Hello 2013! We’ve been MIA for a while, but we’re back to our routines, back to work and best of all, back to book club!

We hope all our readers had a fabulous Christmas with their families and friends. It just always seems to go by too fast! I was so busy in Halifax over the holidays that I barely read. Good thing I finished our December book – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce – long before my vacation! Brigitte will be bringing you her review of the novel soon.

Post-meeting drinks

So, here we are. It’s a new year, filled with possibilities and new beginnings, especially for two of our beloved Unputdownable girls. Founding member Sian will be moving to Toronto this week and next week, Alyssa will be relocating to Vancouver to do her yoga teacher training. Additionally, both girls have some serious international travel plans for the spring.

We’re super sad to be losing two hilarious, beautiful and fun-loving ladies, but I have three things to say on behalf of all the other members: first, we’re seriously jealous of you. Secondly, you better be back. And last but not least… good luck! (In case you were wondering, both girls will still be reading along with us from afar!)

We’ll miss you two!

Last night we met to catch up on each other’s holidays, discuss The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Erin chose the next book. Warning: we are definitely not starting 2013 out with a  warm and fuzzy, feel-good novel. In fact, what we ended up choosing is exactly the opposite: Our Daily Bread by Lauren Davis.

Longlisted for the 2012 Giller, this book immediately interested me. Inspired by the true story of the Goler family near Wolfville, Nova Scotia, the novel focuses on an isolated clan living in poverty, incest and abuse on a mountain. However, the people in the nearby town have secrets and troubles of their own. The story is about a community’s many forms of polarization and segregation – especially the widely examined “us versus them” mentality.

Even though it sounds dark, Our Daily Bread is sure to be fascinating and generate some good book club discussions. Personally, I cannot wait to get into it!

Happy new year from the Unputdownable Book Club! What did you read over the holidays?