June 2013 meeting

Home made sausage rolls, a sparkling house and bubbly greeted Monique, June, Vanessa, Kathy, Kim and Valerie at Jackie's house for the June meeting of 'Let's Talk About Books'. Thanks to Darren, Jackie, Jack and Mali (and Pugsley) for hosting us at their beautiful new home.

Apparently there had been relief all round when I had broadcast my inability to finish 'Seven Types' by the time of the meeting, and Vanessa definitely gets the bookclubber of the month gold star for being the only one to finish reading it!  Whilst there was criticism for the small typeface and Perlman's overly long descriptions (managed care, the workshop retreat etc), Vanessa encouraged us all to "read on" as she believed it was definitely worth the effort.  Having reached Part Six, which is from Anna's perspective, I am now also hooked!  Rating the book will be held over to the next meeting.

Most of us had read Monique's suggestion, 'All Good Things' which was author Sarah Turbull's follow up to 'Almost French' which Monique had thoroughly enjoyed. Consensus was that while the writing was good and there were enjoyable sections (I found the scuba diving descriptions inspiring), their struggle to get pregnant, the Tahitian backdrop, it was overall 'light on' for substance and was more of a travelogue. Average score was 2.5/5.

Kathy was progressing with 'Life after Life' and really enjoyed it (as did I).

Next meeting is planned for 15th August at Monique's, which does give a bit more time for the next 2 suggestions: 'The Girl in the Picture' by Denise Chong which is Vanessa's pick and Jackie's pick 'The Rosie Project' by Graeme Simsion.

May 2013

All present and accounted for at the May 9th meeting at June's. Its probably fair to say that there was equally animated discussion regarding the issues of cleaners as there was about books, but there was lively discussion either way.

'The Light Between Oceans' was well liked by all with average score nearing 4.5/5. Variously described as 'the perfect novel' being well written with an engaging plot, interesting historical detail written with a compassionate eye. Valerie was probably the odd one out sympathising more with Tom's character, but the general consensus that Isabelle's character was for the most part redeemed.

Not all had the time or inclination to tackle 'Life after Life', but Valerie gave it the thumbs up for the innovative structure and thought provoking storyline.  Potentially more discussion on this one at the next meeting on 20th June.

March 2013 meeting

June, Vanessa, Kim, Kath and Valerie gathered at Vanessa's house with Alanna on hand  to assist with feeding and watering us all!

All those gathered had read 'The Secret Keeper' and thus knew the great twist at the end. Most of us had read the hardback version, so Kim who had read the ebook version was quite pleased that she had read such a long book.

There was an initial discussion as to whether the book could be considered 'chick lit', but there was general agreement that while the writing style was good, the book was slow(ish) to read in the first half but definitely picked up pace especially towards the finale. There was general dislike of Dolly ("silly Dolly" - Kim) but praise for the characters and the way they developed with the intriguing plot. No one had guessed the ending, but many had speculated on Jimmy's demise, Vivien's marriage to Henry and the friendship between the main characters. Questions remained - "why did the secret need to be kept?"

Scoring went thus (by comparison Goodreads gave it 4.11):
Kim - 3.7
Kath - 4
Vanessa - 3.5
Valerie - 3.5
June - 3.75
Jackie - 3.7

Naomi's review (with just a chapter or 2 to go):

"Well, this book surprised me because it overcame an initial prejudice I held against it.

I initially dismissed it as 'chick lit', but then took your advice on board that the ending has a great twist.
So I persevered and ending up being glad I did.  The plot and characters were well sketched, and not too challenging, which was exactly what I felt like after dealing with busy, stressful times at work while in a new role.  I admit to not liking the character of the younger Dolly much, however.  She seemed quite self-absorbed and superficial but then possibly she was a product of her time.  Back in the 1940's having your own career and an independent source of income was rare for women - The Secret Keeper portrayed Dolly's war between her emotions (ie. her love for Jimmy) and her need for security (ie. her regard for her employer Lady Gwendolyn) well.

I did enjoy the portrayal of older Dolly's character much more, however, and the relationship she had with her children.  All family relationships in the book were explored in an interesting way...blue-collar worker Jimmy's loyalty to his ailing, senile father was touching."

January 31st Meeting

Extreme weather conditions seem to be the norm whenever book club is at Valerie's, and this meeting was no exception. It was nearly full house with June, Vanessa, Monique, Kath, Naomi, Jackie and Valerie in attendance.

It was generally agreed that any book following 'Gone Girl' was going to be a hard gig, but that both 'Sweet Tooth' and 'All that I Am' were good reads that had certain parallels being historical bookends to the second world war.

'Sweet Tooth' was generally enjoyed as an interesting but certainly not faultless story of cold war espionage. The average rating was 2.5 - 3, with Serena's relationship with Tony a little unbelievable (perhaps because it was written by a bloke??), and the book slow to grabbing attention with Serena's relationship with the writer Tom being the more engaging section. The twist at the end was a goodie.

'All That I Am' engendered a lot more discussion, in particular regarding the structure of the book that moved backwards and forwards in time which some found a little challenging. The book had many strengths including the writing, that it was based on real characters which made it more poignant and the story more shocking, and that it's focus was the lesser know period before the second world war. Average rating was 3 - 4/5.

The book for the next meeting (March 14th) is Kate Morton's The Secret Keeper.

December 2012 Meeting

It was a hot one for our end of year bash, with food galore (it was all delicious), and we welcomed a new member, Monique, another Kendall St resident.  So it was a largish gathering with June, Kim, Kath, Vanessa (and Alanah), Jackie (and Mali), Monique, Naomi and Valerie.

The meeting was all the better for a good subject, being Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl". Overall it got a rating of somewhere between 7 - 9, with short chapters, a ripping yarn and a woman we would all cheerfully throttle (sorry Amy - you are a shocker!). There was more sympathy for Nick, but this was somewhat dissipated by his decision at the end. Most enjoyed the twists and turns and the journey through the book.

The next meeting of the group is on 31st January, 2013 at Valerie's.

October meeting

It was off to South Kingsville that a small troupe of intrepid book chatters went on 18th October, where Kath was hosting the October meeting. Joined by Naomi, June and Valerie (and armed with Jackie's email feedback), we quickly got down to discussion regarding the books of the moment:

'Its a long way from Penny Apples' drew credit for its 'real descriptions' of life and poverty in the tenements and the struggle to make ends meet. It also enabled insight into the women of the story and their struggle between the catholic laws, the sorrow of losing a child, and with each pregnancy, yet another mouth to feed.  Some readers struggled with the writing style and the amount of details in the stories. Jackie's feedback on this one was "a little too factual for my liking (which is bizarre because I like biographies) it was a bit too detailed in some sections so took me awhile to read".

'Middlesex', for those that had started or finished, was an entirely different proposition. The overall rating was between 7-8/10, mainly because it was very well written & researched, with great characters and an engaging plot about an hermaphradite. There were various comments including my own belief that it was a bit too long and quite dense reading at times, but pretty much all forgiven because it was deftly written. We discussed at length our annoyance with Desdemona's character, were satisfied with the explanation of why Chapter 11 got his name (means bankruptcy in American law), but wanted to cut to the chase a bit earlier regarding Callie's diagnosis. Overall a thought provoking but not necessarily a controversial read.

Jackie's feedback on Middlesex was: "enjoyed very surprisingly good pick Val (???), parts of it better than others but overall I would give it a 7 read it quite quickly".

The other books we discussed included: Jim Stynes "My Journey" (Naomi and Jackie) and "Room" (always gets a good review) (Naomi).  I've listed the other books people have read under the 'What we've been reading tab'.

Next meeting will be on Thursday 29th November at Valerie's, and the suggestion is to make it a dinner meeting with all bringing a dish/plate.  I will email closer to the date so we can coordinate the food (most important!!!). The book for discussion at the next meeting is 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn and it is hopefully a beauty - here's a review to tempt your interest:

On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick's wife Amy disappears. There are signs of struggle in the house and Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. It doesn't help that Nick hasn't been completely honest with the police and, as Amy's case drags out for weeks, more and more vilifying evidence appears against him. Nick, however, maintains his innocence. Told from alternating points of view between Nick and Amy, Gillian Flynn creates an untrustworthy world that changes chapter-to-chapter. Calling Gone Girl a psychological thriller is an understatement. As revelation after revelation unfolds, it becomes clear that the truth does not exist in the middle of Nick and Amy's points of view; in fact, the truth is far more dark, more twisted, and more creepy than you can imagine. Gone Girl is masterfully plotted from start to finish and the suspense doesn't waver for one page. It's one of those books you will feel the need to discuss immediately after finishing because the ending doesn't just come; it punches you in the gut. --Caley Anderson

Till next time.....

August Meeting

It was a warm welcome at June's place, as Jackie, Kathy, Naomi, June, Valerie and Vanessa gathered for a book chat.

It seems that having a book club deadline is doing wonders for our reading motivation, with most members having read at least part of a couple of books. Books that are in the process of being read include The Book Thief, Room and 'Penny Apples' (mainly because most of us were waiting for the book to be sent snail mail!).

There was no question that discussion would start with Bronnie Ware's 'The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying'. The following is a snapshot of some of the feedback;

• badly written
• repetitive
• narcissistic
• wrong title because it was really a book about Bronnie
• the gems were when she wrote about the patients that she cared for
• most people didn't like the author!

Having said that, and admittedly some people (me included) skipped much of the boring stuff to get to the interesting parts, but agreed that it had been for the most part an interesting read!

Moving on to 'Penny Apples', it sparked an interesting discussion regarding religious upbringing and how it does (or doesn't) shape your current views.  We tackle all the big issues at book club!

To keep track of recommended reads for our club, I've created a new page called 'Potential books' where I've listed 'Ask the dust' (John Fante), 'Gone Girl' (Gillian Flynn), and 'All that I Am' (Anna Funder).

The next meeting of the club with be at Kath's in Spotswood (South Kingsville thank you very much :)) on Thursday 18th October.

Til then, happy reading!!!

Valerie