It’s Quarantine Day…. again.  I don’t know about you, but these days I am ready to change things up!  Routine can be good but with so many restrictions currently in our lives, it is healthy to introduce some variety.  For this month’s Digital Book Club how about trying a new genre?  Science Fiction is not a traditional book club choice but why not mix it up a little?  So many of our avenues of adventure are currently tamped down -- one possible response is getting outside the genre box and exploring the world (or universe!) through a book.

At OPL we have some amazing “Always Available” eAudio Sci-Fi like Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton.  In 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. All seems wonderful, until a crashed alien spaceship of unknown origin is found on a newly located world eighty-nine light-years from Earth carrying a cargo as strange as it is horrifying. To assess the potential of the threat a high-powered team is dispatched to investigate. But one team-member may not be all they seem . . . Bursting with tension and big ideas, Salvation is the first book of a series that highlights the inventiveness of an author at the top of his game.

Or you could go back to the beginnings of the genre and read some sci fi from the past in our Duke Classics eBook collection. The Island of Dr Moreau, about a cruel scientist who creates animal-human hybrid creatures has been capturing readers’ imaginations since it was published in 1896. Inspired by contemporary controversies around the ethics of vivisection and Darwinian evolution, this story is still a creepy and thought provoking read. 

The French pick for this month is La planète des chats by Bernard Werber, a renowned science fiction writer from France. In this book, a community of cats and a group of Americans must unite against the organized rats that are threatening New York City. Will cats and humans be able to put aside their differences in order to survive? You will just have to read to find out!

Suggestions and Resources for a successful online Book Club  

In order to have your Book Club take place online you can try creating Facebook groups, or using various social media channels to discuss books.  Or you could try meeting live via online video conferencing tools. The following tools are free: 

• Google hangouts provides free video/chat/voice conferencing and does not have a time limit 

• Jitsi is a free open source video conferencing tool 
• In French, there is a platform built by Les libraires that allows book clubs to meet online! You can request to create your own club, or there are groups that are already running that you can join. All book clubs, including the current book club picks and comments, are visible to anyone accessing the site

Finding eBooks and eAudiobooks for your Book Club 

• Always Available eAudio from OverDrive – many great Book Club reads in this list  
• Always Available ebook Classics from Duke Publishing 
• OPL streaming eBook and eAudio collections 
• Some French publishers OPL purchases from through Cantook Station offer many loans of the same title at once.  You can search the Cantook platform for these publishers and make your choice.  Participating publishers include Gallimard, Actes Sud, Rivages, POL, Flammarion, and Payot.
• Radio-Canada offers free “Always Available” French eAudio

Contact OPLs InfoService 613-580-2940 if you need help accessing these titles and resources 

Hosting and Discussions 

If you would like discussion questions for your book, here is a list of 40 Great Book Club Discussion Questions from Book Riot.  They work for any book. 

Here are some great tips about how to host an online book club from Bustle Magazine: 10 Tips For Hosting A Digital Book Club 

Enjoy your Book Club – online or off!