February 5 2015

Hey folks, better late than never with this blog post about our February meeting at Jackie's with all bookclubbers present and accounted for.

First cab off the rank was Khalid Hosseini's 'And The Mountains Echoed' which had been Kim's choice, and was popular with the punters.

Whilst it was generally acknowledged that this was not as good as the stellar 'Kite Runner', it was nevertheless a good read with great characters with interesting stories, but to some felt more like disjointed short stories rather than a cohesive epic. Some readers found it a very sad book (there were tears on the tram) and the 'sliding doors' what if Pari had not been 'sold'? discussion was a good one.

Scores:  Everyone who had read the book gave it 3/5.

Next up was the more controversial 'All the Birds, Singing' by Evie Wyld.

 

Intense discussion ensued with 'confronting', 'gender confusion' and 'intriguing' being often used to describe the book. Some of the graphic descriptions were gratuitous for some, however others were spurred on to the end by wanting to know 'what was killing the sheep'? and 'how did she get the scars'?  The book's reverse chronological format was unique, but some readers (and one non-reader* :)) felt that the book's ending was not satisfying.

Scores were diverse: Jackie & Kath* - 3, June - 2.75, Kim, Monique & Vanessa - 3.5, Valerie - 4

We also discussed Harper Lee's new book 'Go Set a Watchman', the sequel to 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
which has just been recently published.

 

October 2014

It was all present and accounted for at Kath's on the 9th October and plenty of eats and drinks to keep us happy.

We got stuck into The Invention of Wings (June's pick), and those that had read it were generally impressed by the story and the characters. Sue Monk Kidd (also the author of The Secret Life of Bees), has written an absorbing tale of both slavery and slave owners and the impact on both against the changing times and attitudes brought by the abolitionists.  Readers gave this book the thumbs up with scores: Jackie 4, June 3.5, Monique 4, Vanessa 4 and Valerie 4.

Big Little Lies (Jackie's pick) was an entirely different beast, a modern tale of primary school parents. There was everything in here from Sydney snobbery, the gossip mill, keeping up with the Jonses, love, domestic violence and even murder.  The discussion was thick and fast about the story, allegiances with certain characters and a debate about how real the book was. Overall a book that engrossed everyone with universally high scores; Monique 4, Jackie, 4, Vanessa 4.5, Kim 4.5, June 4.5 and Valerie 4.      

 

 

 

August 2014

This meeting of our hearty group was held at Monique's wonderful house (not too sure about the phallic decorative touches, and once again not a peep out of the children :) !!). Great conversation (sometimes about books, sometimes not) and lots of laughs.

For some reason a few of us had struggled to get through the readings, but most had at least started one or both of the books on offer:

Vanessa's suggestion - Caught in the Crossfire by Matina Jewell

Those that had read it thought it was a great read and very topical given events in Syria and the Middle East generally. It was equally good to hear the perspective of a woman in the defence forces, but interestingly the emotional engagement was not always highlighted.  Scoring; Vanessa 3.5, Jackie 3.5, Monique 3.

Valerie's suggestion - The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

This book was a still a work in progress for some bookclubbers, so discussion and scoring was deferred to the next meeting. Meanwhile, Valerie, though biased, loved it. :) - Till next time!



 

July 2014

It was freezing night when we bookclubbers gathered at Valerie's, it seemed more than 6 weeks since we'd last met. Technology let us down however as Kim tried Facetime but had to resort to dialling in to the meeting, and Jackie needed a text reminder that book club was in progress!

Neverless there was in depth discussion on the 2 books suggested: Monique - 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' and Kim - 'Eyrie'.

We started with Eyrie and most loved Tim's descriptions of Fremantle, the characters, the heat and the WA bogans in general. The jury is out about the ending (perhaps a little ambiguous), but agreement that the writing was great, the characters believable and the story absorbing. Scores; Kim 3.5, Monique 3, Vanessa 3.5 and Valerie 4.

'Henerietta' similarly was a well liked book that readers found interesting and sad for many reasons; shedding light on the ethics and vagaries of medical research, gaining an understanding of African American poverty and prejudice, a reminder of the value of medical records as historical records, and appreciation of the author's non judgemental investigation approach. Scores; Monique 4.5, Kath 4, Valerie 4, Vanessa 4.5 and Kim 4.
 

May 2014

29th May, 2014 and it was a wintery night when we all trooped around to June's for a natter and some great eats and drink.

Not everyone had read or finished Lilian's Story (Kath's suggestion), but those that did enjoyed it and had sympathy for the main character. Readers felt that it was informing around homelessness and how mental illness puts people on the fringes of society.  Scores out of 5 - Kath 3, Jackie 2.5, Valerie 2.5, June 2.5.

The Goldfinch (Valerie's suggestion) elicited a mixed but mostly positive response from readers. The characters and the storyline were compelling and sustained readers through the 800+ pages and a wild ride through NY, Las Vegas and Amsterdam. No such consensus on the ending though with readers divided on his relationship with Boris and Kitsey.  Monique 4, Kim 4, Valerie 4, Kath 3.5, Jackie 3.5

 

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.