Walnut Grove Library Book Club

The Book Club is now closed

2012-01-19T19:19:00.001-08:00

The Book Club will start in January 2012

2011-10-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

The Book Club will not start until January 10, 2012. If you are interested in signing up please come and visit us at the Walnut Grove Library or call 604 882 0410.

October 2011 Selection

2011-09-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood

The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 11 at 2 pm.

Come and join us in October for an all new book club

2011-07-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday October 11 at 2 pm the book club will resume. If you have ever wanted to join a book club, now is the time.
We will be meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of every month from 2-3 pm.
Stay tuned for September's selection.
Call 604 882 0410 to register.

May 2011 Selection

2011-05-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Jade Peony, by Wayson Choy

The next meeting will be on Thursday, May 26, 2011.

April 2011 Selection

2011-03-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Feed my dear dogs, by Emma Richler

Jem Weiss is the middle child of a remarkably wonderful family. Her father is a famous author, her mother a protestant "Goddess" and she has 4 siblings who are also super gifted kids that can quote Shakespeare and Dickens. The book chronicles her childhood in England and coming of age in Canada. Jem leads an inward life which focuses on her truly unknowable mother, and experiences are all related to through books and movies.

Request a copy at FVRL

Learn more abou the book here

March 2011 Selection

2011-02-28T14:26:00.000-08:00

Cure for death by lightning, by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

In the shadow World War II, Beth Weeks is coming of age. Living in a rural community in British Columbia, life for Beth rotates around traditional farming activities, like milking cows, preserving and harvesting. Life changes when Beth's father is attacked by a grizzly bear, and becomes an aggressive and paranoid person, who begins to pursue his daughter at night. The neighbouring Reserve community is filled with unstable people, and magical realism enters with shape shifting men creating an real as well as an imagined threat.

Request a copy at FVRL

Learn more about the book here

February 2011 Selection

2011-01-18T10:58:00.001-08:00

White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga

An unflinching look at India's class system. Balram Halwai has managed to escape the "Darkness" (poverty) in which he was born. His father was a rickshaw driver, and Balram has managed to climb up the social ladder enough to become a chauffeur. But unsatisfied with how the upper classes treat him he becomes driven to rage against the confines of his circumstance. Ultimately Balram kills his employer and takes off for Bangalore. The price for freedom from the traps of his culture are murder and bribery. The events are told in the form of a letter to the Chinese premier who is coming to India, and who Balram feels needs to know how India really works.

Request a copy at FVRL

Learn more about the book here

January 2011 Selection

2011-01-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Divisadero, by Michael Ondaatje

Alternating stories drive this book. Starting in 1970's California it is the story of Anna who is raised together with adopted daughter Claire, and the farm help, Coop. Anna eventually engages in a sexual relationship with Coop and when her father learns of it he savagely beats Coop, and Anna runs away.
The second half of the novel focuses on the separate lives of the Anna, Claire and Coop.
Anna now an academic is researching the life of an author whose house she now lives in. Claire works as a researcher for a public defender, which leads to briefly re-encounter Coop.
And Coop spends his days as a poker player with criminal associations.
The novel's disjointedness reflects the lack of cohesion of the characters' lives.

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Learn more about the book here

December 2010 Selection

2010-11-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

The way the crow flies, by Ann Marie MacDonald

A sweeping family saga of life in 1960's Canada. Contrasting the idyllic view of an almost imaginary time, with the brutal reality of life. This is the story of the McCarthy family. Dad Jack is in the Armed Forces and has just been transferred back to Canada after serving time in Germany. Mom Mimi is the "domestic Goddess", and children Madeline, 8 and Mike 12 round out the family. Life in the loving family is great until Madeline is being kept after school by her teacher, who sexually abuses her and other girls. Madeline does not tell her parents about the abuse, but she is not the only one keeping secrets in the family. Dad Jack is also keeping things hidden and the lies they tell soon engender more lies which inevitably shatter the idyllic world.

Request a copy at FVRL here

Learn more about the book here

November 2010 Selection

2010-10-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon Gardens, by Shyam Selvadurai

The Kandiah family lives in the exclusive suburb of Cinnamon Gardens near the city of Colombo in 1927. Daughter Annalukshmi wants to be a teacher, but tradition says she has to stop working when she marries. The other narrative in this books is the story of Annalukshmi's uncle, Balendran, who is trapped in a world that does not look kindly onto homosexuality. The backdrop is the changing world of Ceylon on the cusp of losing its colonial guardianship while still seeking to define itself in a changing world. Selvadurai captures the feel of the place as well as the complexity of culture with his languid pace and language.

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Learn more about the book here

October 2010 Selection

2010-09-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway

Based on a true story, in 1992 during the siege of Sarajevo, four people are standing in line to buy bread when they are killed during a mortar attack. A cellist vows to play on the same spot for 22 days to honour the dead. While this is happening we also become acquainted with a sniper who is assigned to kill the cellist. Only known as Arrow, the female assassin now has to ask herself who she is and why she does what she does.

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September 2010 Selection

2010-08-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

The Book Of Negroes, by Lawrence Hill

An epic journey through slavery in the New World. Animata Diallo is abducted from her village in West Africa by slavers in 1756. Animata lands in South Carolina where she is reunited with another boy from her village. The novel follows both people as they make their way in a world set up to treat them as non-human and property. Animata has an indomitable spirit, and is able to make friends with both black and white. Over time she is able to serve Britain during the revolutionary war, and is rewarded with the opportunity to put her name in the "Book of Negroes" which records the names of those who have sought permission to leave the US for Nova Scotia. But, of course, the promised land is never as perfect as promised, but ultimately Antimata is able to make her way back to Sierra Leone.

Request a copy at FVRL

Learn more about the book here

August 2010 Selection

2010-07-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Black Bird, by Michel Basilier

Set during the October crisis (1970) in Quebec, the book chronicles the events of the Desouche family.
Grandfather makes his living digging up dead bodies from the local cemetery and selling them to a doctor. However, now that winter has come the ground is too hard to pursue this form of employment.
Grandfather also marries Aline, a younger woman, primarily as a housekeeper, rather than a wife.
Granddaughter Marie is a member of the FLQ and thus at odds with her Anglo family. Her brother Jean-Baptiste is a dreamer poet. The mother of this eclectic family spends her life sleeping in bed, much to the consternation of the family physician.
Against the very realistic back drop of Quebec in the early 70's the novel employs a wonderful amount of whimsical magical realism.

Learn more about the book here.

Request a copy at FVRL.

July 2010 Selection

2010-06-15T14:17:00.000-07:00

Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy

The novel referred to by William Faulkner as the "greatest book ever written", was published in 1877 continues to be a successful book in our times. The passionate love affair between Anna and the dashing Count Vronsky as well as the more tempered relationship of Levin and Kitty are relayed by Tolstoy in elegant prose. Anna and Vronsky's relationship comes with a high price for Anna, who ends up losing her social standing, her family and ultimately her life. Tolstoy contrasts such passion with the character of Levin, who spends his life searching for meaning and love, and ultimately finds both by accepting that blinding passion always comes at a high price, while a more measured approach to life offers lasting rewards like family and contentment.

Learn more about the book here.

Request a copy at FVRL.

June 2010 Selection

2010-05-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

The piano man's daughter, by Timothy Findley

While narrated by Charlie Kilworth, the novel is really about his mother, Lily, who is the Piano Man's daughter. Lily has inherited her family's curse of madness, which in her case presents itself in seizures and pyromania. Charlie chronicles Lily's life, including her being locked in the attic when her parents are entertaining, to her scholarship to Cambridge, and the affair that produces Charlie.
The story is beautifully told, bringing turn of the Century Canada vividly to life.

To learn more about the book click here

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May 2010 Selection

2010-04-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

The Zahir, by Paulo Coehlo

Zahir in Arabic means "unable to go unnoticed" and is generally accepted to mean an obsession. In this case the unnamed narrators obsession is his missing wife, Esther. The narrator is a famous author who has everything money can buy. His wife is a journalist who has gone missing. The narrator is a suspect in her disappearance, and during her absence he reviews his relationship with her. He ultimately realizes that to find his wife he must find himself. The novel is about making a pilgrimage, figuratively and spiritually.
Highly autobigraphical, the Zahir was published to much critical acclaim in 2005.

To learn more about the book click here.

Request the book at FVRL

April 2010 Selection

2010-03-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sweetness at the bottom of the pie, by Alan Bradley.

Set in England in 1950, 11 year old Flavia de Luce lives is already an expert chemist and a very good sleuth. Both of her skills are put to the test when a murder occurs at Buckshaw, her mansion home. Flavia quickly decides to investigate the murder to her satisfaction. Soon it becomes clear that the murder is far more encompassing that it first appeared. Flavia manages to be a step ahead of the police for the most part, but she does jump to some conclusions and has to back track, and even finds herself caught up in a harrowing circumstance.
Bradley has really managed to recapture an age that no longer exists where youth can be smart and also innocent at the same time.

Learn more about the book here

Request the book at FVRL

March 2010 Selection

2010-02-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

"English Passengers", by Matthew Kneale

A well told tale about a quest for the Garden of Eden as well as that of the fates of the aborigines of Tasmania in the 19th Century. Led by Captain Kewley a ship sets sail for Tasmania. Kneale uses over 20 different voices to tell the story of smuggler Captain Kewley and his Manx (Isle of Man inhabitants) crew, who take on board the Revered Geoffrey Wilson, who believes the Garden of Eden to be located on Tasmania, as well as surgeon Dr. Potter who wants to prove his theories on race, hoping the Tasmanian aborigines would provide some interesting specimens. In contrast to these voices is Peevay, a Tasmanian native who recounts his struggles with the white invaders of his land.

Learn more about the book here

Request the book at FVRL

February 21-27, 2010 is Freedom to read week!

2010-02-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

We always take our choices of reading material for granted. But many works continue to be banned even as you read this.

Want to learn more about books that have been banned? Check out www.freedomtoread.ca for more information.

February 2010 Selection

2010-01-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

"The Elegant Gathering of White Snows", by Kris Radish

When a group of women who have been meeting on a regular basis decide on the spurt of the moment to leave their daily lives behind and simply start walking until they feel it's time to stop, their actions have an impact not only on them, but on women across the country. As the women walk we learn about every woman's background, and also get to see how they are impacting other women across the United States. This is an uplifting story that demonstrates how women can empower each other, and how simple actions can be the impetus for great change.

Learn more about the book here

Request a copy at FVRL

January 2010 Selection

2009-11-26T14:33:00.000-08:00

"The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold.

The follow up to the enormously popular “The lovely bones” is another examination of the grittier side of humanity by Sebold.

Helen Knightley has just killed her mother, and the novel follows the aftermath of that action. It’s a clever portrayal of the struggles that are a part of elder care. Sebold also touches on the concept of the family and how its influence can and cannot be escaped by the younger generation.

Learn more about the book here

Request a copy of this book at FVRL

November 2009 Selection

2009-10-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

The Shadow of the wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Daniel Sempere is 10 years old when his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. A vast labyrinth of books ever written that are guarded for eternal safe keeping. Young Daniel has to choose one book of which he will become the official keeper. He chooses "The shadow of the wind" by Julian Carax. A book which has very few copies left in the world, and which someone is systematically trying to destroy.
As Daniel becomes more and more engrossed in the story surrounding this mysterious book his obsession leads him to encounter some wonderful people, but also some extremely dangerous people who do not have his best interests at heart.
A wonderful tale that captures the pure joy of a good book.

Request a copy at FVRL

Learn more about the book here

October 2009 Selection

2009-09-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

The Birth House, by Ami McKay

Dora Rare is the first girl born into the Rare family in five generations. Dora finds that she is special in many ways. Rather than following a woman's traditional role, Dora befriends the local wise woman, Miss Babineau. Over time Dora becomes the towns midwife, and is treated with respect and fear over her talents and unconventionality.
Set in rural Nova Scotia, McKay captures the small town feel of the Maritimes at a time when modernity is crashing onto tradition, with World War I being the backdrop for these changing times.

Learn more about this book here

Find a copy at FVRL

September 2009 Selection

2009-08-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky

This book is 2 parts of a projected 5 part novel. Nemirovsky was able to complete only the first two parts before being arrested and deported to Auschwitz in 1942.

The first part "Storm in June" shows the flight of people of various social classes from Paris to parts yet untouched by the invading German forces. In part two, "Dolce" the focus is on the small village of Bussy, and the uneasy truce between French people and the occupying German soldiers. Nemirovsky's gift lies in her frank portrayal of the human beings need to have stability and routine in their lives to get through the most difficult of times.

Learn more about this book here

Request a copy at FVRL

WG Library Book Club Survey

2009-08-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

To keep our club alive and well please consider filling out this survey and handing in to the front desk in the libary, or emailing Sonja by clicking here.

I like to read: (check all that apply)
Classic fiction
Popular fiction
Biographies/memoirs
History/Political books
Science/Nature books
Science fiction/fantasy
Other (please name):__________________________________

Is there a book or books that you would like to discuss? If so, tell us here:
Title:______________________ Author:_________________

Title:______________________ Author:_________________

Do you personally know a local or nationally known author who might be willing to speak to our book group? Is there an author that you would like us to invite. If so, tell us here.
________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Would you be interested in an online book club? (Please circle)

Yes No

5. Do you have any other ideas for our book club. If so, tell us here. If you would like to discuss the book group in greater detail, you can contact Sonja at 604-882-0410 or by email.
__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

April 2009 Selection

2009-07-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

Stanley Park, by Timothy Taylor

Jeremy Papier is a Vancouver chef, running his own restaurant. Unfortunately, Jeremy is more chef than business manager, and after many unfortunate business decisions Jeremy loses his restaurant. What comes after that is a shift in outlook both professionally as well as personally. Along the way Jeremy has to deal with a most unconventional father, not mention a mess of a relationship life.

Learn more about the book here

Request a copy at FVRL

March 2009 Selection

2009-07-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Deafening, by Frances Itani

Grania O'Neill lost her hearing at age 5. Through the help of her grandmother Grania learns not only to cope but lead a full life, the same as any hearing person would. Not long into adulthood World War I comes along changing the lives of everyone forever. Grania's love story is expressed so beautifully in the letters she and her husband exchange. But one of her greatest challenges comes along when she has to help her shell-shocked brother-in-law to recover.

Learn more about the book here

Request a copy at FVRL

February 2009 Selection

2009-07-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Seven Sisters, by Margaret Drabble

Candida Wilton is on the other side of middle age, and is starting life over again, after having left her husband. Most of Candida's life has been lived in the shadows. Either of her husband, family and friends. Now, alone in London, against her natural instincts Candida is coming into her own.

Learn more about the book at:http://www.yalereviewofbooks.com/archive/winter03/review15.shtml.htm

Request a copy at FVRL

January 2008 Selection

2009-07-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday, by Ian McEwan

Over a 48 hour period the life of neurosurgeon Henry Perowne encounters more upheaval that the preceding five decades could ever have done. Beginning in the early hours when Henry witnesses a burning plane descend over London, his normally predictable life becomes anything but. McEwan unbelievable attention to detail makes this journey an intense one, but well worth your while.

Learn more about the book at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_(novel)

Request a copy at FVRL

November 2008 Selection

2009-07-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Clara Callan, by Richard B. Wright

Set during the Depression, Clara is a school teacher in rural Ontario. Her sister Nora, feeling trapped by small town life escapes to New York City and becomes a lesser known celebrity on the radio. Leading a life of complicated relationships her on again, off again relationship with a married man seems the epitome of big city life. However, Clara leads a complicated life of her own, just in a much more subdued manner. How both sisters deal with what life brings their way is handled elegantly and with remarkable insight by a male writer of women's issues.

Learn more about the book at: http://www.harpercollins.ca/book/index.aspx?isbn=9780006392125

Request a copy at FVRL

October 2008 Selection

2009-07-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

No Great Mischief, by Alistair MacLeod

This Canadian novel examines the life of Alexander MacDonald and his family. Using flashbacks we learn of the MacDonald clan history. Coming originally from Scotland, the clan now has its roots in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Alexander has escaped his roots, but his older brother Calum has not been so lucky. Now an alcoholic, down on his luck, Alexander is faithful to him, because that is what a clan member does, but it's not without a cost to his own mental well being.

Learn more about the book at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Great_Mischief

Request a copy at FVRL

September 2008 Selection

2009-07-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

Fifth Business, by Robertson Davies

Dunstan Ramsay grew up in a small town in rural Ontario. This first person novel tells the story of escaping ones roots and creating a new identity for oneself, while never really leaving the old self behind. His life long relationship with Percy Boyd Staunton pushes him to become a better person while simultaneously holding him back. These days he would fall into the "Frenemy" category.

This is the first book in Davieson's Deptford Trilogy.

Learn more about the book at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_Davies

Request a copy at FVRL