KIRBC Notes, Feb. 17, 2011

By , on February 22nd, 2011

After a record-breaking attendance at our Very Special Christmas KIRBC, for our February meeting we had a return to the original intimate format with a smaller group. This meant a bit more discussion of the books themselves, but also a healthy dose of digressions, including: the shape of Nathan’s larynx, strollers & cloth diapers, Homeward Bound, and nominations for the-all criminal Canada Reads panel. Here’s a rundown of the books that found passionate advocates this time ’round:

JK + Erin – Friday Night Lights, Henry Bissinger

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist moves to a small-town in Texas to write about the winningest team in High School football, focusing specifically on a few of the team’s stars and the town itself
A portrait that traces the history of this oil town, trying to figure out why Friday night football elicits fanatical devotion (2-day line ups to get tickets, 20,000 fans in the stands)
Also a scathing expose of deeply entrenched racism and sexism, and a school system that exists [...]

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KIRBC Notes, November 30, 2010

By , on December 13th, 2010

On November 30th, the lovely Ashleigh Gardner opened her doors to the book loving hordes for our annual Holiday Edition. This time we celebrated with our biggest group to date (22 people), loads of holiday treats, mulled wine, and a version of the present game that might as well have been called “Just steal whatever Jen has.”

We also managed to talk about books, with each person given 140 seconds by timekeeper Erin Balser (who now had a good reason for yelling regularly). Here’s what everyone crammed into their commercial-length presentations:

JK — Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, by Drew Hayden Taylor

Warm, funny retelling of the Nanabush legend
A little big of magic, a lot of hi-jinks and some vengeful raccoons
JK’s Advent Book Blog recommendation!

Emily — Plainsong, Kent Haruf

Weaving together the stories of a small town outside Denver, Colorado
Crusty old bachelor brothers — favourite characters
Descriptive passages, sparse but meaningful
Description of cattle branding spot on — cure for country town nostalgia
Recommendation from her smart mom.

Loretta — The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddharta Mukherjee

“It’s a cancer book, and I’m not into cancer”
One of the best books she’s ever read
History of the war of cancer, enough stories to make a great narrative
Loretta had a little “cry on [...]

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KIRBC Notes for Sept. 16, 2010

By , on September 27th, 2010

On September 16th it was IRL KIRBC time again: a time leave our computers (but not our iPhones, Kobos and iPads) and gather together to advocate for one book that’s rocked our respective worlds. Here’s a somewhat sketchy record of those happenings (I have discovered I cannot type on the aforementioned iPad, especially at the lightning-fast pace of a KIRBC discussion.)

Continuing our hosting crawl, this time we traveled to the famed House of Kong, where there we were spoiled with a lavish spread and better cocktails than you’d find in many upscale restaurants. We ate, we drank, we laughed, we yelled, and oh, we talked about books. Here are the ones people thought worth a mention this time:

JK — Overqualified, by Joey Comeau

A collection of cover letters to major corporations that start to reveal details about his fictional life
Briefly shortlisted for Danuta Gleed prize and currently shortlisted for the ReLit
“short books are fun”
Fave letter: “Dear Nintendo”
Funny but also dark and often touching
Perfect remedy for cover letter RAGE

Ron — The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs

Summed up what Ron felt about cities
Even more meaningful with the upcoming election that makes Ron cry [...]

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