Book Club meeting 15th October 2014: vanished husbands, silk, Mrs Bennett and jam tarts (my favourite)

We met this month at Frances' house where we were met with very tasty refreshments as always.

We thought The Gallery of Vanished Husbands started well, but petered out somewhat and had some threads that didn't seem to follow through. We would have liked to read more about the Jewish issues which came up in the book as we found that very interesting.

Little Lies jumped around a lot, which was a little off putting at first but we agreed the book was a good psychological thriller and we were kept guessing. It was thought that the love interest part of the book was contrived and a bit twee, but overall we really liked the book.

The Last Telegram was enjoyed, it was good to read learn more about the history of women prior to and during wartime. The history of silk was interesting and the descriptions of London in the war were very good.

Pride and Prejudice was liked too, and we thought it was very funny. Some people had read it before so it was an old favourite.

Our next book choices are (links go to Amazon, where you can read more about them)

The Runaway Woman by Josephine Cox (this is our main choice. If you are only going to read one of our book choices please try to make it this one)
Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story by Michael Rosen
The Girl With All The Gifts by M R Carey
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey by Rachel Joyce

You may remember that a few months ago Sandra told us about a lady she is in touch with, a doctor who has set up a charity to perform cataract operations on people in India. Lucy Mathen, the charity's founder, wrote a book called 'A Runaway Goat' about her experiences in India with the charity. The book is available from the website at a cost of £20, which goes direct to the charity and funds a cataract operation for one person. Some of us thought we would like to read Sandra's copy and then perhaps make a small donation  which Sandra will then pass on to the charity. If you are interested in reading the book, please mention it to Sandra. 

You can read more about the work of the charity at www.secondsight.org.uk

Our next meeting will be on Friday 12th December, which will be our Christmas meal. The venue is a different one from our usual and details will be sent out by email.

As always we will be doing our 'Secret Santa'. Please wrap up a book that you have read and enjoyed. We will swap the books randomly between us, and when we next meet in January, each pair who have read the same book can discuss it.

Happy Reading!

Book Club September 2014

September's meeting took place at Sue's house. I was away on holiday and Jo kindly took notes of the proceedings and passed them to me for inclusion here. 


The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
One person said it nearly broke her heart, how black people were treated in the USA. She felt it was a thoughtful and remarkable book. Another said she didn't know whether to continue reading it or not. It made her cross about the injustice and poverty. She felt the book was a bit long winded.


Unreliable Memoirs.
It was agreed that the book was hard work and very Australian. 


The Last Dance
This was enjoyed, and one person had read others by the same author. 


La's Orchestra Saves The World
This was thought to be very much of a time and an era, it was interesting to read about the problems with sociability in World War Two and there was emotional turmoil. 


The books that have been chosen for next time are:

The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomons
Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Last Telegram by Liz Trenow

The group discussed a trip to a silk museum/factory, which would tie in with The Last Telegram. There are silk museums in Dartford and Braintree, I will look into these and be in touch by email to arrange a trip. 

Our Christmas meal will be on Friday 12th December at 7.30pm, usual venue. We will be doing our usual Secret Santa - please wrap up a book that you have read and enjoyed, and we will swap them. When we reconvene in January the giver and receiver can discuss each book. 

The next book club meeting will be on Wednesday 15th October at 7.30pm at Frances' house. Further details by email nearer the time. 

Happy Reading!

Book Club July 2014: Feeling hot, hot, hot

We convened at Margaret's for our July meeting in the middle of a heatwave. Thankfully Margaret had a fan switched on and we managed to complete our meeting without melting.

Several of us had read the Flavours of Love. Overall, we found it repetitive and with too much suspense, also the plot seemed to be going in too many different directions at once. Liz recommended her earlier books as being better, in particular Marshmallows for Breakfast or Goodnight Beautiful.

We mostly felt that Life After Life  was cleverly done, and in fact quite believable despite the 'repeating life' aspect. One person felt that the part where the main character shoots Hitler was a step too far, and made it silly. One member recommended the book Replay by Ken Grimwood, which has a similar subject matter.

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden was found to be believable, funny, bizarre and surprisingly different to the author's previous book. One person recommended the Unexpected Vacation of George Thring by Alastair Puddick.

There were mixed reviews from the two people who had read Silvertown. One person thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the historical parts, while the other thought those were a bit incongruous, and also that it was strange how the author went into great detail about some thing and barely skimmed over others.

Other books that were mentioned or swapped during the evening were The Last Foundling by Tom MacKenzie, Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and The Last Dance by Victoria Hislop.

The new books we have chosen are as follows: (links go to Amazon)

The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot  This was our main choice. If you're only going to read one of the books, please try to make it this one

Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James

La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall-Smith

It was suggested that we read more classics. Please think about this for the next meeting and come armed with suggestions as usual,  classic or otherwise!

We will be meeting again on Wednesday 27th August at Sue's house. Email to follow with more details nearer the time.

Happy reading!

Book Club May 2014: ooh, jelly babies!

There was a houseful again on Wednesday at Frances's, where we just about squeezed around the dining table - in order to be closer to the nibbles. Personally I was sat right by the jelly babies. Always a good place to be. In between the jelly babies, but still able to reach Frances's lovely rock cakes....

We had apologies from a couple of members, but almost everyone was there and it was a lively meeting as always, with lots of different conversations going on around the table, about books, life and everything else.

We started by discussing My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You. There were mixed feelings about it. The graphic sex and bad language was commented on, and also the violence of war is not always an easy thing to read about. Some people found the book difficult to get into.

The Light Between Oceans was universally liked by those of us who managed to read it. We felt it was a lovely, moving story and very well written. It was obvious how much research the author must have done in order to give the reader such a comprehensive insight into the life of the people working on lighthouses at that time. Some of us felt this was a book that they would definitely read again in the future.

The Shock of the Fall was also very moving, and gave us a picture of a young man with bipolar disorder. It was funny as well as moving, and also gave us a window into the mind of a person with mental health issues. We felt it was revealing both from the young man's point of view and that of the staff dealing with his care.

Those who had read the memoir Hackney Child were appalled and found it a horrific indictment on society that such terrible things had happened in recent times.

Sandra told us about a lady she is touch with, a doctor who has set up a charity to perform cataract operations on people in India. Sandra has a copy of 'A Runaway Goat', the book written by Lucy Mathen, the charity's founder, about her experiences in India with the charity. The book is available from the website at a cost of £20, which funds a cataract operation for one person in India. Some of us thought we would like to read Sandra's copy and then perhaps make a small donation, which Sandra will then pass on to the charity. if you are interested in reading the book, please speak to Sandra.

You can read more about the work of the charity at www.secondsight.org.uk

We discussed the possibility of starting a kitty to pay for nibbles at our book club meetings. The people who host meetings said they were happy to provide refreshments out of their own pocket, although those of us who aren't able to host felt they would like to contribute. It was decided that for the time being we will continue as we are, and if some people want to contribute, they can bring something along to meetings if they would like to. 

We chose our new books. They are:

1. The Flavours of Love by Dorothy Koomson (our main choice, try and read this one if you can). 

Optional extras:

2. Silvertown by Melanie McGrath

3. The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson (who also wrote the Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, which we read before)

4. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I noticed there is a short ebook 'Recipes from the Flavours of Love' which is available free on Kindle, if anyone is interested in that.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 16th July at Margaret's house, as usual details will be emailed nearer the time. 

Happy reading!

Book Club March 2014: how many ladies (plus a baby) can you fit into one living room?

We were at almost full capacity when we met at Eirlys' house on 19th March. It was great to have two new members present, and also our youngest member who isn't able to let us know her opinions just yet, but had brought her own book along to read. It was also good to see that last month's new member actually came back, which is always encouraging!! 

Eirlys provided refreshments, including the most divine home made fairy cakes, yum. My house needs an Eirlys of our own I think, as the last cake I baked was in 1994 and that was from a ready made mix. It was in the shape of an octopus though, so I get brownie points for creativity if not for edibility (which is a word I just made up). 

Back to books. The Husband's Secret was liked by most, though one or two people found it a bit slushy and predictable. Several people thought that it was obvious what the 'secret' would be. 

The Detective's Daughter was unpopular. We felt it was poorly written and had various threads we just couldn't see the point of and several coincidences that were implausible. 

Although one member loved it, it was generally felt that The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules didn't live up to expectations, especially compared to The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared, which most of us have read and enjoyed. It was thought to be unrealistic in the portrayal of care homes, though the book was funny in parts. This book is on the bestseller lists: one member said it would be interesting to know how many of the people who bought it actually finished it!

We enjoyed Private Peaceful and thought the two stories within the book were woven together well. 

As always, tea and coffee (and wine!) were drunk, nibbles were nibbled and numerous conversations went on, both book-related and otherwise. The author Dorothy Koomson was recommended (perhaps we could read one of her books next time?), as was Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty, which two of us had read and thoroughly enjoyed.  Some of the members are hoping to go to Cheltenham Literary Festival, so one member said she would look into that, as it's probably time to try and book soon.  

We chose four new books. As always, there is no pressure on anyone to read them all, it's just to give some choice and plenty to read for the more voracious readers. 

These are our new book choices (the links go to Amazon, where you can read about the books)

My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You - Louise Young (Our main choice. If you only read one of the books, please try to make it this one)
The Light Between Oceans - M L Steadman
Hackney Child - Hope Daniels and Morag Livingstone
The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

Also, those who are coming to see the Little Mermaid ballet, don't forget to read the story (online here) if you would like to. 

Our next meeting will be on the 14th May, when we will be meeting at Frances' house (to be confirmed).

Happy Reading!

Book Club January 2014: Secret Santa, Narnia, World War One, ballet, the chocolate factory that wasn't, and a very cute baby

Our read it and swap it pile!

2014 already! How did that happen?

We were almost a  full house at Alison's last night, apologies from three people who couldn't make it and we hope to see them soon. We had a new member, woo hoo!, hope she enjoyed it,  and it was also lovely to meet a very gorgeous baby who came along with her Mum. 

The secret Santa books. It was  amusing to discover that the person who insisted that we all wait until Christmas morning to open our books, put hers in such a safe place she lost it for weeks and couldn't even buy another copy as  of course she didn't know what it was. 

We enjoyed our Santa books to some degree, some people really liked them, and others found theirs were different to what they would usually choose to read. Sometimes reading someone else's choice can be surprising, and you can end up enjoying a new genre. Other times the experience just confirms why you don't like that genre in the first place, but it's all good fun! We will continue to discuss the Santa books at the next meeting when people who were missing this time will hopefully be there. 

As it is the centenary of World War One this year, it was suggested that we read a book or books on that theme. Books put forward in an email to me were 

The Lie - Helen Dunmore 

The Moonfield - Judith Allnatt 

Wake - Ann Hope

None of them appear to be out in paperback yet, so hopefully we might be able to get back to that later in the year. I am listing them here as the hardbacks will be in the library and of course they are on Kindle, if anyone wants to read them now. Someone also suggested war poetry, which wasn't taken up by the group, but I do have a book if anyone wanted to borrow it. 

We discussed 'Instructions for a Heatwave'. It was mostly enjoyed, people felt it would be a good holiday read. We thought it was interesting the way the book seemed as though as it was going to be about the man who goes missing, but in fact most of the story was about the rest of the family and their issues and relationships. 

We also  had chosen to read one of the Narnia books. There were mixed reactions on these, though it was agreed they were very well written. The Horse and his Boy was very much enjoyed. Someone said that it would be better to read them in order than just choose a random volume. It was also mentioned that in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the idea that it is 'not very sensible to hide in wardrobes' is reiterated so often, it is almost as though it was added in more modern times as a warning. 

We discussed doing things a bit differently sometimes. It was suggested that we listen to Book at Bedtime together - I rather liked the idea of all turning up at someone's house in our onesies every evening, but sadly that wasn't the plan. What we could do is listen to the whole week's worth in one go, or split into two occasions, and then discuss. Watching a DVD of a book together was also discussed, but opinions were mixed about both ideas. 

Going out to see a film or play together was quite popular - we need to keep an  eye out for upcoming events that have a book tie-in. It was suggested that we could visit the Menier Chocolate Factory sometime, at which I became very excited until I found out it's not a chocolate factory any longer, but a theatre -which is still interesting to me, but not as interesting as chocolate.....

One idea that we did decide on is a visit to the ballet. Barking Broadway Theatre are putting on The Little Mermaid on Saturday 12th April at 3pm, tickets £18 or £16 concessions. I am keen to get it booked as soon as possible, so if anyone is interested please let me know asap. I'll also send out an email to this effect. The original Hans Christian Andersen tale of the Little Mermaid is available to read online here 

These are the books that we chose to read next. The links go to Amazon, where you can read more about each book, and buy them if you want to, in print or on Kindle. I get mine from the library, their online ordering service is very good.  

The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty

The Detective's Daughter - Lesley Thomson

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules - Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo 

As always, it's not obligatory to read all the books, we just choose a few as it's a couple of months between meetings, and also to give a choice. 

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 19th March, and Eirlys has agreed to hold it at her house. 

Happy reading!