Name: ABCD Reads "Vera, or Faith" by Gary Shteyngart
Start: 2025-09-25T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Bar Wellington

ABCD Reads **The Master and Margarita** by Mikhail Bulgakov.

[[RESULTS](https://opavote.com/results/6282082893955072) of the poll for this event]

**:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::**
"Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin's reign, *The Master and Margarita* became an overnight literary phenomenon when it was finally published it, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere. Bulgakov's carnivalesque satire of Soviet life describes how the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow one Spring afternoon. Brimming with magic and incident, it is full of imaginary, historical, terrifying and wonderful characters, from witches, poets and Biblical tyrants to the beautiful, courageous Margarita, who will do anything to save the imprisoned writer she loves." (from [Penguin Random House Canada](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/531360/the-master-and-margarita-by-mikhail-bulgakov/9780241552674))

"An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, *The Master and Margarita* is recognized as one of the essential classics of modern Russian literature. The novel's vision of Soviet life in the 1930s is so ferociously accurate that it could not be published during its author's lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the 1960s. Its truths are so enduring that its language has become part of the common Russian speech." (from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117833.The_Master_and_Margarita))

**:: ABOUT THE EVENT ::**
You are welcome to arrive 30 minutes before the event and stay 30 minutes or longer afterward to connect with other attendees outside the book talk.

Please ensure you have read the book before attending (though finishing any book is not a barrier to participating, as long as you don't mind spoilers).

First-time attendees can join for free. If the event is full, we maintain an unofficial waitlist. Please send [Michael](https://www.meetup.com/members/55295192/) a direct message for more information, in either case.

We request a $3 contribution from regular attendees to help cover our monthly meetup costs.

**:: ABOUT OUR NEXT BOOK ::**
At the end of each event, we will ask for nominees for our next book. If you have a good one in mind, please ensure it is between 200-400 pages long, available from the Toronto Public Library, and counts as contemporary literary fiction (though these are not hard and fast rules). When enough nominees are collected, Michael will send the members a direct message with a link where you can vote.

A Book Club, Downtown (ABCD)

Katie Marchington

Michael Stone

Anaar

Sandra

Candy Luan Jin

Connie Crosby

Iris Chan

Heather M

Mallory A.

Priya

Raushan Bhuiyan

Meg Patterson

Lauren

Robyn 

Llisa Spidle

Neil

ABCD Reads "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov

Bar Wellington

ABCD Reads **Territory of Light** by Yūko Tsushima.

[[RESULTS](https://opavote.com/results/5957292710690816) of the poll for this event]

**:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::**
"he highly regarded Japanese novelist Yūko Tsushima, who died two years ago, drew on her own experiences for this 1979 novel, translated by Geraldine Harcourt, about a single mother struggling to build a life in Tokyo. Its 12 linked tales of the city are fine-grained to the point of mundanity – finding an apartment, discovering a leak, visiting a park – but in Tsushima’s hands they achieve a deceptive, luminous clarity.
Tsushima is honest about her narrator’s difficulties: she boozes, leaves the chores undone and hurls 'vile abuse' at her two-year-old daughter when woken in the night. But the two are peas in a pod – each spirited, a poor fit for conventionality, they jump in puddles and swing between screaming matches and fierce tenderness. In this short, powerful novel lurk the joy and guilt of single parents everywhere." (from [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/20/territory-of-light-yuko-tsushima-review-tokyo-tales))

"*Territory of Light* is the luminous story of a young woman, living alone in Tokyo with her three-year-old daughter. Its twelve, stand-alone fragments follow the first year of her separation from her husband. The novel is full of light, sometimes comforting and sometimes dangerous: sunlight streaming through windows, dappled light in the park, distant fireworks, dazzling floodwater, desaturated streetlamps and earth-shaking explosions. The seemingly artless prose is beautifully patterned: the cumulative effect is disarmingly powerful and images remain seared into your retina for a long time afterwards." (from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33871745-territory-of-light))

**:: ABOUT THE EVENT ::**
You are welcome to arrive 30 minutes before the event and stay 30 minutes or longer afterward to connect with other attendees outside the book talk.

Please ensure you have read the book before attending (though finishing any book is not a barrier to participating, as long as you don't mind spoilers).

First-time attendees can join for free. If the event is full, we maintain an unofficial waitlist. Please send [Michael](https://www.meetup.com/members/55295192/) a direct message for more information, in either case.

We request a $3 contribution from regular attendees to help cover our monthly meetup costs.

**:: ABOUT OUR NEXT BOOK ::**
At the end of each event, we will ask for nominees for our next book. If you have a good one in mind, please ensure it is between 200-400 pages long, available from the Toronto Public Library, and counts as contemporary literary fiction (though these are not hard and fast rules). When enough nominees are collected, Michael will send the members a direct message with a link where you can vote.

Arman K.

Oliver Olsen

Margarita

Natalie

Elizabeth

Sahel Zreik

Afroza

ABCD Reads "Territory of Light" by Yūko Tsushima

[[RESULTS](https://opavote.com/results/5183536180494336) of the poll for this event]

ABCD Reads AND Watches "**Perfume: The Story of a Murderer**", a novel by Patrick Süskind, and a film by Tom Tykwer.

**:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::**
"An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder." (from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/343.Perfume))

**:: ABOUT THE MOVIE ::**
"Perfume is what you'd expect from a Tom Twyker-directed movie glamorizing a serial killer: a kinetic visual feast, with a dark antihero that's impossible to feel sympathy for." (from [RottenTomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/perfume_the_story_of_a_murderer))

**:: ABOUT THE EVENT ::**
Instead of just reading the book as usual, this time we're asking that you also watch the movie adaptation. During our discussion, we'll explore the strengths of both the book and the movie, evaluate the adaptation's effectiveness, and touch on any other topics that arise.

You are welcome to arrive 30 minutes before the event and stay 30 minutes or longer afterward to connect with other attendees outside the book talk.

Please ensure you have read the book and watched the movie before attending (though finishing either is not a barrier to participating, as long as you don't mind spoilers).

First-time attendees can join for free. If the event is full, we maintain an unofficial waitlist. Please send [Michael](https://www.meetup.com/members/55295192/) a direct message for more information, in either case.

We request a $3 contribution from regular attendees to help cover our monthly meetup costs.

**:: ABOUT OUR NEXT READ&WATCH ::**
At the end of each event, we will ask for nominees for our next Read & Watch (date TBA). If you have a good pairing in mind, please ensure that the book is between 200-400 pages long, available from the Toronto Public Library, and counts as contemporary literary fiction (though these are not hard and fast rules), and that the movie or TV-series is readily available. When enough nominees are collected, Michael will send the members a direct message with a link where you can vote.

jennifer b

ABCD Reads AND Watches "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"

ABCD Reads **Vera, or Faith** by Gary Shteyngart.

[[RESULTS](https://opavote.com/results/4898184240824320) of the poll for this event]

**:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::**
"Shteyngart’s new novel, “Vera, or Faith,” tastes at first like a cherry-flavored gumdrop, but it’ll burn a hole in your tongue. The heroine, Vera, is a 10-year-old Korean American in a wealthy White family. She may be the smartest kid in fifth grade, but she’s so anxious that she compulsively flaps her hands, which attracts bullies in the classroom the way blood draws sharks in the water... Vera — her name means “faith” in Russian — just wants to make a friend, get perfect grades and maybe meet her real mother. But as the comedy seeps out of this story like air from a tire, the novel keeps picking up speed until it’s grinding on its rims.
This is no place for a child. This is no place for anybody. And yet you won’t be able to look away." (from the [Washington Post](https://archive.is/m5C8D#selection-705.0-711.99))

"A poignant, sharp-eyed, and bitterly funny tale of a family struggling to stay together in a country that's rapidly coming apart, told through the eyes of their wondrous ten-year-old daughter, by the bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story and Our Country Friends." (from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220239019-vera-or-faith))

**:: ABOUT THE EVENT ::**
You are welcome to arrive 30 minutes before the event and stay 30 minutes or longer afterward to connect with other attendees outside the book talk.

Please ensure you have read the book before attending (though finishing any book is not a barrier to participating, as long as you don't mind spoilers).

First-time attendees can join for free. If the event is full, we maintain an unofficial waitlist. Please send [Michael](https://www.meetup.com/members/55295192/) a direct message for more information, in either case.

We request a $3 contribution from regular attendees to help cover our monthly meetup costs.

**:: ABOUT OUR NEXT BOOK ::**
At the end of each event, we will ask for nominees for our next book. If you have a good one in mind, please ensure it is between 200-400 pages long, available from the Toronto Public Library, and counts as contemporary literary fiction (though these are not hard and fast rules). When enough nominees are collected, Michael will send the members a direct message with a link where you can vote.

Soner

ABCD Reads "Vera, or Faith" by Gary Shteyngart

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