Hello Book Club members:

Regarding the January meetup:

1. The correct date is Tuesday January 24.

2. Please bring 2 questions about the book (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) for this month's facilitator. If you like, you can send me a message ahead of time with the questions, which I will forward.

As you know, there was an Organizational Meeting on Jan 5 to discuss the practical matter of continuing to run the book club, as well as to discuss ideas of how to improve the club. About 7 people attended and we had a very productive meeting.

Here is one of the recommendations that came forward and that we agreed to.

Regarding Book Suggestions:

" When suggesting a book for consideration, please provide a short (one paragraph, no more than 10 lines) written rationale, to include the following points:

                - What area of nonfiction do you feel this book falls under?
                - What is the underlying theme or idea running through the book?
                - Are you aware of other books by the same author which also captures this idea or theme?
                - In view of the above points, why do you believe that this book should be discussed by us?
               
                If you are aware of other books that either agree with the book's central idea or theme, or take issue with it, include those titles as well.
                While it is not required that you have read the book, a good understanding of it will make your suggestion and rationale more convincing."

For now, we'll continue the policy of requiring that suggested books must be available in the Toronto Public Library (not too many holds, please!) AND at Chapters. Please post book suggestions on the discussion board.

Also, we do not allow book suggestions by authors or publicists who are not members of the club. I am looking at enforcing this through the meetup website.

See you on Jan 24.

Rose Kudlac