Our November Edition

Reading by the fireside, how nice!

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Matchbook Book Club presents: The November Edition Dear Members, We have arrived at a time where the days are getting shorter, the weather is getting colder, and all we want to do is stay indoors, wear our favorite sweaters and cozy socks, and read!  As a result, this month's theme will provide the much needed entertainment to carry on between our commutes and quiet hours in the evening.  Additionally, the festive season is slowly upon us. With that in mind, our annual holiday meeting is coming up! I strongly encourage everyone to come out, as this is the perfect opportunity to see old faces and catch up with your bookish chums as well as meeting new faces- not to mention fun games and gifts for all. Stay tuned for more details! See you all very soon! Joanne I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense. –Harold Kushner Gods and Monsters: Political Thrillers Thank you to all who voted for our titles for this month's theme. The votes are in and this month's pick is: Summary: Vince Flynn is back with another nail-biting political thriller that follows the young Mitch Rapp on a deadly mission to hunt down the men responsible for the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack. For months, Mitch Rapp has been steadily working his way through a list of men, bullet by bullet. With each kill, the tangled network of monsters responsible for the slaughter of 270 civilians becomes increasingly clear. He is given his next target: a plump Libyan diplomat who is prone to drink and is currently in Paris without a single bodyguard. Rapp finds him completely unprotected and asleep in his bed. With confidence in his well-honed skills and conviction of the man's guilt, he easily sends a bullet into the man's skull. But in the split second it takes the bullet to leave the silenced pistol, everything changes. The door to the hotel room is kicked open and gunfire erupts all around Rapp. In an instant the hunter has become the hunted. Rapp is left wounded and must flee for his life. The next morning, the news breaks in Washington that Libya's Oil Minister has been killed along with three innocent civilians and four unidentified men. The French authorities are certain that the gunman is wounded and on the loose in Paris. As the finger pointing begins, Rapp's handlers have only one choice: deny any responsibility for the incident and pray that their newest secret weapon stays that way, avoiding capture and dying quietly. One person in the group, however, is not prone to leaving things to chance. Rapp has become a liability, and he absolutely cannot be allowed to be taken alive by the French authorities. But it will soon become clear that nothing is more dangerous than a wounded and cornered Mitch Rapp. Our November Meeting A big thank you to everyone who turned up to this month's meeting! We had brunch at the very lovely Drake Hotel. To make up for last month's cancellation, not only were we treated to drinks and their famous warm sconces, they also lavished us with desserts! Jealous? We discussed our latest book The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan. It was worth a read, but there were storylines where members either thought they were weak or well-written. Some liked her fiction whereas others liked her non-fiction bits. Overall, it was agreed upon that it was a book worth passing on to a friend. FUTURE EVENT Our annual holiday-themed meeting is right around the corner! As you all know, this is one of our biggest highlights of the year, so everyone is invited! Wear your best Christmas hats and ugly sweaters and let's get festive! We will also be hosting our Secret Santa swap and there will be lovely treats for all. Best of all, it's seeing old and new faces: a perfect time to catch up.  So pick your availability on the  Doodle here! Events Around The City ROM Exhibition: Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Recommended by Shirley) One of A Kind Christmas Show Union Station Holiday Art Market Toronto Christmas Market at the Distillery AGO- Michelangelo: Quest For Genius Exhibition (Recommended by Sonya) Christmas by Lamplight at Black Creek Village

Our October Edition

“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, and all the sweet serenity of books.”

Matchbook Book Club presents: The October Edition Dear Members, October is a busy month for many reasons: Thanksgiving, Halloween, bookish events such as the International Festival of Authors (which is taking place right now!) Additionally, it's also Breast Cancer Awareness Month and October 11th was the International Day of the Girl Child.  Keeping all these things in mind, I thought it would be a great opportunity for our book club to turn to female writers that have made an inspirational impact on our world, young and old. From Maya Angelou to Joan Didion, there are fantastic reads out there written by wonderful female authors.TIME Magazine has written an article called" 21 Female Authors You Should Be Reading"- it's definitely worth a look! See you soon and happy reading! Joanne Thank you to everyone who came out to this month's meeting for brunch at the Gladstone Hotel (last minute venue change)! We discussed our previous pick, Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects-and WHAT a discussion! From the themes to the multi-faceted characters in the book, Sharp Objects left us chilled. Overall, we highly recommend this book. Let's all take a moment to enjoy this wonderful idea that Penguin Books have come up with: The Great Penguin Bookchase! Board Game! Book lovers rejoice! I know I've definitely added this to my holiday wish list!  Gah!! Thank you to those who have voted! This month's pick: Summary: An affecting and hope-filled posthumous collection of essays and stories from the talented young Yale graduate whose title essay captured the world’s attention in 2012 and turned her into an icon for her generation. Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at the New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. As her family, friends, and classmates, deep in grief, joined to create a memorial service for Marina, her unforgettable last essay for the Yale Daily News, “The Opposite of Loneliness,” went viral, receiving more than 1.4 million hits. She had struck a chord. Even though she was just twenty-two when she died, Marina left behind a rich, expansive trove of prose that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. The Opposite of Loneliness is an assem­blage of Marina’s essays and stories that, likeThe Last Lecture, articulates the universal struggle that all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to make an impact on the world. When I’m old and gray, I want to have a house by the sea. And paint. With a lot of wonderful chums, good music, and booze around. And a damn good kitchen to cook in. — Ava Gardner FUTURE EVENT Our November meeting will be taking place in the middle of the month. The dates and time are on Doodle, so click hereto vote! Member's Reads: Stephanie: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Lauren:  Dark Places by Gillian Flynn Joanne: Hector And The Search For Happiness by Francois Lelard Kristin: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Sorry if I missed out on anyone! Will jot down the titles next time! It's National Novel Writing Month! Toronto International Book Fair Nov 13-16 2014 Up Next... Days are getting shorter, and the urge to curl up with a good read is stronger. Hence, we turn to political thrillers for a good time. Think Ian McEwan and Robert Graves. Stay tuned!