Join us on the first Wednesday of each month virtually to meet others who enjoy reading, share ideas, have lively conversations and make new friends. Everyone welcome. Zoom link:
Date: first Wednesday of each month from 6:30-8 pm
Mar 3
Apr 7
May 5
Jun 2
Jul 7
Aug 4
We're hosting the meeting with Zoom, click here to join us on Wednesday, March 3 at 6:30 pm. The meeting password is 512396.
BOOK FOR March- Orange World by Karen Russell
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42063901-orange-world-and-other-stories
From the Pulitzer Finalist and universally beloved author of the New York Times best sellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove, a stunning new collection of short fiction that showcases Karen Russell's extraordinary, irresistible gifts of language and imagination.
Karen Russell's comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner in lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories. In"Bog Girl", a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a two thousand year old girl that he's extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In "The Prospectors," two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. In the brilliant, hilarious title story, a new mother desperate to ensure her infant's safety strikes a diabolical deal, agreeing to breastfeed the devil in exchange for his protection. The landscape in which these stories unfold is a feral, slippery, purgatorial space, bracketed by the void--yet within it Russell captures the exquisite beauty and tenderness of ordinary life. Orange World is a miracle of storytelling from a true modern master
We're hosting the meeting with Zoom, click here to join us on Wednesday, April 7 at 6:30 pm. The meeting password is 512396.
BOOK FOR April - All Boys Aren't BLue by George Johnson
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44280883-all-boys-aren-t-blue
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.
If you're looking for a book recommendation, here's what the Oaklands Community Book Club has read over the last year. To access books, check out the Greater Victoria Public Library's digital collection here, place an order online with one of Victoria's wonderful local bookstores like Russell Books or Bolen Books (pick up and delivery options available), take a walk to your closest Little Library.
Book Selections
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
Your Heart is the Size of Your Fist by Martina Scholten
The Wind in My Hair by Masih Alinejad
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian by Yusra Mardini
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
Our book club facilitator, Negar's, favourite read of 2019 was Your Heart Is the Size of Your Fist: A Doctor Reflects on Ten Years at a Refugee Clinic by Martina Scholtens.
This easy to read and emotional true story, takes us through a busy urban medical clinic for refugees in Vancouver. The human connection and emotional encounters of doctors and patients despite their vastly different cultures are portrayed beautifully, and it was really eye-opening for me to see what the new immigrants and refugees need to overcome in their new homes.
Feel free to add me on GoodReads to see what I'm reading now and talk about books!
Oaklands Community Centre
Reception Hours: Monday-Friday from 9:30 am - 1 pm, 2pm - 5pm
#1-2827 Belmont Avenue
Victoria, BC V8R 4B2
T: 250-370-9101 F: 250-370-9102
Oaklands Neighbourhood House
Little Acorn Hours: Monday-Friday from 7:30 am - 5:30 pm
2629 Victor Street
Victoria, BC V8R 4E3
T: 250-370-9101 F: 250-370-9159
BN: 882929946RR0001
Oaklands Community Association