Book Buzz discussion

This is just a reminder that our next meeting is this Friday, Dec. 17, from 2:00-3:00 on Jitsi. We will be discussing Late Breaking by K.D. Miller. If you haven't already registered, you can do so here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/toronto-i...

I'm still putting together a reading guide for this collection of short stories, which you can find here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13...

I'll add new material later in the week. However, one thing that struck me about Late Breaking was the number of connections between the different characters, although they often live completely separate lives on different sides of the country. The first thing you'll find in the reading guide is a chart which visualizes these connections, in case this is helpful or interesting to you as well. For instance, (view spoiler)[the killer of Jill's teenage friend Morgan befriends the daughter of her ex-boyfriend Eliot. Clarissa, the mother of murdered Morgan, goes on to write a book entitled "The Octopus Heart" that Eliot becomes obsessed with. Meanwhile, Leo and Fiona stay at the old vacation home of Morgan's family, and are haunted by the ghost of Morgan as well as the killer of Miranda's childhood friend; Miranda, now passed away, was a member of Fiona's book club; their child, Leonora, was conceived after a very brief affair between Leo and Miranda; Miranda used to work at a funeral home run by Felicity Staines. At the end of novel we come full circle when Clarissa, the author of "Octopus Heart", contemplates a luxurious form of assisted suicide advertised by Felicity. (hide spoiler)] There are also places that connect people, without their knowing: The Rendezvous Cafe, Ripley's Aquarium, or Lost Lake; as well as books, like "The Octopus Heart", or events, like book clubs or literary awards. As I ponder this web of connections, I wonder what the author was trying to say. Is it that while we often live isolated lives in which we can feel deep loneliness and disconnection, our very act of living connects us with others more than we realize?

I also really appreciated seeing characters from different perspectives throughout the novel. For instance, my sympathy for Eliot, (view spoiler)[who ditches Jill with no explanation in Ch. 2, (hide spoiler)] grew when I read Ch. 5 from his perspective. I am glad I met Curtis Maye in Ch. 8, before I found out (view spoiler)[he is Morgan's killer (hide spoiler)], which would have biased my view of him. In Ch. 10, I thought Clarissa's struggle as she encounters Morgan's youthful journal entries (view spoiler)[and recounts her grief following her loss (hide spoiler)] profound and moving. (view spoiler)[Morgan seems to have become stuck in time, the potential of what she might have become, and how their relationship might have evolved forever haunting her, prompting Clarissa to wonder if everything would have been different if she had dressed more like Jackie Kennedy. (hide spoiler)] Clarissa's guilt is not reasonable, but it is human and understandable. These kinds of small human moments are what I loved most about Late Breaking. I hope you enjoyed it too, and even if you did not, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Friday!

Which chapter was your favourite? Which character did you like the most/least? What did you think of all the different connections in the novel? Did you notice them all? Were there some I missed? Feel free to leave a comment below!