November Book of the Month Meeting

Hello Bookenders,

According to the poll results, the best time for our next meeting is Friday, November 23rd at 3pm in SS 2120. We'll be discussing our book of the month, The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.

In the meantime, hope you're all managing to bear with this snowy weather!
 

Cheers,

Connie and Mia

The sci-fi/fantasy book of the month is...

Hey Bookenders,

Thanks to everyone who made it out to our meeting last Friday. We had a great discussion about our mystery pick and we certainly ended the film screening on a suspenseful note!

The votes are in and the November book of the month for the theme of sci-fi/fantasy is... The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Published in 2015, this fantasy novel is the acclaimed author Ishiguro's newest release after over a decade. You can pick up a copy at the Toronto Public Library, at one of the U of T libraries, or elsewhere in time for our meeting in mid-November. We'll be sending out a poll before then to decide on the best time.

Wishing you luck in the rest of midterm season,

Connie and Mia

Meeting this Friday and November Nominations

Hello Bookenders,

As per last week's poll, our meeting to discuss The Girl on the Train will be Friday, October 19th at 3pm in SS 2120. Afterwards, we will be heading over to Robarts' Media Commons Theatre to screen the movie adaption.

We will also be voting on our November sci-fi/fantasy pick at the meeting (thank you to all who sent awesome suggestions in!). If you aren't able to come and would still like to vote, we are including the nominations below. Feel free to email us your vote to be counted by Friday.

Hope to see you a lot of you then!

Cheers,

Mia and Connie


The Snow Child
by Eowyn Ivey, 2012, 404 pages

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.


Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley, 1818, 288 pages

At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.


The Buried Giant
by Kazuo Ishiguro, 2015, 345 pages

The Romans have long since departed, and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But at least the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. The Buried Giant begins as a couple, Axl and Beatrice, set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen for years. They expect to face many hazards — some strange and other-worldly — but they cannot yet foresee how their journey will reveal to them dark and forgotten corners of their love for one another. Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge and war.


The Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker, 2013, 486 pages

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic and dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free. Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.
 

October Meeting + November Nominations

Howdy Bookenders,

The poll is now open for our next meeting!

https://doodle.com/poll/az2dxu8xxts64kfe

We’re also currently accepting nominations for our November book of the month, which will fall under the theme of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Voting will take place in person at our next meeting. If you're not able to attend, don't worry, as you'll also be able to email us your vote beforehand.

Please fill in the poll and send in your nominations by Friday, October 12.

Cheers,

Connie and Mia 

 

The votes are in...

Hey Bookenders,

The votes are in and the October book of the month is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. There are tons of copies of the book in the Toronto Public Library, so you can pick one up there! Our meeting to discuss the book will be in mid-October, and we will be sending out a poll to decide on the best time.

Until then,

Mia and Connie

POLL: October Nominations

Good Tuesday morning Bookends,

Nominations are in for our mysterious October read, so let us know your pick of the month! The poll will close on Thursday, September 20th.

Until then, 

Connie and Mia 





 















 


Shutter Island
by Dennis Lehane, 2003, 369 pages

The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this remote and barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane relentlessly bears down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is what it seems. But then neither is Teddy Daniels.


The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins, 2015, 323 pages

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. 'Jess and Jason', she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she's only watched from afar. Now they'll see; she's much more than just the girl on the train...


In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote, 1966, 343 pages

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.


The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler, 1939, 231 pages

Los Angeles PI Philip Marlowe is working for the Sternwood family. Old man Sternwood, crippled and wheelchair-bound, is being given the squeeze by a blackmailer and he wants Marlowe to make the problem go away. But with Sternwood's two wild, devil-may-care daughters prowling LA's seedy backstreets, Marlowe's got his work cut out - and that's before he stumbles over the first corpse...



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And the themes for this year are...

Bookends, get ready for an enigmatic October.

We're kicking it off this month with MYSTERY. Nominations for books will be open until Monday September 17th. 

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first meeting. As voted upon, here are the themes we'll be visiting this year.

• October: mystery
• November: science fiction/fantasy
• December: exams, no book of the month
• January: non-fiction/memoir
• February: translated/international
• March: unique format (play, poetry, graphic novel, short stories)
• April: exams, no book of the month

For those who weren't able to join us yesterday, we hope to see you next time! In the meantime, send us an email at bookendsuoft@outlook.com letting us know which perplexing story you'd like to read next.

Yours truly,

Mia and Connie

First Meeting of the Semester

Welcome back to school Bookenders!  

Please join us on Friday, September 14th in SS 2120 at 3pm for our first meeting this semester. For those of you that can't make 3pm, don't worry. We'll be sticking around for a while, so feel free to drop by and say hi!

We will be introducing the club, deciding on book themes for the year, and delving into some fun (and controversial) booklover questions. If you want a say in our next month's book, we hope to see you there!

- Connie and Mia

We Meet on the 14th, August the 14th

Hey Bookends!

Looking at our Doodle poll, it appears that August 14th from 4-5 pm is The Best Time to have our last meeting. We'll be meeting in SS Rm. 2120 to discuss the ups and downs of Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and our new co-Presidents Mia Vujcic and Connie Liu will be heading the discussion! Hope to see you all there for the laughs and good snacks. :D


Cheers,
Annoj  

Book for July/August - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

The selection for our non-fiction category this month is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. The Toronto Public Library as always has some copies of the book, but you can also catch a copy at our Robarts, Laidlaw, E.J. Pratt and Kelly libraries! Since we're already halfway into July, our next meeting will be held sometime during the middle of August and it will be the last one of the summer. The Doodle below is to help us decide when that tearful parting is to happen, and it'll be open until Wednesday, July 25 2018.   https://doodle.com/poll/hkq4k8762smtu4zq See you all in a month-or-so, Annoj

Let's Discuss Dorian Gray

Hey Bookenders!

I hope you're all enjoying that perfect weather out there.
Our meeting for June is fixed and set to go for Monday, June 25th from 4-5pm at Sidney Smith Rm. 2112. Fatima kindly pointed out that our book The Picture of Dorian Gray is available for free on the iBook app for Apple users. You may also access a pdf copy of the book using the link below:

http://www.planetpublish.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray_NT.pdf

Happy reading, and I hope to see you all on the other side of the weekend!


Cheers,
Annoj

Ready Player One - Meeting + Movie

Hello Gunters!

Thanks for your patience; we have a date and time at last for our meeting and evening at the movies. We'll be meeting this Friday, May 11th at 3:00 pm in the Marvin Room of Gerstein Library. Then, we will trek to Carlton Cinemas (15-minute walking distance) for the 3:50 show of Ready Player One!

The map below will help guide you to our meeting location:

Map to Marvin's Room 

So to summarize, the itinerary for the day is as follows:

3:00-3:30 pm  Bookends Meeting at Gerstein library
3:30-3:45 pm  Walk to Carleton Cinemas
3:50-6:20 pm  Ready Player One - The Movie

I hope to see as much of you there as possible, and let's count off the days till then!

The Party Never Ends at Bookends

Hello to all,

1. Summer Extension
2. Co-Directors for the 2018-19 school year
3. Movie Night coming your way


1. Summer Extension

Bookends has decided to break free of tradition by continuing to run through the summer, which is when people actually have the time to read books of their liking.

For the month of April our recommended reads are your final exam material. For May however, we have something more captivating: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. A hard copy of this book is hard to come by these days, but there is an epub file downloadable through the link below:

https://epubebooks.net/file-downloads/?file=218

After entering this link, click on the orange Download Now link, pay no attention to any crowded ads around it.

You will also need to download a free application that reads epub files, such as Adobe Digital Editions, or iBooks.


2. New Co-Directors for 2018-19

It is with great pleasure that I present to you the new co-Directors of Bookends: Mia Vujcic and Connie Liu. They are both very involved members of the club, and the summer will be excellent time for their transition. Congratulations!


3. Movie Night

As you may've realized, Ready Player One is in fact a new release in theatres (wow, what a coincidence!). We will be arranging a Movie Night sometime in the middle of May to celebrate the end of the school year and to see how the movie holds up with the book. Details on location and date TBD...


Eating those exams,

Annoj

Final Meeting of the Year

Our book for March will be The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. For those of you who'd like to read it online, the link is available right here. Our final meeting of the year will be taking place on Monday, April 2nd from 5-6pm at Sidney Smith Rm. 2112.

Along with our discussions, we'll be having an election to determine our next Director for 2018-19! If you are interested in heading the club next year, please notify me of your interest by Monday, March 26th to bookendsuoft@outlook.com. During our next meeting, each candidate will have three minutes to present themselves, why they'd like to lead the club, and any new ideas they would bring to the table. We will then have a vote to identify the candidate(s) with a majority of votes in favour.

Cheers,
Annoj

House of the Spirits Meetng

Hello Bookends!

Our next meeting has been set for Tuesday, March 6th at University College Rm. 44 from 5-6pm. The room is in the basement of UC, the closest entrance being opposite to the UTSU office. We'll be discussing the House of the Spirits and playing a Mafia-styled game as well, so come out for the laughs and good fun!

Also, I'll be accepting nominations for our final book of the semester until Saturday March 3rd. Selections do not have to conform to a certain genre, but will be capped at 300 pages.

I look forward to seeing you all soon!


Cheers,

Annoj

Book for February Selected

Hello fellow rêveurs,

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a fantastic discussion of The Night Circus. There was just too much in the novel to relish in an hour :D

We do have our next book selected for February, and that is House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Like Douglas Adams's and Erin Morgenstern's first novels, this one is also a career-first for Mrs. Allende, and it is spellbinding.

Happy reading,

Annoj

Nominations for February

Hello Bookends!

I hope most of you have got to experience the wonders of The Night Circus! It's enchanting, tumultuous and so much more. If you haven't read it yet, it's one to save for the summer at the very least.

Also, just as a reminder, we'll be meeting this Friday from 4-5 pm at Sidney Smith Rm. 2120. We'll be playing a more discussion-oriented game this time around, and there'll be snacks as always.

Since we're on the brink of February (already!), we will also be deciding on our next Book of the Month. The descriptions of the shortlisted books are below; in the event that you're unable to attend this meeting, you're welcome to send your vote by e-mail!

1. And The Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini, 384 pages, 2013

A multigenerational-family story revolving around brothers and sisters, it is an emotional, provocative, and unforgettable novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. With profound wisdom, insight and compassion, Hosseini demonstrates once again his deeply felt understanding of the bonds that define us and shape our lives--and of what it means to be human.


2. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende, 433 pages, 1986

The House of the Spirits brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter Blanca embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban: his adored granddaughter Alba, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future.

One of the most important novels of the twentieth century, The House of the Spirits is an enthralling epic that spans decades and lives, weaving the personal and the political into a universal story of love, magic, and fate.


3. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, 190 pages, 1962

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962,One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary documents to have emerged from the Soviet Union.


4. After Dark, by Haruki Murakami, 191 pages, 2007

At the center of this novel are two sisters: Yuri, a fashion model sleeping her way into oblivion; and Mari, a young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny's into lives radically alien to her own: those of a jazz trombonist who claims they've met before; a burly female love hotel manager and her maidstaff; and a Chinese prostitute savagely brutalized by a businessman. These night people are haunted by secrets and needs that draw them together more powerfully than the differing circumstances that might keep them apart, and it soon becomes clear that Yuri's slumber - mysteriously tied to the businessman plagued by the mark of his crime - will either restore or annihilate her.

After Dark moves from mesmerizing drama to metaphysical speculation, interweaving time and space as well as memory and perspective into a seamless exploration of human agency - the interplay between self-expression and understanding, between the power of observation and the scope of compassion and love.

First Meeting of 2018

Hello fellow book enthusiasts!

I hope you all had a refreshing break, ready to rock this semester. We'll be arranging our next meeting for the end of January/beginning of February, and your votes are needed to decide on the date and time. The Doodle below will be active until Wednesday January 17th.

https://doodle.com/poll/uzcv88gubdcq98wd

Memory Jog: The book for January is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.


To a better year,

Annoj