At Applaud's Book Club, members from across Ontario's public service community come together each month to share their love of reading. Behind every great discussion are our dedicated facilitators, Brigid and Maria. We sat down with them to learn more about their reading journeys, what inspires them as facilitators, and what members can expect when they join the Book Club.
To start off with, could you each introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit more about your reading journey?
Brigid Hayes: Okay, I'll go first. My name is Brigid Hayes and I live in Ottawa. I'm a retired federal public servant and retired consultant in the area of adult literacy and training. In terms of reading, I certainly read from an early age, and I do recall my mother having to go to the library to get permission for me to check out books that were not in the children's section. She was a really great reader as well.
Maria Moriarty: My name is Maria Moriarty, and I'm a retired adult literacy worker. I've worked in libraries for most of my working life. And like Brigid, I think I was an early reader. My parents didn't have the privilege of much education, so they were extremely aspirational. You could hardly ever get a toy from my parents, but you could always get a book. When I read, I had that sensation of almost falling into a book or a story. When I was about 10, I used to go every summer to my grandparents' farm. My grandfather was a great purchaser of objects at auctions, and he'd often buy a job lot, and it would come with boxes of books. And they just stuck them in the barn. They weren't interested in them, but I discovered them. Boxes and boxes of novels. They were all sort of mouse-nibbled and very thin paper. I can still feel the sensation of it. But that was just a catalyst for me. And novels became my best friends, you know? I used to stash them in various places and sneak off and read them, because my grandparents thought too much reading could ruin your eyes (laughing).
Have you found that your taste in books has changed over the years?
Brigid: I think I stopped reading important books a while ago. I took English all through university, and really focused on Canadian literature, and I used to read a lot of what I consider to be serious literature. Now I read murder mysteries, and I try to, once a month, read an important, serious book. I really just like murder mysteries and thrillers, especially if they're from Britain or Scandinavian countries.
Maria: I'm a big fan of murder mysteries too. For years, I didn't read them. I was one of those very snooty readers of literature. But I've always been a reader of novels and short stories. I love the short story. I find there's something just amazing about the skill, talent, art of the short story writer that in this very short piece, and it's so beautifully constructed. But I do love my murder mysteries. Sometimes I have to say to my family, I can't really talk to you now, I'm at a critical point in my murder mystery. I read for pleasure, for entertainment. Now, I will read nonfiction if a subject intrigues me or I want to know more about it. Again, like Brigid, I'm not trying to impress anybody, I'm just trying to entertain myself and have fun.
Are you someone who'd rather the physical book rather than an e-book?
Maria: No, well, age takes care of that. I love a physical book, but I find the e-reader easier, I have an iPad and Kindle, I love it because of the backlighting, I just find it much easier on the old eyes, right? I don't like bright light in the evening, which is when I mostly read. It’s fabulous, you know, I can be all cocooned in my chair with, lost in my own world, and I find the Kindle to be fabulous. I also like audiobooks. I find them amazing for food preparation. It's like having somebody read you a story. It's fabulous.
Brigid: Yeah, I agree. But the other thing I like about e-readers is that you can go and search things, like if some character shows up in your book, you can go, who is that? And I use audiobooks for walking.
Do you have any reading rituals or favourite places to read?
Maria: I do like to read in a coffee shop, but it's not practical. I have a favourite chair in a corner of my living room. And I just feel at home in that chair. Often, I like a cup of tea. Which, of course, always goes cold, because you forget about it, and I'm an evening reader. Well, the other thing is, I was a 9-5 person for a lifetime. And then when I retired and I didn't have that schedule, it’d be 11 o'clock in the morning, but it seemed so illicit, so wrong to read a book at that time. Took me ages. But once it's sort of 6, 7 o'clock, I feel like, okay, I can read now, I can do whatever I want. Isn't that awful?
Brigid: I'm transitioning, shall I say. I was really a “read in bed before sleeping reader” and could read for hours. But I want to get into a designated time to sit and just read at least for an hour.
Is there a book that you think everyone should read at least once in their lifetime?
Brigid: The first one that stuck in my mind, was The Kite Runner. There was just something about that book, the life in Afghanistan. But really, read what you want to read, I don't know that there's any books I could say, “Oh, if you haven't read this, you need to.” Maria, what did you think?
Maria: Margaret Drabble. It was so revolutionary when I first read her. I feel the same way about Alice Munro. Like, if you can read one Alice Munro story... that woman was a genius with language. In two sentences, she could change you forever. She was brilliant. So, I would feel bad for somebody who hadn't had that experience. But again, I think you read what you want to read, and you read for entertainment. If it gives you pleasure and it’s a good experience for you, than read it. I mean, read the back of a cereal box if it's fun.
Has there ever been a discussion during one of the book club meetings that surprised you because people interpreted the book in such different ways?
Brigid: Yep.
Maria: Yeah. Almost every time, actually. It's the array, the diversity of opinion, of ideas, of how, how they experience the book. It always surprises me, and I now know it's going to happen.
Brigid: For Where the Crawdad Sings, everyone's got the same set of facts, right? But the interpretations were completely different. And the ratings were really different. I think people bring to the book their own experiences. Given their own work and personal backgrounds, there's times that their contribution has been incredible. We've got people who worked in child services, in corrections, in policing, people who know about adoption, people who will say “That is not possible, not plausible.” Or somebody who went to Ghana and saw that castle in Homegoing, for example.
Maria: Over the years, we've gotten to know the people. We've had a lot of new people, but we also have a lot of people who've been there for a while. I have one wonderful person who's changed her background a few times so that it reflects the novel that we're reading. It almost brings me to tears, you know? And we've got some who research the books; they've watched videos of author interviews. It's so much fun.
Brigid: You know, I was thinking about this, and I thought of that parable, of the blind men describing the elephant. I think we approach the book as if we're all looking at the same book, but we're coming from a different place. Thanks to the Applaud Book Club discussion, we end up getting a more holistic picture of the book. Somebody who loves the language and the words will bring that in. And by the end, I realized I've just been looking at the tail and I didn't realize that it was the elephant. And I think that's something that's quite magical that happens over the course of the discussion.
Has there been a book where your opinion or rating has totally changed because of what someone in the club shared?
Maria: Yeah, there's a richness that people bring based on their own experience and with the book and their life experience. When we read Homegoing, I found that book harrowing. I mean, I found it really difficult to read. But then when we got to the discussion. Other people didn't find it harrowing in the way I did. And their points of view were so rich that I thought, “Oh. It's harrowing because it harrowed me. The book itself is not.” And also, other people have gone and thought very carefully about it and had come to understandings about memory, and it just became this incredible conversation about how objects spark memory, but we don't know if it's the real memory, or what. I've actually had to lie down with a damp cloth on my forehead after that discussion (laughing). It was wonderful.
What has been your favourite book club book so far?
Brigid Hayes: Oh!
Maria: I know, that’s a hard one, eh?
Brigid: Yeah, it is! Well, the one that really hit me was Demon Copperfield. I had not read any of Barbara Kingsolver’s books, and I really liked it because it took place in southern United States, where I lived for a while, and where my brother still lives. It was very Southern, it was very Appalachia, it was a place I knew and I understood. I thought it was a very rich book. It's not one I would ever have picked up myself, but that one I really was quite taken with.
Maria: I've been amazed by the books I'm reading sometimes, and how much I like them. A book that surprised me so much was Lessons in Chemistry. I just loved that book. I loved that character, and I was amazed by myself, and I kept telling friends, I'm reading this book called Lessons in Chemistry, and they said, “Well, yeah, it's a really good book, Maria, you know. Get with the program.” In the Applaud Book Club I read books I wouldn't of otherwise read, and I'm always shocked by, like, why didn't I read this? What's wrong with me?
Is there any book that's scheduled for the rest of the Applaud Book Club year that you're interested in, or looking forward to?
Maria: The one I'm intrigued by is Piranesi. I've not read it and the description intrigues me. A little scares me, but it intrigues me, so I'm looking forward to that one.
Brigid: Tiger and the Cosmonaut. I'm looking forward to the Jacintha Ardern one too. That one sounds interesting. And also, Greenwood. I've read a few of his books, and it'd be interesting to see how that one is. I think all of them are going to be good. They've been good so far this year.
Maria: And not every book is going to be to our taste, right? And that's one of the things I love best about the book club, is that it has broadened my perspective. It has been very good for me, in the sense that I literally don't judge a book by its cover as much as I used to in the past.
For anyone who's reading this interview and thinking about joining the Applaud Book Club, but they feel a bit nervous, is there anything you'd like to say to them?
Brigid: Well, I think both of us try really hard to be welcoming to new members when they join. There are people who will sit and listen for the entire discussion, and it's quite fine. We have people that come and they haven't read the book or they haven't finished the book, but they still come to the discussion. I think what we try to do is to recognize that everybody has a different way of engaging, we really try to make sure everybody feels comfortable with the discussion.
Maria: I would just say to people, come to a session, and hear what people have to say about the book. And you'll see that some people have a lot to say, some people have not so much to say, but everybody has an opinion of some kind. And it's interesting to hear, but it's not obligatory to share it. It's not an exam, it's not a test. There's no need to prove yourself in any way.
What is one thing you hope people take away from Applaud’s Book Club?
Maria: I was thinking, this could be the motto: “Enjoyment, good conversation, and a little bit of fun.” That's what it is. That's all it is, right?
Brigid Hayes: That's exactly what I think. I hope they have a sense that it was time well spent in a comfortable environment, with other people who enjoy reading. And I hope they learn something or gain an appreciation of different points of view.
A sincere thank you to Brigid and Maria for sharing their stories and for the enthusiasm they bring to every discussion. If this conversation has inspired you, consider joining us at an upcoming Book Club meeting! You can learn more about the Applaud Book Club here: https://community.applaudpublicservice.ca/c/book-club-2026-27