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  • Category: Recommended Books

    • My life as a reader

      Posted at 3:05 pm by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Feb 15th

      Post by Fiona Ross

      When I was five years old my mother and I used to fight about reading on a daily basis. She was an elementary teacher and I think the thought that her own child was not a “good” reader was an impossibility she was not willing to accept. It was Scotland in the 1970’s. Early readers on loan from the school were to be meticulously wrapped in brown paper or wallpaper samples. I am sure they were appallingly racist and sexist but I just remember the battles with my mother. Which, where and with were my Achilles heels. I still remember the tears to this day. 

      One day, no doubt in desperation, my mother took me to a big book store. It wasn’t in our own small town so I can only assume it was in Dunfermline or Edinburgh. To six year old me it was huge. I was told I could pick any book in the store, as long as I could prove that I could read the first page. I found one. It was by Enid Blyton and titled Bimbo and Topsy. It looked like a “real” book and had the picture of an adorable puppy and kitten on the front cover. Each chapter was about their adventures, they conveniently lived next door to each other,  if I remember correctly. That was it, I was hooked. I read it all in one day and magically became a reader.

      As an adult now there is much amiss with Enid Blyton, but as a young reader in Scotland her some 600 books offered a lot to choose from. I devoured the Famous Five and Secret Seven, although the obvious sexism did wrankle. The Magic Faraway Tree was my first taste of fantasy and Malory Towers and Tales of St. Clare’s introduced me to the “wonders” of boarding school (and socio economic privilege and classism, which I understood later). I don’t remember where or how I got all these books but I do remember reading about a book a day for much of my childhood in Scotland. I mean it rains there. A LOT! And I remember nights under the covers with a flashlight until the wee hours of the morning. I was terrified of being discovered, but much more distressed that I wouldn’t find out how the story ends. 

      At about 9 or 10 I found a new passion, horses. My parents couldn’t afford such a hobby but I could read about it endlessly. Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, King of the Wind and Misty of Chincoteague. My copy of The Horsemasters by Don Stanford was read so much that it was held together by an elastic band to keep all the pages in place. My tastes had definitely become more international too. Another much loved favourite was The Silver Brumby series by Elyne Mitchell about the wild horses on the Australian outback. Through the magic of reading I was able to ride a horse and even be a horse, such was the power of words.  Then I met Anne.

      Anne of Green Gables was me, without the red hair, and with a stable loving home. Okay, maybe we had some significant differences, but I loved her. I loved her imagination, her intelligence, her passion for the underdog and making things right. I loved her disregard for gender conventions and her endless optimism. I read the whole series and then my parents told me we were moving, to Canada. Well, of course I assumed that meant Prince Edward Island, right? I mean, who has heard of a silly place called Ontario? Or Brampton? But that’s where we landed in September, 1978. I still haven’t made it out to PEI, but hopefully someday.

      My mother was a huge influence and an avid reader herself, so by my teen years she would just pass along whatever she had just finished reading. Now, as a mother of teens, and a teacher librarian in a high school, those books were often highly unsuitable, in short, they would get me fired. Still, Flowers in The Attic and Clan of the Cave Bear were highly engaging reads, especially compared with Mitchell’s Who Has Seen The Wind and Steinbeck’s The Pearl. Who chose those books to inflict on grade 9 and 10 students? Just as well I was an established, avid reader before then. 

      By grade 11 I had been placed in the enriched English program, ENG 361 for those who remember that coding system. It was a class of 21 students, 18 of which were young women. That year we read Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace, Macbeth and The Admirable Crichton (a J.M Barrie play). I distinctly remember the male teacher characterizing Lady M as the temptress and villain, and thinking to myself that was not how I saw it at all. In a discussion of Lord of the Flies, he wisely decreed that this was Golding’s view of human nature, to which I replied I didn’t see how that could be when he was missing 51% of the population. I hate that book to this day. This is when I started to become a much more critical reader, to understand that representation matters.  Who is telling the story and who is interpreting the story becomes very important. I started to question the notion of the canon or the classics. Reading changed from being a beloved recreational activity to a powerful intellectual one.

      Fast forward for the next thirty years and reading was a constant in my life. I got a degree in English Literature, became a high school English teacher, a mother, a member of two book clubs, a teacher librarian, and a book reviewer. Books were a significant part of my daily life, and I feel incredibly grateful for that. However, reading became an obligation, something that needed to be done. I ceased to have any choice in what I was reading, and while I still enjoyed books, it was not the same. My TBR pile was ever growing and the weight of what I “should” be reading became a heavy burden to bear.

      Which brings me to (mostly) now.  Where am I as a reader? Can I still even call myself that? In 2017 I was diagnosed with Cancer. It is extraordinarily rare, chronic and incurable #EHE (epithelioid hemangioendothelioma). My bandwidth and headspace became occupied with my own mortality, instead of books. Now, in Covid times it surely hasn’t improved. I am reading so much less that I feel like an imposter.  What is unchanging is that I still love words and ideas. I still believe with everything in me that words are the surest and best way to change the world. I feel honoured to meet and promote Canadian authors through my work at the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) and The Authors Book Club. I may only be reading (or listening) to 30-40 books a year, but I have a lifetime of books behind me.  

      My name is Fiona, and I am a reader.


      Fiona Ross is teacher librarian and book club consultant with The Authors’ Book Club. From the time she read her first novel, Bimbo and Topsy by Enid Blyton at age 6, she was hooked on fiction.  Fiona is an avid reader, a teacher librarian, a current member of two book clubs and past chair of the Secondary Fiction Review Committee at the Peel District School Board.  She also serves on the planning committee at the Festival of Literary Diversity, (FOLD). Although her job demands lots of YA she occasionally tries to read a book aimed at adult readers. 

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged book clubs, Fiona Ross, readers, Recommended Books, The Authors' Book Club
    • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Ann Y.K. Choi

      Posted at 9:30 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Nov 7th

      Join us on November 15, 2020, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET. We will begin with a short reading followed by a group discussion and Q & A. The focus of this event will be the need for diverse stories: why representation in children’s books matters now more than ever.

      Register for this exclusive free event by emailing us at info@theauthorsbookclub.ca. Spacing is limited to 12 guests.

      Ann Y.K. Choi immigrated to Toronto from South Korea. Although she majored in English as an undergrad, she didn’t actively pursue a writing career until twenty years later when a Creative Writing instructor suggested that Ann turn a short story she was working on into a novel. The story, set in the 1980s, was inspired by Ann’s experience working in her family-run variety store. The novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, went on to become a finalist for the Toronto Book Award. Once Upon an Hour, Ann’s debut children’s picture book was released in October 2020. She is the co-founder of The Authors Book Club.

      Visit Ann’s website. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook, and Instagram.

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged ann y.k. choi, Canadian author, Canadian children's book, Children's Books, david albertyn, DiverseCanKidsLit, Fiona Ross, New Releases, Once Upon An Hour, Plots and Pandemic, The Authors' Book Club
    • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Dennis Bock

      Posted at 9:00 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Oct 4th

      Join us on October 18, 2020, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET to meet and chat with author Dennis Bock. We will begin with a short reading followed by a group discussion and Q & A.

      Register for this exclusive free event by emailing us at info@theauthorsbookclub.ca. Spacing is limited to 12 guests.

      Dennis is an author, travel writer, book reviewer, and creative writing lecturer. His books have been shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. He has been a writer-in-residence at Yaddo, the Banff Centre, Fundación Valparaíso in Spain, and Santa Maddalena in Italy. His short stories have won several awards and have appeared in Glimmer Train, The Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories, and The Journey Prize Stories. Bock lives in Toronto.

      Dennis’s newest novel, The Good German, was released in fall 2020. Visit his publisher’s website to learn more about his books.

      Visit Dennis Bock’s website. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged ann y.k. choi, Canadian author, canadian novel, CanLit, david albertyn, Dennis Bock, Fiona Ross, New Releases, Plots and Pandemic, The Authors' Book Club, The Good German
    • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Farzana Doctor

      Posted at 12:10 pm by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Sep 8th

      It’s September! We’re happy to host our next Plots & Pandemic Series event! Join us on Sunday, September 20, 2020, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EDT. Guests can interact with Farzana Doctor and with each other. We will begin with a short reading followed by a group discussion and Q & A.

      Register for this exclusive free event by emailing us at info@theauthorsbookclub.ca. Spacing is limited to 12 guests.

      Farzana is an author of four novels: Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement, All Inclusive, and Seven, which was released in September 2020. Farzana was recently named one of CBC Books’ “100 Writers in Canada You Need To Know Now”. She is also an activist, part-time psychotherapist and amateur tarot card reader.

      Visit Farzana’s website.

      Follow here on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged ann y.k. choi, Canadian author, canadian novel, CanLit, david albertyn, DiverseCanLit, Farzana Doctor, Fiona Ross, The Authors Book Club
    • Authors, tell us a bit about yourselves … (more author interviews!)

      Posted at 10:00 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Sep 7th

      Check out our latest Author Interviews!

      Hannah Mary McKinnon
      Sister Dear
      Lisa de Nikolits
      The Rage Room
      Kelly S. Thompson
      Girls Need Not Apply
      Vanessa Farnsworth
      The Haweaters
      Brent Van Staalduine
      Boy
      See more videos!

      Visit our YouTube Channel to see more author events!

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged ann y.k. choi, author interviews, book clubs, Brent Van Staalduinen, canadian, canadian authors, canadian book clubs, Canadian books, CanLit, david albertyn, Fiona Ross, Hannah Mary McKinnon, KellySThompson, Lisa di Nikolits, The Authors Book Club, vanessa farnsworth, Youtube interviews
    • For your viewing pleasure!

      Posted at 11:30 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Aug 13th

      Our ongoing uncertain times have inspired us to get creative! We want to keep supporting authors and to find opportunities to engage them with readers.

      We are now on YouTube! Check out what we’ve been doing so far:

      • Plots & Pandemic: Interactive Meet & Greet for Authors and Readers
      • Virtual book club launches
      • Author Interviews


      As well, each of us has our own little space in our YouTube community:

      Ann’s Corner features videos for writers and readers interested in the writing world.

      Fiona’s Corner focuses on book clubs and the reading community.

      The Caledon Women’s Book Club with guest author Farzana Doctor

      David’s Corner will be a series of entertaining videos for writers. More info to come soon.


      Is there something specific you’d like to see? We’d love to hear your ideas. Is there an author from our list you’d like to see interviewed or featured in any of our events? Let us know. Email us at info@theauthorsbookclub.ca or comment below.

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged ann y.k. choi, book clubs, canadian authors, CanLit, david albertyn, Fiona Ross, online book clubs, Plots and Pandemic, The Authors Book Club, virtual book clubs, virtual book launch
    • Calling all book clubs!

      Posted at 11:25 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Aug 6th

      Post by Fiona Ross

      We have a volunteer team of four here at The Authors Book Club.  David and Ann represent the authors and (obviously) have knowledge and connections with the publishing industry.  Claire, our newest addition, is our creative tech troubleshooter.  Me, well, I am the book club “expert”.  I am supposed to get book clubs involved and connected to our authors, and well folks, thus far I don’t think I have done a very good job. Right now we have three book clubs signed up (and one of them is mine).  Now, while it is true it is hard to get fired from a job that is entirely voluntary, I am asking for your help.  PLEASE consider signing your book club up with us. A brief blurb about your club and a picture would be wonderful. See how the others have done it by visiting our Book Club Page.

      IF you sign up (I feel like I should be offering a set of knives or something) you will get advance notice of any of our free digital events and we will be starting a quarterly draw for a signed book from one of 50+ authors. 

      On a more serious note, we need to support authors and publishers in Canada if we want them to be around in the future, and we need your help.  Buy books by CanLit authors, preferably from a local independent book seller if possible.  However, you don’t need to spend a dime and you can still do lots to help.  Please consider the following:

      1.  Request a book from your local library
      2.  Write a positive review on Goodreads, Chapters/Indigo or Amazon.ca
      3. If you are on Twitter retweet out a book announcement (book birthdays are always on a Tuesday BTW)

      Check out our Summer Newsletter and our upcoming events. You can sign up your book club or ask any questions you may have by emailing us at info@theauthorsbookclub.ca.

      Hope to hear from you soon!


      Fiona Ross is teacher librarian and book club consultant with The Authors’ Book Club. From the time she read her first novel, Bimbo and Topsy by Enid Blyton at age 6, she was hooked on fiction.  Fiona is an avid reader, a teacher librarian, a current member of two book clubs and past chair of the Secondary Fiction Review Committee at the Peel District School Board.  She also serves on the planning committee at the Festival of Literary Diversity, (FOLD). Although her job demands lots of YA she occasionally tries to read a book aimed at adult readers. 

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged book clubs, canadian authors, Fiona Ross, readers and writers, The Authors Book Club, virtual book clubs
    • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Adnan Khan

      Posted at 11:16 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Aug 2nd

      It’s August! We’re happy to host our next Plots & Pandemic Series event! Join us on Thursday, August 20, 2020, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. EDT. Guests can interact with Adnan Khan and with each other. We will begin with a short reading followed by a group discussion and Q & A.

      Register for this exclusive free event by emailing us at info@theauthorsbookclub.ca. Spacing is limited to 12 guests.

      Adnan is a novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. He has been nominated for a National Magazine Award and was awarded the 2016 RBC Taylor Emerging Writer award. His debut novel, There Has To Be A Knife, was named a best Canadian novel of 2019 by the CBC, and called “a raw, gritty, shiver-inducing—but very readable—account of a young man in a spiral of grief and self-destruction,” by Kirkus Review. His film work includes co-writing the screenplay Shook, for Scarborough Pictures, and his non-fiction has been published in The Globe and Mail, Maisonneuve, among others. Alongside this, he is regularly invited to speak on panels, has taught non-fiction at the University of Guelph, and is the fiction editor at Puritan magazine. His writing is represented by the Transatlantic Agency.  

      Visit Adnan’s website. Follow him on Twitter.

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged Adnan Khan, book clubs, canadian book clubs, DiverseCanLit, fiction, Plots and Pandemic, Recommended Books, The Authors' Book Club
    • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Dorothy Ellen Palmer

      Posted at 9:20 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Jul 2nd

      We are thrilled to host our next Plots & Pandemic Series event! Join us on Sunday, July 12, 2020, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EDT. Guests can interact with Dorothy and with each other. We will begin with a short reading followed by a group discussion and Q & A.

      Register for this exclusive free event by emailing us at info@theauthorsbookclub.ca. Spacing is limited to 12 guests.

      Dorothy is a mom, disabled senior writer, accessibility advocate, adoptee, retired high school Drama teacher, improv coach and union activist. Her recent memoir, Falling for Myself, (Wolsak and Wynn 2019) examines how disability and adoption combined to help her become an activist and find her birthparents. Reviewed in the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and Quill and Quire, it has been heralded as both funny and whip smart. Her first novel, When Fenelon Falls, (Coach House, 2010), features a disabled teen protagonist in the Woodstock-Moonwalk summer of 1969. Her fiction and nonfiction has appeared in both literary and disability journals: REFUSE, Readers Digest, Broadview Magazine, Wordgathering, Canthius, Alt-Minds, All Lit Up, Little Fiction Big Truths, 49th Shelf, and Open Book. She serves on the Accessibility Advisory Committee for FOLD and the Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO). She is a graduate of Western University and did her teacher training at Simon Fraser University.

      Contact Dorothy. Follow her on Twitter.

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged book clubs, canadian book clubs, Dorothy Ellen Palmer, Falling For Myself, The Authors' Book Club
    • I still get it wrong: judging a book by its cover

      Posted at 9:30 am by TheAuthorsBookClub
      Jun 18th

      Post by Fiona Ross

      One of the biggest benefits of a book club (book clubs) is that you don’t get to always pick the books, other people do.  Now, let me tell you, as a teacher and librarian it’s not easy giving up that control or the power, but if you do, when you do, you may discover some happy surprises.

      The books I have read because I have had to as a reviewer, or as a book club member, are too many to list.  As a reader, my tastes lean to historical fiction, literary fiction, Canadian fiction and memoir. I tend to really favour female protagonists.  As a secondary school librarian, I read social justice (diverse literature) and YA.  For my beloved SUCCESS program at school I also include picture books.  I read widely.  And here is the rub, even after all these books and all this time, I still get it wrong.

      For example, when I joined The Authors’ Book Club, David Albertyn, our co-founder, sent me a copy of his novel Undercard as a thank you. He even wrote a lovely dedication inside.  I read the blurb and the synopsis, thought, “that’s nice” and filed it on my book shelf.  To be fair, I did think I would show it to my husband or middle son, because it might appeal to them.  I mean boxing? Vegas? A thriller?  Not exactly my cup of tea.

      And here we are. Six months later, a global pandemic, David’s U.S. release and an Authors’ Book Club event where I am moderating.  I can’t exactly show up when I haven’t read the book.  And you know what?  I love it. It is a story of friendship, intrigue, passion, history, boxing, racism, policing, military and so many other issues all woven in.  Mostly though, it is a well-paced story with likeable characters who you want to follow on their journey.  And really, isn’t that it?  Characters we care about, on a journey we can relate to.  Isn’t  that the essence of good storytelling and what readers want in a book? 

      I don’t like boxing.  I have never been to Las Vegas.  I am not a supporter of the police, or the military, and on the surface that is what this book is about.  But dig beneath the surface and it is a fast paced, rewarding read with relatable, interesting characters, and that is what readers want.

      So, if someone in your book club picks a book that doesn’t appeal.  Or, if you get a book as a gift that you would never pick for yourself, take a chance, dive in and actually read it.  Take it from me, a seasoned reader, it could be worth the chance. Just read.


      Fiona Ross is teacher librarian and book club consultant with The Authors’ Book Club. From the time she read her first novel, Bimbo and Topsy by Enid Blyton at age 6, she was hooked on fiction.  Fiona is an avid reader, a teacher librarian, a current member of two book clubs and past chair of the Secondary Fiction Review Committee at the Peel District School Board.  She also serves on the planning committee at the Festival of Literary Diversity, (FOLD). Although her job demands lots of YA she occasionally tries to read a book aimed at adult readers. 

      Follow Fiona on Twitter.

      Posted in Recommended Books | Tagged ann y.k. choi, canadian authors, Canadian books, CanLit, david albertyn, Fiona Ross, The Authors' Book Club, Undercard
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      • My life as a reader
      • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Ann Y.K. Choi
      • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Dennis Bock
      • Plots & Pandemic: Virtual Meet & Greet with Farzana Doctor
      • Authors, tell us a bit about yourselves … (more author interviews!)
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