Date | Title | Author | Genre | Comment | Chooser |
June 2024 | When I walked out one midsummer morning | Laurie Lee | Autobiography | Current read | Zoe |
May 2024 | The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to be Free | Andy West | Modified non-fiction |
Average score 6.8 (lowest 2, highest 8) We had a good discussion about the book. Whilst most people didn't find it a page turner, it provoked interest and a lot of discussion covering the prison service, prisons and how our system does not really rehabilitate prisoners. We got some insight into the downward spiral of the author as 'the executioner' in his mind took stronger hold. Whist the detail of his anxiety really helped the reader to see how debilitating it was, the descriptions were also described as being repetitive and 'too much detail'. The cast of characters in the book was quite large and it was difficult to 'hold on to' many of the prisoners. The back story of Andy, his brother, uncle and father provided a strong focus for the book. The relationship between Andy, his brother and their changing fortunes was a strong theme. Some of the philosophical questions that were asked by Andy in his lessons provided food for thought ...such as 'can someone in prison be as free as someone on the outside'? |
Denise |
Mar 2024 | War Doctor | David Nott | Non-fiction | We had a good discussion on Friday night reviewing War Doctor by David Nott. We all agreed that David Nott was an amazing person, self motivated, self driven and maybe selfish in his earlier life to do what he did. Qualities that most heroes exhibit. Meeting his wife and family changed Nott's priorities and outlook on life and work, going from working all hours and volunteering overseas to setting up a charity to train other clinicians in the skills he has and becoming family focused. Nott acknowledged that he was part of a team and could not do any of the work he did without the support of his peers, others in the team, family and friends. He also discussed the pressure of being head of a team/senior person and the responsibility of others looking up to you and the effect that these pressures had on his mental health and his breakdown. We felt that his childhood of first living with his grandparents in a strong Welsh community to being the only child and living a solitary life with two work and goal orientated parents had a profound effect on moulding him as a person. The places David Nott worked in was a reminder to us all of the conflicts that have occurred in the 20th century and sadly are still happening today. Nott's descriptions of his experiences in war zones and the atrocities that happened, the horrific injuries of the people caught up in it all and the operations and procedures that he and his team performed made the book not an easy read. The consensus was that War Doctor was a good read and it scored 8.7 - nearly a 9! |
Brenda |
Jan 2024 | Run for your life. | James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge | Crime |
An overall score given was around 6. ranging from lowest of 4 to 7.5 highest. Numerous readers were pleased to read a novel of a genre and author different from recent reads in the Book Group. |
Bill |
Nov 2023 | The History of Love | Nicole Krauss | Fiction | 7.5, awaiting write-up | Roxana |
Sept 2023 | Walking with Ghosts: A Memoir | Gabriel Byrne | Memoir | Scored 7.5/10 (range 5 - 9) Well written and observed, economically conveys his thoughts. Non chronological style keeps it interesting and it covers a lot of aspects of his varied but sometimes troubled life. Stimulated a lot of discussion, particularly about going away to England at an early age to train as priest and abuse he received. Other discussions were around his early influences, particularly his mother and when successful the difficulty of his father relating to his wealth and movie-star life style. | Lindsay |
July 2023 | Sight Unseen | Robert Goddard | Crime fiction |
The book scored 8/10 and was generally liked, a page turner, and the local settings appealed, but a few people commented that some of the plot features didn't seem to quite fit and many characters seemed to lack emotion. |
Jane |
June 2023 | Lessons in Chemistry | Bonnie Garmus | Fiction | Scored ave 7.5 (range 6 - 9) some people loved it others struggled with the middle but did finish. As a work of fiction it was a fast paced fun journey but perhaps a weak ending. | Penny |
June 2023 (alt choice) | Miss Benson’s Beetle | Rachel Joyce | Fiction | Alternate read, only 3 had read or listened to. | Penny |
April 2023 | Me and the Fat Man | Julie Myerson | Fiction | Scored 5. Some found the book easy to read and fast moving and continued to read as intrigued by where the story was going. However some felt too much explicit description, ambiguity, and unlikely behavior and did not find it an enjoyable read, although most agreed the ending was the start of a happy future. | Katie |
March 2023 | V2 | Robert Harris | Historical novel | Scored 8.5, generally well liked, easy to read, page turner. The chapters alternating between the 2 sides of the story was liked. People felt it gave an insight in the significance of the V2 project in WW2 and the motivations of rocket scientists. Several people commented they would read another Robert Harris novel. | Richard |
January 2023 | The Garden Jungle | David Goulson | Non-fiction | Scored 7.5, well written, delivering (an unpromising to some) subject in a very readable manner. Lots of interesting facts but for some too evangelistic. | Ann |
October 2022 | The Midnight Library | Matt Haig | Novel | The book was on the whole enjoyed by most although it seemed to loose focus and run out of steam in the second half. The concept of the book was good. Overall it received a 7 to 7.5 score. | Zoe |
August 2022 | The Boy Between | Amanda Prowse and Josiah Hartley | true story | The book tells the true story of Joshy’s mental illness and its impact upon his family. The book sparked a lot of conversation around the themes: mental illness, the UK health system, memories of Bristol, the English education system as a sausage factory, our own memories of education, trying to understand Amanda’s way of dealing with the situation and how we thought we might react. Whilst the subject of depression didn’t seem to be a great topic for a book, we appreciated that it wasn’t quite as dark as first imagined. We also appreciated that there were two authors both telling the same story from their point of view. Amanda tended to be more creative and wordy in her version, whilst Joshy was ‘to the point’.Scores ranged from 4 to 8 with the average coming out at 7.2 | Denise |
July 2022 | Kiss Kiss | Roald Dahl | collection of short stories | We agreed that the stories were intriguing and skilfully written: you wanted to find out the outcome, though several people felt the social situation was dated and found it hard to identify with the characters. (As there were some very macabre goings-on, this might be a good thing!) We said we knew the direction the stories were going, but were sometimes surprised by the twist. Revenge was a common theme and the mischievous wit seen in Dahl's children's books but a few stories were too macabre and far-fetched. Average score 6.5 | Brenda |
April 2022 | Penguins stopped play | Harry Thompson | non-fiction? Travel & Cricket | The consensus was that the the book was not a page turner. You did not have to understand the rules of cricket but it helped. The book was slow to start but once the tours started the pace picked up and the book did have some laugh out/ make you smile moments. The average score was 6.5. | Bill |
February 2022 | The unexpected inheritance of Inspector Chopra | Vaseem Khan | Novel | 6.5/10 The book covered the retirement of Chopra, from his Police career, only to be landed at the last moment with a plea from a bereaved mother whom she believed her young son had been murdered. Chopra consequently was unable to resist investigating, while simultaneously receiving an inheritance of a baby elephant called Ganesh. The story began with what appeared a serious investigation story against a backdrop of the new Police chief attempting to block all Chopras efforts to investigate with the claim the case was closed as it was an accident and that he was no longer employed as a Police detective. A parallel story was also running on the arrival of Ganesh a sad unhappy animal who was well looked after by Chopra and his wife Poppy, while providing an almost uncanny help to his new owne in Chopra's fight against evil criminals. during the investigation. Overall, most readers did not share my enormous liking and enthusiasm for this book with score between 5-7, against my 9. Well done Lindsay for coming up with something amusing, light hearted but also with serious aspects to crime in India and the way of life. (Bill) | Lindsay |
January 2022 | Do they know it’s Christmas yet | James Crookes | Novel | 7.5/10. A bonkers read about travelling back in time to 1984, using a Sinclair C5. Plenty of references to the 1980s - the music, LIve Aid, video recorders (VHS vs Betamax, limits on the amount that could be recorded) and nods to the future such as the Millenium Bug. Some great characters in a humourous time travelling adventure - characters trying to put right their wrongs. | Caroline |
November 2021 | The vanishing act of Esme Lennox | Maggie O’Farrell | Novel | 7.5/10 Triggered plenty of discussion (although some had not finished reading it) scores in range 6 to 8.5. Although the sudden changes in narrator could make the book difficult to follow for some, it was well written, with twists gradually revealed, but depicted a sad, tragic story of how a bright but unconforming young woman came to spend her adult life in an institution. | Jane W |
September 2021 | The Presidents Hat | Antoine Laurain | Novel | Just under 8/10. A short, whimsical novel appealing to Francophiles, generally well liked (apart from a marmite response to the episode featuring perfumery). Largely thought clever and well written although because of it construction separating stories of various owners, not a book to seriously get your teeth into. | Penny |
August 2021 | Holding | Graham Norton | Novel | 7/10 Everyone had read all the chosen book 'Holding' by Graham Norton. Some enjoyed the book for its sympathetic portrayal of 1960s small town southern Ireland, and some were less impressed by the slow pace and cliched characters. It was certainly a lively, but polarised discussion. | Katie |
June 2021 | The Darkest Evening | Ann Cleeves | Novel | 8, IIRC. Generally well liked, competent crime novel. | Richard |
April2021 | “A Good Girls Guide to Murder" | Holly Jackson | Novel | Generally well liked, easy read with plenty twists - minor critisisms were characters being too good to believe.8/10 | Zoe |
Feb2021 | “10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World" | Elis Shafak | Novel | 7.5 Mixed views, some found no empathy with characters, and needed something more cheerful, but generally thought well written with insights to life in Istanbul for the "misfit" characters. A study of true friendships. Perhaps too many sub-sections of life histories made it difficult to follow at times and the ending conjured images of Wacky races to some! | Denise |
Jan2021 | “Akin" | Emma Donoghue | novel | 6.5/10 Slow to get going but improves although thought to be rather flat. Some interesting references to French resistance. | Ann |
November 2020 | “Big Sky" | Kate Atkinson | Detective | Easy to read but slow to get going however improves and becomes page-turner, more of a people study than detective novel but satisfactory tidying up of loose ends. Scored just under 7/10 | Brenda |
September 2020 | “And When Did You Last See Your Father?" | Blake Morrison | Relationship with father | 6 to 8 | Bill |
September 2020 | or “The Help” | Kathryn Stockitt | Not read | Bill | |
July 2020 | “Deacon King Kong" | James McBride | Quirky Fiction | Too "larger than life" characters for some but loved by others. | Lindsay |
July 2020 | or “Colour of Water” | James McBride | Biography of his mother | Well received by all who read. Readers had great respect for the woman | Lindsay |
June 2020 | Found | Erin Kinsley | Thriller - It is about an 11 year old boy who goes missing | We all agreed that it was a page turner, and it was given a score between 7.5 – 8.0 | Caroline |
May 2020 | Lightless Sky | Gulwali Passarlay | True story - journey child refugee | Most people had read it, and others were part way through. Everyone who had completed it really enjoyed it. It was well written, a page turner that engaged us and we learnt a lot by it was the comments. 9s were the order of the day, even a 9.5 to 10 - it turns out that we are a but culturally unable to give 10s or something like that. Others went from 7.5 - 8, giving an average of 8.9 mathematically worked out by Liz | Jane W |
March 2020 | The Underground Railroad | Colson Whitehead | Alternative Historical Fiction | A few members had read, or nearly completed the book... It was well received on the whole, although some struggled with the style of writing, and found it was slow to get started, and ran out of steam towards the end. It was rated 7.5->8/10 | Liz |
January 2020 | Unnatural Causes | Dr Richard Shepherd | Autobiography/Crime | The book was enjoyed by all and was rated quite highly at around 8-9/10. The extensive range of cases covered evoked some thoughtful comments and discussions. | Penny |
November 2019 | A Gentleman in Moscow | Amor Towles | Historical Fiction | Scored overall 6.6 with scores ranging from 5 to 9.5. Some members found the middle a challenge to keep going through and gravitated to the end at a faster speed | Richard |
September 2019 | How To Be Right: ... in a world gone wrong | James O'Brien | non-fiction | Described as Well Worth Reading. Inspired review of topical events and had a range of scores. Thought provoking and feedback inspired some who found hard going at the start to persist and read further. | Rod |
July 2019 | The Salt Path | Raynor Winn | non-fiction | Scored 8.5. A good number of the group had read the book. Some people were apprehensive as they started reading that it would be a depressing read but once into the remarkable journey of the couple the book was found to be interesting and uplifting. | Zoe |
May 2019 | This is going to hurt. | Adam Kay | non-fiction | Scored 8.5. A well appreciated book, humorous, but informative, insightful and humbling - should be a compulsory read for everyone so they can truly appreciate the wonderful people who work in the NHS despite the personal sacrifices involved. | Ann C |
April 2019 | Watching Edie | Camilla Way | Novel | Scored 8.5. A gritty tale of people with real problems in their lives with a number a of twists that kept you guessing. | Denise |
February 2019 | Ladder of Years | Anne Tyler | Novel | Scored 7-8. We spent a considerable amount of time discussing the book, mainly due to the bizarre ending. The book was a bit like Marmite ... love it or hate it ! | Brenda |
December 2018 | THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL | ANNE FRANK | Diary, factual | Scored 8.5/10. Readers had respect for the historical significance and the accomplishments of such a young writer. (anyone who was at the meeting, please feel free to expand on this) | Bill |
October 2018 | The Forty Rules of Love” | Elif Shafak | Novel | Scored ~8/10? anyone who remembers please correct/add comments - thanks | Lindsay |
August 2018 | The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable: A True Tale of Passion, Poison and Pursuit | Carol Baxter | Crime, factual | People found it an interesting read with the main story and information of the development of some aspects of modern life. The main character was actually an ancestor of one of our group! We scored it around 8/10 | Caroline |
July 2018 | My Name is Leon | Kit de Waal | Lifestyle | The book was thought an easy read and generally liked. It depicted how the cultural problems in the 80’s contributed to difficulties in Leon’s life and was a well written study of how he coped but was drifting into trouble. However some people thought the “happy ever after” ending was weak. The scores had a small spread, around 7.25/10 on average. | Jane W |
May 2018 | The Paying Guests | Sarah Waters | Lifestyle | Can anyone remember comments? Scored 8/10 | Liz |
March 2018 | The Year of Living Danishly | Helen Russell | Lifestyle | Well liked and thought provoking. Discussion centred around social and cultural norms and expectations. Linked to the recent announcement that Finland is the happiest country in the world to live and the Scandinavia lifestyle is often cited as being desirable. Generally the long dark Winters were not seen as favourable. Scored 7.75/10 | Penny |
February 2018 | Siddhartha | Herman Hesse | Life / Religion | Feelings about Siddhartha by Herman Hesse were very lukewarm. People generally didn’t like the main character and felt his search was selfish and all about himself with little regard for anyone else, which diminished any message that was being put forward by the book. Average Score 4.5/10 | Adrian |
December 2017 | The Last Days of Night | Graham Moore | Historical novel | It was enjoyed by us all, and provoked a lively discussion. The average score was 8.5/10 | Richard |
October 2017 | The Farming Ladder | George Henderson | Life History/Text Book | Details the experience of a farmer and his thoughts on the best methods of agricultural production in the 1930-40s. A Marmite read. Score 6/10 | Rod |
October 2017 | The Trouble with Goats and Sheep | Joanna Cannon | Novel | A quirky novel set during the heat-wave summer of 1976. Score 6/10 | Ann C |
August 2017 | Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine | Gail Honeyman | Novel | Can anyone remember comments? IIRC it was well received. Score 8/10? | Zoe |
July 2017 | A God in Ruins | Kate Atkinson | Novel | Full of interesting wartime detail, well researched. Score 7.5/10 | ??? |
May 2017 | The long and winding road | Alan Johnson | Autobiography, politics | An easy and informative book that provoked some discussion. Score 7.5/10 | |
March 2017 | Do not say we have nothing | Madeleine Thein | Historical novel | Provided insight into Chairman Mao's cultural revolution and the Tiananmen massacre. Score 8/10 | |
January 2017 | Leaving Time | Jodi Picoult | Historical novel | A good story that provoked a discussion about spiritualists, seances and the like. Score 8/10 | |
December 2016 | Angel | Elizabeth Taylor | Fiction | Easy page turner, main character far from an Angel. Average scored 6/10 | |
October 2016 | Exposure | Helen Dunmore | Thriller, Fiction | Provoked wide ranging discussion. Good Read. | |
August 2016 | Prisoners of Geography | Tim Marshall | Geopolitics | High Scoring Recommended Read. Rated 8.6/10 | |
June 2016 | The Long Walk | Slavomir Rawicz | Based On True Story | Positive Review. Some improbable aspects. Scoring 8.2/10 | |
May 2016 | Love in a cold climate | Nancy Mitford | Humour, Fiction | Uninspiring and lacked a good story line. Average score 4. | |
March 2016 | Fair Stood the Wind for France | H E Bates | Military | An easy read which invoked the fear of hiding in occupied territory and that was enjoyed by all. Average score 8 | |
January 2016 | Tom's Midnight Garden | Philippa Pearce | Childrens | An easy read that was enjoyed by most of the club. Average score 7.5 | |
November 2015 | Le Grand Meaulnes | Alain Fourier | European | This book was not thought to have aged well, with average score around 5/10 | |
October 2015 | Our man in Havana | Graham Greene | Classic | A very entertaining book which we all thouroughly enjoyed reading. Score 8/10 | |
August 2015 | Funny Girl | Nick Hornby | Comedy | A disappointing read, not going anywhere and not particularly funny. The average score was probably around 5/10 | |
April 2015 | Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes | Robert Louis Stevenson | Travel (and donkey"!) | Most people found this book rather heavy going, and lacking in travel interest. The average score was 4.5 | |
April 2015 | Spanish Steps, Travels with my donkey | Tim Moore | Travel (and "donkey"!) | An enjoyable and entertaining book. Average score 7.5 | |
March 2015 | This Boy | Alan Johnson | Politics | An easy read that painted a good picture of life for the poor in the 1950s. Average score 7.5/10 | |
January 2015 | The Dog Stars | Peter Heller | Sci-Fi | We felt this was more of a post apocalyptic novel rather than fantasy or Sci-Fi. We gave it an average score of 7/10. | |
November 2014 | Educating Rita | Willie Russell | Play, fiction | Very enjoyable play reading evening, although didn't finish the play. | |
September 2014 | The Boys in the Boat | Daniel James Brown | Non Fiction, Sport | Mixed reviews with some liking it and some finding it too detailed. Average score 7 | |
July 2014 (1) | Gone girl | Gillian Flynn | Mystery? | Generally enjoyed - all giving it 8/10....so worth reading if you havent already. | |
July 2014 (2) | And the Mountains echoed | Khaled Hossein | Novel | not so popular - most people scored it about 6 but one very low score of 1 brought the average out at 4.5 | |
June 2014 | Touching distance | James Cracknell & Beverley Turner | Biography | Generally it was felt to be a very interesting book - some enjoyed the sports/Olympic aspects and other were very interested in the brain damage effect. Overall score 7.5/10 | |
April 2014 | Rip Tide | Stella Rimington | Thriller | ||
February 2014 | The Day of the Jack Russell | Colin Bateman | Detective? | It was voted 6/10 and had very mixed reviews with scores from 2/10 to 9/10! | |
January 2014 | Various books from the Samuel Johnson prize for non fiction shortlist (choice of 6 books) | various | |||
November 2013 | The Cuckoo's Calling | Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) | Detective | The scores ranged from 5 to 9; averaging out at around 7.5, with most people enjoying JK Rowling’s first detective novel. | |
September 2013 | The Great Gatsby | F Scott Fitzgerald | Classic | The consensus for the Great Gatsby was that although the setting and the era was beautifully described, none of the characters were at all likeable, so we gave it a score of 4/10. | |
July 2013 | The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Through a Window and Disappeared | Jonas Jonasson | It was voted 7/10 and most people found it a funny, lighthearted read | ||
May 2013 | The Maid of Buttermere | Melvyn Bragg | A real “Marmite” book, we some people liking it very much, and rating it 8/10, and others not liking it at all, and rating it 2/10. Average score 5/10. | ||
April 2013 | The Siege | Helen Dunmore | Covering the siege of Leningrad this book made light work of a hard hitting subject. Although it was thought provoking we felt it lacked any real depth and therefore gave it 6/10 | ||
Feb 2013 | The Buried Circle | Jenni Mills | A very well received book which combined a good storyline with plenty of historical facts and local interest. We gave it 9/10! | ||
Dec 2012 | Saturday | Ian McEwan | |||
Oct 2012 | Born on a Blue Day | Daniel Tammet | This was a very interesting read and different people were able to relate to different parts of it. It was given an average score of 8/10 | ||
Sept 2012 | The Red House | Mark Haddon | On the whole people enjoyed reading the book, and thought that it was well written, although it didn’t stick in the memory for long. It was given an average score of 7.1/10 | ||
Jul 2012 | A Place in My Country: In Search of a Rural Dream | Ian Walthew | We were very disappointed by this book, which was easy to read but lacked a good story line or real substance. It was given an average score of 4/10 | ||
Jun 2012 | The Girl on the Landing | Paul Torday | A well written book that was easy to read and provoked a good discussion. It was given 7/10 or 8/10 by all who had read it | ||
Apr 2012 | Pickwick Papers | Charles Dickens | |||
Feb 2012 Choice 2 | Steve Jobs - The Exclusive Biography | Walter Isaacson | |||
Feb 2012 Choice 1 | Business stripped bare: Adventure of a global entrepreneur | Richard Branson | |||
Jan 2012 | Middlesex | Jeffery Eugenides | Rated 7/10 | ||
Nov 2011 | Our Kind of Traitor | John le Carre | |||
Sept 2011 | The Channel 4 TV Book club summer reads (8 books) | various | |||
July 2011 | The Year of Living Biblically | A.J. Jacobs | |||
May 2011 -alternate | Norweigian Wood | Haruki Murakami | |||
May 2011 | The thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet | David Nichols | |||
March 2011 | The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot | Rated 8/10 | ||
January 2011 -alternative option | Meltdown | Ben Elton | Rated 7.5/10 | ||
January 2011 | Operation Mincemeat | Ben Macintyre | Rated 9.5/10 | ||
November 2010 | The Lost Continent | Bill Bryson | |||
October 2010 | The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo | Stieg Larsson | Rated 7.5/10 good read, but not quite up to the hype! | ||
July 2010 | Solar | Ian McEwan | |||
June 2010 | All Quiet on the Western Front | Eric Marie Remarque | Rated 8.5/10 and a worthwhile read. | ||
May 2010 | The Lieutenant | Kate Grenville | |||
March 2010 | Right Ho, Jeeves | P.G. Woodhouse | |||
January 2010 (alternate choice) | A lust for Windowsills | Harry Mount | |||
January 2010 | The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga | |||
October 09 (alternate choice) | The Book Thief | Marcus Zusak | |||
October 09 | The American Boy | Andrew Taylor | |||
September 09 (alternate choice) | Northern Lights | Philip Pullman | |||
September 09 | The Help | Kathryn Stockitt | |||
July 09 | Snow | Orhan Pamuk | |||
June 09 | The Other Hand | Chris Cleave | |||
June 09 (alternate choice) | Angels and Demons | Dan Brown | |||
April 09 | The Delegates Choice | Ian Sansom | |||
April 09 (alternate choice) | The Yes Man | Danny Wallace | |||
February 09 | "A Mercy" | Toni Morrison | |||
Dec-08 | Poems and Stories | Various | |||
Nov-08 | Planet of the Blind | Stephan Kuusisto | |||
Sep-08 | The Road Home | Rose Tremain | |||
Jul-08 | Dreams of my father | Barak Obama | |||
Jul-08 | Blood River | Tim Butcher | |||
Jul-08 | Bearded Tit | Rory McGrath | |||
Jun-08 | Mill on the Floss | George Elliot | |||
Jun-08 | Candide | Voltaire | |||
Apr-08 | A Thousand Splendid Suns | Khaled Hosseini | |||
Feb-08 | Fever Pitch | Nick Hornby | |||
January 08 | "Maps for Lost Lovers" | Nadeem Aslam | |||
"The Naming of the Dead" | Ian Rankin | ||||
November 07 | "Farewell my Lovely" | Raymond Chandler | |||
October 07 | "Purple Hibiscus" or "Half a Yellow Sun" | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | |||
August 07 | Cleopatra’s Needle | Anne Mustoe | |||
June 07 | Brighton Rock | Graham Greene | |||
Apr 07 | Semi-Detached | Griff Rhys Jones | |||
Mar 07 | Small Island | Andrea Levy | |||
Jan 07 | The Thunderbolt Kid | Bill Bryson | |||
Jan 07 | A Spot of Bother | Mark Haddon | |||
Jan 07 | Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon | |||
Jan 07 | The Innocent Man | John Grisham | |||
Dec 06 | Readings of Poetry and short stories etc. | Various | |||
Nov 06 also | Play (part 2)- The Cocktail Party | T.S. Eliot | |||
Nov 06 | A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian | Marina Lewycka | |||
Nov 06 | The Secret Life of Bees | Sue Monk Kidd | |||
Oct 06 also | Play (part 1)- The Cocktail Party | T.S. Eliot | |||
Oct 06 | A Quiet Vendetta | Roger Jon Ellory | |||
Aug-06 | You Know you got Soul | Jeremy clarkson | |||
Jun-06 | The Farm | Richard Benson | |||
Arthur and George | Julian Barnes | ||||
Lincoln Lawyer | Michael Connelly | ||||
Apr-06 | Moondust | Andrew Smith | |||
Mar-06 | Around the world in 80 days | Jules Verne | Travel / Adventure | ||
Dec-05 | Irish poets (various) | Irish Poets | |||
Nov-05 | The Beach | Alex Garland | Thriller / cult | Only a couple of people read it − good page turner − quite a lot of discussion around cult nature of book, and comparisons to film | |
The Road Taken | Michael Burke | Everyone enjoyed this | |||
Sep-05 | Broken Music | Sting | Autobiog | Enjoyed by most, though some found writing style strange. | |
Stuart a life backwards | Alexander Masters | ||||
Jul-05 | Like a Fiery Elephant:The story of BS Johnson | Jonathan Coe | Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction | Both these titles were enjoyed by those who read them (Stuart a Life Backwards currently being serialised on BBC4). The Fiery Elephant book quite hard going though | |
Jun-05 | Persuasion | Jane Austen | Classics | Half the group read this book, who all really enjoyed the book − good characters and lots of wit. most probably read it before. I think there was another title, can’t remember what. | |
Apr-May 2005 | Time and the Conways | JB Priestley | Play | Everyone really enjoyed doing a play and reading it out in parts. This was linked to a theatre visit to see another Priestley play, An Inspector Calls | |
Popular Music | Mikael Niemi | Not many people read this − varying reactions from not very interesting to very enjoyable. | |||
Mar-05 | The Joke | Milan Kundera | European | ||
The Queen and I | Sue Townsend | Enjoyable read but not much to discuss! | |||
Feb-05 | Case Histories | Kate Atkinson | Modern | good read, but characters are rather cliché-ridden | |
Dec-04 | Pompeii | Robert Harris | Crime | Again, wide range of reactions from very enjoyable to didn’t get past the first 30 pages − yawn. Blockbusters/beach reads not to all tastes. | |
Oct-04 | The Motorcycle Diaries | Che Guevara | Travel | Only half group had read this. Varying reactions from brilliant to so so. Film more popular generally − perhaps we should be a film group! | |
Jul-04 | The Loving Spirit | Daphne Du Maurier | Romance | Definite thumbs down and a bit dodgy with caveat not a bad attempt for a first book. | |
May/June 04 | Brick Lane (continued) | Monica Ali | ? | I think we selected two books for two meetings? | |
Brick Lane | Monica Ali | Varied reaction with some really enjoying it and others finding it too long and/or slow | |||
Apr-04 | Curious Incident of Dog in night-time | Mark Haddon | Modern | Well received and provoked lengthy discussion on subject of book | |
Mar-04 | Starter for ten | Brian Nicholls | Modern | Light but enjoyable. Some found characters irritating. |