What we’re about
Welcome to the Surrey Book Club! We are a very social book club and look forward meeting new members.
The Book Club will meet at minimum once a month, usually on the first Monday of the month. Occasionally, we will have a second book or event during the month.
The primary format will be fiction and memoirs. From time to time I will announce other formats/topics/movies/meet-ups. Members, please feel free to message me with suggestions or requests.
What you can expect when we meet up: This is a casual and social group. The month's book is discussed and reviewed with all members sharing thoughts and insights. The conversation flows naturally, and we take time to get to know each other. We typically meet at a restaurant and our group members do order food and drink. Don't worry if you haven't read or completed the book; you're still welcome to attend.
Note: There is a $3 attendance fee for each Meetup, to help cover the organizer fees. Please remit payment online to complete your RSVP. To e-transfer your event fee, please submit to surreymeetups@gmail.com. If you have any issues with completing payment, please contact the group organizer, Satbir.
How are the books selected? We welcome and support all authors. The administrators research the books online via Goodreads and other platforms before books are added to the reading list. Our criteria for adding books to the reading list include availability of the books in different formats including a physical book, e-books, audiobooks etc., and availability at various locations or online, including purchasing in-store, online or borrowing from local libraries. The group administrators will request books be added to the library, however, this process may take several months.
2025 Book Club Update:
The Surrey Book Club event list is now available to December reading. Please note the below updates to the group information. I have posted a Google Sheets link in the discussion area, including all the recommendations which are available via Surrey Libraries, made by members and a full list of all the books we have read from September 2017 to-date.
Surrey Libraries:
I have checked availability at the Surrey Libraries and made a note in the Meetups, so you may anticipate how long you might be waiting for the book, in which formats and how soon you should get on the waitlist.
Estimated Reading Time:
I have now started including estimated reading time for each book, so that it is easier to plan to start reading or listening to the audiobook.
RSVPs are important!
RSVP as early as possible to your preferred events. For all future events, I will be closing RSVPs a few days prior to the event date each month. If nobody has signed up at least 7 days prior to the event, it will be cancelled.
Please feel free to come and enjoy the event whether you have read the book or not.
If you are unwell and/or cannot attend, keep your RSVP updated accordingly to "not attending".
Book Recommendations:
Recommendations are welcome via updating your member profile, message to the group chat, or message to the group owner. Please refer to the Google Sheets link to see which books have been recommended by members, and to view a full list of all the books we have read from September 2017 to-date.
Hosts Welcome:
I mostly post books in the genres of Historical Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, and Mystery. If you are interested in hosting Meetups for other genres, please reach out to me.
Active Members:
Group members are considered to be active if they attend Meetups and/or have visited the group in the past six months. If you have not done either of the aforementioned, you may be removed from the group, in an effort to maintain a current and active group, with member privacy and safety in mind.
Upcoming events
6
- CA$3.00
Self-Help/Business: Atomic Habits by James Clear
Royal Oak Restaurant, 15336 Fraser Hwy, Surrey, BC, CAThis book is available through Surrey Public Libraries in book, audiobook, e-book, audiobook CD, superloan book formats and has long waits as of October 2025.
Genres: Self-Help/Business
Title: Atomic Habits by James Clear
Approximate Reading Time: 5.5 hours
Synopsis: No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.
Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.
Learn how to:
- Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
- Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;
- Design your environment to make success easier;
- Get back on track when you fall off course;
...and much more.
Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121378-atomic-habits?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=qopEDZTpZu&rank=18 attendees - CA$3.00
Fantasy/Magical Realism: The Midnight Library by Matthew Haig
Royal Oak Restaurant, 15336 Fraser Hwy, Surrey, BC, CAThis book is available through Surrey Public Libraries in all formats. The book and audiobook editions have a hold list as of October 10, 2025.
Genres: Fantasy/Magical Realism
Title: The Midnight Library by Matthew Haig
Approximate Reading Time: 9 hours
Synopsis: Between life and death there is a library.
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.
The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.
Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52578297-the-midnight-library?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_114 attendees - CA$3.00
Memoir: From the Ashes My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way
Royal Oak Restaurant, 15336 Fraser Hwy, Surrey, BC, CAThis book is available through Surrey Public Libraries as a book, large print book, downloadable audiobook, and e-book. All versions are available.
Genres: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Biography
Book: From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle
Approximate Time to Read: 10 hours
Synopsis:
In this extraordinary and inspiring debut memoir, Jesse Thistle, once a high school dropout and now a rising Indigenous scholar, chronicles his life on the streets and how he overcame trauma and addiction to discover the truth about who he is.
If I can just make it to the next minute...then I might have a chance to live; I might have a chance to be something more than just a struggling crackhead.
From the Ashes is a remarkable memoir about hope and resilience, and a revelatory look into the life of a Métis-Cree man who refused to give up.
Abandoned by his parents as a toddler, Jesse Thistle briefly found himself in the foster-care system with his two brothers, cut off from all they had known. Eventually the children landed in the home of their paternal grandparents, whose tough-love attitudes quickly resulted in conflicts. Throughout it all, the ghost of Jesse’s drug-addicted father haunted the halls of the house and the memories of every family member. Struggling with all that had happened, Jesse succumbed to a self-destructive cycle of drug and alcohol addiction and petty crime, spending more than a decade on and off the streets, often homeless. Finally, he realized he would die unless he turned his life around.
In this heart-warming and heart-wrenching memoir, Jesse Thistle writes honestly and fearlessly about his painful past, the abuse he endured, and how he uncovered the truth about his parents. Through sheer perseverance and education—and newfound love—he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family.
An eloquent exploration of the impact of prejudice and racism, From the Ashes is, in the end, about how love and support can help us find happiness despite the odds.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43822761-from-the-ashes?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=YU9l0mO5dl&rank=12 attendees - CA$3.00
Historical Fiction: The Last Secret by Maia Caron
Royal Oak Restaurant, 15336 Fraser Hwy, Surrey, BC, CAThis book is available through Surrey Public Libraries in various formats (book, ebook, downloadable audiobook).
Genres: Historical Fiction
Title: The Last Secret by Maia Caron
Approximate Reading Time: 14 hours
Synopsis: A sweeping, dazzling dual-timeline novel centering on two unforgettable women—and their inextricable link to each other decades apart.
Ukraine, 1944
As the world around her is ripped apart by war and infiltrated by Nazi soldiers, Savka Ivanets works as a medic for the Ukrainian resistance, stitching wounds by day, stealing supplies by night, and dodging firefights between the SS and Soviet partisans. When her husband, Marko, a reluctant member of the Waffen-SS, forces her to deliver a coded message to an underground bunker, she’s terrified. But when her mission doesn’t go as planned, and her son, Taras, is kidnapped by the KGB, Savka fears she’ll never see him again.
Salt Spring Island, 1972
For Jeanie Esterhazy, the world, with its whispers and curious eyes, is too much to bear. Ever since the horrific accident that left her badly scarred, Jeanie, unable to remember anything about that awful day, has pulled away from society, utterly isolated.
Then a mysterious stranger appears at her house, and Jeanie suddenly begins having flashbacks about the night of her wedding—flashbacks that hold answers to the questions she’s had for years; flashbacks that make her realize the world around her is not as it seems.
Weaving together Savka and Jeanie's stories with artful precision, The Last Secret is at once luminous and transporting, a brilliant and impossible-to-forget story of love, hope, and the breathtaking resilience of women.
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204316970-the-last-secret?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=MTYuaPHEA7&rank=11 attendee
Past events
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