Introducing the Workhaus Book Club

Recently, we announced the launch of our Workhaus Book Club; a monthly virtual hangout hosted on Thursday at 4 PM. This relaxed gathering brings our members together to connect over literature, share thoughts and enjoy engaging discussions.

Now, we’re happy to announce that our first meeting was a success, with over 15 members now on board. From avid to occasional readers, to those who need a little extra support finishing a book, we were happy to welcome everyone for some great conversations and community vibes!

And great conversations were had, as the perspectives and topics were as diverse as the attendees.

One attendee reflected on how a scene from Margaret Atwood’s “most autobiographical book”, Cat’s Eye, is etched in her mind. In the scene she vividly remembers the middle-aged protagonist reflecting back on how the Toronto landscape has changed and the memories that flood her as she passes through Toronto streets she used to roam. The attendee shared that, as she approaches middle age, she feels the same way walking through Toronto – especially with the city’s landscape changing so quickly.

Another attendee joined in to mention how they felt this way after returning to Scarborough after nearly 40 years being away.

That’s the beauty of reading other people’s stories: you never know how they’ll connect with or help shape your own.

Our First Round of Books – What Would You Vote For?

With autumn setting in, it felt right to start our club on the theme of reflection and looking back. We asked our members to suggest works of fiction around that theme. Our members shared a mix of thoughtful and moving titles, each inviting us to pause and remember the stories  and choices that shape who we are, and consider where we’re headed next.

You’ll find the full list of nominated books below, complete with blurbs so you can get a feel for each option. We put these titles to a community vote, and the winner will be our very first group read. Stay tuned til the end to find out which one is the winner!

The Petty Details of So and So’s Life by Camilla Gibb

_{Domestic fiction novel from City of Toronto Book Award and CBC Canadian Literary Award winning author Camilla Gibb.}

_{A startling and ambitious novel, as funny as it is poignant, The Petty Details of So-and-so’s Life tells the story of Blue and Emma Taylor, who, despite an almost telepathic connection, respond to the sudden disappearance of their explosive father in remarkably different ways. Emma sets off in pursuit of a new family, and discovers a sense of belonging in the most unexpected places. Burly, tattoo-stamped Blue, haunted by the brutal, disparaging voice of their father, embarks on a cross-country search for the elusive parent. Emma and Blue share a most intimate connection, one forged in the secret worlds and wordless communications of childhood. As they grow, they discover the limits of the language they share.}

_{via Penguin Random House}

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

_{New York Times bestselling humorous fiction novel.}

_{Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?
Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.
Fredrik Backman’s beloved first novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).}

_{via Simon & Schuster}

Mrs. Palfrey At The Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

_{Booker Prize nominated classic of British Literature.}

_{On a rainy Sunday afternoon in January, the recently widowed Mrs. Palfrey moves to the Claremont Hotel in South Kensington. “If it’s not nice, I needn’t stay,” she promises herself, as she settles into this haven for the genteel and the decayed.
“Three elderly widows and one old man . . . who seemed to dislike female company and seldom got any other kind” serve for her fellow residents, and there is the staff, too, and they are one and all lonely.
What is Mrs. Palfrey to do with herself now that she has all the time in the world? Go for a walk. Go to a museum. Go to the end of the block. Well, she does have her grandson who works at the British Museum, and he is sure to visit any day.
Mrs. Palfrey prides herself on having always known “the right thing to do,” but in this new situation she discovers that resource is much reduced. Before she knows it, in fact, she tries something else.
Elizabeth Taylor’s final and most popular novel is as unsparing as it is, ultimately, heartbreaking.}

_{via Penguin Random House}

Cat’s Eyes by Margaret Atwood

_{Governor General’s Award and Booker Prize nominated psychological fiction novel from internationally renowned, multi-award winning bestseller Margaret Atwood.}

_{Cat’s Eye is the story of Elaine Risley, a controversial painter who returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal.
By turns disquieting, humorous, compassionate, haunting and mordant, Cat’s Eye is vintage Atwood.}

_{via Penguin Random House}

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

_{Good Reads Choice Award winner and national bestselling historical fiction novel.}

_{In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation.
Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming “lion women.”
But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.
Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.}

_{via Simon & Schuster}

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

_{McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize winning and New York Times Harcover Fiction bestselling mystery novel.}

_{A charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus
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.}

_{via HarperCollins}

The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan

_{Coming of age thriller by an Emmy-award winning journalist and #1 New York Times bestseller.}

_{In this electric, voice-driven debut novel, an elusive bestselling author decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.
Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.
As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda fantasized escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again.}

_{via Simon & Schuster}

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

_{Women’s Prize for Fiction winning speculative fiction novel.}

_{From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality.
Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.
There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.
For readers of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.}

_{via Bloomsbury Publishing}

The invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab

_{Locus Award nominated fantasy novel.}

_{A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.}

_{via Tor Publishing Group}

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth # 1) by N.K Jemisin

_{Hugo Award winning sci-fi, fantasy novel.}

_{THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS . . . FOR THE LAST TIME.
IT STARTS WITH THE GREAT RED RIFT across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.
IT STARTS WITH DEATH, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.
IT STARTS WITH BETRAYAL, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.}

_{via Orbit Books}

While the first vote may be over, it’s never too late to join in! New members are welcome anytime to read along at their own pace. By joining the Workhaus Book Club, you’ll also get the chance to help choose future reads or even suggest a title of your own.

And now without further ado, the winner of our first Workhaus Book Club vote is… Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Pick up a copy of Piranesi from your local bookstore or Toronto Public Library and read along with us! You can also find it in a variety of formats on Indigo, Amazon, and Audible.

How to Join the Workhaus Book Club

Whether you devour novels weekly or just want an excuse to read more (and have fun doing it), this club is for you. Each session will be held virtually so you can join from your office, your couch, or wherever your bookmark last left you. If you’d like to be part of the Workhaus Book Club, speak to your community lead for RSVP details (key here is that you have to be a Workhaus member). Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be added to our member list and receive future updates and meeting links.

Don’t worry if you’re a slow reader, everyone reads at their own pace. We’ll always be mindful of spoilers and will share a short discussion agenda ahead of time to guide our chats. Just grab your tea, charge your Kindle, and get ready to read with us. We can’t wait to turn the page together!