The Buzz...About Books

North York Central Book Club

Toronto Public Library offers book clubs in many of its branches, as well as Book Buzz, the online book club. There is a book club suitable for every reader.

If you're looking for stimulating conversation about books, the North York Central Library Book Club may be just what you need. This club has been running for about a decade and has a committed membership of knowledgeable informed readers.The members who attend are serious readers who enjoy in-depth discussions of the books they read.

This book club discusses recent literary fiction and occasionally non-fiction. The next three books featured are:

January 29, 2013
The Hare with the Amber Eyes: a Family's Century of Art and Loss by Edmund de Waal
Acclaimed British potter Edmund de Waal inherits his Great Uncle Iggie's netsuke collection. This group of 264 little Japanese wood and ivory carvings, first acquired from a Parisian dealer's rooms in the 1870s by a distant relative, becomes the catalyst for de Waal's inquiry into his father's family who had once been wealthy Jewish bankers but lost almost everything under the Nazis.

February 19, 2013

Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Eighty-three-year-old Sid Griffiths remembers his time during WWII playing in a Berlin jazz band called the Hot Time Swingers. When jazz music is denounced by the Nazis, Sid and his bandmates flee to Paris--a move that put Hieronymous, the band's brilliantly talented trumpeter, in constant danger due to his Afro-German heritage.

 

March 26, 2013

Fauna by Alissa York
A wide Toronto ravine that bisects the city is home to countless species of urban wildlife, including human waifs and strays. When Edal Jones can't cope with the casual cruelty she encounters in her job as a federal wildlife officer, she finds herself drawn to a beacon of solace nestled in the valley under the unlikely banner of an auto-wreckers yard where the handsome proprietor Guy Howell offers sanctuary to animals and people alike.

The North York Central Book Club meets monthly on Tuesday evenings at 7 pm.

Cedarbrae Book Club

Toronto Public Library has book clubs in branches all over the city. There is probably one in a library near you. Cedarbrae Branch is located in Scarborough close to the Markham and Lawrence intersection. It will always hold a special place in my heart because I worked there for many years. It's a lively and busy branch with a wonderful, dedicated staff.

Cedarbrae has had an active adult book club for at least 20 years. It currently has 25 active members with 10-15 members in attendence for each monthly meeting. The members are a tightly knit group who have a tradition of meeting socially outside of meetings once or twice each year.

The group meets monthly, except in July and August, on the third Thursday of each month at 2 pm.

At the January 17th meeting, An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark will be discussed.

Parenting Book Club at Runnymede Library

The new year brings with it new opportunities. For the library, the new year also means new programs.

One innovative program at our Runnymede library is the Parenting Book Club which meets for the first time on Tuesday January 15 at 10 a.m. Mary Ann, the librarian who founded the club, wanted to present an alternative to the paid programs for parents that take place around the city.

"Sometimes money is a bit tight when people go to mat leave or have single parent families, so I thought a parenting book club would be fun," she explains.

Mary Ann has 3 young children aged 5, 3 and 1 and believes that the Parenting Book Club is a great way for parents to connect and share parenting techniques. The tone will be relaxed, she says. "It is a "guilt free" book club - read the book before, during or after!  With young children, you never know when you will have time for reading."

On January 15, the club will discuss French Kids Eat Everything by Karen le Billon. It is also available as an eBook.

Everyone is welcome!

Runnymede Branch is located at 2178 Bloor Street W.

For more information contact the branch at: 416-393-7697

Writing the Revolution by Michele Landsberg

 Why should Michele Landsberg's Writing the Revolution win the Toronto Book Award on October 11th? Let me tell you why:

To begin with, Writing the Revolution is a lively and unpretentious read. Composed mostly of articles selected from Landsberg's long career as a columnist for The Globe & Mail and The Toronto Star, Writing the Revolution is edited to follow the evolution of the feminist movement in North America in a neat and vivid arch.

You don't have to have stood as witness to the events Landsberg so courageously wrote about (i.e. you don't have to be middle aged) to get excited about this book, because Writing the Revolution does a good job of taking you there, exemplifying through Landsberg's own trajectory the world that was Canada in the 1950's through the 1980's.

It wasn't all that good, as it turns out. Much needed to change. The activist work of women like Florence Bird (first Chair of The Royal Commission on the Status of Women), Doris Anderson (ground-breaking Editor of Chatelaine magazine), Kay Macpherson (first woman elected to the House of Commons), Jane Doe (tireless activist for victims of rape), June Callwood, and so many more, did, in fact, constitute a revolution, a transformation of Canadian society.

Writing the Revolution is meaningful and important, not just because Michele Landsberg is a good writer willing to fight for space in the male-controlled media of the time, but because she herself was an active agent of the change she was chronicling.

Painterly in its writing, these selections are accompanied with a plethora of photographs (don't miss Michele Landsberg and Stephen Lewis' wedding photograph on page 69) which bring to life the excitement of an era that shaped who we are today.

Join Guest Author Kim Moritsugu on Book Buzz!

Book Buzz is very pleased to have guest author Kim Moritsugu join our bookclub this month.  She's been fielding questions about the life of a writer in Toronto and about her novels including The Restoration of Emily, and The Glenwood Treasure.  If you'd like to participate, please post your questions here.

Book Buzz is Toronto Public Library's online bookclub and you can participate whenever you like, from wherever you have Internet access.  It's a relaxed environment for book lovers to gather and discuss books.  This month our featured book is The Restoration of Emily.  We also have an Open Discussion where general conversation about books takes place.  It's a fantastic place to get recommendations for new reading material.

Book lovers of all ages are welcome!

Stay tuned for details about our annual summer contest running in July and August.

The Play's the Thing at Yorkville

There's a book club for everyone at Toronto Public Library.  If you've got a flair for the dramatic you might want to consider attending a meeting of the Yorkville branch Play-Reading Group.

The Play-Reading Group has been meeting at Yorkville Branch for over 20 years. The enthusiastic members gather regularly on Tuesday evenings (rain or shine, cold or warm) from 7-8:30 p.m.
The group read a variety of plays from the Branch's special Theatre Play Set Collection.

Everyone is welcome to join in. Take a part and read along!

For more information, please call the Yorkville Branch at 416-393-7660.

Girls Fall Down Online Discussion

Girls Fall Down by Maggie Helwig was chosen as this year's One Book Community Read.  If you've read the book and want to discuss it with other readers, please join us on Book Buzz, Toronto Public Library's online book club.

It's easy to become a member.  All you need to do is go to our registration page and select a user name.  Lurkers are also welcome to read the discussion, but if you want to have your say about the book, you need to sign up. 

We also have an Open Discussion where we have conversations about anything related to books.  It's a wonderful place to get (and make) book recommendations.

Maggie Helwig will be joining us for an online chat on Monday April 16 at 7 pm.  This is a terrific opportunity to meet and talk to an author, all from the comfort of your own home.  Visit our chat page to sign up for an email reminder.

If you would like to meet the author in person, she is also appearing at:

Agincourt Branch, Tuesday April 10, 2 pm.

St Clair/Silverthorn, Tuesday April 10, 7 pm.

 

 

 

Book Buzz reads...Half-Blood Blues

Esi Edugyan's Half-Blood Blues is one of the most celebrated books of the year.  It was the winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award, and Man Booker Prize.  Just this week, it was nominated for two more awards--The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and The Orange Prize.

Certainly, it is a book people are talking about.  If you'd like to have your say about the novel, join us this month on Book Buzz, Toronto Public Library's virtual book club.  The great thing about an online book club is that you can join the discussion any time and participate when it's convenient for you.

Become a member at our registration page.  All you need to do is pick a user name.  Guest users are also welcome.

Book Buzz reads Little Bee

Book Buzz is Toronto Public Library's online book club.  Each month we concentrate on a specific book for discussion.  This month we're reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave--originally published under the title The Other Hand.

The novel tells the story of two women who are forever linked by an act of violence.

When Little Bee is released after spending two years in a British immigration detention centre she is uncertain how to build a future in Britain and she is still tormented by memories of her life in Nigeria.  She turns to the only English citizens she knows for help--Sarah and Andrew O'Rourke.

While vacationing in Nigeria, Sarah and Andrew encounter Little Bee and her sister Nkiruka as the girls flee from the soldiers who have destroyed their village.  Although Sarah and Andrew negotiate with the soldiers in an attempt to save the girls' lives, they leave Nigeria uncertain whether they have been successful.  The experience haunts the couple and is particularly traumatic for Andrew whose self-image has been shattered.

Inspired by author Chris Cleave's experience working in a refugee detention centre, the novel is compelling and heart-breaking.

Also this month:

Enter our Winter Contest for a chance to win one of our book prize packages!

What literary character would you like to have been?

Tell us and you may be a winner.

Contest closes February 29.

 

Join Book Buzz and join the discussion.

Related Posts:

Win Books from Book Buzz!

The Many Book Clubs of Taylor Memorial Branch

Taylor Memorial Branch is a book lovers’ paradise with three book discussion groups.  

The Tuesday Afternoon Book Club was founded over 30 years ago.  Several members have attended for 25 years or more. The club features stimulating literary discussions and visits from authors like José Latour, Wayson Choy and Anthony De Sa.  Earlier this year the book club hosted author Kwai-yun Li who read from her book The Palm Leaf Fan: & Other Stories, and also enjoyed a luncheon of Hakka Chinese Food with the members.  During summer the meetings sometimes move onto the library patio. 

The next meeting will be on January 3 at 2 PM, featuring a discussion of Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith.

The Thursday Evening Book Club was founded in 1991.  Its next meeting is on January 5 at 7 PM with a discussion of the international bestseller The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

Two years ago it became clear that one evening book club simply wasn’t enough to meet the needs of the community and The Tuesday Evening Book Club was created.  The next meeting will take place on January 3 at 7 PM.  The book discussed will be The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks.

Taylor Memorial Branch is located at 1440 Kingston Rd.

For more information call the branch at 416-396-8939.