Hello Readers!
Catching Up
At our last meet up, Stephanie hosted a picnic in the park to discuss Dorothy Allison’s riveting roman-a-clef “Bastard Out of Carolina”. Claire, Zinejda, Stephanie and Jessica met in Trinity Bellwoods with some wine on a blanket and discussed our reactions. Overwhelmingly, the consensus was that we were disturbed by the book.
Jessica declared it a page-turner. Claire found it difficult to finish. As usual, we never agree on a book. By the end of our meeting, we decided that it was a thought-provoking and certainly a challenge to our day-to-day lives.
What’s Ahead
We also discussed our upcoming book, and last of the cycle, “Daughter of Fortune” by Isabel Allende. This book should be an exciting conclusion to Cycle 4 - it’s driven by obsession, a quest for freedom and love. It was selected for Oprah’s Book Club in 2000 and is another book with a female protagonist whose traits mirror the author’s.
The group decided we would convene to discuss this book in mid-September, sometime around TIFF. Let’s stay in touch via email to coordinate.
Cycle 5: Readers Recommend…
“Cycle 5: Readers Recommend” will be a relaxed format. It has been suggested that we aim for between 4 and 5 books.
The only criteria: nominate a book which you have previously read and enjoyed.
Think about what your favourite book might be, and why you think the rest of the group would enjoy it.
Ch-ch-changes…
A few final points:
Congratulations are in order for many of our members!
Georgia and Kari have recently completed law school. Kari wrote the Bar exam in B.C. in August and is beginning her articling term in Vancouver this fall. Georgia finished her last exam in Australia and is coming home to London, Ontario and will soon be a full-fledged Canadian lawyer!
Ang graduated from teacher’s college in June and is moving to Vancouver to begin a year of teaching senior kindergarten girls at a wonderful independent school this fall. Brea completed her M.Sc. at the London School of Economics, and will be living in the U.K. for another year to teach as well!
Stephanie was accepted to M.A. program in Anthropology at U of T and begins her studies in the fall. She has already started mastering Japanese for her field work!
Congratulations Readers!! Such accomplishments!
This Sunday Claire hosted a lovely brunch in her beautiful new home. We had a great time discussing The Book of Negroes and enjoying salmon quiche in the backyard.
We missed all of your that couldn’t make it out.
After a little bit of debate, we decided to continue with this cycle’s current reading list.
To bring everyone up to speed, this is what the rest of the summer holds for us:
June/July: Bastard Out of Carolina - Dorothy Allison
Meeting: Picnic in the park - THURSDAY JULY 21st 7pm
July/August: Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende
Meeting: TBD
***STEPH SWEEPS***
Stephanie failed to complete The Book of Negroes!!! Boo!!!
Her total is now 4 out 5.
Will she read the last two books? Stay tuned….
***CYCLE 5 THEME SELECTION COMING UP!***
At our next meeting we will discuss the theme for our next cycle.
We already have a few great suggestions including “The A List” (everyone’s submits one of their favourite books) and “Posthumously Published Paperbacks”.
I am excited to hear what other great themes we come up with!!
Feel free to share your suggestions on the blog.
***AUGUST HOST NEEDED!***
If anyone is interested in hosting this cycle’s last meeting in August please email rrreadersanon@gmail.com to coordinate.
Love,
RA
XO
Hello everyone!
After a brief hiatus Readers Anonymous has returned for the summer. Picking up where we left off, we will be meeting this weekend to discuss The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. More great reads and great times coming up - Stay tuned!!!
-RA
abstractionsubtraction (Katherine) Reviews…
Jean Rhys’ Voyage in the Dark is cold and stark. It lingered uneasily in my mind for days after I’d finished reading it. To be honest, I’m still not quite sure what to make of this book. The seemingly autobiographical voice of Anna Morgan’s character reads with an intensity that is sometimes…
Readers Anonymous and our community…..
Happy New Year Readers! 2011 promises to be a very memorable year that will be kicked off in February’s session with L’Amant hosted by Kari. I’m especially looking forward to this read as it was on top of my list.
In addition to our scheduled December meeting, RA members continued to show their commitment to literacy by making a holiday donation which benefited students of Shoreham Public School in Toronto. RA’s donations helped spread joy to 370 students who were presented with notebooks, pencils and candy at an event organized by Toronto City Councillor for Ward 8, Anthony Perruzza.
Happy Holidays Readers and may 2011 be a fantastic reading journey!
Hello my lovely bloggers…
I took out Voyage in the Dark from the library 2 weeks ago and I am flying through it. I love Rhys’ style — I feel like I’m inside Anna’s head. It’s so interesting to see and hear things exclusively from her perspective. She seems so naive, but also ambivalent to her fate. Does anyone else think that?
I’m reaching the part when things get desperate.
An appropriate book for the final weeks of school… It fits my mood quite well.
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An intimate and melancholy painting by Luke Kopycinski
SO very much looking forward to our upcoming book club meeting at Zinejda’s. I can’t wait to see you all again. I miss the book club. The festive meeting will be the BEST.
-Jess
I just finished the first 50 pages of Voyage in the Dark. It’s taking longer to read than I expected for such a relatively short book. Loving it so far though. What does everybody else think?
Also, excited about our December meeting!!!!!
Z
Filed under voyage in the dark jean rhys
I’m the WORST blogger! I’m currently sitting in my living room during the White Teeth meeting. Claire is sagging in her chair, my cat is perched and ready to pounce on Steph, and Lindsay is sitting like a pretty lady.
Tonight was a small, intimate, brie-filled night of chats about the glorious (but not according to Claire) ‘White Teeth’.
First point of business: STEPH READ THE BOOK! It’s a small miracle.
Second: Where the hell is everyone else?
Since no one is here, we want to pose some questions to y’all:
1. Did you like this book/did you even read it?
2. Did you find it shocking? What did you find most alarming?
3. What were your feelings about gender in White Teeth? We felt that the men were pretty ridiculous in this book, yet the women were all very complex, often hilarious and amazing.
Let us know. We missed you all, and you OBVIOUSLY missed the brie.
-Baylea
Claire chiming in…
Just finished White Teeth…not feeling very satisfied….
Gang: Get your bets in soon. We are going to all participate in a betting game to help, cajole, encourage Stephanie to read thru to completion each and every one the books in this current cycle.
“HOW MANY BOOKS WILL STEPHANIE READ TO THE FINISH?”
Here’s how it works: Each of you need to respond here by picking a number (#)between one (1) and six (6) — the number that you believe will be the actual books Stephanie completely reads. Stephanie’s bet is pre-determined — SIX!!
I will be collecting $5 from everyone during our first book club meeting. The money pot will be assigned to the person (or persons) who has predicted the number of books Stephanie actually reads. The winner(s) assignment is to donate the funds to a charity of their choice in their name(s).
Ladies…please place your bets! From your bookie ;) Claire!
