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.