Our September Selection

“She -was a reader.

He had a library.”

- C.S. Richardson, The Emperor of Paris

Dear Members,

September has arrived!
Fall is my favorite season for so many reasons: I'm taking out my cardigan sweaters and scarves, the smell of apple or pecan pie, the leaves begin to change colour, which adds an incredible beauty to the city (not to mention stepping on those crunchy leaves!), going apple picking, adding cinnamon to everything, autumn sunsets, foggy mornings, the smell of firewood, the crisp Fall air, and painting at this time of year. I also tend to become more of a coffee drinker at this time of year! Best of all: it's cozying up to a delightful read on those chillier nights.
I look forward to our upcoming meetings, where themes range from digging into a good mystery, looking at the lives of others through biographies, traveling abroad to destinations unknown, and coming back to Member's Choice.
This month's theme, There and Back Again, looks back at selections that were previously picked before and provides the opportunity to be selected again. At the same time, it also reflects the state of our mood as we say goodbye to summer and welcome a brand new season. Not only are we returning to our old routines, but we're also starting a new chapter of our lives.
I look forward to seeing everyone very soon, and I wish you all a wonderful month!

                                                                                                                Joanne

Meeting Update

Thank you to all who came to this month's meeting! We gathered at Balzac's Coffee at 122 Bond Street at the Ryerson Image Arts Building. It was the perfect place to catch up: everyone seemed to have a fantastic summer, though it was agreed upon that it went by much too fast! As well, we discussed our previous read, M.L. Stedman's The Light Between Oceans over a cup of coffee.
The novel is full of descriptions of the natural world: the ocean, the landscape, and the sky, all play a pivotal role in Tom and Isabel's life.
Janus Rock, as we find out, is named for Janus the Roman God of doorways. In that sense, this knowledge of being torn between two ways of seeing things reflect much of the issues that haunt both Tom and Isabel. We all loved Tom, not only for his righteousness, but the fact that he was willing to sacrifice so much for Isabel and her happiness. We all agreed that the ending surprised us all, as we expected the book to end in a different way. Altogether, everyone enjoyed the book, having succeeded in pulling our hearts in different directions as we read each page and felt the turmoils and the emotions of each character.

Shortly after, we began to select our next pick. Not surprisingly, the book we chose was 100% agreed upon!

Our September Selection

Summary: Like his father before him, Octavio runs the Notre-Dame bakery, and knows the secret recipe for the perfect Parisian baguette. But, also like his father, Octavio has never mastered the art of reading and his only knowledge of the world beyond the bakery door comes from his own imagination. Just a few streets away, Isabeau works out of sight in the basement of the Louvre, trying to forget her disfigured beauty by losing herself in the paintings she restores and the stories she reads. The two might never have met, but for a curious chain of coincidences involving a mysterious traveller, an impoverished painter, a jaded bookseller, and a book of fairytales, lost and found . . .

Check back for more interesting posts on all things C.S. Richardson and The Emperor of Paris! 

Happy reading everyone!

A Thought

“I wish you could see the sunrise and sunset here. And the stars: the sky gets crowded at night, and it is a bit like watching a clock, seeing the constellations slide across the sky. It’s comforting to know that they’ll show up, however bad the day has been, however crook things get.”

- Tom's letter to Isabel, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Our September meeting is taking place at Balzac's Coffee near Ryerson University at 122 Bond Street. Looking forward to seeing everyone and to discuss not only our latest read, The Light Between Oceans, but to also pick our next selection! Happy weekend everyone!

Our August Selection: The Light Between Oceans

They (the stars) just kept shining, no matter what was going on. I think of the light here like that, like a splinter of a star that's fallen to earth: it just shines, no matter what is happening.

- M.L. Stedman

Dear members,

I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer so far! I certainly had a wonderful time visiting Stratford this past weekend- I took my friend to see Henry V for Stratfest, and it was divine strolling by the river, visiting the antique shops, buying a Fitzgerald at my favourite bookstore, drinking a Parisian Mist at Balzac's- it was just what the doctor ordered!

While it's hard to say goodbye to the last final weeks of summer, there are many events to look forward to come Fall! But before we head into September, let us all visit the beaches one last time, eat our favourite ice cream one moment longer, and go...to the lighthouse!

Thank you everyone who has attended this month's meeting- we discussed Rideout's Above All Things! The majority agreed that it was a superb first novel for the author, and was very well-written, even poetic at times. As well, our book club held our first ever book swap!

There were great choices: from a murder mystery, to the historic, there was something for everyone!

Finally, came about our August Selection. We borrowed Shirley's hat as the place to mix our titles in, and JoAnne had the honour to pick one out, and our pick is:

Summary: After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

                                                              
Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.
M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.

About the author (from the publisher's website): M.L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London. This is her first novel.

Here is an interesting interview for your reading pleasure!

I can't wait to get started- happy reading everyone!

Amusings

We should read to give our souls a chance to luxuriate. -Henry Miller

Fellow book club readers, I hope you enjoy this fun clip on how to visit a French bakery!

Some amusings:

                                               What a great use of space! Potential home idea.

"Book Stack of Light Reading" by ShellSherree

To visit: The Library of Ancient Antiquities in Geneva, Switzerland

Our next meeting will take place on the 18th at Marche. I am excited to announce that we will be hosting our first book exchange! Feel free to bring as many titles as you want- this is the perfect time to dive into a new read!

Hope everyone's enjoying Above All Things!

Above All Things- Our Book Club Pick

Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies.

-Erich Fromm

Dear members,

I can't believe how fast time seems to go by this summer- already it's near August! Have you accomplished some of your things on your Summer to-do list?

Yesterday was our book club meeting, which took place at Panera Bread! We sat and discussed what we have seen and events taking place, not to mention the books we were reading!
Our conversation then turned to our previous selection, Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. It was quite a read, a bit slow at first, but it gradually rises to a sweeping epic ending. The story of Achilles is seen through the eyes of Patroclus, where the story begins when Patroclus and Achilles meet for the first time when they were children, and ends toward the end of the Trojan War. It is Greece in the age of heroes, and the individuals that appear in the book revive our knowledge of Greek mythology: characters such as Zeus, Hercules, Apollo, and Odysseus- they capture the essence of a age wrapped with honour, sacrifice, and glory.
While we all agreed that Patroclus made a good narrator, we thought other character's point of view would have been nice, such as Chiron the Centaur. Overall, we enjoyed the book (it also made us want to go back and read classics such as The Iliad!)

Finally the moment came to select our next book club pick! While all titles were very good, the members have chosen, and this month's book club pick is:

Summary:
The Paris Wife meets Into Thin Air in this breathtaking debut novel of obsession and divided loyalties, which brilliantly weaves together the harrowing story of George Mallory''s ill-fated 1924 attempt to be the first man to conquer Mount Everest, with that of a single day in the life of his wife as she waits at home in England for news of his return.
A captivating blend of historical fact and imaginative fiction, Above All Things moves seamlessly back and forth between the epic story of Mallory''s legendary final expedition and a heartbreaking account of a day in the life of Ruth Mallory. Through George''s perspective, and that of the newest member of the climbing team, Sandy Irvine, we get an astonishing picture of the terrible risks taken by the men on the treacherous terrain of the Himalaya. But it is through Ruth''s eyes that a complex portrait of a marriage emerges, one forged on the eve of the First World War, shadowed by its losses, and haunted by the ever-present possibility that George might not come home. Drawing on years of research, this powerful and beautifully written novel is a timeless story of desire, redemption, and the lengths we are willing to go for honour, glory, and love.


Here is the trailer:

Want to know more about the author? Visit her website! Some fun parts of her site includes "Did You Know" about Above All Things and a Resources page, should you wish to explore further about all things Everest and George Mallory. You can also meet her in person at this year's Word on the Street!

Until next time!

Our July Meeting

Dear members,

This month's meeting will be taking place on Saturday the 28th from 12-2pm. We will be discussing our latest read, The Song of Achilles as well as picking our next selections at Panera Bread, located near Yonge and Dundas, next to The World's Biggest Bookstore! Hope to see you all there!

The Song of Achilles

"Name one hero who was happy."
I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back.

"You can't." 

He was sitting up now, leaning forward.

"I can't."

"I know. They never let you be famous AND happy." 

He lifted an eyebrow.

"Ill tell you a secret."

"Tell me." I loved it when he was like this.

"I'm going to be the first." 

He took my palm and held it to his. 

"Swear it."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the reason. Swear it."

"I swear it," I said, lost in the high colour of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes.

"I swear it," he echoed.

We sat like that a moment, hands touching. He grinned.

"I feel like I could eat the world raw."

- Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

Dear members,

I hope everyone is enjoying our latest pick, The Song of Achilles! Here are some great clips for you to enjoy:



In this clip, Gregory Maguire (author of Wicked and Out of Oz) and the author discuss The Song of Achilles:




I can wholeheartedly agree with Madeline Miller when it comes to reading an actual book, versus the e-reader (although it does have an advantage when it comes to travelling!)




Until next time!