's pick. Meeting date: November 22. Venue TBA.

Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I don't know if it's just cause I'm an idiot, or because it's been so long since I've read anything that wouldn't be considered "pop lit"... but this Love in the Time of Cholera book is really making me rack my brain.

All the names sounds the same, and some people even have the same name! Or perhaps the name "Fermina" is an honorific, like Mister or Madame. And the book would be a heck of a lot shorter if the author truncated the names slightly. Instead of typing out Florentina Ariza 5000 times, he could've just called him Flor!

I'm also baffled about the geographical location. From what I understand, the book takes place in the Dominican Republic? But the treasure that Flor looks for just before Fermina returns from her fathers exile is located in the Sotavento Archipelago, which is off the coast of Africa!

It is turning out to be a good story, though. I am glad that we pushed back the date of the meeting (Oct. 11), which will definitely allow me enough time to finish the book.

Away from Home

Last night was our first meeting in a public place in a while (since the book club became known as "The Book Club", instead of"The Indigo Book Club", where we met in the book store). I think it went well! We met at The Victory Cafe, in Mirvish Village. What a great place. I enjoyed the food, and the service was good (even though the bartender kept saying, "Very good...").

All in all, we thought the book was fair. I liked it the most out of the four of us, I think. Then probably Maria (who choose the book). Then it's probably a tie between Julia and Gab, who both liked the language used in the book and the way the author wrote it (first person, told directly to the reader with lots of personal pronouns- I's and you's and us's), but didn't really think the premise of the story was all that interesting. Gab kept waiting for some kind of rebellion by the characters. I'd have to agree, the book did lack emotion and a serious climax. I said maybe the author's intention was to keep things fairly sterile, since it is a book about clones, and one of the themes was the question of morality in scientific progress and the spirituality (if any) of a cloned human.

Other themes included the value of friendship, the teenager's struggle to be accepted by their peers, and the importance of art and creativity in a child's development.

We discussed the book almost the entire time (which is rare for us), besides the odd Star Wars debate and of course, talk of my brithday! LOL... Julia had printed out some discussion questions from bookclubs.ca, and we used those as a guide.

I think this was my favourite book club meeting in a while... besides the one I planned at my house, that is! It's the new guy's turn to pick a book this month, so I'm not sure what we're reading next. Hopefully something good! I have no doubts, since he also works at Indigo!

The Ingenue

Oops! I accidentally posted here instead of on my blog. Now I erased the post. Sorry!

Finished!

I finished Never Let Me Go last night before I went to bed. Veeeeeeeeery interesting! But very good... I thoroughly enjoyed it (with only a couple of irks). I thought about the characters like they were my friends, and said to myself on more than one occasion, "I wonder how Kathy, Ruth and Tommy are doing?" LOL

Maria- you just picked this book cause there's so much talk about sex in it!!!

I know the meeting's not for a couple of weeks, but where are we meeting??

Subway reading

On my way to work this morning I was reading Never Let Me Go, and there was a cute boy (believe me, he was a boy, like 19) and when he got up he said something to me, I didn't quite understand because it caught me by surprise (and because I really don't speak any English). Anyway, he was reading the same book. It was funny.

New Pick...

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro... chosen by Maria. The meeting will be at her place (again! it seems like we've been meeting there alot lately!)... on Monday the 21st, if that's cool with everybody.

The next day is my berfday!

The Long Walk, by Richard Bachman

Pfffffrrrrt!

Finished the book

I finished The Long Walk last night. I.did.not.get.it.
I hope book club can help me tonight to figure out the "meaning" of the book.
Yep, I'm THAT thick!

The Meeting is Tomorrow...

... and I'm only on page 131!!! Jesus. I though this story was WAY shorter... ah well- I'll just be reading 'til the wee hours tonight... Nobody call me or message me! I'll be busy!!!

New Pick!

The Long Walk, by Richard Bachman, AKA Stephen King.

This is a GOOD story. I read it years and years ago (like, 15!!) and I still remember it.

Classic, intelligent, scary = Richard Bachman.

As opposed to some of King's more recent work.

Meeting up for a good ole' fashioned BBQ at Julia's on July 18th.

I can't wait!

Casino Royale, January 2006

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

River of the Borderline Retarded and YouTube.com

We had our June book club meeting last night, the book in question being River of the Brokenhearted, by David Adams Richards. We didn't really discuss the book too much, but we had some awesome movie theatre inspired snacks and some fun up on Maria's roof-top patio.

We always try to eat food related to the book somehow, but it was difficult with this one. The only food I remember being mentioned was pie and fries. So Gab made a lemon meringue pie and Julia picked up some frites from the chipwagon in front of City Hall (MMMmmmm). Maria made popcorn, and I decided to bring some nachos and cheese, like the kind you get at the theatre today. Nestor was a poohead and didn't bring anything... The book was about a Maritime family troubled by alcoholism; needless to say, we had the booze bit down pat. We were drinking martinis and gin and juice.

We hashed out the novel for a couple hours, and then attention wandered to Maria's computer, and youtube.com. That site is DANGEROUSLY ADDICTIVE. Here are some links to our favourite clips:

The Ten Things I Hate About Commandments (discovered by Julia)
The Shining Re-Cut (brought to us by Nestor)
Ah, Bibliotheque (a favourite of Maria's)
VW GTi MkV Unpimp My Ride I (Gab's pick)
Funny DUI (shown to me by a co-worker today)

TOO FUNNY!!

Anyways- here are a couple other pics, taken on Maria's rooftop.

The next book club session has been postponed

It has changed to Wednesday June 21 at my place. We'll think of food and goodies to eat. I will be making fresh popcorn with my popcorn popper.

Welcome!!!

To our newest member Daniella, who will be joining us in August? September? All the way from Mexico City!!! Arrrrriba!!! (I have no idea if that's how you spell that)

I also added the bookclubs.ca link to the side bar here... it IS a great resource- I've used it on a couple occasions!

June's Book Club Pick...

River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards, chosen by Gabriella!

I can't wait for the popcorn and the fish... or the popcorn ON the fish???

Date and place TBD.

For Posterity's Sake...

The Books of Book Club (initials of the member it was chosen by in parentheses)... with our meeting place (in downtown Toronto):

11/03… A Student of Weather by Elizabeth Hay (indigo)
12/03… The Secret History by Donna Tartt (i)
01/04… Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (i)
02/04… The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (i)
03/04… The Romantic by Barbara Gowdy (i)
04/04… Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt (i)
05/04… Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (jm)
06/04… Atonement by Ian McEwan (md)
07/04… Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik (i)
08/04… Life of Pi by Yann Martel (a?)
09/04… Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (a?)
10/04… Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright (md)
11/04… Blindness by José Saramago (i)
12/04… She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb (md)
01/05… The Question by Austin Clarke (md)
02/05… Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (md)
03/05… Fluke by Christopher Moore (jm)
04/05… Murder Room by P.D. James (md)
05/05… Perfume- The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind (nq)
06/05… Requests and Dedications by Elise Levine (jm)
07/05… Silk by Alessandro Baricco (md)
08/05… One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (md)
09/05… Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland (kg)
10/05… To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee (jm)... at Julia's grandma's house
11/05… Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk (md)... at Maria's place
12/05… Alligator by Lisa Moore (kg)... at Kari's place
01/06… Deafening by Frances Itani (ec)... at Maria's place
02/06… Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (jm)... at Julia's place
03/06… Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (md)... Maria's place
04/06… Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (nq)... at Nestor's place
05/06… Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden (kg)... at Kari's place
06/06... River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards (gp)... Maria's place
07/06... The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (Stephen King) (jm)... in Julia's backyard
08/06... Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (md)... at Victory Cafe
09/06... Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (jm)... Hemingway's
10/06... Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (nq)... at Tequila Bookworm
11-12/06... The Time In Between by David Bergen (kg).. at ???
02/07... The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (gp)... in Maria's media room
03/07... Generation X by Douglas Coupland (dg)... at Jason George
04/07... Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (md)... at Bedford Academy
05-6/07... Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut (kg)... at Fionn MacCool's on the Esplanade
07/07... The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (gp)... at the Flatiron and Firkin
08/07... Stardust by Nail Gaimen (jam)... at Scotia Bank Theatre
09/07... Consolation by Michael Redhill (dg)... at the Flatiron and Firkin
10/07... The Road by Cormac McCarthy (md)... at The Irish Embassy
11/07... Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay (kg)... at Rustica Pizza
01/08... From The Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant (gp)... at C'est What
02-3-4/08... Pilgrim by Timothy Findlay (jam)... at the Charlotte Room
05/08... Turtle Valley by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (md)... at Maria's place
06/08... The Spirit Cabinet by Paul Quarrington (kg)... at Magic Oven
07/08... Ascension by Steven Galloway (gp)... at Fran's Restaurant
09/08... The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (jam)... at Pogue Mahones
10/08... Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje (md)... at the Flatiron and Firkin
11-12/08... The Outlander by Gil Adamson (kg)... at Cluck, Grunt and Low
02/09... The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper (gp)... at the Flatiron and Firkin
04/09... A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (jam)...
06/09... The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (md)... at Big Daddy's Crab Shack
07/09...The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (gp)...at Sushi Time
09/09...Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland (jam)...at The Bier Markt
10/09...The Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje (md)...at Pizza Rustica
12/09...The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (gp)...at Aroma Indian Restaurant
01/10...Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (jam)...at Red Lobster

Menu for Wednesday

I'm making Three Sister Soup and some bannock (bread).
Maria's bringing Canadian wild rice.

What's everyone else bringing? We need some rum, that's for sure.

Another Book Discussion Blog

http://bookmineset.blogspot.com/

This guy's in Newfoundland, and he's pretty funny. He read Three Day Road in February, and his thoughts are interesting.

I only wish I had the time to review books as in depth as he's able to.

Seeing

I was hanging out in the bookstore and was glad to see that Blindness by Jose Saramago has a sequel, Seeing. About democracy and voting. Apparently the same woman who kept her vision is the new leader in the country.
I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to reading it, since I was pretty horrified with the first one. It was a pretty good book, nonetheless.

Joseph Boyden and Douglas Coupland

The writer of our current book club pick, Joseph Boyden, is taking part in a TINARS event, on Tuesday May 9th at the Gladstone. Him and his wife (Amanda Boyden, also a writer) will be interviewed by Quill and Quire editor James Grainger. There's ALSO a magician performing. It's free, and relevant, so I'm gonna try my damndest to make it. Who can resist a good ole' magic show!?!?!?

Coupland will be at the U of T Faculty of Music Building promoting his newest release, jPod, on May 23rd. I might attend, if I get off my ass and order a ticket before they're all sold out. More info HERE.

Da Vinci Code

I am reading the Da Vinci code and as soon as I'm done will post a review here. The main reason I decided to finally read it is because it came out on massmarket paperback, so it's not heavy to carry around.
Also, I will soon write my rant about the Latin-Latino issue. No, really. I'll write it soon, I promise.

And the winner is...

Not that I remembered to actually listen to the Canada Reads debate on CBC Radio...

Musician John K. Samson was the winner of this year's debate, defending Miriam Toews' A Complicated Kindness. I really wish that I'd remembered to listen- I think the whole Canada Reads program is so cool. I'm such a book nerd- I know. Especially since I would've been able to consider the arguments more personally, seeing that we read Deafening a couple months ago (which I thought was excellent- good choice Erin- wherever you are!) Why didn't they broadcast it on television, like last year, I wonder? They need to make it as big a deal as like, Canadian Idol. Imagine that? It'd be cool if we could choose the books that were discussed. Books as popular as pop stars? LOL

I'd actually forgotten that Three Day Road was on the list for Canada Reads, also. I hope everyone enjoys it- I'm gonna start it soon, on this rainy Saturday.

Breakfast at... errr... dinner at Nestor and Tims!

The book club meeting last night was really good- thanks to new member Gabriella, some phenomenal bean burgers by Tim and entertainment provided by Baby, the fat cat with the sweetest smushiest face in the world!

The menu included martinis (of which Holly Golightly and the narrator shared prior to 11am on the morning of her arrest), apples (eaten by Holly at the beginning of the story) with peanut butter (sent to Holly's brother Fred in the army), burgers (because Holly and Mr. O'Shaughnessy always met at Burger Heaven) with tabouleh (uh- just because it goes good with burgers- it did have tomatoes in it- so there's the connection- Sally Tomatos are my favourite!), with lemon meringue pie for dessert (I really don't remember the connection there... but it was yummy!)

The book discussion went well I think. The only discussion questions I could find were here, so I skimmed through and asked the tougher ones, to keep the conversation going. I think my favourite question was, "What language is spoken in Brazil?" That sparked a whole other discussion on the words "Latino" and "Latina", and whether or not Nestor (who is Chilean) and Maria (Mexican) could be classified as such. Maria was infuriated, of course, since these aren't even real words!! Maria's so cute when she gets angry- she uses the eff word like it's a fluffy knee-high moccasin (going out of style)!

All in all, another successful book club meeting. Next month's book is my pick- FINALLY! I chose Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. I've been wanting to read this book for a while, and when I saw that it was out in paper back already, I figured I'd suggest it!

Union Station by Joe Fiorito

One of the best books I've read that features Toronto is The Song Beneath the Ice, by Joe Fiorito. It is just amazing, I really recommend that everyone reads it. He always writes about Toronto and the way he explains the city, by how it sounds, is just amazing.
Now his most recent book, Union Station, is out. This time it's not a novel, but a collection of stories, again about Toronto. I am really looking forward to put my hands on this one.

Movie Night... Capote and Breakfast at Tiffany's

Hiya!

I'm planning on renting Capote and Breakfast at Tiffany's this Saturday night, so I can be all knowledgable and whatnot for the meeting on Wednesday. If anyone wants to join me, come on over!!

Also, who's bringing what for dinner on Wednesday? Is there a grocery store within walking distance of your place, Nes?

I can't wait to see the fat cat. I should I say.... pudgy goodness?

This Is Not A Reading Series presents...

April 20th -- Conservationist TIM FLANNERY in conversation with BOB McDONALD on the dangers of climate change @ OISE Auditorium... $5

April 26 -- Comics artists HARVEY PEKAR, JESSICA ABEL & MATT MADDEN with SPACE Producer MARK ASKWITH @ Innis Town Hall... $5

April 27 -- DR SHIRIN EBADI, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, in conversation with TINA SREBOTNJAK @ OISE Auditorium... $5

Capote

I finished Breakfast at Tiffany's and decided I wanted to watch Capote, so I rented it.
It is a good and interesting movie. Since I didn't know much about Truman Capote I looked him up on Wikipedia.
It was exciting to see that he was a childhood friend of Harper Lee's (and she is in the movie too), some people thought that he had ghost written To Kill a Mockingbird. The character of Dill was inspired on him.
I haven't seen the movie in a long time, but after reading the book I remembered that Breakfast at Tiffany's (the movie) was a bit different. First, Holly Golightly is supposed to be a blonde, and Audrey Hepburn is most certainly not. Well, apparently Capote was not amused with the character being toned down to appeal to the mass audiences for the movie.
Really interesting.

Tonight at the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom...

Martha Baillie - The Shape I Gave You (Knopf Canada)

Author Martha Baillie launches her new novel with jazz by Lightstone, Katz & Quarrington, songs by vocalist Theo Heras accompanied by Cindy Fairbank, art exhibits by Colm MacCool & Vid Ingelevics, and an interview with Marc Glassman.

Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St W, TorontoTues, Mar 21, 7-10pm (doors 7pm), free

Join us as author Martha Baillie celebrates the publication of her new novel, The Shape I Gave You (Knopf Canada).

The Shape I Gave You (Knopf Canada) - The night before she leaves to give a recital in another city, Ulrike Huguenot, a young pianist, arrives at her Berlin apartment to find an unexpected and unwelcome letter. It is from Beatrice Mann, a Canadian sculptor, a friend of her father, Gustave, and also, Ulrike believes, his lover. What could this woman possibly have to say to her? And why now, seven years after her father’s death? “I am writing to you because my daughter has died,” begins Beatrice’s extraordinary letter of confession. Her only child, Ines, has been killed at the age of eighteen, and Beatrice has closed herself in her Toronto studio. Unable to speak openly with her grieving husband, Isaac, she turns to Ulrike, a young woman she barely knows. While Beatrice retells and possibly reshapes the past, Isaac sets out on a journey of his own. As Ulrike reads about Beatrice’s life and Gustave’s role in it, she reluctantly revisits the world of her own memories and starts to see her present in a different light. In The Shape I Gave You, acclaimed novelist and poet Martha Baillie explores the complex relationships between parents and children, men and women, to create a novel of spare elegance that gives piercing insight into the nature of confession and how we choose who to ask for absolution.

Martha Baillie was born in Toronto. Her poems have been widely published in journals such as Descant, Prairie Fire and the Antigonish Review. Her first novel, My Sister Esther, was published by Turnstone Press in 1995. Her second, Madame Balashovskaya’s Apartment, was published by Turnstone Press in 1999 and then published in Germany and Hungary. After stints in Edinburgh, Paris and Asia, Baillie returned to Toronto where she lives with her family.

Book City Spring Warehouse Sale

Book City is having their spring warehouse sale at the Leaside Community Centre. It is located at the intersection of Millwood and Laird.

Hours are Friday March 17 from 10 til 8 and Saturday March 18 and Sunday March 19 from 10 til 6.

To be in a book.

"To be in a book. To slip into the crease where two pages meet. To live in the place where your eyes alight upon the words to ignite a world of smoke and peril, colour and serene delight. That is a journey no one can end with the change of a channel. Enduring magic."

-- from The Way the Crow Flies, by Anne-Marie MacDonald

Essential Toronto Reading...

I found this on Torontoist...

http://readingt.readingcities.com/index.php

It's a list of books based in Toronto. I figured I'd post this, since I know we all love to read books where we recognize the setting. Oh, and BTW- an Austen Clarke book is on there, just to warn you! I thought of commenting, and bad mouthing Clarke for pompousness and banality, but I figure I'd hear it pretty good from Clarke supporters. Meh!

April's Book choice has been decided...

The pick is Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (unanimously I think!)

This will be cool; I had no idea B at T's was even written by Truman Capote, and with the Oscar buzz, it makes it even more exciting to be reading it (I know, I know, I'm such a loser!) It will be very interesting to read... I'm gonna try to see Capote before I pick up the book. Knowing a bit about the author always gives the book a bit more depth, I find. Of course, we could always just read about Capote on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_capote

We're meeting at Nestor's place... check your email for the address!

Oh, and thanks to Nes for the group email set up- it's a bit confusing, but I think it'll be helpful in the long run.

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Beer
Originally uploaded by Maria in Toronto.

It was six o'clock and Kevin had the beer. Nestor opened the door for him.
This time, everyone had read the book. It was Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.

I chose the book because I have actually been to Monterey California, and when you go there they always tell you that that's where Steinbeck wrote Cannery Row, I had only read East of Eden and was curious about it.
We always try to have a dinner related to what people eat in the book. They drink lots of beer on Cannery Row and eat cheeseburgers and fried steak. It was a bit difficult to have that, so I made chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes.

We did drink beer, though.

We also ate some cake (they eat cake in the book) and drank even more beer.

This time we actually talked about the book and talked just a little bit about sex (unlike other times where the only thing we do is gossip, eat and drink).
Everyone liked the book. I was laughing out loud while reading it on the subway. It's about this group of people, who live in Monterey in between wars. One of them is a scientist. He is very well liked by all his neighbours and they decide to throw a party for him.
The book is surrounded by chapters that seem to be random, but in my opinion they are actually the chapters that make this book a classic. They are about people and about life. Even 60 years after the book has gone, the underlying meaning of it is still valid. It's about community, it's about human beings. It's about everyday living.

This Is Not A Reading Series... upcoming events.

This Is Not A Reading Series tickets go on sale today... I wouldn't mind checking out Coupland! TINARS is put on by Pages Books & Magazines, the book shop on Queen Street West.

April 20 - Tim Flannery in conversation with Bob MacDonald - $5 (also available through www.theweathermakers.ca)
April 26 - Harvey Pekar, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden hosted by Mark Askwith - $5 (also available at The Beguiling, 601 Markham St)
April 27 - Dr Shirin Ebadi in conversation with Tina Srebotnjak - $5
May 23 - Douglas Coupland: jPod - $5

AND... Jonathan Ames (who is supposedly hilarious) is coming to town for a free event on March 7th at the Gladstone. I think I'm definitely going to try to check this out. It's free, and close to my place. And at the Gladstone! I love that place.

March Book Club... food and drink.

So- from what I can gather...

Maria's providing Chicken Nuggets and Mashed Potatoes
Julia's bringing Beer.
Kari's making a Chocolate Cake.

Nestor and Erin, are you guys able to make it to the meeting? Maybe one of you can bring some veggies or a salad or something, and maybe a non-alcoholic drink. Or whatev!

Book for April

It's Kurmidt's turn to choose a book for our April meeting. Since I'm almost done with Cannery Row (and believe me, I was laughing out loud this morning on the subway, people were looking at me like I was crazy, not that I'm not, but what do they know?) any ideas about the next book?

Photos...

I finally posted the photos I have from February's meeting on Flickr. Some are funny... I took pictures while you were eating! LOL. Here's the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72057594070980683/

Deafening is on the Canada Reads 2006 list...

... which is very cool, cause now I'll be able to mentally defend at least one of the books too! I think actually, I'm gonna try to read all of them, there's a couple there I was planning on picking up anyways. Maybe I'll pick one for my next book club pick!

http://www.cbc.ca/canadareads

Halfway through Cannery Row

I started reading the book last weekend, I'm already halfway through. It's a quick and interesting read. Lots of things to discuss during our next meeting. It's also exciting that I've been in all the places mentioned until now.
There are also a couple of dishes mentioned that we could have as munchies for our meeting. And beer, or whiskey, or both!

Freedom to Read Week

http://www.freedomtoread.ca/freedom_to_read_week/index.asp

Starts today, ends on March 4th. This week's primary motivation is to raise awareness in Canadians concerning censorship.

"Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

Tonight there's an event happening at the Toronto Public Reference Library, called Beyond Exile. It's spotlighting three writers who have been driven from their home countries. The evening will feature three journalists interviewing three exiled writers: Jian Ghomeshi with Reza Braheni from Iran, Christopher Waddell with Sheng Xue from China, and Haroon Siddiqui with Ameera Javeria from Pakistan. 7-9pm, Free (donations accepted).

Welcome...

At long last, our book club blog has come to fruition. So, here's where we can post our book reviews, plus any comments, criticism, suggestions or tomatoes.