Book Swaps Toronto

OSC #4 - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Welcome to our fourth meetup! The book for August is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. The first thirty minutes of the event is open social time while we allow attendees to arrive. The book discussion will begin at 8:00 PM. At the end of the meetup, we will accept nominations for the next book. We encourage attendees to stay afterwards and chat if they would like to as well. Out of respect for the venue and people on the waitlist, if you do not intend on attending we would appreciate you cancelling at least 48 hours in advance. We would like to keep these events free of charge, and continued last minute cancellations or no-shows may require us to introduce a small fee in the future. "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern "**Two starcrossed magicians engage in a deadly game of cunning in the spellbinding novel that captured the world's imagination.** The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called *Le Cirque des Rêves*, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart." Results from the vote: [https://app.rankedvote.co/rv/lflwev853sj5nle65d/results](https://app.rankedvote.co/rv/lflwev853sj5nle65d/results)

OSC #5 - Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Welcome to our 5th meetup for the Open Shelf Collective. We have selected Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid as our selection for this event. The first thirty minutes of the event is open social time while we allow attendees to arrive. The book discussion will begin at 8:00 PM. At the end of the meetup, we will accept nominations for the next book. We encourage attendees to stay afterwards and chat if they would like to as well. Out of respect for the venue and people on the waitlist, if you do not intend on attending please cancel as soon as possible and at the very latest 48 hours in advance. To ensure spots go to engaged members, we have limited new sign ups to two weeks before the event — existing RSVPs are not affected. We would like to keep these events free of charge, and continued last minute cancellations or no-shows may require us to introduce a small fee in the future. "Atmosphere" by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space. Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane. As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe. Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant. Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, *Atmosphere* is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.

The Girls Book Club: Fantasy/Romance Book Club Meetup #8

Hi everyone!! 💖 This is now our EIGHTH book club meetup! I can’t wait to get to know you all more, hang out and talk books. For this meeting we’ll be FINISHING Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross!!! Please read the WHOLE book before coming so that we have lots to discuss! The location MIGHT change. There is a new book bar that opened up in Toronto and I’d love to see if we can get a spot there. So stay tuned!!! Don’t stress if you’re new or didn’t make it to the last meetup! This is a super chill group and we’re mostly here to chat, vibe, and obsess over books together. Can’t wait to see you all!! 📚✨

Tough Guy Book Club - Toronto ON

Join us for the Toronto Chapter of Tough Guy Book Club. You can find out this month's book here [https://toughguybookclub.com/books](https://toughguybookclub.com/books?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExcTVleWRsd0ZYSWdqZXV4QXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5aL8E3xpn05czDIaY5kEiHH3oABs4hICFLOrNXUsW-0gY5HePBTW1ni0SYzw_aem_qNxAzG9ij-sVr5-Rf8Uw3Q) If you have the chance, try to pick up the book and read a couple of pages before the night. If you haven’t, come anyway, no one gives a damn. We are not your boss. If you got one, make sure to bring your copy of the books down, it’ll help you talk about bits of it, we suggest underlining stuff that sticks out to you as important. Also like all months, we will be announcing next month’s book at the meeting and handing them out to those of you who were wise enough to pre-order last month. See you there. Want to know more about Tough Guy Book Club? Read this - [http://toughguybookclub.com/about-us](http://toughguybookclub.com/about-us?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExcTVleWRsd0ZYSWdqZXV4QXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5QrDxxQmsaiuIfgbomTP4b6948UogKCm9U4Dudq5-VU_8aUx5RnTiUjO_R1Q_aem_n5AIic3b6NMTZ5TUJGTLkw)

Short Reads Social #11: Topic TBD (Aug 11th)

\-\-\- Short-Read Socials are back! Come meet with like-minded and unlikeminded people to talk about the topic of the month. \-\-\- **How does it work?** * The event is casual. You can talk to anyone there with or without our prompt sheets, either about the month's topic or about whatever you want. * Open philosophical discussion, including for controversial topics, is welcome but be respectful :) * If you've read/watched/heard anything related to the topic of the month, feel free to bring it in! Not necessarily physically, but you can if you want... * If not, here are some thought-provoking reads to start you off (read as many or as few as you want): * P.S. bypass paywalls [here](https://www.removepaywall.com/) * Feel free to post other recommendations (blogs, movies, tv episodes, video essays, etc.) in the comments!

Bookish Bi Reading Club

Book talk

Let's get together at Silk 111 Bakery and Cafe and discuss books that interest us! Books we're reading, books we've read or books we'd like to read. Fiction, non-fiction, short stories, poetry, magazine articles, comic books...

August's Book: The Marriage Portrait

Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance. Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of *Hamnet*, Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival.

ABCD Reads AND Watches "Good Omens"

[[RESULTS](https://opavote.com/results/4896565132263424) of the poll for this event] ABCD Reads AND Watches "**Good Omens**", a [book](https://tpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S234C741952) by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, and a [TV series on Amazon Prime](https://www.primevideo.com/detail?gti=amzn1.dv.gti.2eb57089-fc1c-d3d0-c5f7-cfcb696e66b5&linkCode=xm2&tag=amazon-ca-ro-mac-chr-20). **:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::** "The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist. Put New York Times bestselling authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett together . . . and all Hell breaks loose." (from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/12070.Good_Omens)) **:: ABOUT THE MOVIE ::** "The adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel of the same name where the End of the World is fast approaching and after many years of living with mortals, Aziraphale the angel (Michael Sheen) and Crowley the demon (David Tennant) decide they must stop the Apocalypse but first they must find the 11-year-old Antichrist (Sam Taylor Buck)." (from [MetaCritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/good-omens/)) **:: ABOUT THE EVENT ::** Instead of just reading the book as usual, this time we're asking that you also watch the TV-series adaptation (or, at least, the first episode thereof). During our discussion, we'll explore the strengths of both the book and the movie, evaluate the adaptation's effectiveness, and touch on any other topics that arise. You are welcome to arrive 30 minutes before the event and stay 30 minutes or longer afterward to connect with other attendees outside the book talk. Please ensure you have read the book and watched the movie before attending (though finishing either is not a barrier to participating, as long as you don't mind spoilers). First-time attendees can join for free. If the event is full, we maintain an unofficial waitlist. Please send [Michael](https://www.meetup.com/members/55295192/) a direct message for more information, in either case. We request a $3 contribution from regular attendees to help cover our monthly meetup costs. **:: ABOUT OUR NEXT READ&WATCH ::** At the end of each event, we will ask for nominees for our next Read & Watch (date TBA). If you have a good pairing in mind, please ensure that the book is between 200-400 pages long, available from the Toronto Public Library, and counts as contemporary literary fiction (though these are not hard and fast rules), and that the movie or TV-series is readily available. When enough nominees are collected, Michael will send the members a direct message with a link where you can vote.

Let's discuss "Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late. Shelby Van Pelt's **debut novel** is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible. We will start our discussion at 7:30. Food and drink are available for purchase.

Cover Her Face by P. D. James (Lily)

11 books, 8 ebooks, 4 audio

Toronto Language Exchange | Practice Spanish & English (In-Person)

Join our **Spanish–English Language Exchange Meetup** and improve your conversation skills in a relaxed, social environment. This free event is perfect for anyone looking to practice Spanish or English while meeting new people in a cozy coffee shop setting. ### **🗣️ What You’ll Do** * Practice Spanish and English through real conversations * Join small groups and switch languages throughout the event * Learn practical vocabulary and everyday expressions * Build confidence speaking in a supportive environment ### **👥 Who Should Attend** * Spanish learners (all levels) * English learners (all levels) * Native speakers who want to help others * Anyone interested in language exchange and cultural connection ### **☕ Venue** We meet at a local coffee shop—just grab a drink and enjoy the conversation! ### **💸 Cost** **FREE event** (please support the venue by purchasing a drink) ### **🌟 Why Join?** Language exchanges are one of the most effective ways to learn. You’ll improve faster by speaking with real people, hearing authentic accents, and using the language in everyday situations. Whether you're a beginner or fluent speaker, you’ll find a welcoming community ready to practice and connect. **👉 RSVP now and start speaking with confidence!** **Héctor**