Nov 01, 2021
What’s the best way to make time go by quickly? Occupy yourself with something truly engaging and time will just fly by. So, if November is not your favourite month, what with all the grey days, colder temps and 4:30 sunsets, occupy yourself with a fantastic loooooong book that will take you through the whole month. Try to finish these OPL book club picks by the end of November and watch the month disappear!
This month listen to the very long but very compelling Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. An extravagant and dramatic story of Anna who risks everything for passion that is intertwined with the quiet story of Levin (an autobiographical character) and his own quest for true love and personal fulfillment.
Nineteenth century novels, famously described by Henry James as “loose, baggy monsters”, have a reputation for length. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens might be one of the baggiest, at almost 1000 pages, a rambling story of mistaken identity, fortunes lost and found, and the corrupting power of money. Filled with his trademark eccentric characters, humour, pathos and vivid imagery of nineteenth century London, Our Mutual Friend is a long read to get lost in on cold November afternoons.
In French this month, we suggest 1793 by Niklas Natt och Dag, followed by the book 1794. For lovers of history and thrillers, the protagonist Jean Michael Cardell brings you to a time in Sweden you won’t soon forget.
And our French audiobook suggestion is Le seizième roman de Christine Lamer. London Sydney Drake is a successful author with a lovely family who finds that despite her fairy tale life she needs to fight to once again find happiness. You will spend more than 12 hours listening!
Suggestions and Resources for a successful online Book Club
In order to have your Book Club take place online you can try creating Facebook groups, or using various social media channels to discuss books. Or you could try meeting live via online video conferencing tools. The following tools are free:
- Google Hangouts provides free video/chat/voice conferencing and does not have a time limit
- Jitsi is a free open source video conferencing tool
- In French, there is a platform built by Les libraires that allows book clubs to meet online! You can request to create your own club, or there are groups that are already running that you can join.
- All book clubs, including the current book club picks and comments, are visible to anyone accessing the site Le Regroupement des éditeurs franco-canadiens is offering a monthly book club called D’un océan à l’autre – here is more information (in French only), and the books available at OPL!
Finding eBooks and eAudiobooks for your Book Club
- Always Available eAudio from OverDrive – many great Book Club reads in this list
- Books with 100 simultaneous checkouts -- this new format offered by publishers to libraries lets your whole book club borrow a book at once!
- Special Collection of Always Available eBooks and eAudio from Overdrive – a quality collection available until the end of 2021
- Always Available ebook Classics from Duke Publishing
- OPL streaming eBook and eAudio collections
- Some French publishers OPL purchases from through Cantook Station offer many loans of the same title at once. You can search the Cantook platform for these publishers and make your choice. Participating publishers include Gallimard, Actes Sud, Rivages, POL, Flammarion, and Payot
- Radio-Canada offers free “Always Available” French eAudio - stream from the ICI Première website or download the Radio-Canada OHdio app.
- D'un océan à l'autre | club de lecture 2021
Contact OPLs InfoService 613-580-2940 if you need help accessing these titles and resources
Hosting and Discussions
If you would like discussion questions for your book, here is a list of 40 Great Book Club Discussion Questions from Book Riot. They work for any book.
Here are some great tips about how to host an online book club from Bustle Magazine: 10 Tips For Hosting A Digital Book Club