Free Press
Book Club

Welcome to the Free Press Book Club!

To help ease some of the isolation-related boredom, we’ve started a monthly book club which will run completely online and is open to anyone and everyone to join.

Each month, we will choose a novel and share it on this page, as well as in an email to those who have registered to participate. We’ll send a couple of follow up notes to check in on your progress and suggest a few discussion topics and questions to think about as you go.

At the end of the month, we’ll all gather to participate in a livestream book club meeting, hosted by our books editor, Ben Sigurdson, or one of our pals from McNally Robinson Booksellers, as well as the author of the book.

You’ll be able to submit questions ahead of time, or drop them into one of the live chat boxes during the meeting. (And don’t worry, we’ll provide an easy-to-access link to the stream, so all you have to do is click.)

Right now, our focus is on local authors of varying genres and backgrounds, so we hope you’re excited to dive in.

The Book

The Full Catastrophe
By: Meira Cook

Buy Now

From House of Anansi Press:

Charlie Minkoff, a thirteen-year-old boy born with intersex traits, would be happy to be left alone. Living with his artist mother in a derelict loft in downtown Winnipeg, perpetually wondering about the father who abandoned him, and tormented in school because of his differences, Charlie navigates the assorted catastrophes of his life. He’s helped along by the love of his beloved grandfather, Oscar, and the makeshift family who surround him: his mother’s best friend; a couple of elderly shut-in neighbours; a mysterious girl in his class who has secrets of her own; and his desperately needy and perpetually hungry dog, Gellman.

When a school project leads him to discover that Oscar never had a bar mitzvah, Charlie decides to right the historical wrong and arrange a belated ceremony. But this quest will be more than he bargained for, and meanwhile everyone from his doctor to his Ancestry Studies teacher keeps insisting that Charlie needs to learn to tell his own story.

Schedule

Tue
Sept 27

October book club pick reminder

The Full Catastrophe, by Meira Cook

Mon
Oct 10

Check-in

Expect an email from us to check in on your progress. We’ll offer up some discussion questions and other things to think about as you continue reading.

Mon
Oct 17

Livestream information email

This email will provide all the information you need for our livestream book club event, including the access link, some information about your viewing options and how you can submit your questions for the author ahead of time. This information will also be posted to our Free Press Book Club Facebook group.

Mon
Oct 24

Free Press Book Club meeting

Join our live chat starting at 7 p.m. CT with special guest, author Meira Cook.

If you have any questions, please email us at bookclub@winnipegfreepress.com