There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savour belonging to yourself.
- Ruth Stout
Dear Members,
It's that time of year again:
Winter's here, and although the weather has been cold, we're keeping our fingers crossed for a White Christmas!There is lots to look forward to this month: spending more time with the family in the days to come, holiday dinners, skating around the Harbourfront or City Hall, sipping on hot apple cider and hot cocoa, sitting by the roaring fireplace with a book in one hand, winter lights strewn on the streets, making the city a lot more brighter, and the festive mood which settles on all of us at this time of year- the perfect way to reflect, relax, and prepare for the new year.
Meeting Update
Thank you to everyone who arrived at our December meeting, which took place at Marche Restaurant! We gathered around to discuss our previous read, which was Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. What a refreshing read! All agreed on its wit as well as the humorous setting, where anything's feels possible. Sloan did a fantastic job in capturing our love of books by dedicating unique characters and an unforgettable plot to lighten up our own world.
We were all looking forward to a lot of interesting books made into films: from The Hobbit to Les Mis, there's something for everyone this holiday season on the silver screen!
Finally, we did our lovely Christmas gift exchanges! This year was definitely tea-themed- with combinations of unique gifts for the book lover.
I look forward to seeing new and old faces alike come the new year- may your holiday be merry and bright!
December Selection
Theme: Let It Snow
This month's pick had a lot of very unique choices! However, there was definitely an overwhelming vote for a particular title, which is very fitting for this season- so our December book club pick is:
Summary: Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season''s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.
Happy Reading!
I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year's Eve, may 2013 be a wonderful year for all us!
