Word on the Street Toronto Invites Readers to Join New Summer Book Club

Last night, I went to a literary party in the Brigantine Room at the Harbourfront Centre. It was a joint celebration of the anniversaries of the Word on the Street festival (this year’s festival will be the 25th) and of the International Festival of Authors at Harbourfront (this year’s will be it’s 40th) – the two festivals will be partnering in 2015.

At the party, games like poker, ping pong and Scrabble were played, I hobnobbed with some writers, and I met a baby named Felix, who could be a stand-in for baby Prince George, and who allowed me to carry him around for ten or fifteen minutes while his mother had a mini-break.

Hanging with Felix was fun, but the main reason I went to the party was because my novel The Oakdale Dinner Club has been chosen as an official selection for the Word on the Street’s inaugural summer book club!

Here’s an explanation of how the book club (which provides free books to the first twelve people who apply for each title) works, from the Word on the Street website:

This year, The Word On The Street has selected great Canadian reads to be featured as part of The Word On The Street's inaugural summer book club. Get ready for the festival early this year by digging into one of four literary treasures. Engage with other CanLit fans, share your point of view, and get a free Advanced Reading Copy or final copy of a book from a featured author at the biggest book festival in Canada.

Participation is FREE for up to 12 book club members per selection. Members have the opportunity to participate on our blog, with discussion questions being posted on a semi-monthly basis by book club leaders and contributions from The Word On the Street staff members in the lead up to the festival.

Our book club members will have the unique opportunity to check out what's hot in Canadian literature, meet your author at the festival, and have your book signed! We have tried to represent a diversity of genres and hope there's something for everyone!

If you're looking for a summer read and lively conversation, please call 416-504-7241 or email programming@thewordonthestreet.ca to register for The Word On The Street Book Club.

The other three titles for book club, all novels published this year, are:

Man in the Shadows, by Gordon Henderson (Harper Collins)
Us Conductors, by Sean Michaels (Random House)
The Indifference League, by Richard Scarsbrook (Dundurn)

So, dear readers, do sign up! For more info, go here: http://www.thewordonthestreet....

 The views expressed in the Writer-in-Residence blogs are those held by the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Open Book: Toronto.