March 2014 Meeting

Bookclubbers including Vanessa, Kim, June, Kath, Monique and Valerie gathered at Kim's for our March meeting. It was terrific to see Sophie before Kim bundled her upstairs with a favourite DVD so we could get stuck into the great spread and of course the books!!!!

Conversation and discussion on 'The Dinner' flowed easily with the most common retort being that none of the characters were particularly endearing (pretty appalling actually!). Other descriptors bandied around included 'odd', 'disturbing' and 'controversial', although from my perspective at least the book was contrived to be these things. Not sure also whether the translation from Dutch was all that good either.

Nonetheless, overall the book was appreciated because it was short and punchy and in some ways shocking!  Scores were; Vanessa 3.5, June 3, Kim 3, Kath 3.25 and Valerie 3.

There was again a detailed discussion sparked by 'I Am Malala' which was in part a history lesson, biography and political thriller. Extremely informative and an amazing story, with only some parts affected by Malala's ultruistic earnestness. Certainly reading about the Swat Valley and the history of religious tolerance was very enlightening.

Bookclubbers gave the following ratings; Monique 4, Valerie 3, June 4, Kim 3.5, Kath 4.5 and Vanessa 4.

The next meeting of the book club will be on 29th May at June's with the following book suggestions: Valerie - 'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt and Kath - 'Lillian's Story' by Kate Grenville.

13th February, 2014

For the first meeting of out book club for 2014, it was a full house at Vanessa's with June, Jackie, Monique, Kath, Kim and Valerie all present.

'Barracuda' certainly captured the attention of those who had read it, with 'explicit' being a common description. The book did a great job in getting into the psyche of swimmers and the character portrayals were all very believable.

Barracuda scored - 4 from Jackie and Monique, 3.75 from Vanessa (because she can!) and 3.5 from Valerie.'

'After Her' by Joyce Maynard was the other book on offer for discussion at this meeting. It was noted that the author had also written 'Labour Day' which is now a movie.  After Her got good ratings with June giving it a 4, Jackie & Valerie a 3 and Kim & Vanessa  3.5.

Next meeting of the book club is 27th March at Kim's.  Book suggestions are 'The Dinner' by Herman Koch and 'I am Malala' by Malala Yousafzai.

Happy reading until then.

15th August 2013

Monique was the host of the meeting and we all admired her and husband Dave's groovy urban renovation with a front garden in progress. Not even a peep from Darcy or Magnus during what was a sometimes loud meeting that Jackie, Kath, June, Vanessa and Valerie attended. Great spread too with fabulous sausage rolls (they are becoming our signature dish), gorgeous pastries and some dips.

Since the last meeting, a couple more hardy souls ploughed on to finish 'Seven Types of Ambiguity' (I liked it and keep on thinking about it) but others gave it up on the theory that life is too short!

Not so with 'The Rosie Project'.  Describes variously as "hilarious", "a great read" and "the best book we have read so far", this book was an undoubted hit. It scored along the lines of 4 - 5/5. Well done Jackie for the suggestion.

'The Girl in The Picture' was entirely different being an historical account of the events both pre and post the Vietnam (American) war and the effect of napalm on an innocent Vietnamese child. This book with its informative context, raised many issues of the role of the media in wartime and the effect that a single photograph can have. A very thoughtful read and we gave it a rating of 3.5-4/5.

Next meeting is scheduled for 10th October at Kath's with Kath and Monique suggesting the books for the following meeting.

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.