Book Club

Tonight is the first meeting of my book club post-summer and the theme is to come, meet new members, and discuss the kinds of books we want to read this year. The kind of books we like to read.

I found myself at a bit of a loss. I'm sitting here in my office, in my small but chock-filled library, and I am having trouble deciding what to say.

You'd think it would be easier. I've been around books all my life--my first "library" was an ancient wardrobe with an old fashioned key that I locked my books away in as a child and would get right inside with a flashlight to see all the titles; I don't recall a time when I wasn't reading something; I studied books in university; I edit books for heaven's sake! I should be able to come up with something concrete about the books I like to read.

But it thwarts me, this narrowing down of genre. I'm sitting on the literary fence and I don't want to leave any books out.

I discussed this dilemma with a friend of mine over strawberry dacquiri's last night. She used to work in marketing at chapters (dream job, anyone?) and part of her role was to co-ordinate book clubs. There was the mystery book club, the romance book club, the sci-fi book club...every kind of book club was available, but I can't see myself ever limiting myself to one kind of book. At the two ends of the scale were the following: the serious book club where serious literary adults discussed serious literary works, and the Martini book club, where the focus was only marginally on books at all.

What I suppose I'd like, ideally, is to fall somewhere in the middle. A book club that is sociable and fun, relaxing yet insightful. And I think, for the most part, we've achieved that at my current book club. We don't read much "serious" literature, but we do like our books to have some meat to them. You can mock Oprah all you want (and I frequently do) but her book club titles are usually quite well chosen in terms of a rewarding but not too analytical read.

Because in the end, reading should be fun. And a book club--for me at least--should not be work.

Are you in a book club? What kinds of books do you like to read? And how do you format your meetings - structured or free-for-all? Chime in below.

Lessons From My Weekend

I spent a fabulous weekend in Toronto with some friends I've known for, oh, twenty odd years or longer, ever since university. We don't see each other very often, though I mentioned them here last year, and I came away from my weekend having learned some very important lessons.

1. I have no (as in zip, zero, zilch) sense of style - though after catching some show about how not to dress on TV late Friday night, I do know that feathers in your hair are taboo, and so are skintight catsuits. Not that I ever wore feathers or skintight catsuits.
2. I drink way more wine than either Leanne or Julie.
3. I like eating at gourmet restaurants such as Far Niente.
4. Having seen how much people buy and what the prices are at some shops, I realize I am in the wrong tax bracket.
5. Shopping in the right company can be fun although I find it hard to buy (see #1 and #4).
6. Books are still more important to me than clothes, which probably explains #1. Also I don't find it hard to buy books. Quite the opposite in fact.
7. I have willpower. Despite desperately wanting a Kobo, I know it is on Andrew's Christmas list for me, so I resisted. I did not however resist picking up The Exile. So limited willpower might describe it better.
8. I would like someone to turn down the covers and leave chocolates on my pillow every night.
9. I should probably at some point consider having my hair styled and/or wearing makeup so I can look as polished and sophisticated as my friends.
10. Despite my fear of city driving, I was able to navigate my way into the heart of downtown Toronto and back out again with ease, with aplomb, with - dare I say - grace. And without a GPS. And I am remarkably smug about that small feat (though was very happy to see country roads again).

Wicked

Short and sweet... I am writing this at 11pm on Saturday at the Business Centre of the downtown Toronto hotel where I am staying with two university friends for the weekend. We just got in from seeing this play:

And it was wonderful.

Philosophy Dinner Party

I like dinner parties. I'm not taking about the spontaneous, casual get together dinners with friends and their kids that happen on a fairly regular basis (although they are fabulous and fun), but rather the planned, organized-in-advance, coordinated, sophisticated, formal dinner party.

Except we live in Glengarry, so nix the formal. We don't do formal round here.

And nix the sophisticated - I don't do sophistication very well either.

I like polishing glassware, setting the table, planning food, greeting guests. Eating, drinking, talking,. Catching up with friends we don't often see. Meeting new people.

Andrew and I hosted one of these on Saturday past. A party that got its start at another event years ago when I got talking to Abel about philosophy and we decided we should start having a regular themed dinner party. We've got together about four times a year since then, a small group of philosophers who have grown into a larger group. Sometimes we meet here, sometimes at Abel's under-construction log home on the river; sometimes at Catherine and Roger's beautiful brick art and antique filled home, or Louise's place north of here on the Ottawa river.

We always have a theme. This time, as Abel contemplates a trip to Egypt, it was whether or not we would or should go on vacation to a potentially dangerous spot.

But it's not really about philosophy. That's just an excuse.

Remembering Carla

24 Glasses

There were 24 empty wine glasses on my dining room table on Saturday night. 24 wine glasses for six of us to taste test four bottles of Shiraz ranging from a bottle I had on my wine rack (around $14) to a higher end $100 bottle.

For the most part, I know I can tell the difference between a $8 and $12 bottle of wine. If I'm really feeling like splurging, my favourite wine is a $17 Wolf Blass, but I usually buy wine around the $10-12 range. But I have long wanted to know if I could tell the difference between a $14 wine and a $50 or $100 bottle. And would it be worth it?

A casual mention around a campfire spurred a friend of mine into action and we rounded up a taste-testing party of people who would be willing participants in our experiment.

Truthfully, it wasn't difficult to find volunteers.

Andrew stuck to beer and scotch so he was Master of Ceremonies, delivering us a glass of each to taste and swirl and discuss over bread and local cheese (from Glengarry Fine Cheese).

Some of the party are true conoisseurs. Talk of lingering aroma of cherry, and aftertaste of dark chocolate, fruity undertones, and base notes. I just know what I like. But we all in the end were able to agree. The first wine was the best. I described it as friendly. The second was the worst. The third was lovely, but it took a while to grow on us and it wasn't until after dinner that we agreed it was a close second. The fourth was generally agreed to be good as well.

And when the labels on the four Shiraz bottles (all Australian, I should add) were uncovered:

#1: Two Hands - Samantha's Gate 2008 Clare Valley (South Australia) $56

#2: The Octavius - Yalumba 2004, Australia $100

#3: Red Belly Black - Angove's 2007, South Australia $15 (any local liquor store - my regular quaffing Shiraz)

#4: Pillar Box Reserve - Padthaway 2007, Australia $22

Personally, I was jsut thankful that the $100 bottle wasn't my favourite - weekends would have become a whole lot more expensive!

Chocolate Book Club

As I've mentioned before, our book club is a bit unorthodox. we don't always, for example, talk about books, though we always have a book or two we are all supposed to have read and for which we are, ostensibly, meeting.

And this month was no exception. However, in our defense, we were distracted by a good cause.

This. (Cake 3)                                     

And this. (Cake 2)

And oh yum, this. (Cake 1)

It was Melissa's birthday so she got to do the blind taste test, fork-fed by Yasmin.

Cake 1 was "light, fluffy, a bit Duncan Hines-y." Definitely looked the best though with a smooth glaze and sweet peas cascading down the side.

Cake 2 was "dark, dense, chocolately - and I can taste the sparkles on the top."

Cake 3 had "the best combination of cake and filling and icing."

The verdict: Cake 2 (by Yasmine) was the winner, followed very closely by Cake 3 (by yours truly).

Cake 1 (Becky, in the midst of moving house, purchased this one from a quality baker) didn't fare so well.

Having said that, chocolate is always good, and we were happy to enjoy a piece of each, and take the rest home to grateful families.

Happy birthday, Melissa.

(Sorry, what book did we discuss again?)                                                       

Girls' Reunion

These ladies are the main reason I went to the Maritimes last week. (The dog is just an extra....couldn't leave itzy bitzy Mitzi out!)

I've seen Julie in Montreal, and visited Leanne last time the kids and I were in New Brunswick three years ago, but I haven't seen Shari in about 9 years, and the four of us haven't really had a chance to hang out without husbands and children since the early days of university.

~

This year seemed like a good one to remedy that. I said it was a joint birthday celebration (hence the bracelets) - but some of us (won't say who, Julie) are a little sensitive about our age and don't do birthdays, so we just "got together."

And shopped for books. And ate cheesecake. And drank wine. And ate dinner. And talked. Until 2am.

~

And I coveted Julie's naked fairy that sits on top of her piano.

Brilliant evening. We should do it again sometime!