Calling all bookworms, tickets are now available for the 2024 By the Lake Book Club events.
The Toronto-based reading club returns from February to December 2024, including six events tailored to literature lovers.
On six different Tuesday nights throughout the year, attendees can enjoy conversations with Canadian authors hosted by Humber College alumni. The book club is presented by the City of Toronto in partnership with Humber College’s Faculty of Media & Creative Arts and the Toronto International Festival of Authors.
The Toronto book club’s 2024 lineup includes authors Mai Nguyen, Kathy Friedman, Craig Shreve, Drew Hayden Taylor, Amy Stuart and Don Gillmor.
The schedule includes a mix of in-person and online gatherings. Each in-person event includes a reading, discussion, interactive audience Q&A session, and book signing. Additionally, American Sign Language interpretation will be available for in-person events, while the virtual events will be presented with subtitles.
IN-PERSON EVENTS
Tuesday, February 6
Author Mai Nguyen will be in Toronto to speak about her new book, Sunshine Nails. The story explores themes like generational gaps and making a home in a new country, through the story of a Vietnamese-Canadian family in Toronto fighting to save their business from being forced to gentrify.
Tuesday, March 5
Kathy Friedman will be in the city for a conversation about her book, All the Shining People. A collection of short stories, Friedman’s book tells twelve tales with a focus on migration, diaspora, and belonging within Toronto’s Jewish South African community.
Tuesday, April 16
Author of The African Samurai, Craig Shreve, will be at the Assembly Hall for a conversation about his book. The historical fiction novel is based on the real-life story of Yasuke, believed to be the first samurai of African descent.
ONLINE EVENTS
Tuesday, September 10
Author Drew Hayden Taylor will be discussing his book, Cold. The novel follows the story of two women who are fighting for their lives in the aftermath of a plane crash through a murder-mystery story filled with twists and turns.
Tuesday, October 8
Author of A Death at a Party Amy Stuart will be discussing the novel in an online event. The novel spans one day, following the tense, thrilling, dark tale of a woman who finds herself standing over a body in her basement, while guests at the party she is hosting enjoy themselves upstairs.
Tuesday, December 3
Author of Breaking and Entering Don Gillmor will host a virtual conversation about the Toronto-based book. The novel follows main character Bea’s path in the world of amateur lock picking through a story that includes family drama, the hottest summer in Toronto’s history, a mid-life crisis and a Google search.
Tickets for all six By the Lake Book Club events are now on sale, with single tickets and packages available. Single tickets for in-person events range from $10 to $28, while virtual tickets range from $10 to $21.
In-person events take place at the Assembly Hall, located at 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Dr., in Etobicoke.
Since its creation in 2009, the By the Lake Book Club has hosted events with more than 70 Canadian authors, including Desmond Cole, Kim Fu, Michelle Good, Lawrence Hill, John Irving, Vincent Lam and Monia Mazigh.
