Book Swaps Toronto

OSC #1 - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Welcome to the inaugural meetup of the Open Shelf Collective! Our first three books have been selected to set the tone, and following the end of each meetup we will begin with the nominations for the next meetups. The first thirty minutes of the event is open social time while we allow attendees to arrive. The book discussion will begin at 8:00 PM. At the end of the meetup, we will accept nominations for the next book and have our book swap. We encourage attendees to stay afterwards and chat if they would like to as well. If the event is full, please DM us and we can put you on a waitlist. Our first book is "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman. **"#1 *New York Times* bestseller** **From the #1 *New York Times* bestselling author of *A Man Called Ove* and “writer of astonishing depth” (*The Washington Times*) comes a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.** Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths. First is Zara, a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else until tragedy changed her life. Now, she’s obsessed with visiting open houses to see how ordinary people live—and, perhaps, to set an old wrong to right. Then there’s Roger and Anna-Lena, an Ikea-addicted retired couple who are on a never-ending hunt for fixer-uppers to hide the fact that they don’t know how to fix their own failing marriage. Julia and Ro are a young lesbian couple and soon-to-be parents who are nervous about their chances for a successful life together since they can’t agree on anything. And there’s Estelle\*\*,\*\* an eighty-year-old woman who has lived long enough to be unimpressed by a masked bank robber waving a gun in her face. And despite the story she tells them all, Estelle hasn’t really come to the apartment to view it for her daughter, and her husband really isn’t outside parking the car. As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people. Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature” (*Shelf Awareness*), *Anxious People*’s whimsical plot serves up unforgettable insights into the human condition and a gentle reminder to be compassionate to all the anxious people we encounter every day."

OSC #2 - Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Welcome to the second meetup of the Open Shelf Collective! Our first three books have been selected to set the tone, and following the end of each meetup we will begin with the nominations for the next meetups. The first thirty minutes of the event is open social time while we allow attendees to arrive. The book discussion will begin at 8:00 PM. At the end of the meetup, we will accept nominations for the next book and have our book swap. We encourage attendees to stay afterwards and chat if they would like to as well. If the event is full, please DM us and we can put you on a waitlist. "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. "In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time. Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold. Prepare to meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the cafe’s time-travelling offer in order to: confront the man who left them; receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by Alzheimer's; see their sister one last time, and meet the daughter they never got the chance to know. Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?"

Silent Bookclub Meeting #70 (Bookstore Crawl and Danu)

The next event will be a two parter, bringing back a fan favourite! 1) We will meet at 1pm at Trinity Bellwoods to do a "Bookstore Crawl" where we will walk as a group along Queen St W and check out a few different bookstores and see if there are any books you'd want to buy *Note that buying a book is not mandatory*. 2) We'll eventually make our way to Danu Social House where we'll have our standard Silent Book Club event, starting at 230Pm! *Note you don't have to attend the Bookstore Crawl to attend the event at Danu* More details about the stores we'll be visiting will be updated closer to the date! Please RSVP if you're planning on coming so we can plan appropriately! To help cover the costs of meetup fees, we will be taking optional donations for this event. If you're inclined to, feel free to send any amount you're comfortable with to harresh.s@hotmail.com, or bring cash to the event. Please note that this is entirely optional and not required to join the event! All proceeds will go towards fees for this event and future events, as well as meetup fees.

The Girls Book Club: Fantasy/Romance Book Club Meetup #3

Hi everyone!! 💖 This is now our THIRD book club meetup! I can’t wait to get to know you all more, hang out and talk books. For this meeting we’ll be continuing Born, Darkly (Book 1 of the Darkly Madly Duet) by Trisha Wolfe. Please read the first 20 chapters before coming so we have lots to discuss! Don’t stress if you’re new or didn’t make it to the last meetup! This is a super chill group and we’re mostly here to chat, vibe, and obsess over books together. Can’t wait to see you all!! 📚✨

NF(online): "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life" by Erving Goffman

Every year we read and discuss one classic (older than 50 years) original scientific work from different domains of sciences that influenced the world and see how it holds up in 21 century. Previous years we read works by Freud and C.G. Jung. This year we will discuss one of the most influential sociological books of 20 century - "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life" by Erving Goffman, that created a whole new branch in sociology and irrevocably changed our culture ( though the extent of its influence and consequences are clear only now) This short, but clear, insightful and very entertaining book is less known than works of Freud and Jung, but if you have heard phrases like "performative signaling" that are thrown around without much understanding of their genealogy, you should read the book that analyzed their foundations without emotional and political baggage - as descriptive, not normative phenomena... The link for conference will be posted here 1hr before event

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

For April, we'll read Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 257 pages First published in 1853 About the book: Cranford depicts the lives and preoccupations of the inhabitants of a small village - their petty snobberies, appetite for gossip, and loyal support for each other in times of need This is a community that runs on cooperation and gossip, at the very heart of which are the daughters of the former rector: Miss Deborah Jenkyns and her sister Miss Matty, But domestic peace is constantly threatened in the form of financial disaster, imagined burglaries, tragic accidents, and the reapparance of long-lost relatives. to Lady Glenmire, who shocks everyone by marrying the doctor. When men do appear, such as 'modern' Captain Brown or Matty's suitor from the past, they bring disruption and excitement to the everyday life of Cranford.

Silent Bookclub Meeting #70 (Ticketed Event at Indigo Sherway Gardens)

The next event is happening on Saturday April 25, at 10AM at the Indigo located in Sherway Gardens! Note this is a ticketed event, so registration is required. You can register here: https://ticketscene.ca/events/60627/

ABCD Reads "What We Can Know" by Ian McEwan

ABCD Reads "**[What We Can Know](https://tpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S234C4683360)**" by Ian McEwan. [[RESULTS](https://opavote.com/results/6276009911648256) of the poll for this event] **:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::** "A quest, a literary thriller and a love story, *What We Can Know* spans the past, present and future to ask profound questions about who we are and where we are going. 2014: A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no copy has yet been found. 2119: The lowlands of the UK have been submerged by rising seas. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. Tom Metcalfe, a scholar at the University of the South Downs, part of Britain's remaining archipelagos, pores over the archives of the early twenty-first century, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the great lost poem, revelations of entangled love and a brutal crime emerge, destroying his assumptions about a story he thought he knew intimately. *What We Can Know* is a masterpiece that reclaims the present from our sense of looming catastrophe, and imagines a future world where all is not quite lost." (from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223854881-what-we-can-know)) "A love story about both people and the words they leave behind, a literary detective story which reclaims the present from our sense of looming catastrophe and imagines a future world where all is not quite lost." (from [Bookmarks.reviews](https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/what-we-can-know/)) **:: 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.

Fifty-Four Pigs by Phillip Schott (Moreen)

9 books, 45 ebooks. 9 audio

IN-PERSON LIT BOOK CLUB: April 2026 - Margo's Got Money Troubles

📚Canadian Indie Bookstore Day Crawl with TESTING REQUIRED

Hamaguri - Ali Shimazaki

Enfant illégitime, Yukio avait coutume de jouer au parc avec une fillette accompagnée de son père. Quand sa mère se marie et qu’ils déménagent de Tokyo à Nagasaki, il emporte le souvenir d’une promesse, de celles qu’on ne brise pas. Aki Shimazaki est une romancière et traductrice canadienne. Elle s’est installée au Canada en 1981, vivant à Vancouver et à Toronto. Depuis 1991, elle vit à Montréal, où elle enseigne le japonais et publie ses romans en français. Son deuxième roman, Hamaguri, a remporté le prix Ringuet en 2000.