The American & Canadian Reading Group
On the second Wednesday of the month, from 19:00 to 21:00 you are invited to join our Reading Group to discuss the book-of-the-month, written by an American or Canadian author. We meet once a month, our evening get-together is in the Brussels area.
We often share a meal together while sharing views on the book-of-the-month.
And secondarily, good reads we have enjoyed. All contributions to the conversation are welcome!
Interested in participating? Please contact Kayali Lenssen:
klenssen@proximus.be
...............................................................................................................................
Book-of-the-Month Discussions
September 11, 7PM
Broken Light, by Joanne Harris
Book jacket Summary: “Bernie Moon has given her life to other people: her husband, her son, her friends (who are these days, mostly online). At nineteen she was full of dreams and ambitions; now at almost fifty, and going through menopause, she’s fading, fast. Heartbroken and hormonal, she often feels like she’s losing her mind. But when a young woman is murdered in a local park, it sparks a series of childhood memories in Bernie and with them, a talent that has lain dormant most of her adult life.”
Host – Kayali Lenssen, Waterloo, near St John’s School
October 9, 7PM
The Gown, by Jennifer Robson
Goodreads Summary: “This beautifully written historical fiction novel is primarily about the lives of two women who were the lead embroiderers on Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth’s wedding gown. Their stories take place in post-war England in 1947.
Host – Florence Jeannin, Braine L’Alleud
November 13, 7PM
The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett
Goodreads Summary: “The Dutch House is a story of siblings, Danny and Maeve Conroy, their obsessive connection with the iconic family house they lived in as young children and how their lives unfolded over the years. The story is narrated by Danny over multiple non-linear time periods.”
Host - Anne-Sophie Hombert, Woluwe St Lambert
December 11, 7PM
The Island of Missing Trees, by Elif Shafak
Goodreads Summary: “A rich, magical new book on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.
Host – Megan Richards and Ene Kannel – close to the Merode metro station
January 8, 2025
The Personal Librarian, by Heather Terrell and Victoria Christopher
Goodreads Summary: “The story follows Bell, a white-passing Black woman who hides her racial identity to navigate the prejudice of the early 1900s. As she climbs the ranks in Morgan’s powerful circle, Belle becomes an indispensable figure in the world of art and literature, curating one of the most prestigious libraries of her time.”
Host – Diane Kemp, Woluwe St Pierre, close to the Maison Communale
February 12, 2025
A Harvest of Thorns, by Corban Addison
Goodreads Summary: “A beloved American corporation with an explosive secret. A disgraced former journalist looking for redemption. A corporate executive with nothing left to lose. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a garment factory burns to the ground, claiming the lives of hundreds of workers, mostly young women. Amid the rubble, a bystander captures a heart-stopping photograph – a teenage girl lying in the dirt, her body broken by a multi-story fall, and over her mouth a mast of fabric bearing the label of one of America’s largest retailers, Presto Omnishops Corporation.”
Host – Karin Adam – Rixensart
March 12, 2025
The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster
Goodreads Summary: “Moving at the breathless pace of a thriller, this uniquely stylized trilogy of detective novels begins with City of Glass, in which Quinn, a mystery writer, receives an ominous phone call in the middle of the night. He’s drawn into the streets of New York, onto an elusive case that’s more puzzling and more deeply-layered than anything he might have written himself.”
Host – Viviane Laurens, near Place Meiser
April 9, 2025
1984, by George Orwell
Goodreads Summary: A masterpiece of rebellion and imprisonment where war is peace, freedom is slavery, and Big Brother is watching. The story of one man’s nightmare odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world ruled by warring states and a power structure that controls not only information but also individual thought and memory.
Catherine D’Hoop, near Arts-Loi metro station
May 14, 2025
TBC
June 11, 2025
Public Meet & Greet
Host – Kayali Lenssen
Book club guidelines/criteria: This book club is comprised of members of the American Women’s Club of Brussels, the American Club of Brussels, and the Canadian Club of Belgium. We look for great authors who write in English, available for purchase in shops or online, not more than 300-400 pages, and have a preference for those that have a score of at least 4/5 on Goodreads. The books do not have to be recent, they can also be ones you loved that we might have missed. We meet on the second Wednesday of the month in the evening, from 1pm to 7pm, either at a host’s home or a café/restaurant, in the greater Brussels area.
