Book Swaps Toronto

OSC #3 - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Welcome to the third meetup of the Open Shelf Collective! Our first three books have been selected to set the tone, and following the end of each meetup we will begin with the nominations for the next meetups. 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. "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman "Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . ."

Books Up - Greet & Meet

**Meet & Greet – Books Up Circle** Join us for Books Up Circle meetup! This will be a relaxed, informal gathering where we chat, get to know each other, and share our love for books. **What to expect:** * Casual introductions and open conversation * Socializing with fellow book lovers **What to bring:** * Your book ideas or favorite recommendations * An open mind and a love for reading Come to socialize, discover new books, and make friends along the way. Sounds like a good deal to us—**come join the circle!** 📚

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)

BOOK CLUB: Sinclair Ross, As For Me and My House

Join us for the first meeting of **World Fiction Club**, a new monthly book club in Toronto focused on fiction from around the world, published between 1500 and 1950. For our June pilot meeting, we are beginning locally with Canada. **Book:** Sinclair Ross, *As For Me and My House* **Region:** The Americas **Country:** Canada **Period:** 1900–1950 **Date:** Sunday, June 28, 2026 **Time:** 2:00–4:00 PM **Location:** Dineen Outpost - 1042 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4M 1Z5 *As For Me and My House* was first published in 1941 and is now considered a major Canadian prairie novel. Written as a diary, it follows a minister's wife in a small prairie town during the Depression. **Discussion focus** * Voice and diary form * Marriage and emotional repression * Religion and small-town life * Prairie isolation * Depression-era Canada * Artistic ambition and failure * What makes a "Canadian" novel You do not need an academic background. Come prepared to discuss the book, ask questions, and listen carefully to others. Please RSVP only if you are reasonably sure you can attend. Spots are limited to keep the discussion focused.

Silent Bookclub Meeting #78

The next event is happening on Tuesday June 23 at 6:00 PM at Left Field Brewery (the Leslieville location) Please RSVP if you're planning on coming so we can plan appropriately!

June's Book: The Dutch House

*The Dutch House* is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are. At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, *The Dutch House* is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

For June, we'll read the modern classic The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 294 pages First published in 1963 The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.

The Girls Book Club: Fantasy/Romance Book Club Meetup #6

Hi everyone!! 💖 This is now our SIXTH 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 The Book of Azrael by Amber Nicole!!! We will also be choosing our next book so bring 2-3 ideas!! (Yes, we can also choose the next book in the series) The location MIGHT change. There is a new book bar opening 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!! 📚✨

Short Reads Social: "Are Third Spaces Dead?" (June 30th)

**Are third spaces dead....(like this book club was for the last year)?** Short-Read Socials are back! Come meet with like-minded and unlikeminded people to talk about the topic of the month. This time, we're thinking about **third spaces, socialization, and community-building.** *How has socialization changed with modern urban living and the rise of social media? Have commercialization and high cost of living killed third spaces? How do (or should) we actually build communities now?* \-\-\- **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): * On third spaces: * [Are commercial “third places” a dying breed?](https://spacing.ca/toronto/2024/04/26/are-commercial-third-places-a-dying-breed/) * [the modern third space is in your phone](https://maansiwritesstuff.substack.com/p/the-modern-third-space-is-in-your) * Who's creating third spaces? (slightly more interesting imo) * [From sauna socials to run clubs: Are community event leaders the new influencers?](https://archive.is/20260320083437/https://www.vogue.com/article/from-sauna-socials-to-run-clubs-are-community-event-leaders-the-new-influencers#selection-1275.0-1275.81) * [“The more I give away, the better the bar does”: Why Danu Social House wants to become the city’s first community-owned watering hole](https://torontolife.com/food/danu-social-house-community-owned-co-op-bar/) * Bonus: [Why do Torontonians love to line up? Expert says there’s many reasons, including making friends](https://nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/why-do-torontonians-love-to-line-up-expert-says-theres-many-reasons/) * Feel free to post other recommendations (blogs, movies, tv episodes, video essays, etc.) in the comments!

ABCD Reads "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi

ABCD Reads "**[Reading Lolita in Tehran](https://tpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S234C191026)**", a Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi. [[RESULTS](https://opavote.com/results/5367401513484288) of the poll for this event] **:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::** "Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi's living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature." (from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7603.Reading_Lolita_in_Tehran)) "Azar Nafisi’s engrossing Reading Lolita in Tehran is the sort of book that ruins the sleep of those in charge of placing books in bookstores. Where to shelve it? Under literary criticism? No, for although it subjects a number of classics to revealing scrutiny, that would miss much of its point. Under memoirs? Similar problems: although its story is intertwined with the life of its author, it is not that life. Women’s issues or feminism would not be entirely out of place—the main characters who both act and suffer in this book are female—but again, in such a classification something would be lacking. A mischievous soul might stash it under book groups, which would be about as close as my college library’s choice of veterinary medicine for Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon: there is a book group in Reading Lolita, but it is more like a life raft than an after-work social gathering." (from [ReviewCanada](https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2003/09/the-book-lovers-tale/), written by Margaret Atwood) **:: ABOUT THE EVENT ::** 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 before attending (though finishing any book 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 BOOK ::** At the end of each event, we will ask for nominees for our next book. If you have a good one in mind, please ensure it 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). When enough nominees are collected, Michael will send the members a direct message with a link where you can vote.

Jersey City Book Club: Circe

**🦋 Neighbourhood Read: Circe by Madeline Miller • Relaxed and Inclusive** We're meeting up to open up a conversation around Circe, our selection by Madeline Miller in a friendly low-key environment, and there is always more to discover in a good book together. No requirement to finish — come wherever you are in the book, and note any characters or moments you want to unpack, and bring your reading experience — since there is no wrong reading and every response is worth hearing. The evening is shaped by who is in the room — with the conversation moving where it naturally wants to go, and the most interesting moments never come from the planned questions. Every session is a good first session — and regular members are consistently enthusiastic about welcoming new readers, the only requirement is showing up ready to talk, and first-timers rarely feel like first-timers for long. ⭐ *"The group is warm and the conversation is always great — the discussion always produces at least one reading I had not considered"* – new to the group --- 💬 A great discussion changes how you see a great book — sign up and bring your reading experience however partial and the rest sorts itself out in the room. The group grows every time someone new joins. 💬

Bookish Bi Reading Club