JANUARY BOOK

Happy New Year to one and all.  Our book for January is The Kraken Wakes  (link) by noted English sci-fi author John Wyndham.  (Several of his novels have been filmed.)  We'll be having a virtual ZOOM meeting once again (ZOOMlink) as we wait for the Omicron variant to reach its omega point.  As usual, the entire universe is invited to join us dedicated bookateers, commencing at 7pm this Tuesday evening, January 4.  White tie and tails strictly optional.

An "ingenious, horrifying" (The Guardian) first contact story by one of the twentieth century's most brilliant—and neglected—science fiction and horror writers, whom Stephen King called "the best writer of science fiction that England has ever produced."

What if aliens colonized Earth's oceans, rather than its land?

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