December selection - The Divergent series by Veronica Roth

The results are in - we'll be reading the Divergent series by Veronica Roth!  This series is planned as a trilogy but only the first two books have been released.  At our next meeting, we'll be discussing both Divergent and Insurgent.  (The third book is tentatively titled Detergent - teehee!)

As an aside, there were two series that were runners-up: The Daughter of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce (Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen), and The Gentleman Bastard sequence by Scott Lynch (The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies).  Both Stephanie and I loved the Tamora Pierce series, and I thought The Lies of Locke Lamora was a fantastic novel (but fair warning, there is a fair amount of violence and swearing, so it may not be for the faint of heart).  If you are looking for some good books to read over the holidays, those are some great options!

We'll post soon about a meeting date/time - the meeting will be sometime in early January.  Until then, best of luck with your papers and finals, and happy reading!

December selections - Let's pick a series!

Thanks to everyone who attended our meeting yesterday - it was a lot of fun, as usual!

For our field trip to see the Hobbit in theatres, we're planning on going in the first couple of weeks of next semester - that way, everyone should be in town but not too swamped with schoolwork!  It looks like it will be easiest to go to the theatre in the World Exchange Plaza on Albert downtown.  We'll post more details closer to January.

For December, we decided at the meeting that it would be fun to read a trilogy or series over the holiday break since we'll have more free time to read.  The poll is currently posted - please vote by Wednesday, Dec 5 at 11:59 PM.

There were a lot of suggestions, so here are some further details on each series.  Some of the series have more than three books, so we've limited each series to the first three books.  Please keep in mind the length of the books when you're voting!  Click the book titles to find more information on each book.

1. The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson:
1. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo 
2. The Girl Who Played With Fire
3. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest
2. The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner
1. The Maze Runner
2. The Scorch Trials
3. The Death Cure 
3. The Irish Country Doctor series by Patrick Taylor
1. An Irish Country Doctor
2. An Irish Country Village
3. An Irish Country Christmas
4. The Divergent series by Veronica Roth
1. Divergent
2. Insurgent
5. The Sea Beggars series by Paul Kearney
1. The Mark of Ran
2. This Forsaken Earth
6. The Sea of Trolls trilogy by Nancy Farmer
1. The Sea of Trolls
2. The Land of the Silver Apples
3. The Islands of the Blessed
7. The Daughter of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce
1. Trickster's Choice
2. Trickster's Queen
8. The Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch
1. The Lies of Locke Lamora
2. Red Seas Under Red Skies
9. The latest books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
1. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
2. Antifragile: How to Live in a World We Don't Understand

Please vote for which series you'd like to read over the break by Wednesday at midnight.  Best of luck with all your assignments, papers and exams at the end of the semester, and we'll see you soon!

We'll meet in UCU301 - here's a map!

Hey Bookworms!

We've received confirmation for our room location - the meeting will be held in UCU301.  If you're unfamiliar with the location, perhaps this map will help you as much as it helped Bilbo:

Also, we've added a new tab to the blog called "Philobiblian Tidings".  We receive emails every once in a while about some interesting book-related events around Ottawa.  From now on, we'll post any news we hear under that tab so you can all be in the loop as well!

See you next Saturday, Dec 1 at 2PM in UCU301 (on the Running River).

On we go!

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”

"'Go back?' he thought. 'No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!'" - Bilbo Baggins

And we're on our way too!  Be safe on your journey to the Lonely Mountain, and we'll meet back with you on Saturday, Dec 1 at 2PM!  We'll post the room location once we know it.  We'll be sure to bring plenty of tea and treats, just in case you missed second breakfast.

See you soon!

"I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging"

"I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone" -Gandalf

"I should like to know about risks, out-of-pocket expenses, time required and renumeration, and so forth!" -Bilbo

Thankfully it's not hard to find anyone to share in the meeting about The Hobbit since we're not off to chase after dragons! Let us know what day/time you want to meet - poll is up on the right as usual. Voting closes Wednesday at midnight.

Enter Middle Earth

After the most voting we've ever had, you have chosen The Hobbit to read! Enjoy following Bilbo's adventures and delve into this fantastic world created by Tolkien.

Choose the book!

The poll is now up to pick the book in the "Upcoming Movie Book" genre! We've chosen books whose movies will be out by the time we return for the Winter Semester (i.e. possible field trip to go see the movie as a book club!). Voting closes this Friday (November 9) at midnight! Keep in mind we are planning to have the meeting before the exam period starts so take into consideration book length.

Here are the books in the "Upcoming Movie Book" genre with links to the book synopses and corresponding film trailers:

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Book Synopsis       Film Trailer

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Book Synopsis     Film Trailer

3. The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant (The film Lawless is based on it)

Book Synopsis    Film Trailer

4. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Book Synopsis    Film Trailer

5. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Book Synopsis   Film Trailer

Stay warm Bookworms!

On to the next month

Hello Bookworms,
Thanks to everyone who came out today - it was a great meeting and lots of good discussion! Glad to see some new faces too. We came up with ideas for genres for next month and the poll is up on the right - we're going to do the voting quickly so we can get the next meeting in before exams start. Please vote by Monday at midnight for the genre and email in suggestions for books you want to read for any of the genres listed. I wrote down the ones mentioned today, but if you have any others please let us know before Monday.

Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend!

In case you're interested - Writers Festival 2012

The Ottawa International Writers Festival is going on right now and there are events happening today through Tuesday. The official website is here http://www.writersfestival.org/. They have discounted tickets for students and there are a few free events. It might be a rather interesting and apropos festival for bookworms such as ourselves. Let us know if you go and what you think of it!

In any case, we hope to see you all on Saturday for the meeting. See you soon Bookworms!

Nov 3 meeting in UCU301

Hi Bookworms!  We've just received confirmation for our location - the meeting on Sat, Nov 3 will take place in UCU301.  It's the same room where we met last month but it's a bit tricky to find if you haven't been there before!  It's in the university centre on the floor above the Tim Horton's.  As soon as you come up the stairs, the room is immediately on your left.  See you there!

See you Saturday, Nov 3 @ 2PM!

Hey Bookworms!  Thanks again for voting - the results are in!  It looks like we'll be having our meeting on Saturday, Nov 3 at 2PM.  We'll post the location once we have a room booked.  It's perfect weather to curl up inside with a good book - say, The Casual Vacancy, perhaps?  Keep warm and happy reading!

Last poll - when would you like to meet?

Aloha Bookworms!  Here's the last poll for a little while - we have to pick a time and date for our next meeting!

Since a lot of people will probably be out of town or otherwise busy during Reading Week, we figured that the week after that would be easiest.  A poll is up right now with a bunch of times and dates from that week.  Please select all the time slots for which you would be available.  The poll will close this Sat, Oct 13 at 11:59PM and then we'll let you know the results!

Happy reading!

After a gobble gobble day of voting...

The bookworms will be devouring The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling now that we've finished off our Thanksgiving feasts!

The date/time poll is forthcoming.

Tiebreaker - it's so exciting!

Alright Bookworms, you guys can't seem to decide between The Casual Vacancy and Room so we're going to have a Thanksgiving voting blitz - winner takes all! You have until Monday at midnight to vote which book we'll read. If that doesn't settle it, Sam and I will just have to flip a coin...

Enjoy your long weekend and let the voting begin!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Gobble gobble!

New releases - what's your pick?

Hi Bookworms!  Thanks for voting for a genre - it looks like we'll be reading a new release this month.

The options for this genre are:

• The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13497818-the-casual-vacancy)
• Room by Emma Donoghue (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7937843-room)
• Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10756240-telegraph-avenue)
• The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11076177-the-cat-s-table)

Thanks to the people who emailed in their suggestions.  The poll for the book is up right now and will close on Saturday, Oct 6 at 11:59PM.  We'll post a poll for a meeting time/date very shortly.

Be sure to get your votes in, and hopefully you can squeeze in some reading over the long weekend!  Happy Thanksgiving!

October: Time to pick a genre!

Hey Bookworms!
Thanks so much to everyone who showed up at the meeting yesterday - it was a great turnout and a fun discussion!

We want to get the ball rolling to pick our October selection!  The tradition at the Bookworms is to vote on a genre, then on a book and a meeting date/time.  The poll for the genre is up right now and will close on Wednesday (Oct 3) at 11:59PM.  After that, we'll post the polls for the book and the meeting date.

The genres suggested for this month are:

• Historical fiction - Books suggested at the meeting for this genre include The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10950924-the-dovekeepers) and The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2088385.The_Book_of_Negroes).
• New releases - Books suggested for this genre include The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13497818-the-casual-vacancy) and Room by Emma Donoghue (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7937843-room).
• Science fiction - Books suggested for this genre include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11.The_Hitchhiker_s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy) and Dune by Frank Herbert (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234225.Dune).

If you have any other suggestions for any of these genres, please email us or leave them in the comments - if you don't make any suggestions, Steph and I have to choose them ourselves which is difficult for genres that we aren't very familiar with!  We'll post any additional suggestions made under the "This Month's Meeting" tab, just in case it may influence your vote.

At the meeting, some members mentioned books that they had read that were enjoyable reads, and these have been added to our Recommended Reads tab.  If you ever read a great novel, let us know so that we can share it with the other members!

Get your genre votes in by Wednesday at midnight, and we'll be well on our way to choosing a book for October!

Location for Tomorrow's Meeting

Hello Bookworms,
Tomorrow's meeting will take place in UCU 301 at 2pm! See you then.

PS There might be cupcakes ;)

Sprinkle With Murder - Meeting on Saturday, Sept 29 at 2PM

Hi Bookworms!

The votes are in, and this month's meeting will take place this coming Saturday, Sept 29 at 2PM.  We'll announce the location as soon as we have a room booked.  Thanks to everyone who voted!

If you can't make it to this month's meeting, don't worry!  We'll vote for a new meeting time next month.  If there is a time that would be better for you that wasn't in the list this month, send us an email and we'll include it in next month's poll (provided we're available at that time as well).

We'll be discussing genres and books for next month at the meeting, so start brainstorming!  If you can't make it to the meeting, feel free to send us an email with your suggestions for genres or books to read.

We'll post again once we have a meeting location.  Until then, happy reading!

Time to vote for date/time!

Hello Bookworms - new and old!

So the poll is up (look to the right!) to pick which times you want this month's meeting to take place. Since it's a pretty quick read we chose dates that are coming up quickly. Also the next weekend is Thanksgiving so we didn't want to interfere with any plans you guys might have. Choose all the time slots that would work for you!

On another note, if you gave us your email yesterday at the table and you have not received a welcome email then it might be because we couldn't read your email address. If you want to receive emails when we update the blog, either input your email in the top left corner of this blog page or send us an email at uottawabookworms@gmail.com

That's it for now, be sure to start reading Sprinkle with Murder and vote! See you soon.

'Sup September - time to vote again!

Hello Bookworms!

Might I say you're all looking fabulous today?! But seriously, it's time to vote for a book! We agreed at the end of last year to kick off this year with a Cooking Mystery - mostly so we can cook the recipes included in the book and bring them to the meeting! Ergo: free food for everyone!

The poll is on the right as usual, please vote by midnight on Friday (September 14). We'll post the poll for the meeting date/time shortly thereafter.

If you have any friends interested in the club, send them our way on September 17 - we'll have a table as part of the Clubs Week. Our infectious enthusiasm for reading will be sure to win them over :D

See you soon!

Clubs week and Treasurer

Hello Bookworms,
We hope your first days of school are going well. We just have a couple of things to tell you about.

We're in the process of renewing the club this year and we were wondering if anyone is interested in being the Treasurer (there is little to no money to handle so it is more of a 'symbolic' position). If you are interested send us an email with your name and contact information. Please email us as soon as possible (preferably before Monday).

Also we (Stephanie and Sam) will have a table on September 17 as part of the clubs week. We'll be there all day so feel free to swing by and chat with us if you have any questions, comments, or just want to hang out! We'll have books...and possibly cookies...

That's it for now - we'll have the poll for choosing our September book posted early next week so keep checking the blog.

Hope to see you all very soon! Be sure to invite your friends to join the Bookworms - the more the merrier!

Plan for August and September

Hi Bookworms!

Based on the poll and the turnout at our last meeting, Steph and I have decided that we aren't going to hold a meeting for August, but instead focus our efforts on making a great meeting for September!

We're planning on doing a cooking mystery for the September book, with a meeting at the end of the month.  We're hoping to cook one of the recipes from the novel at the meeting!  If you know of any good cooking mysteries, please email us your suggestions at uottawabookworms@gmail.com or leave them as a comment to this post!

In September, we are planning on actively recruiting new members.  We'll be having a table during Clubs Week - Steph and I will be at the table all day on Monday, September 17th.  If you have any suggestions for recruitment, please let us know!  If you have any questions for us, drop us a line or find us at our table!

See you in September!

Freakonomics: Bonus materials

Hello Bookworms!  I hope you've all had a great month!  There are a few things I'd like to mention to you all:

First, there's a meeting this Saturday (August 11) at 1PM, and it's going to be held in room UCU301.  See you there!

Second, Steph and I are both out of town at the end of August.  We'll still be able to organize a meeting if there's enough interest, but we figured we should put it to a vote to see if there are a lot of people who want to have an August meeting.  To that end, there's a poll up on the blog.  If you vote yes to having a meeting, we'll have one early in September, most likely the first week of school.  If you vote no, we'll skip the August meeting and go straight into preparation for our September book club, which will most likely be the cooking mystery!  Please vote - polls are going to close on Saturday at 1PM so we can discuss it at the meeting.

Last, it's time for some bonus materials for this month's book, Freakonomics.  The authors Levitt and Dubner have had some pretty wild success with this book, so there's cool stuff online produced by them and about them.  Check out some of these links:

In case your copy of the book didn't include it, here's the original article that NY Times writer Dubner wrote about economist Levitt: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/03/magazine/probability-that-real-estate-agent-cheating-you-other-riddles-modern-life.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

The authors keep up an ongoing blog here: http://www.freakonomics.com/
They also write an ongoing column at the NY Times.  Here's an archive of past articles if you're interested: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/features/magazine/columns/freakonomics/index.html
They also wrote a "sequel" book to Freakonomics called Superfreakonomics: http://www.freakonomics.com/books/superfreakonomics/

Check out a couple of the TED talks that Levitt has given:
Are children's carseats still necessary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um5gMZcZWm0
The freakonomics of McDonald's vs drugs: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_economics.html

Levitt was named one of Time's 100 best people of 2006 (or something), but the tribute to him was written by hugely popular nonfiction author Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers), and it's pretty interesting:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1975813_1975844_1976457,00.html

There was actually a documentary made that is based on the boo - one of the directors is Morgan Spurlock, the guy from Supersize Me.  
Check out the trailer here: http://www.magpictures.com/freakonomics/
Here are a couple of clips from the film as well:
On real-estate agents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jO_w6f8Ck
On abortions and crime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk6gOeggViw

A lot of the material in the book was based on papers that Levitt had already published.  You can see all of his published papers on his CV found here: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Levitt-CV.pdf

And here are the originals of some of Levitt's papers covered in the book, in case you want to see them in more detail:
Understanding why crime fell in the 1990s: Four factors that explain the decline and six that do not:
 http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004.pdf
Market distortions when agents are better informed: The value of information in real estate:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/market%20distortion.pdf
Using repeat challengers to estimate the effect of campaign spending on election outcomes in the US House: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUsingRepeatChallengers1994.pdf
Rotten apples: An investigation of the prevalence and predictors of teacher cheating:
 http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/JacobLevitt2003.pdf
Winning isn’t everything: Corruption in sumo wrestling :http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/DugganLevitt2002.pdf
Testing theories of discrimination: Evidence from Weakest Link:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittTestingTheories2004.pdf
An economic analysis of a drug-selling gang's finances:
 http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittVenkateshAnEconomicAnalysis2000.pdf
The impact of school choice on student outcomes: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/CullenJacobLevittTheImpactOf2004.pdf
Understanding the black-white test score gap in the first two years of school:
 http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevittUnderstandingTheBlack2004.pdf
The causes and consequences of distinctively black names: 
 http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevitt2004.pdf

I hope you enjoy those materials.  Please vote about the August meeting, and see you on Saturday!

July selection: Freakonomics

Aloha Bookworms!  We're excited to announce that this month's selection is Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.  We haven't read non-fiction in quite a while, so it should be a lot of fun to read this best-selling book!

This month's meeting will be held on Saturday, August 11 at 1PM.  We'll post a meeting location once a room has been booked.

Happy... economizing? See you in August!

July selection: Let's vote!

Hey Bookworms!  Thanks to everyone who came to the meeting today - it was a really great discussion!

Some great ideas also came up in discussion for possibilities for future meetings.  There was talk about acting out a dinner mystery (the kind that's like a board game) for a month when mystery is our genre, as well as talk about potentially having a meeting with a local author (someone suggested Patricia McCarthy, who apparently writes vampire novels set in Ottawa).  If you can build on these ideas or have any other suggestions, feel free to comment or email us!

At the meeting, we had a lot of novel suggestions as well, so we decided to skip the genre vote and go straight to voting for some of the suggested books.  There's a really great variety, so take a look at the summaries on the sites provided to get a feel for the subject matter:

• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1202.Freakonomics)
• Watchmen by Alan Moore (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472331.Watchmen)
• 20 000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12856474-20-000-leagues-under-the-sea)
• The Children of Men by P.D. James (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41913.The_Children_of_Men)
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/168668.Catch_22)

Polls are up for both the book selection and the meeting date / time.  Please head on over to the blog and make sure to vote for all the times that you are available, and for all the books you're interested in!  Both polls will close at 11:59PM on Thursday, July 12 and we'll announce the winners on Friday.

Happy voting!

Meeting location update for July 8

Hi Bookworms,

I've just received confirmation that we can use the room UCU 207 for this month's meeting.  It's located on the top floor of the University Center - if you're in the overpass with the Tim Horton's that connects the library to Montpetit building, UCU 207 is on the right just before you reach Montpetit.

This is actually a pretty nice room with lots of windows, so I'm thinking that we'll just meet there.  If it's nice outside, we should be able to enjoy the sun through the windows anyway!

So I'll see you all in UCU207 at 1PM this Sunday!  Bring any genre suggestions or book recommendations you might have!

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Bonus Materials

Hello Bookworms!

I hope that you had a fabulous June filled with dark secrets, magical artwork and mysterious deaths - in our novel, of course!

I'm still waiting to get confirmation on the room location, so similar to last month, our Plan A will be to meet outside on the lawn between Morisset Library and Fauteux (outside the cafeteria), and our Plan B will be to meet wherever they decide to let us hold our meeting indoors! I'll update you as soon as I know the location.

I'd like to post next month's genre poll right after the meeting on Sunday to make sure we get the ball rolling as quickly as possible for next month. Bring your genre suggestions to the meeting, or submit them as a comment on this post or an email to uottawabookworms@gmail.com. Additionally, if you have a preference for meeting times, please let me know so that I can include those in our next meeting vote.

Now for the fun stuff! I've compiled some goodies about this month's book, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde! The subject matter was... dark, to say the least, so I'm afraid the bonus materials aren't exactly pick-me-ups, but they're interesting nonetheless! Feel free to check out these links:

• An interesting 8-minute animated adaptation of the novel: http://vimeo.com/26229857
• Analysis of themes, motifs and symbols: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doriangray/themes.html
• Important quotations explained: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doriangray/quotes.html
• Quotable quotes from the novel (didn't Lord Henry Wotton have some spectacular lines?): http://classiclit.about.com/od/pictureofdoriangray/a/aa_picturequote.htm
• Film adaptations: 
• 2009: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235124/
• 2007: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435669/
• 1945: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037988/
• A bit about the scandalous Oscar Wilde: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde

I'll post again in a few days with the meeting location, and I'm excited to see you all at the meeting this Sunday, July 8 at 1PM!

June: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Well, Bookworms, it looks like we'll be going wild in June - Oscar Wilde that is!  This month's winning selection is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

Thank you to everyone who voted, and we hope to see you all at the meeting on Sunday, July 8 at 1PM.  We'll post a location closer to the date.

See you then!

Victoriana: Let's pick a book!

We had a couple of ties this month, so here are the results:

For the meeting time, there was a tie between Sat, June 30 at 1PM and Sun July 8 at 1PM.  Since last month's meeting was on a Saturday, we figured we'd do this month's on a Sunday!  So this month's meeting will be on Sunday, July 8th at 1PM.

There was also a 3-way tie for the genre, so we removed our votes (we figured it would be more fair to take our votes out to break the tie than to vote twice!) and that means that the winner is Victoriana!

The poll is up now for the five books in the Victoriana genre - it's pretty cool because they're all "classics"!  Here's some info about each of the options:

• The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5297.The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray)
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10210.Jane_Eyre)
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1953.A_Tale_of_Two_Cities)
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14935.Sense_and_Sensibility)
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stephenson (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288830.The_Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde)

Please keep in mind that some of these novels are rather lengthy, so let that be a factor in your book decision!  You can see the number of pages if you click on the links.

Vote for any that you're interested in!  The poll will close on Wednesday, June 13th at 11:59PM and we'll announce the winning book on Thursday.

Happy voting!

June: Genre and Meeting Time

Hey Bookworms!

Thanks to those of you who came to our meeting on Saturday!  Now it's time to make some decisions about our next meeting.

You can vote now for a genre and for a meeting time - just check out the polls on the right side of the website!  Vote for as many genres as you're interested in.

For the meeting date and time, vote for any time slots that work for you.  We realize that the weekend of June 30 is the Canada Day long weekend, so we've put time slots for both the long weekend and the weekend after, so keep that in mind!

Both of these polls will close on Friday, June 8th at 11:59pm, and we'll announce the results on Saturday and set up a poll for a book.

If you have any suggestions for any of the genres, please email us or leave it as a comment on this post.  Then we can include it in the options once we set up a book poll!  This month's genre options are:

• Victoriana (think Oscar Wilde and Jane Austen)
• Biography or autobiography
• Thriller (this was last month's runner up, so we thought we would include it again!)

If you have any suggestions, let us know, and make sure to get your votes in by Friday!

The Weather has spoken...

Hey this is just a quick update about the meeting. Looking ahead at the forecast we see rain, therefore the meeting will be held indoors in UCU 205. See you then!

The Pleasure of My Company: Bonus Materials

Hey Bookworms!

First things first: we're hoping to get the ball rolling on picking next month's genre!  Bring any genre suggestions you might have to the meeting on Saturday, and if you can't make it to the meeting, feel free to post your suggestions as a comment on this post, or send us an email at uottawabookworms@gmail.com.

Next up: We thought it would be fun to post some bonus materials about this month's book, The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin.  Feel free to take a look through the websites - it's just for fun and your own personal interest!  Check 'em out:

• Steve Martin reads the first few chapters of the novel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47L7U4N4REw

• Steve Martin's biography: http://www.biography.com/people/steve-martin-9400755

• An instrumental guitar piece inspired by the novel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC7DVusIyhA

• Try out your own magic square: http://www.1980-games.com/us/reflexion-games/reflexion-others/044.php

• Some background info on Albrecht Durer, the inventor of the magic square: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Dürer

• The official Rite-Aid website: http://www.riteaid.com/

• Some background info on OCD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive–compulsive_disorder

We hope you enjoy those links, and we'll see you on Saturday afternoon!  We'll post on Saturday morning to confirm the location (either outside or in UCU205, depending on the weather).  If you can't make the meeting but have some thoughts about the book, drop us an email!

Where to go on Saturday!

Hello there Bookworms!
Hopefully you are all aware the next meeting is this Saturday (June 2nd), if not then now you know! In terms of where the meeting will take place:

Plan A is that if it is sunny and warm we'll hold our meeting outside and enjoy some sunshine. If the weather is good  then we'll meet in the grassy area outside the main entrance to the library (really, a book club meeting near a library - how novel). Let us know if you don't know to what location where we are referring!

Plan B if the weather is not good, I reserved the room UCU 205 for our meeting and we'll meet there.

We'll post our decision about the weather on Saturday morning so you're not running between locations trying to find people to talk about books with.

Either way, meeting starts at 2pm. See you soon!

The winner for May is...

Well after a riveting round of voting a tie ensued, which was elegantly solved by drawing from a hat. This month we will be reading The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin, the well known actor/comedian/musician. Enjoy!

Also, if you're having a hard time finding a copy I know the Ottawa Public Library has several copies of the book as well as some audiobook versions on CD. So if you don't already have a library card you probably should get one since after all...

Oh, the hilarity - actually!

I guess our last post was some unintentional subliminal messaging - the genre for this month is Comedy! The meeting time will be Saturday June 2 at 2 pm. Now it's time to pick a book - the poll is to the right and voting will close Sunday May 6 at 11:59 pm. In the This Month's Meeting tab you'll find links to a description of each of the books so you can read up on them and make an informed decision on which book you want to tickle your belly!

Summer reading... (had me a blast...)

Oh, the hilarity!  SUCH A CLEVER TITLE!

And on that note, we (Sam and Steph) are taking over the uOttawa Bookworms since our beloved Thea and Naomi are both graduating this year!

First things first: we'll be holding meetings over the summer, and the first set of polls are up!  Please vote for a genre and a meeting date - both polls will close on Wednesday, May 2nd at 11:59 pm.  We'll vote on a book after that.

We've also done a few renovations on the blog.  Be sure to take a look at some of the new features - we've added a "This Month's Meeting" tab to keep you updated on current events.  We've also added a Recommended Reads section, so if you have any books that you've enjoyed reading, please send us an email with the title and author so we can make a more comprehensive list!  Finally, we've added a Bookshelf section to keep track of the books we read.

We're very excited and hope to see you all at the next meeting!

Meeting Postponed (sorry!)

Hey There Bookworms,

Everything kind of fell apart with this meeting. The room reservation got mixed up by the long weekend and Naomi's work schedule means she wouldn't be able to come either.

We'd like to reschedule for the end of the month.  And since since so few of you will be around, how about those of you who will be email us some days you'll be available. 

We're sorry about all the delays and mix-ups lately!

Sam and Steph have kindly agreed to take over the club duties for next year, so this isn't the end of the Bookworms.  We'll hope to see some of you at the end of April, and for everyone else, good luck on your exams and have a great summer! 

Wednesday April 11th

Results are in and our next meeting will be Wednesday April 11th, and we'll be watching the movie version to The Help as well.  If anyone has access to a copy they'd be willing to bring along let us know...  We'll post the meeting room once we book it.

Good luck with finishing up the semester, and we'll see you on the 11th!

Next Meeting (Finally!)

Hello Bookworms! 

We apologize for the unannounced hiatus; we're both graduating this year and these last few months are proving to be rather overwhelming.  We will bring you apology baked goods at our next meeting!

There are two polls up on the blog, one to choose the meeting date, and one to decide if we should watch the movie version of The Help at the meeting (we will try to book a better room than the one we had for the Sherlock Holmes movie!).  For meeting dates, we've got three possibilities clustered right around the end of term to hopefully catch you after all your final papers are due and before exams start: Sunday April 8th, Monday April 9th (this is Easter Monday so there's no school), or Wednesday April 11th (the day after the last class and before the first exam).  Voting will close on Saturday at noon so have your say before then.

Two more things you may want to start thinking about: 1: if we should keep meeting through the summer, and 2: if anyone who will still be attending Ottawa U next year would like to take over running the club.  If you're interested let us know at the next meeting, or by email if you can't attend it, and we'll fill you in on the details of what's required to run the club.

We'll hope to see you at the next (possibly last!) meeting!

Thea and Naomi

We have a winner!

A big thank you to everyone who voted! This months novel is The Help by Katherine Stockett. This is a very enjoyable read so enjoy! Meeting date poles should be posted by the end of the week! Happy Reading! 


And best of luck on all your midterms! 

Let's Pick A Book!

We didn't receive any more suggestions, so the ones listed in the previous post are the ones we're choosing from.  Vote for your favourite on the blog poll by Sunday at 5 pm.

Women's Lit It Is!

Women's Literature is a bit of a nebulous genre, so let's define it as books written by women, about women, which is, admittedly, still pretty broad.  We've already received a bunch of suggestions (honestly, probably more than is reasonable given the number of voters), which are listed below, but if anyone has a suggestion they're just burning to share, email it to us by Thursday at 1:00pm.

Here are the books reccommended so far for this genre:
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
The Diviners by Margaret Lawerance
The Help by Katherine Stockett
I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes by Jaclyn Moriarty
Minus Time by Catherine Bush
Only Human by Susie Boyt
Still Alice by Lisa Genov
The Whole World Over by Julia Glass


Also!  You'll notice that we've (finally!) got the book rec list up on the blog, but it's pretty sparse right now and it needs your additions!  Email us very brief descriptions of any books you'd like to recommend to the group and we'll post them.  Feel free to use books you've recommended for previous meetings, whether or not we ended up reading them.

Genre Choice

Ok, so we have three genre choices: books based on real people, self-help books, and women's literature.  Have your say on the blog poll by Wednesday at 10 am.

Genre Suggestions?

At our last meeting the genre of Women's Literature was suggested, and some book suggestions made, but since the meeting was so small, we're opening the floor (briefly) if anyone else would like to suggest another genre.  Email us your suggestions by Monday at 9:00 am and then we'll vote and take book suggestions. 

Meeting this Sunday

Hi Bookworms,
Sorry for the short notice.  Our meeting will be on Sunday at 11:30 in UCU 215 (the same place our last few meetings have been held).  We'll hope to see you there!  Bring your ideas for genres/books we could read next month.