All present and accounted for at June's for our March meeting. Post the usual catchup and goss, we got down to discussing the following books:
Someone quipped "for a book in which nothing happened, we sure have talked a lot about it!", and such was the spirited discussion regarding 'Blue Thread'. Readers widely agreed that this book did not meet expectations despite being from a prize winning author. Perhaps as Australian readers of this very very American book explains the lack of engagement but even this aside, the novel was lacking a compelling plot (some got excited when the main character died - "at last some action"), with the characters being the only source of connection. One theory of why this book is so widely liked in the US is potentially it is the story of a family made good, and the family myths and legends that are handed down from generation to generation (despite being true or not).
June, Vanessa, Kath and Valerie scored 'Blue Thread' 2.5 and Monique, Kim and Jackie gave it a 2 out of 5.
Not all bookclubbers had gotten the chance to read 'Scared Weird Frozen Guy'
Of those that read at least some it, the feedback was that it was a little too long, with a lot of detail about 'The Scardies', only really a little bit about the ice marathon and virtually nothing about the man's personal life. Readers scored it 2.5
Someone quipped "for a book in which nothing happened, we sure have talked a lot about it!", and such was the spirited discussion regarding 'Blue Thread'. Readers widely agreed that this book did not meet expectations despite being from a prize winning author. Perhaps as Australian readers of this very very American book explains the lack of engagement but even this aside, the novel was lacking a compelling plot (some got excited when the main character died - "at last some action"), with the characters being the only source of connection. One theory of why this book is so widely liked in the US is potentially it is the story of a family made good, and the family myths and legends that are handed down from generation to generation (despite being true or not).
June, Vanessa, Kath and Valerie scored 'Blue Thread' 2.5 and Monique, Kim and Jackie gave it a 2 out of 5.
Not all bookclubbers had gotten the chance to read 'Scared Weird Frozen Guy'
Of those that read at least some it, the feedback was that it was a little too long, with a lot of detail about 'The Scardies', only really a little bit about the ice marathon and virtually nothing about the man's personal life. Readers scored it 2.5
