Edmonton Lesbian+ Book Club

As often happens, we're changing the planned reading list. Unfortunately, Tulchinsky's Love Ruins Everything is out of print. Sigh. So, October's new title is Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking by Aoibheann Sweeney. We've also picked a book for January: The Child by Sarah Schulman. Schulman recently read at the University of Alberta and some book club members were able to attend. I heard it was great. And read a great review! Much fodder for discussion! I missed the discussion this month, but had this from another book club member: We had a good discussion of Pink ; everyone liked the book. A member found the character rather annoying - acting younger than her age - but I think the rest of us found her to be a sympathetic character. Several mentioned that it took until the midway point of the book to really capture interest, but it was a quick read anyway. Our main discussion centered around the issue of homophobia in current society, with some of the wo...

The anthology, No Margins , was really well enjoyed by the our book club. It was a lovely re-visiting of several authors we've already read, and a great introduction to some other authors we haven't encountered yet! This month we're reading Pink , by Jennifer Harris. Can't wait! October's selection is from Karen Tulchinsky, that icon of Canadian lesbian fiction, Love Ruins Everything . November we'll read Marion Douglas' Dance Hall Road . The excerpt in No Margins piqued our interest!

Last month's book was The Reddening Path by Amanda Hale. Sadly, summer lovin' almost killed the book club - nobody showed. I was so sad because I truly wanted to discuss that book. In some ways it was utterly riveting and fascinating. The Malinche story. Parts of Paméla's story. Other parts could've used a better edit. The dialogue between Paméla's mothers rang false to me. Some of the stories wandered a bit too far and lost my interest. Anyhoo, I was all set to chat, but ... crickets chirped back at me. Oh well. This month, it's an anthology - No Margins - by fifteen Canadian lesbian writers. Lots of whom we've already read, like Lydia Kwa, Marnie Woodrow, Ann-Marie McDonald, Nicole Brossard, Shani Mootoo, Larissa Lai and Emma Donoghue. Here's a review. Let's go!

Ali Smith's Girl Meets Boy was the subject of our last discussion. It was great. I myself, being a little *cough* busy didn't quite finish it, but according to all, it was great. And, interesting. Playing with gender. We loved the grandfather's references to "when I was a girl." This months title is Amanda Hale's The Reddening Path . (Want to see a review? ) It was published by Thistledown Press, a teeny publisher that holds a special place in my heart, being from Saskatoon. Looking forward to it!

Many months ago, we read a wonderful book by Paula Gunn Allen, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows . Paula passed away last week at 68. She was a key figure in "Native American literature" - an author and educator who advocated for the inclusion of First Nations voices in the mainstream of literature. Her 1986 book, The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions , broke new ground again, countering the stereotypical view of Native American women with provocative essays examining female deities, the honored place of lesbians and the importance of mothers and grandmothers to Native American identity. One of the most anthologized essays -- "Who Is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism" -- asserts that early feminists in the United States owe a debt to women of the female-centered Iroquois, who were their role models. The work, like much of Allen's writing, attracted a significant lesbian readership. Though she once identified as a lesbian, Al...

LESBIAN DEBUT FICTION Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking , Aoibheann Sweeney (The Penguin Press) WOMEN'S FICTION The IHOP Papers , Ali Leibegott (Carroll & Graf) WOMEN'S ROMANCE Out of Love , KG MacGregor (Bella Books) WOMEN'S MYSTERY Wall of Silence , Gabrielle Goldsby (Bold Strokes Books) WOMEN'S MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY And Now We Are Going to Have a Party , Nicola Griffith (Payseur & Schmidt)

On Desert of The Heart : The happy ending was appreciated by all and a few people commented on how different the movie is from the book - but most of us had never seen the movie. We'll be having a movie night soon to watch the movie! (on facebook or contact Kim for details) It was fun picking apart characters and lamenting the lack of a substantial sex scene. Especially interesting was that club members seemed to make many different personal connections to this book - almost everyone told a story or two after relating to a line or happening in the story. Please note the changes to the reading list (top left corner on blog page)! Poor Pink , just keeps getting shoved back. We're hopeful it'll be in stock and you know, out there, by the end of June so that we can read it for July. New additions to the reading list: For September, No Margins . It's a collection of lesbian short fiction edited by Nairne Holtz and published by Insomniac Press. Some other suggestions for fut...

We had an excellent discussion around Emma Donoghue's Slammerkin this month. Slammerkin was a fascinating read - "historical fiction" with dark, bawdy humour. Some members who started off hating it even came around a wee bit during the discussion. It's always interesting that a writer can create unlikeable characters and still make the reader care about them. I came across readinggroupguides.com , which had some great discussion questions for Slammerkin . We touched on a few of them - especially this one: "Is Slammerkin a woman's story, or an exploration of powerlessness in all its forms?" We seemed to all agree that it really is an exploration of the idea of powerlessness - how people choose to live out their lives in a culture and society that allows them almost zero choice. It was basically succumb to your lot in life, or die. Not a pretty picture! Enjoyed the discussion immensely! Next month we're reading a classic: Jane Rule's Desert of t...

Lambda Literary Foundation nominees for Lesbian Debut Fiction - includes a couple of titles on our list. And, nominees for Lesbian Fiction .

Our book club chat with Farzana Doctor via teleconference went off without a hitch! Farzana was wonderfully articulate and we were just so thrilled to have her join us from afar. It was a treat to have her answer our questions about her writing process. We were fascinated to hear how Stealing Nasreen 's story evolved over time and that she felt like the characters led the story. We were also really happy to hear that Farzana is working on her next book! Our discussion continued on after we hung up the phone. There was a lot to say, given the richness of the book. And I personally was intrigued that different readers connected with different characters to the point that they felt like that one character was the main character. Looking forward to Slammerkin ! Speaking of which, here's an interview with Emma Donoghue.