DECEMBER BOOK

Our book for December is The Sense of an Ending (link), the Man Booker Prize winning novel by English author Julian Barnes.  (A film based on the book was released in 2017.)  We'll be returning to the spacious, heated patio of the Joey Shipyards location in North Vancouver (Joey).  Join the gang this Tuesday evening (Dec.7) at the regular 7pm start time for some pre-holiday literary merriment.  All carbon-based bipeds more than welcome.

This intense novel follows Tony Webster, a middle-aged man, as he contends with a past he never thought much about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony thought he left this all behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

     NOVEMBER BOOK

Our book for November is To Siberia (link) by Norwegian author Per Petterson.  (You may recall we read Out Stealing Horses by the same author a few years back, to quite positive reviews.)  Once again, we'll be meeting at Joey's Shipyards location (Joey) in North Vancouver.  Not only is it close to the Seabus but it has a huge covered and heated patio.  So join the bookateers next Tuesday evening (November 2nd) for some post-Hallowe'en frivolity and badinage; 7pm start time as usual.

A brother and sister are forced ever more closely together after the suicide of their grandfather. Their parents' neglect leaves them wandering the streets of their small Danish village. The sister dreams of escaping to Siberia, but it seems increasingly distant as she helplessly watches her brother become more and more involved in resisting the Nazis.

   OCTOBER BOOK

Our book for October is Calypso by David Sedaris (link).  We'll be returning to Joey's Shipyards location in North Vancouver, just a short walk from the Seabus terminal (Joey).  The huge covered patio will shelter us from any inclement weather.  Come and join the fun this Tuesday evening (Oct 5).  As usual, festivities commence at 7pm and all are welcome.

With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation toward middle age and mortality. Make no mistake: these stories are very, very funny--it's a book that can make you laugh 'til you snort, the way only family can. Sedaris's powers of observation have never been sharper, and his ability to shock readers into laughter unparalleled. But much of the comedy here is born out of that vertiginous moment when your own body betrays you and you realize that the story of your life is made up of more past than future.

   SEPTEMBER BOOK

Our book for September (hard to believe another summer is almost gone) is Stories of Your Life and Others (link) by American author Ted Chiang.  The title story was the basis for the science fiction film Arrival.  Once again, we'll meet at the Tap & Barrel Shipyards location in North Vancouver, just a few minutes walk from the Seabus terminal.  (Check earlier posts for more precise directions.)  Join the lonesome bibliophiles on the evening of Tuesday, September 6 at 7pm for good food, drink and conversation.  As always, all are welcome.

This new edition of Ted Chiang's masterful first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, includes his first eight published stories plus the author's story notes and a cover that the author commissioned himself. Combining the precision and scientific curiosity of Kim Stanley Robinson with Lorrie Moore's cool, clear love of language and narrative intricacy, this award-winning collection offers readers the dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar.  Stories of Your Life and Others presents characters who must confront sudden change—the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens—while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy.

AUGUST BOOK

Our book for August, coincidentally enough, is Augustus by John Williams (link).  The author of Stoner is back for a return engagement.  Once again, we'll meet at the Tap & Barrel Shipyards location in North Vancouver. (See previous month's post for location details.)  A cheery invite to all interested parties to join us this Tuesday evening (Aug 3) for books and beer at the usual 7pm start time.  Hail Caesar!

In Augustus, his third great novel, John Williams took  on an entirely new challenge, a historical narrative set in classical Rome, exploring the life of the founder of the Roman Empire. To tell the story, Williams turned to the epistolary novel, a genre that was new to him, transforming and transcending it just as he did the western in Butcher's Crossing and the campus novel in Stoner. Augustus is the final triumph of a writer who has come to be recognized around the world as an American master.

 

JULY BOOK

Our book for July is American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (link).  We're finally meeting up in person again:  it's back to the  Tap & Barrel Shipyards location in North Vancouver (https://www.tapandbarrel.com/locations/).  The address is Tap & Barrel Shipyards, 8 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver (i.e. the foot of Lonsdale Avenue, a short walk from the Seabus terminal).  The patio is huge and with any luck a sea breeze should provide relief from the heat.  So join the fun this Tuesday evening (July 6) as we begin a cautious return to some semblance of normality.  The usual 7pm start time applies and all and sundry are welcome.

Lydia Quixano Pérez runs a bookstore in Acapulco, Mexico, where she lives with her husband, Sebastián, who is a journalist, and their son, Luca. When a man starts visiting her store, buying books and striking up a friendship, she has no idea initially that he will be responsible for turning her life upside down. But Lydia and Luca will have to flee Acapulco, setting them on a journey they will share with countless other Central and South Americans-turned migrants. There is very little I can say about this novel that hasn't already been said, and it hasn't even been published yet. The buzz has been building early, and when it does go on sale it will likely be one of the most talked about (and widely read) books of the year. From the colossal opening chapter to the epilogue, American Dirt is a novel of crisp writing, urgent pacing, and remarkable empathy. It deserves the attention of a large audience. —Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review

JUNE BOOK

Our book for June is The Thin Man (link) by Dashiell Hammett, who many rank as the dean of hard-boiled crime fiction.  Hammett was a tragic victim of McCarthyism (Wikilink).  The book was the basis for the classic 1934 film of the same name starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.   Once more, we'll be ZOOMing (ZOOMlink); more detailed ZOOM info can be found in the Comments section from previous months.  Join the gang on the evening of Tuesday, June 1 for some literary merriment at the usual start time of 7pm.  As always, all carbon-based bipeds (and quadrupeds for that matter) are welcome to participate in the festivities.

In Dashiell Hammett's famous crime novel, we meet one of the detective-story master's most enchanting creations, Nick and Nora Charles, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, The Thin Man is a classic murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners  

MAY BOOK

Our book for May is Olive Kitteridge (link) by  American author Elizabeth Strout.  This collection of linked short stories was the basis for the Emmy Award–winning HBO miniseries starring Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins and Bill Murray.  Once again we'll be meeting virtually via ZOOM and anyone can join via this zoomlink.  (If you have any issues, more detailed ZOOM info can be found in the Comments sections from previous months.)  The festivities commence at 7pm on the evening of Tuesday, May 4.  Bring a friend or pet, plus a heaping helping of your favorite beverage and join the fun.  Let's hope we can get back to a patio for June.

At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large.  But she doesn't always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive's own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

 

APRIL BOOK

Our book for April is As I Lay Dying (link) by renowned American author William Faulkner.  We'll be meeting virtually via ZOOM once again:  join via this zoomlink.  (If you have any issues, more detailed ZOOM info can be found in the Comments sections from previous months.)  Join us on the evening of Tuesday, April 6 for another lively literary free-for-all.  As usual, the start time is 7pm and attendance is open to all (but BYOB).  With any luck and better weather, patio season should be in full bloom in May and we'll be able to escape the Matrix and start meeting in person as before.  Keep your guard up and stay safe as we enter the home stretch.

As I Lay Dying is Faulkner's harrowing account of the Bundren family's odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn  by each of the family members—including Addie herself—as well as others, the novel ranges in mood from dark comedy to the deepest pathos. Considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style and drama, As I Lay Dying is a true 20th-century classic.

MARCH BOOK

Our book for March is Just Mercy (link) by American lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson.  We'll continue our series of ZOOM meetings this Tuesday evening (March 2) at the usual start time of 7pm.  The invite can be found in the Comments section below.  All are welcome so bring a friend, relative or stranger along.

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer's coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

FEBRUARY BOOK

Our book for February is The Sympathizer (link)by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Pulitzer Prize winner from 2016, among several other awards.  We'll continue with our ZOOM meetings, this one starting at 7pm on Tuesday evening, February 2.  Check the Comments below for the invite.  As usual, one and all are welcome to join the fun and frolic.

With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Saul Bellow, The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a "man of two minds," a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.

JANUARY BOOK

A belated Happy New Year to everyone.  Our book for January is Tess of the D'Urbervilles (LINK) by the prolific Victorian era author Thomas Hardy (wikilink).  Once again, we'll be having a virtual meeting via ZOOM, starting at 7pm on the evening of Tuesday, January 5.  Check the Comments section below for the invite.  Newcomers and oldtimers always welcome.  (Pets and pajamas optional.)  Stay safe everyone; we're not out of the woods yet.

         

When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, subtitled "A Pure Woman," is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.