Edmonton Lesbian+ Book Club

Hi all, We've added a bunch of titles to our reading list. I hope you'll check them out and join us! We don't meet in December. With all the holidays, no one seems to have the time to make book club happen that month! In January, we'll read Toronto author Farzana Doctor's newest title, All Inclusive . Very excited and hoping to hook up with Farzana to discuss! In February it's Dirty River by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. In March we'll read Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta. April's title is The Walk-In Closet by Abdi Nazemian. May we'll read Yabo by Alexis De Veaux. And finally in June we are going to read Vancouver's Amber Dawn in her memoir How Poetry Saved My Life. Keep in touch folks!

Just a quick reading list update! May 2015:  Adult Onset   by Ann-Marie MacDonald June 2015:   For Today I am a Boy   by Kim Fu July 2015:   Frog Music   by Emma Donoghue August 2015:   How To Grow Up   by Michelle Tea September 2015:   Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America   by Rachel Hope Cleves October 2015:   A Cup of Water Under My Bed   by Daisy Hernandez November 2015:   Half World   by Hiromi Goto Yes, I know it's already June. Sudden illness cancelled our May meeting, so our June meeting we'll discuss Adult Onset AND For Today I am a Boy . Some other future possibilities: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha has a memoir coming out in the fall, called  Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home . Lost Boi  by Sassafras Lowrey  Casey Plett's A Safe Girl to Love Yabo   by Alexis De Veaux The Walk-in Closet   by Iranian-American author Abdi...

Hi all, Please join us this Monday, even if you don't normally come to book club (I know many of you only attend in spirit!), please come on Monday night! We're reading Laurie MacFayden's kissing keeps us afloat ! And Laurie is going to join us to read and chat! Come! Kim

This month, we're reading Shani Mootoo, AGAIN. What can I say, we like her. Her latest, Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab , is our February title. March we are reading local author Laurie MacFayden's kissing keeps us afloat , and Laurie is going to join us to read a little something! Tell all your friends! Bring all your friends! In April, we're going to read Sarah Waters latest, The Paying Guests , and in May, Ann-Marie MacDonald's Adult Onset . In book club news, December's foray into a non-lesbian sci-fi writer seems to have been a terrible failure. One certain member gets a gold star for being the only member to slog through The Left Hand of Darkness ! Three gold stars! and maybe a donut at the next meeting! In fact, I think a star system is just what book club needs for some excitement. One gold star for anyone who finishes the book. Five gold stars if you come equipped with some discussion questions, an interview with the author, or the like. Ten gold ...

A few more titles have been added to our reading list. As you already know, December's title is The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin. It's a departure given that Le Guin is not a lesbian author, but it's history and treatment of gender make it something interesting we might want explore. In January, we're reading Fat Angie by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo, in February, Shani Mootoo's latest, Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab . And in March, we're reading local author Laurie MacFayden's new book, kissing keeps us afloat . Maybe we'll convince Laurie to join us!

This October we are trying something a little different, we are reading 2 books by the same author so that we can compare and contrast! We chose 2 titles from Nina LaCour because one of our members tells us they are quicker, lighter reads in the young adult genre. We are looking forward to chatting about Everything Leads to You and Hold Still . In November we are reading Emma Donoghue's The Sealed Letter . We are big fans of Emma D onoghue, having already read Hood and Slammerkin for the book club. In December we are making a rare exception to our rule of reading only lesbian authors to read Ursula K Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness , a classic title set in  an alien world whose inhabitants can choose and change their gender. Let us know of any titles you'd like to see for the coming months! I'm always desperately on the hunt for lesbian authors from parts of the world outside of Canada, the US and the UK (we've read those in spades, obviously, and love ...

Time marches on and I keep failing to blog promptly! But, never fear, the book club still marches on and meets. We need you to join us! Lately meetings have seen only 2-3 members show up - we're not sure how long we can continue like that. If you like the books and think about coming, please just come! We are laid back and low pressure. Sometimes some of us don't read the book. And we will bring cookies! Anyway, I didn't get a chance to blog about Tamai Kobayashi's Prairie Ostrich . It's one of those books that's not only good, not only gripping and a page-turner, but it feels like it's changing your life and worldview as you read and you are seriously almost traumatized when it's over. You MUST read! Malinda Lo's The Huntress was good and definitely a page-turner as well. Not life changing though. One of the things we really enjoyed was the matter-of-factness of same-sex relationships in this fantasy world. It felt good! We've selected a few...

February's title for book club is The Panopticon by Scottish author Jenni Fagan. Looking forward to it. Apparently it's full of good Scottish cursing. We've gone ahead and chosen a few more titles for the coming months. March we'll read The Miseducation of Cameron Post by American author Emily M. Danforth. April it's the uber-classic Lambda Literary Award-winner  Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. May we're reading Toronto-based Japanese Canadian Tamai Kobayashi's first novel, Prairie Ostrich . In June we'll read Chinese-American author Malinda Lo's newest, Huntress . In July we'll read Alberta author Rae Spoon's First Spring Grass Fire . And finally, in August we'll read  Awakening to Sunlight  by British author Lindsey Stone.

2014 is already creepin' on. It's been a busy January and February is going to fly by! Tomorrow night we meet to chat about Michelle Tea's Mermaid in Chelsea Creek . I didn't discover until I finished it that it's the first of a trilogy! Yipes! So exciting. February's title is The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan. Don't know a thing about it other than it was requested by one of our members!

Sorry for the sorry state of this blog, peoples! I haven't got the wherewithal to do much more than keep my kids alive and clean lately. But the book club marches on, no matter. December is our month off from book club so our next title is Michelle Tea's latest, Mermaid in Chelsea Creek . Can't wait to read it - and chat about it at our next meeting in January, 2014. My goodness, 2014. See you then?