Event

Parkgate Wednesday Evening Book Club

Do you love to talk about what you’re reading? Join a book club to share your thoughts and hear what others have to say about books that spark discussion, curiosity, and debate! Discover new “Books to Talk About” and join a community of booklovers at NVDPL. Simply read the book and join us at the meeting!

Register online for the time and location that’s most convenient for you to receive meeting instructions and information in advance of the discussion! Join us every month or just for the meetings you prefer. If you miss a meeting but still want to discuss the book, you can also join us at a different time or location. Click here to see all six Books to Talk About book clubs.

Copies of the next book will be available to pick-up from Parkgate Library. All books are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Copies are also available in other formats, such as print, ebook, audiobooks, and more. Ask staff to help you find a copy!
 

2021-2022 Schedule for the Parkgate Wednesday Evening Book Club:

 
Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui 
October 6 at 7:30pm 
In this non-fiction book, Vancouver-born Globe and Mail journalist Ann Hui undertakes a road trip from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland in an attempt to discover the origin and enduring popularity of Canadian "chop suey" style Chinese restaurants that seem to exist in every city and even in most tiny towns. During her research, she also discovers hidden history within her own family. Both parts are equally engaging, and full of surprises for both Hui and the reader. Learn more.
 
And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier
November 3 at 7:30pm 
Tom and Charlie have decided to live out the remainder of their lives on their own terms, hidden away in a remote forest in northern Ontario, their only connection to the outside world a couple of pot growers who deliver whatever they can’t eke out for themselves.  Their story is intertwined with a young photographer who is seeking stories from survivors of the catastrophic forest fires that swept Northern Ontario early in the century.  A meditation on aging and self-determination, And the Birds Rained Down, originally published in French as Il pleuvait des oiseaux, was a 2015 Canada Reads nominee and the winner of the Prix des Cinq Continents de la Francophonie, the first Canadian title to win this honour. The book has since been adapted into a film. Learn more.
 
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
December 1 at 7:30pm 
A propulsive, richly entertaining novel about the adventure-seeking Dolan brothers, the enemies who threaten them, and the women who reveal to them an unjust world on the brink of upheaval. Set in Spokane, Washington at the beginning of the 20th century, this novel offers a stunning, kaleidoscopic portrait of a nation grappling with the chasm between rich and poor, between harsh realities and simple dreams. Featuring an unforgettable cast of cops and tramps, suffragists and socialists, madams and murderers. Learn more.
 
How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
February 2 at 7:30pm 
The stories that make up How to Pronounce Knife focus on characters struggling to find their bearings in unfamiliar territory, or shuttling between idioms, cultures, and values.  Thammavongsa is a master at homing in on pivotal moments - moments of exposure, dislocation, and messy feeling that push us right up against the limits of language.  Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize (2020) and the National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (2020). Learn more.
 
This One Looks Like a Boy: My Gender Journey to Life As a Man by Lorimer Shenher
March 2 at 7:30pm 
Local author Lorimer Shenher candidly discusses his late-in-life journey of transitioning from female to male. In this memoir, he recounts his childhood in Alberta where he excelled at sports but struggled with his gender identity,  his move to Vancouver to join the VPD, and his experiences as the first detective assigned to the case of serial killer Robert Pickton.  Shenher’s writing is thoughtful, plain-spoken, and draws the reader in. Learn more.
 
Petra by Shaena Lambert
April 6 at 7:30pm 
Inspired by Petra Kelly, the original Green Party leader and political activist who fought for the planet in 1980s Germany, Canadian author Shaena Lambert brings us a captivating new novel about a woman who changed history and transformed environmental politics. Petra is an exploration of love, jealousy, and the power of social change. A woman capable of founding a new and world-changing politics and taking on two superpowers, Petra still must grapple with her own complex nature and a singular and fatal love. Learn more.
 
Indians on Vacation by Thomas King
May 4 at 7:30pm 
Inspired by a handful of old postcards sent by Uncle Leroy nearly a hundred years earlier, Bird and Mimi attempt to trace Mimi’s long-lost uncle and the family medicine bundle he took with him to Europe.  By turns witty, sly and poignant, this is the tale of one couple’s holiday trip to Europe, where their wanderings through its famous capitals reveal a complicated history, both personal and political. Learn more.
 
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
June 1 at 7:00pm (UPDATE: Time has been changed to 7:00pm)
Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after a knee injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her withdrawn mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.  But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. Will Gifty find her answers in science or religion? Learn more.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Location: 

Parkgate

Time: 

Repeats every month on February, March, April, May, June, October, November, December on the first Wednesday until Wed Jun 01 2022.
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, February 2, 2022 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, April 6, 2022 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 - 7:30pm

Audience: 

  • Adults

Registration: