for your late summer reading
we hate to be a killjoy and talk about the fall when it is only the beginning of august. but. we are so thrilled to bring dawn promislow, author of ‘wan’, to kitchener in september.
described as beautiful, painterly, sublime, and sonically exquisite, ‘wan’ is the story of a white woman living in south africa during apartheid.
join us on monday september 18 at public kitchen for a lively evening of dinner, drinks and discussion with dawn promislow. buy tickets here
that didnt take long
we are sold out for the aimee wall event on monday may 8. send us a message here if you want to be added to a wait list.
and thanks for your interest.
more details
“this book is ultimately a feminist tale, one that shows how complicated and manipulative relationships between women can be, while implying the necessity of coming together for a greater purpose, “we jane” is captivating, well written, and mostly an important read for any woman who, through loss, wants to find a new beginning. ”
aimee wall will join us at public kitchen and bar on monday may 8 for dinner (and drinks!) and a discussion about her new book, “we, jane”.
longlisted for the 2021 scotiabank giller prize, ‘we, jane’ is a remarkable debut about intergenerational female relationships and resistance found in the unlikeliest of places.
aimee wall is a writer and translator from grand falls-windsor, newfoundland and labrador currently living in montreal.
click here to buy tickets
“we, jane is an ode to the power of vulnerability, the potential intensity of connections between women, and the importance of continuing to support women even when it seems impossible” ”
and now for a date
we’ve nailed down monday may 8 for a live, in person, with the author and food and drinks event at public kitchen .
sign up for our email list to get specifics around the author and how to buy tickets!
coming your way
well that was the longest summer break in history.
here it is february and we are just setting the wheels in motion for the next book club. stay tuned to this page (or better yet, go to the sign up page and add your name to our mailing list) for information about an in person, live with the author, delicious food and drinks (just like the olden days) event in the spring!
see you then. xo
summer break
appetite for reading is taking an early summer break. stay tuned for our first event in the fall when we hope (really really hope) to be welcoming you back to an in person! live! in the flesh! dinner with friends and authors. in the meantime, stay healthy and enjoy the freedom that summer brings.
happy new year!
even though it’s a bit early for new year’s greetings, we are thinking ahead to reading over the holidays and gathering in the new year to hear from our latest author.
join us on monday january 24 for lunch before joining sarah winman (who will be in the UK) to talk about her new book, ‘still life’. for tickets and details, click here
“There are not enough superlatives to contain the magnitude and beauty of this novel. It explores the very foundations of the meaning of family; is it really a collective gene pool or does the heart of family mean something else entirely?
Besides being a story of ordinary lives surrounded by extraordinary art, it manages to be a short, extremely entertaining encyclopaedia of Italian, and in particular Florentine, art history.”
“...I felt like I could’ve packed my bag and taken off for Italy myself after reading this, although none of us can right now, but it makes this book almost that more special. It’s perfect for this moment in time and I found myself quite content escaping into this book, exploring Italy, the Tuscan hills, the Florentine piazzas, the art, food and language.”
“Sentence after sentence, character by character, “Still Life” becomes poetry.”
join our 2021 giller prize long list nominee!
join us on monday september 27*** for dinner and a conversation with Linda Rui Feng about her first novel - and giller prize nominee - ‘swimming back to trout river”.
A lyrical novel set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution that follows a father’s quest to reunite his family before his precocious daughter’s momentous birthday, which Garth Greenwell calls “one of the most beautiful debuts I’ve read in years.”
“With lean prose and assured storytelling, this debut novel describes a family fractured by geography, ambition and the ripple effects of China’s tumultuous 20th-century history.”
*****we are really really hoping that this event can be a hybrid event: some guests will be in the restaurant, some guests may join by zoom and the author will join us by zoom. go to the join us page for details about the ticketing options.
national book critics circle award winner!!
we are beyond excited to welcome maggie o’farrell, author of the award winning book ‘hamnet’, to our book club on june 21. because maggie is joining us from her home in the UK, this event will take place at 1:00 in the afternoon with a take out lunch.
three ticket options available here
A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a hypnotic recreation of the story that inspired one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing and seductive, an impossible-to-put-down novel from one of our most gifted writers.
Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker’s son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.
“There is an elliptical, dreamlike quality to her prose in Hamnet that, though not obviously steeped in 16th-century language, is essential to creating a world that feels at once wholly tangible and somehow otherworldly, as if the membrane between the natural and supernatural was more porous then. The depth of her research is evident on every page. Anyone who has visited Shakespeare’s birthplace will recognise her descriptions of his former home, but O’Farrell plunges the reader into the vivid life of the house, with its smells of a glover’s workshop, the heat and bustle of a cookhouse, the physical effort of planting a garden or twisting out newly washed sheets.Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”