September was a Two #yegbookclub Month! Next up in October...

Like last summer, I picked two #yegbookclub books to read other the summer and then we discussed them on twitter over two consecutive weeks in September.  So this was a 2 #yegbookclub month! I worked hard to get the books read (or at least started) early so that I wouldn't be caught up after the crazy Fringe-filled summer I had.

First up, on September 14th, we talked about Every Blade of Grass by Thomas Wharton.  The novel follows, primarily through the exchange of letters, a relationship between Martha and James.  It was my first foray into Eco-fiction (except, someone said that Atwood's Oryx & Crake is eco-fiction, but I through that was more speculative fiction... I don't know the categories... ). This book took place in the past moving up to the early 2000s. A romance, but a subtle one, with environmental topics woven through the letters, along with a growing intimacy as their relationship evolves. Themes of death, loss and friendship are also explored. Here are a few tweets!

Then on September 21st, we talked about Love Letters From the Angel of Death by Jennifer Quist. Without planning it, I happened to select two books with similar themes of letters, love, death and loss.  They also both mention Fort McMurray which for me as a former long-time resident was a surprise. Here are a few tweets!

Next up for the #yegbookclub is Winterkill by Kate Boorman.  We'll be talking about it on Monday, October 26th from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Edmonton time! Use the hashtags #yegbookclub and #Winterkill to follow the discussion or follow me (@smeep22003) and I will retweet all the tweets!

I picked Winterkill up this summer and after I read it I simply HAD to put it on the list for #yegbookclub! The sequel, Darkthaw, is also coming out on October 13th so if you like it you'll be able to pick up the next in the series right away! 

#yegbookclub Two Books for Summer Reading!

Like last year, this summer will be crowded with Fringe for me, so I have picked two books to read over the summer months in preparation for 2 consecutive weeks of #yegbookclub.  Hopefully you'll be able to join me for one or both of them!  I will be reading more than two books.  Someone mocked me last year for 'only' having 2 books on the docket.  It's just that in September I only have 2 weeks for the #yegbookclub!

First up will be Thomas Wharton's Every Blade of Grass. Here's the synopsis:
A novel of letters. A book of wonders. A story of love, loss, and life on Earth. The story begins in the pre-internet age with a letter left at the front desk of a hotel in Iceland. The recipient, Martha Geddes, is a neophyte journalist from New York, the sender, James Weaver, a rebellious young ecologist from Vancouver. Despite the fact that their lives couldn’t be more different, they feel a mutual attraction, the problem being that they live on opposite sides of a continent and one of them happens to be married to someone else. 

Wharton is currently an associate professor of writing and English at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and head of the creative writing department.

We'll partake in the #yegbookclub for Every Blade of Grass on Monday, September 14, 2015 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Edmonton time on twitter! Hope to see you there.

The nest selection for the summer is Jennifer Quist's Love Letters of the Angels of Death.  Here's the synopsis: Love Letters of the Angels of Death begins as a young couple discover the remains of his mother in her mobile home. The rest of the family fall back, leaving them to reckon with the messy, unexpected death. By the time the burial is over, they understand this will always be their role: to liaise with death on behalf of people they love. They are living angels of death. All the major events in their lives – births, medical emergencies, a move to a northern boomtown, the theft of a veteran’s headstone – are viewed from this ambivalent angle. In this shadowy place, their lives unfold: fleeting moments, ordinary occasions, yet on the brink of otherworldliness.

Quist was born in northern mainland British Columbia and raised all over Maritime and western Canada. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta and is now based in the Edmonton area. 

We'll partake in the #yegbookclub for Love Letters of the Angels of Death on Monday, September 21, 2015 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Edmonton time on twitter! Hope to see you there. 

So get reading everyone! 

#yegbookclub Update! Book 2 in Ehrich Weisz Chronicles released this week!

Tomorrow night, June 4 from 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm playwright and author Marty Chan celebrates the launch of his 10th novel with a party. Infinity Coil is the second book of the Ehrich Weisz Chronicles, which features Harry Houdini (a.k.a. Ehrich Weisz) as the title character. The #yegbookclub discussed the first book in the series - Demon Gate - last fall and we are eagerly awaiting the second installment! This steampunk fantasy adventure follows the exploits of the soon-to-be great magician as he works alongside famous inventor Nikola Tesla to protect the citizens of New York from evil forces.

In honour of the series’ title character, magician extraordinaire Sheldon Casavant will take the stage to perform feats of wizardry and mentalism to delight the audiences before Marty unveils his latest novel.

Not only do you get a chance to see a live magician performing, but your ticket price also gets you a copy of Infinity Coil. Join in the celebrations as Marty Chan launches Infinity Coil.

Age restrictions - 5 & Up Only 

Price:
General – $24.15 (Includes Fees & GST)
Friends – $18.90 (Includes Fees & GST)

Doors Open at 7:00pm

To purchase tickets, click here. 

Meanwhile, I am about halfway through A Wake for the Dreamland which is our next #yegbookclub book.  We'll be discussing that one on twitter on June 10th!  Hope to see you then! 

#yegbookclub Returns with A WAKE FOR THE DREAMLAND by Laurel Deedrick-Mayne

I finally have my schedule figured out for the next few months and it makes me happy to be able to set the next #yegbookclub selection and date!  I have to mix it up a bit and host the Book Club on a Wednesday this time because I am in rehearsal for the next dozen Mondays. 

What: #yegbookclub - A Wake for the Dreamland by Laurel Deedrick-Mayne
Description: Friends William, Robert, and Annie are on the cusp of adulthood while the world is on the brink of war. It is a Canadian summer in 1939 and Robert and Annie’s love has blossomed, even as the inevitability of the boys joining up means separation and the first of many losses. Fearing he might not return, Robert makes William promise to take care of Annie. Every arena of their lives is infiltrated by the war, from the home front to the underground of queer London to the bloody battlefields of Italy. Even in the aftermath, in the shadow of The Dreamland, these friends fight their own inner battles: to have faith in their right to love and be loved, to honour their promises and ultimately find their way “home.”When: Wednesday, June 10th @ 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Where: In the comfort of whereever you want to be, on twitter! 

How does it work?  Just follow the #yegbookclub and #AWakefortheDreamland hashtags and join in the conversation.  You can follow my twitter handle @smeep22003 and tweet to me as well and I will retweet everything, but using the hashtags is the best way to make sure you're in the conversation! Everyone is welcome and hopefully Laurel will also be able to join us! 

#yegbookclub Returns in January 2015 with a Mystery!!

We had a great time chatting with author Wendy McGrath about her novel Santa Rosa on November 17th.  You can follow the discussion with this storify. It was an interesting conversation and we were once again treated to having the author participate in the live discussion! We also talked about the progression of the story started in Santa Rosa and continued into North East and beyond.  I personally found that fascinating - the 'where the story will go and why'.

#yegbookclub will be returning in January with a book that caught my eye this summer at the Free Will Shakespeare Festival.  As most people know I am neck deep into the theatre community of Edmonton and this time around I get to combine reading about Edmonton with theatre in Edmonton. We will also be tackling our first mystery novel. We will be doing Janice MacDonald's Roar of the Crowd.  It's set in and around the Edmonton theatre scene, as well as the University fo Alberta English and Drama departments.  As someone who has spent time in all those 'scenes', I am looking forward to reading and recognizing (I hear that some people I know get mentioned in the book - very cool!). I was leery about starting a mystery series partway through, but have been reassured that it won't be a problem to start with this one.  I've also bought an earlier book in the series to see if that holds up!

When: January 19th at 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Where: Anywhere you can get online to twitter
How: Use the tags #yegbookclub and #roarofthecrowd to follow the discussion. You can also tag my twitter handle @smeep22003 and I will retweet any related comments. 

I hope to see you ll there!

I thought I would get this out there now so you could all get copies for people for Christmas so they can join in!

#YegBookClub - Next in the Queue! Santa Rosa by Wendy McGrath!

My apologies for not getting this out sooner - a rather densely packed life due to the start of both the school year and the theatre season led to a bit of a delay in choosing a book and finding a date for the club.  First, a brief recap of the last book club.  Mid September, we spoke with Marty Chan about Demon Gate, the first book in his Ehrich Weisz Chronicles.  It was a great chat and although it was mostly Marty and myself chatting, I could tell from the retweets and the favorites that there were others following the discussion.  I was pleased to hear hints about what was to come (but with no spoilers!) and it was great to get the insight on Marty's research and inspiration. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

Here are some snippets...

What book next? For our next #yegbookclub we will be reading and chatting about Santa Rosa by Wendy McGrath.  Her sequel, North East has just been released and I thought it might be nice to read the first one before I dive into the second.  I've bought both so I might just read the second as well and see where that goes. 

When: Monday, November 17th, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Where: On Twitter - use the tags #yegbookclub and #SantaRosa to tag and follow posts.  

Who: Everyone is welcome to join in the discussion! The more, the merrier!

A Terrific #yegbookclub with Michael Hingston's The Dilletantes

Last night a group of readers met on twitter for an hour and chatted about Michael Hingston's The Dilettantes.  This was the first of our two summer reading choices.  It was a lively discussion with many threads and side roads and the hour flew by.  It was a great way to spend a snowy evening in September (yes, there was snow!).  The conversation swerved from favorite weird sodas, to student newspapers (comparing U of A's The Gateway to SFU's The Peak) and angst... plenty of angst.  Michael joined in and it was great to have the author chime in and answer questions. If you want to check out the conversation, use the #yegbookclub on twitter to search.  You should be able to pick up most of it.

If you want to check out the book, here's a link to find out more.

Next week we tackle our second summer reading choice, Marty Chan's The Demon Gate.  I think you have time to get it read and join in! See you on twitter on Monday, September 15th at 7 p.m.!

SUMMER READING! #yegbookclub

On May 26th we had a lively chat on twitter with author Thomas Trofmiuk about Waiting for Columbus.  It was wonderful to be able to ask questions about the characters and their possible paths and has the author answer them.  It was very clear that they all continued to live outside the book.  We begged for a Consuela sequel as she was a favorite of many of us readers. It was also great to learnt hat there is a Waiting for Columbus movie in the works.  When I read the book I was struck by how cinematic it was and, like The English Patient, I thought it would lend itself to film.

Following the discussion I indicated that there would be some Summer Reading Choice(s) for the next #yegbookclub.  I don't know about you, but I am always hard to pin down for the summer.  With holidays and day camps for the kids and, for this year, directing two Fringe Shows I thought we could have 2 selections to read over the summer and then in September we could take two evenings to chat about those books.

So (drumroll, please) the two Summer Reading Selections are:

The Dilettantes by Michael Hingston
I was inspired by the Alberta Reads panel and thought a humourous choice would make for a great summer choice.  The description and topic and the feedback from the reader made me think this would be a great book to sit on the deck and read while sipping my wine!

We'll have our #yegbookclub chat for The Dilettantes on Monday, September 8th, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. I hope Michael Hingston will be able to join us!

AND

Demon Gate: Ehrich Weisz Chronicles By Marty Chan
Perhaps this is a reaction to a recent article circulating about grown-ups reading fiction written for younger audiences, but I feel a compulsion to do so and I like the genre.  I think for summer it might be nice to check out this dimension hopping series.  Also, I have an almost 13 year old and I wanted to pick something we could both read.  He's not on twitter, but I am going to get his questions and feedback!

We'll have our #yegbookclub chat for Demon Gate on Monday, September 15th, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. I hope Marty Chan will be able to join us!

So happy reading! We'll chat in September!

#yegbookclub - On April 14th we talked about Pilgrimage by Diana Davidson

This past Monday I was joined on twitter to discuss the latest #yegbookclub selection, Pilgrimage, by Diana Davidson.  It was a lively discussion that grew as more people joined in and we were even visited by the author who shared some answers to questions about the book.  If you haven't had a chance to read it, I recommend, particularly if you are interested in early Alberta history.  The book takes place in the 1890s in and around Lac St. Anne and Fort Edmonton and bravely tells the stories of several women of different social situations and cultural backgrounds. Themes of pregnancy and childbirth and motherhood are strongly woven into the tapestry of the Northern new frontier.  As well, the challenges of clashing cultures is explored from more than one point of view. It has moments of passion and sadness and offers a unique look into our present location as it was. It made me reflect on how things are today and how some things have changed greatly, but other things not nearly as much as you would think. If you want to follow the conversation use the tags #yegbookclub and #Pilgrimage to search the message stream.

The next #yegbookclub selection is (drum roll please)...

Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofmiuk

The book already has a bit of a pedigree:
WINNER – City of Edmonton Book Prize
FINALIST – Georges Bugnet Award for Novel
NOMINEE 2011 – International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
A Richard and Judy Book Club pick for fall 2010
Picked as one of Richard and Judy’s “100 Books of the decade”
A #1 Edmonton Journal Bestseller
An Amazon.ca Best Book of 2009

The next Book Club will be On Monday, May 26.  I am bumping the time to 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. as several of our participants had to leave in the middle to put kids to bed. Hopefully this helps out! There is a flexibility to the Club that I am hoping allows everyone who wants to participate to join in. I will again make a list of prompts to help guide the discussion, but really, the beauty is that you can talk about whatever you want!

I hope to see you all there!

#yegBookClub - Off to a Great Start!

Last Monday night, I poured myself a glass of wine and prepared a small plate of cheese and crackers and settled in for the first #yegBookClub on twitter.  Our book was Todd Babiak's Come Barbarians, and it was a great start to what I hope will be an oft-repeated activity. 

I pulled some of the discussion and wrote a Storify - so if you are not on twitter and want to get a sense of what the discussion was like you can check it out here. Metro News also did a story on it and you can find that here.

For me, it was a great way to dive back into reading.  I read a lot, but lately I have been grabbing a snippet or two before I drift off to sleep and having a purpose at the end of the book made me have a much more engaged read.  I was in Book Clubs in the past (years ago) and always loved the opportunity to discuss and share my feelings and opinions about characters and events.
What was really cool about this was talking about books with complete strangers who I could connect to by the virtue of the shared experience of the book.  Wow!  What a way to use twitter for engagement.

I hope that more people join for the next one and that this can become an ongoing thing. The beauty of twitter is that anyone can engage in the conversation.  There is no membership beyond participation, and even if you just want to follow the discussion, that is still being a part of it.  I like that we are starting with Edmonton authors, too.  Isn't it great to have homegrown artists whose work can be shared in the community?  That is not to say that all the participants on twitter are from Edmonton.  I know I had one friend from Calgary and one from Toronto join in the discussion. 

So on to the next #yegBookClub:

Book: Pilgrimage by Diana Davidson
When: Monday, April 14th at 8 p.m.
How: Read the book.  Log on to twitter.  Use #yegBookClub to tag your posts and to follow the discussion. Bring questions and comments and have fun.  I will provide some moderator points to keep us going if the conversation needs a boost (it's the former English teacher in me!). Feel free to pour yourself a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and please, DO NOT clean your house or dress up or even feel you need to put on make-up. Join the Discussion!

#yegBookClub - An Exciting Idea for Those Who Read and Tweet!

The idea started a couple of weeks ago, when a friend tweeted to me asking whether I was the friend who had been looking for a new Book Club book to read.  I was not, but it got me thinking.  I have been in book clubs in the past, but not for some time, and I missed it.  I read a lot, and love talking about books, and discussing them with friends.  With kids and theatre and my volunteering, the shape of my life has meant that I wasn't able to commit to a regular book club, but then I thought, "What about a twitter book club?"  I have a lot of friends on twitter who also read, some in the city, some outside, and twitter might be the perfect place for us to 'hold our meeting'.  So I posed the question to about 9-10 friends, "Anyone interested in a twitter Book Club?" and the response was overwhelming.  The first question was, "What shall we read?" I had been wanting to read Todd Babiak's, Come Barbarians, so I offered that out, tagging him, and he tweeted back! How very exciting!

So, this is what we're going to do.  All are welcome to join.  I have named it #yegBookClub because the bulk of those I invited specifically are in Edmonton and we are starting with an Edmonton author.  This will help us find the discussion stream on the evening of the book club meeting.

What:         #yegBookClub - a twitter book club
Where:       Wherever you are with whatever device you use to engage with twitter
When:        Monday, March 10th at 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (or longer if we're still tweeting)!
Who:          Whoever wants to join the discussion!
How:          Read the Book - Come Barbarians, by Todd Babiak - think of whatever you might want to ask or talk about and flag the pages if you need to.  Pour a glass of wine if you like. I always enjoy a glass of wine at a book club.  Tweet in and use the hashtag #yegBookClub to make sure that your comment makes it into the discussion.  You can also tag @babiak so he knows what we're talking about! I will be preparing some discussion points if needed, but if not, we will let the discussion go where it will!

This plan gives you about a month to read the book and think about what you might want to talk about.  The beauty of this is that it doesn't matter where you are, you can participate and join the discussion.