History and Information
If you find yourself intimidated by the seeming formality of the book club concept, the good news is it doesn't have to be that way. Our group is downright informal, and as one might guess from our logo, liquid libation is considered a helpful enhancer of discussion. The meetings tend to be more social event than meeting per se, and there is a decided absence of anything resembling rules.

Reading circles/book clubs are not new and neither is this one (no one's  keeping exact track but now at least a dozen years old) but they are getting a lot of attention what with certain  TV personalities getting in on the act. Janet and Brian started the club with the goal of recreating those late-night, booze-fueled, rambling philosophical discussions that used to erupt frequently at University, only with better food.

As a result, unlike many book circles there is no formal "policy" on what we read. Historically the emphasis has been on recent fiction by Canadian authors, but we deviate wildly from that quite frequently. In fact, the original mandate of the group was even broader than that. We were supposed to "consume" then discuss any artwork but somehow we've never gotten past books.

We do have a system for picking books. There is a wicker basket in the shape  of a rabbit that contains candidate book names; members can add new books at any time. The rabbit suffered damage to its bamboo ears so it now looks more like a wicker woodchuck. Its rodent-like appearance led someone to christen it “the vole” and that name has stuck even though its size is way out of  line for a vole (and hence we learn my appointed role in the group, in addition to being the webmaster I'm also "the nitpicker". One can be assured that if there is even one small factual error or inconsistency in an otherwise wonderful book, I will insist on pointing it out. It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it). Stewardship of "the vole" is the responsibility of the host of the upcoming meeting.

At one point there were about a hundred books in "the vole" but nefarious agents unknown emptied it out so we’re building up a new list. Nobody admits to ever having edited out any slips while in possession of “the vole”, but everyone  seems to believe that everyone else does it (especially Brian). At the end of each meeting the next book is selected by random drawing, and on rare occasions we actually do wind up reading that book but usually there is some "discussion"  and one or more additional drawings before consensus is reached. Occasionally we skip that completely and just pick something else for some reason or other (like the occasional times that the vole has been lost or forgotten). If it sounds a little chaotic it is but at the end of the day the result is not bad. I can only  think of one book we've read that I genuinely hated and there have been quite a few I loved that I would not have found on my own.

As a source of fresh ideas we welcome book suggestions from individuals, send us an e-mail and suggest a book and we’ll add it to the vole.

Membership in the founding chapter of Quill and Swill is closed. However, you can start your own chapter of "Quill and Swill" if you want. Just round up some friends (about as many as you can comfortably seat in your living room, somewhere more than six and less than eighteen (we're currently got 14 active members and that's really about the limit). They needn't have much in common other than an interest in reading and spirited converation (and cooking and eating). Get or make a list of books (like ours, or one of the one's from any of the other reading groups linked to below), pick one, set a date for a meeting and start reading.