Book Club

The Book Club meets on the first Wednesday of each month on Zoom. The Zoom link is sent out to all members on the morning of the meeting which starts at 10am and typically ends around 11 am. At each meeting a member (the presenter) presents a book previously selected for discussion by the members. After a 5 minute presentation by the presenter, each attendee in turn comments for two or three minutes on the book and gives it a rating out of 10. The presenter then leads a general discussion about the book, often followed by recommendations for books to be added to our recommended list. All Probus members are welcome to join us any time. It is not necessary to attend our discussions every month, nor to complete reading every book before coming. Please contact the Convenor David Williams by email to ask any questions, or to be added to our roster so that you will receive a reminder/invitation to every meeting.

Month	Title	Author
January/2025	The Grey Wolf	Louise Penny
February	Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone	Benjamin Stevenson
March	Cello Notes	Mavis Himes
April	Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town	Stephen Leacock
May	A New Season	Terry Fallis
June	Dissolution	C. J. Sansom
July	Valley of the Birdtail	Andrew Stobo Sniderman
August	Papyrus	Irene Vallejo
September	Bloomsbury Girls	Natalie Jenner
October	The Island of Extraordinary Captives	Simon Parkin
November	The Forgotten Home Child	Genevieve Graham
December	The London Restoration	Rachel MacMillan

Cello Notes: Music and the Urgency of Time
March 5, 2025

We were privileged to have the author attend our Zoom meeting. Members agreed that it was encouraging to follow the progress of a recent retiree following a new passion. The author’s journal of personal experiences during time spent with her teacher, time spent practicing, and time spent in performances allowed her to share the joys, sorrows, and pivotal moments of her trajectory as a cellist. The book is an easy read. Himes’ account of the musculoskeletal aspects of learning to play a cello as an older adult gave an almost muscle-by-muscle coverage of her progress (who knew the hand had 34 muscles?). In comparison to the singing voice of a stringed instrument, the piano is definitely a percussion instrument. Himes’ earlier career as a clinical psychologist has allowed her to see and promote the benefits of music in all walks of life.

Mentioned during the meeting:
Storyworth (a subscription company which helps you write your memoirs)

Rating of the book: 7.7

David Williams

Everybody in my family has killed someone
February 5, 2025

Ratings for this book ranged from a low of 4 to a high of 8 (average 6.5). Most members thought the story was off to a slow start: it took a while to realize that the story was a parody of many earlier mysteries. When this was recognized, many members found themselves chuckling along with the author. The allusions to other mystery writers were appreciated, and many enjoyed the author’s tongue-in-cheek asides and explanations for the reader. The plot was replete with wrinkles and red herrings.

Books mentioned during the meeting:
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Foyle’s War, TV series written by Horowitz
The Guest List, by Lucy Foley
Battle of Britain, by Ted Barris
Sir John A. Macdonald & The Apocalyptic Year 1885, by Patrice Dutil
Fear, by Bob Woodward
War, by Bob Woodward

Musicians mentioned during the meeting:
Moshe Hammer and the Hammer Band
Stjepan Hauser, Cellist
Pablo Casals, Cellist (the six cello suites)
Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist

David Williams
Convenor

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
January 8, 2025

There was general agreement that Penny’s earlier books were better than this one. What brings readers back to her books is her emphasis on family, community and trust.

A significant tourist industry has grown around the locales used in Penny’s books, particularly the village of Knowlton, Quebec, the inspiration for Penny’s Three Pines. Penny’s references to food and friends are engaging.

Some key points are unclear in the book: what happened to the gram of C. botulinum toxin, and what was the motivation of those who were threatening the water supply? Nevertheless, the vulnerability of infrastructures is clear.

The ominous, apocalyptic plot device was recognizable early in the book. The monosyllabic duck, Rosa, has drawn various responses from readers. Members thought the book was rather long, and contained excessive detail in places. Members also observed that Penny’s plots are starting to shift toward international crimes, with overtones of Ian Fleming and Dan Brown The fabric of her books is becoming strained by the pressures of yearly publication. It is a measure of Penny’s success that readers have definite expectations that she will live up to her own standard.

Rating of the book: 6.5

Books mentioned during meeting:

Magpie murders, by Anthony Horowitz
Champlain’s Dream, by David Hackett Fischer (prompted by references to Champlain in Penny’s Bury Your Dead)
The Beautiful Mystery, by Louise Penny

Video of Stephen Fry demonstrating a cocktail which has different colors in different volumes (prompted by a search for the ‘chartreuse effect’):

https://x.com/jpbowen/status/389782914306961408

David Williams

Chip War by Chris Miller
December 4, 2024

Thanks to first-hand experience of several members, the discussion was remarkably wide-ranging. One member recalled the use of tubes in electronic applications, while another contrasted the idea of a handful of transistors vs billions of transistors on the same 1 square cm of silicon. The general feeling of the group was that the book was interesting and readable, aided by the use of short chapters.

The importance of government support for the chip industry is clearly shown in the dominant position of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The cost of equipment and great skill involved in manufacture of advanced processor chips such as the A14 and Apple M1 preclude an easy onshoring of such chip foundries. The cast of characters described in the book is immense, as was the foresight of many of these characters in pushing through seemingly impossible projects.

An interesting sidebar in the book was that Graphics Processing Units are more useful for Artificial Intelligence applications than conventional Central Processing Units. The shortage of chips in 2020 revealed a number of choke points in the supply chain, and highlighted the geopolitical side of chip manufacture. Another example is the development of Huawei under the aegis of the People’s Liberation Army of China.

Most electronic devices today include contributions from many separate makers, in different countries, underscoring the interdependence of the electronics industry. The control of rare earth minerals may become strategically important.

While production of steel and dreadnoughts was critical in the early 20th century, the current century is more dependent on technology. Has Moore’s Law (computing power on each chip will double every couple of years) reached its limit?

Rating of the book: 9.1

David Williams

The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire by Stephen R. Bown
November 6, 2024

Members of the club agreed that this was an enjoyable, though long book, with a multiplicity of narratives and many prime movers. The author is a good storyteller. In the light of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the author only referred to the original inhabitants of Canada as indigenous.

In the early part of the history, we saw respect between fur traders such as Radisson and the fur trappers. This harmonious relationship was later destroyed by people such as Sr George Simpson. The hardiness of the early trappers and traders, and the rigours of portaging all the way to the West Coast were fully described. In-depth detail regarding indigenous leaders such as Mattonabbee gave sympathetic insight into the interweaving of native culture and the Company. Pemmican was a vital commodity for these wide-ranging travels; control of pemmican led to many serious disputes culminating in the Battle of Seven Oaks.

The competition of two major fur-trading companies, one based in London, the other in Montreal, was clearly depicted. The role of Sir James Douglas in building a route which avoided the American side during the Cariboo gold rush (geopolitics) was also interesting.

Rating of the book: 8.1

Books mentioned during meeting:

Tomson Highway, Permanent Astonishment: Growing Up Cree in the Land of Snow and Sky
Stephen R. Brown, 1494: how a family feud in medieval Spain divided the world in half
Stephen R. Brown, Dominion: the railway and the rise of Canada
James Arnett, The Monmouth Manifesto

David Williams

The Road Years by Rick Mercer
October 2, 2024

Members agreed that it was refreshing to read a light, topical book for a change. There were numerous comments on the serious amount of preparation required for each of the weekly TV episodes. Many of these episodes (e.g. playing Neal Peart’s drum set, meetings with particular politicians) were memorable.

Mercer’s sardonic sense of humor, coupled with his skewering of the inconsistencies, contradictions, and absurdities of people, whether in government, business, or education, is delicious: his rants provided a much-needed corrective.

Mercer is clearly a good storyteller: some members felt that the book was better than the TV program. Mercer’s account of travel to Africa was appreciated, as well as his efforts with Belinda Stronach to support an amazing anti-malaria program (Spread the Net) to provide bed nets for people in Africa.

Rating of the book: 7.8

Books mentioned during the meeting:

Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby van Pelt
The Grey Wolf, by Louise Penney
Cello Notes, by Mavis Himes
North of Nowhere, by Marie Wilson
Dust Child, by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
Everyone in my family has killed someone, by Benjamin Stevenson
Sunshine sketches of a little town, by Stephen Leacock
Stories from the Vinyl Cafe, by Stuart McLean

David Williams

The Iliad by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
September 4, 2024

Many good stories begin in the middle of things: the Iliad addresses the last four days of a ten-year war, well past the middle, but still action-packed. "The exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life affording them scope" is a Greek definition of happiness”.* On this basis, we can understand the enthusiasm of the heroes in the story.

Mortality was a central theme in the poem, but not a great concern for the characters depicted. The Greeks and the Vikings had similar approaches to war, in that trophies, loot, and slaves were desirable. Not all the heroes behaved like heroes: Achilles spent a major part of the war pouting, because Agamemnon had taken his wife; he wasn’t energized until his childhood friend, Patroclus, was killed. In many stories, a single deus (or dea) ex machina makes an appearance, usually toward the end. Here we have almost as many gods as people.

While the plans of many people are not hard to divine, those of the gods are not knowable to us mortals. Some of Homer’s descriptive language has persisted to the present, for example the ‘wine-dark sea’ and ‘rosy-fingered dawn’. The Iliad was the foundation of much Greek mythology, such as the warrior society: many subsequent leaders have felt they were following this tradition. The spread of Greek influence around the Mediterranean was due more to population growth than conquest.

The importance of translation was clear to club members; most read the Emily Wilson translation, while some had read translations by Alexander Pope (into rhyming couplets) and Richard Lattimore. The Lattimore version was comparatively ponderous. The notes from Emily Wilson were appreciated by all. One member listened to an audio version, which is the way most folks experienced the Iliad thousands of years ago.

When ranking the book, it was difficult to separate the translator from the work itself.

*Thanks to Tom Axworthy for retrieving this quote from Edith Hamilton.

Rating of the book: 7.75

Other books mentioned during the meeting:

The Trojan War, by Barry Strauss
The World of Odysseus, by Moses I. Finley
Women’s Work, by Elizabeth Wayland Barber
Horse, by Geraldine Brooks
Flying Blind, by Peter Robison
Ibadan, by Joy Kogawa
The Greek Way, by Edith Hamilton

David Williams

The Manticore by Robertson Davies
August 7, 2024

We addressed the first volume of the Deptford Trilogy (Fifth business) on 1 Nov 2023. Most members were reading this second volume for at least the second time: some found it more interesting, while others were reminded of reasons they didn’t enjoy it the first time around.

The story encapsulates life in a wealthy household of the 1940s or 1950s. Incidents in the Manticore parallel Davies’ experience of psychoanalysis: David Staunton’s analyst also followed the Jungian school, with emphasis on dreams and their interpretation. Analysis was important to Robertson Davies: therefore, he felt the need to include much detail in his book.

There was much obscure religious imagery in the book. Several members were put off by the heavy emphasis on the Jungian school of thought. In some religious groups, psychoanalysis was regarded as evil: one should pray their way out of their difficulties.

There was agreement on the book’s good style of writing, though some members found it dense and heavy. The narrative was nevertheless compelling. The analyst (Dr. Von Haller) was quite open about the stages of analysis, and it was possible to recognize through her narrative the Comedy Company of the Psyche. Particularly interesting was the ‘anima’ which is like the light at the end of the dock in the Great Gatsby.

Rating: 7.6

Books mentioned during the meeting:

Bloomsbury Girls, by Natalie Jenner
The Jane Austen Society, by Natalie Jenner
84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff

David Williams

The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan
July 3, 2024

This book was published in 2006. Relations between Jews and Arabs regarding the land designated in 1946 as Palestine, began badly and have deteriorated steadily ever since. Religious differences such as those in Ireland may be potentially resolved over time. Where two groups are contending for the same land, reconciliation becomes nearly impossible. Extremism and brutality increase on both sides, particularly as one is slowly establishing claim over ever-larger portions of the land. Looking at maps from 1946 up to the six day war, where is the Arab state in Palestine? Many of the Arabs who were ordered from their homes are living in tents: small wonder that the right of return burns brightly in their minds.

The constant fracturing of leadership on both sides means there is no coherent movement toward a settlement of the land dispute. The difficulties in the whole territory are exacerbated by the intervention of foreign governments. Much of the military infrastructure for the Israelis has been provided by the USA. The summary of the 6 day war was blunt and clear. History on both sides of this dispute has shown that there is a fine line between a former terrorist and a present statesman. The waging of war as a means of political survival greatly impedes peace efforts.

The non-Semite (i.e. non-Jew, non-Arab) world has more or less stood aside and not given consideration to the impact of the land dispute on individuals: the author of this book has personalized the problem in his accounts of interactions between Bashir and Dalia and their families. These conversations show clearly the deep divides between the two groups, but at least show that conversation is possible.

The group felt that the book is well-written and thoroughly-researched, presenting clearly the impasse between the two groups.

Rating of the book: 8.7

Book titles mentioned during meeting:

Shardlake series (7 novels) by C. J. Sansom
Health for All by Jane Philpott
Valley of the Birdtail by Andrew Stobo Sniderman

David Williams

The Air Raid Club by Anne Lyons
June 5, 2024

This book was greeted with enthusiasm by members as an excellent, light summer read. The topic was timely, with the 80th anniversary of the D Day landings on June 6th.

There was good detail about the experience of the general public under bombing, and the cooperative spirit which helped the communities survive. The book store and book clubs provided connections which helped people manage through difficulties. It was interesting that the book was written in 2021, during the COVID pandemic.

The book club (of the title) comprised many interesting characters, and they all showed various degrees of development throughout the book. The author generously provided epigraphs for each chapter, which broadened both our understanding of the story and its literary background.

The gay relationship of Gertie’s friend Charlie and her brother was sensitively shown. The musical references to the Lambeth Walk and Vera Lynn”s “we’ll meet again” resonated with the group.

Humorous ideas emerged such as the offer to purchase banned books from Germany so they wouldn’t be burned, and the idea of covering the roof of a bookshop with copies of Mein Kampf. Members commented on some bookstores and libraries featuring shelves of banned books.

Rating for the book: 8

Books and other materials mentioned:

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
TV series Annika (Prime) framed on literary references
The Music of the Spheres author unknown at present
The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
The Island of Extraordinary Captives: A Painter, a Poet, an Heiress Spy in a World War II British Internment Camp, by Simon Parkin

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
May 1, 2024

Club members were agreed that this is a very well-written book, with fine prose used in excellent descriptions of time and place. The writing was Pulitzer-worthy. Characters in the story were interesting and well-crafted. The use of short chapters met with varied responses, and there was some concern about the non-linearity of the book. The book could have been shorter without losing its main themes.

The young radio operator enjoyed the math of radio location, but not the aftermath. His patient listening to static while scanning radio frequencies reminds the reader of the search for something worthy of listening. The story line shows that some people in wartime have to make choices that go against their fundamental beliefs in order to survive, or to advance themselves. The ability of Marie-Laure to use models to navigate Paris and St. Malo, as well as her ability to move around her uncle’s house was similarly impressive. The war and its terrible waste are ever-present in the story.

Rating of the book: 8.5

Books mentioned during the meeting:

D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor
Masters of the Air by Donald L. Miller

David Williams

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson
April 3, 2024

Eleven members of the Book Club met by Zoom today to discuss “The Code Breaker” by Walter Isaacson.

This book read like a detective novel by a journalist, yet provided fascinating information on RNA and DNA engineering and the race to find effective vaccines to fight the Covid 19 viruses.

The story depicted the competitive race among biotech scientists and their various labs: interesting characters who competed with the zeal and personality quirks of middle school kids with their cabals and gossiping antics.

The book raised several ethical questions about sharing discoveries among other researchers; patent protection and the profit motive; the use of research grants by universities and others; the importance of publication in scientific peer review journals; and implications for the future regarding genetic engineering to develop “better” people, and biological weapons development.

Although Jennifer Doudna (who won a Nobel prize) was the star protagonist in the story, over 200 characters were introduced and played various roles in the story.

The group concluded that the book was well worth reading. It was well written, fairly easy to read, but unnecessarily long. The book could profit by a good edit.

The group ranked the book at 8 out of 10.

Paul Moore