Meet to enjoy and discuss a wide variety of books selected by book club members.  All are welcome.

February 9 book: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.

Please register one spot for each adult in attendance. Each registrant must have their own individual Library card in order to register. If you need a Library card get one here: https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/getacard

Share the enjoyment of good books in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. Second Thursday of every month. New members welcome.

Join us for the ultimate armchair travel around Europe. The European Book Club is offered in partnership with European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) in Ottawa to promote European authors and their works. 

This month we are presenting Tess Fragoulis and she will be talking about her latest book "The Goodtime Girl":

In the tragic events for Greeks, Armenian’s and Jews in Smyrna in  1922, Kivelli lost everything: her family, her friends, her social position, and her future. Stranded in the Greek city of Piraeus, populated by gangsters, prostitutes, fortune tellers, and other refugees, she finds herself living in the broom closet of a brothel. Luckily, the sound of her singing voice captures the attention of a local taverna owner, who suggests she come with him and perform for his customers. Kivelli’s time at the bar is short-lived, but gives way to a recording career and her slow climb up the economic and social ladder of this foreign city. Although life is certainly better for her — no longer the object of an auction at a brothel, no longer a singer in a disreputable taverna — Kivelli misses the magical world of her youth in the great port city of Smyrna.

Tess Fragoulis’ first book, Stories to Hide from Your Mother (Arsenal Pulp,1997) was nominated for the Quebec Writer’s Federation Best First Book Award.  Her novel, Ariadne’s Dream (Thistledown 2001) was nominated for the 2003 IMPAC International Dublin Literary Prize, and received an honourable mention for the Books in Canada/Amazon First Novel Award.  She edited Musings: an anthology of Greek-Canadian literature (Vehicule, 2004) and has published widely in literary journals. She has also written for film, television, radio and newspapers in Canada. Her latest novel, The Goodtime Girl, was published in Canada by Cormorant Books in Spring 2012, and in Greece by Psichogios Publications in Fall 2012.

NEW - Mystery Lovers Book Club

Book club for adults who love to read mystery novels.

Please register online (each date individually) and pick up your copy of the book about a month before the meeting date at the main desk of the Cumberland Branch. No need to request the book.

Here are the books featured for the first 3 meetings.

Family Business - December 7,2022

All the Colours of Darkness - January 18, 2023

The Darkest Place - February 15, 2023