October 2016 Book of the Month

Hope you had a great week. It's time to start reading, because the votes are in! The book for October is...

"Gerald's Game," by Stephen King.

Thanks for voting, and if you didn't get a chance, you can still vote for the time and date of our meeting until next Saturday, Oct 15, at 12:00 pm at this link. Join our discussion (if you haven't already) on Discord as we read! I'm looking forward to chatting with all of you.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Best,

Taneeta

Discussion Group

Hey everyone!

Thanks to a few of your fellow Bookenders, we have set up a discussion page! It's accessible at this link, and you don't need an account to participate in the conversation (though you can sign up with an email/password if you want to save your messages).

We'll use the discussion group to talk about the books we're reading, as prep for our meetings. You're not obligated to participate, but we'd love to hear what you're thinking as you read along!

For official/administrative information, I'll still communicate via email. This is just a fun way to meet other Bookenders and get some ideas flowing for some great conversation in person.

October 2016 Nominations

This month's theme is (seeing as it's October) Horror/Thriller. We have curated a list of nominations for you to choose from - pick your favourite and see what ends up as our book for the month!

I will add a *content warning* for graphic/disturbing content. You absolutely do not have to read a book you don't want to, and you're still welcome to come to the October meeting!

I am Legend / Richard Matheson

Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.

By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.

How long can one man survive like this?

[source]

Parasite Eve / Hideaki Sena

When Dr. Nagashima loses his wife in a mysterious car crash, he is overwhelmed with grief but also an eerie sense of purpose; he becomes obsessed with the idea that he must reincarnate his dead wife. Her donated kidney is transplanted into a young girl with a debilitating disorder, but the doctor also feels compelled to keep a small sample of her liver in his laboratory. When these cells start mutating rapidly, a consciousness bent on determining its own fate awakens from an eonic sleep.

[source]

Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice

Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.

[source]

Gerald's Game / Stephen King

Stephen King cranks up the suspense in a different kind of bedtime story. A game of seduction between a husband and wife goes horribly awry when the husband dies. But the nightmare has just begun...

[source]

Marina / Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Oscar Drai's story begins in an old quarter of the city, where he meets the strange Marina and her father, Germán Blau, a portrait painter. Marina takes Oscar to a cemetery to watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the last Sunday of each month. At exactly 10:00am, a coach pulled by black horses appears. From it descends a woman, her face shrouded by a black velvet cloak. Holding a single rose, she walks to a gravestone that bears no name, only a mysterious emblem of a black butterfly with open wings.

When Oscar & Marina decide to follow her, they begin a journey to a postwar Barcelona-a world of aristocrats and actresses-and reveals a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

[source]

Carrie / Stephen King

Carrie knew she should not use the terrifying power she possessed... But one night at her senior prom, Carrie was scorned and humiliated just one time too many, and in a fit of uncontrollable fury she turned her clandestine game into a weapon of horror and destruction...

[source]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Robert L. Stevenson

In this harrowing tale of good and evil, the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll develops a potion that unleashes his secret, inner persona—the loathsome, twisted Mr. Hyde.

[source]

Thank you + October's Book!

Hi Bookender buddies!

Thanks so much for those of you who came out tonight. If you didn't, not to worry! We introduced ourselves and talked about some ideas for our books this year. The following is a list of themes we generated:

• horror/thriller
• book to movie adaptation
• contemporary
• satire
• historical fiction
• choose your own adventure
• Canadian literature
• short stories
• uplifting books (to finish off the year)

If you don't see anything you like on this list, let me know and we can vote on it in the coming months! This month's theme, however, is Horror/Thriller.

Check out the nominations and vote for your favourite! The poll also includes a few questions about our social events this semester. Here is the link to the Doodle for scheduling our October meeting.

Looking forward to seeing all of you there!

Best,

Taneeta

September 2016 Meeting

Hey Bookenders!

Thanks so much for your patience this past week. I've finally pinned down the time and place for our meeting, and I'm happy to announce that there will be food! It'll be some snacks and drinks, but still - FOOD!

Meeting Details:

Date Friday September 30, 2016

Time 5:30-6:30 (approx.)

Place Alumni Hall, rm. 105 (So sorry about that. It's the nicest place I could find that allows non-catered food!)

If you're looking for Alumni Hall, it's right beside Kelly Library, and it's a five-minute walk from Museum subway station. You don't need to bring anything except yourselves.

Hope to see all of you there!

Sincerely,

Taneeta Doma
Director, Bookends

Welcome to a new year of Bookends!

Hey Bookenders!

Hope you all had a great (first) week! My name is Taneeta, and I’ll be your Director for the 2016-2017 year. I’m so excited to kick off another year of reading, discussing, and socializing with all of you!

Our first meeting of the year will be for introductions (and a little club business), so new and returning members can get acquainted. Feel free to bring your friends! It’ll be Friday, September 30.

I'm still in the process of a booking a room (and a time), mostly because it's difficult to find one that allows food. If you have any recommendations, I'd really appreciate it! I'll send out an email later on this month with the official details, but I wanted to kick off the year first!

If you can't make it to the meeting, I'll be sending out a follow-up email to summarize everything we talk about. All other meetings of the year will be decided democratically, through polls.

If you have any comments or concerns about accessibility before/during/after meetings, please let me know, whether in person or by email. It is important to me that you feel comfortable and welcomed at our meetings.

I’d also love to get your ideas about how to make this year of Bookends our best yet, so talk to me at the meeting or shoot me an email to get it all started! I’d particularly like your feedback on:
-    ideas for social events (free/inexpensive ones preferred)
-    whether you prefer afternoon or evening meetings, and on which days
-    themes of the month!

See you at the meeting! I’m looking forward to meeting all of you.

Best,

Taneeta Doma
Director, Bookends

~ February's Book of the Month ~

Hello Bookenders!

The votes are in and a date has been set. The book of the month is............

The Incarnations by Susan Barker!

 

"Who are you? you must be wondering. I am your soulmate, your old friend, and I have come back to this city of sixteen million in search of you.So begins the first letter that falls into Wang’s lap as he flips down the visor in his taxi. The letters that follow are filled with the stories of Wang’s previous lives—from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars, and being a teenager on the Red Guard during the cultural revolution—bound to his mysterious “soulmate,” spanning one thousand years of betrayal and intrigue.

As the letters continue to appear seemingly out of thin air, Wang becomes convinced that someone is watching him—someone who claims to have known him for over one thousand years. And with each letter, Wang feels the watcher growing closer and closer…"

 

 

We will be reading The Incarnations and meeting later in the month to discuss the book. Below is the meeting date and time, location will be set out soon so keep an eye out. Good luck with school, assignments and tests and see you all soon!

 

Meeting Info

 

Date: Thursday, March 24th, 2016

Time: 5:30 - 6:00 pm

Location: Marvin Gerstein Room (main floor through the reading room doors)
                  Address -
               Gerstein Science Information Centre
               Sigmund Samuel Library Building
               9 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 1A5

 

Happy Reading,

 

Thurga Ganeshamoorthy

Director, Bookends

University of Toronto