Book and film night - January 5th

I'm a little late putting this up - oops! But I think we all know what we're doing. For January we decided to read a book and watch the film adaption to compare and contrast (as an exam paper would say). The book we voted for is Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, recently adapted into a film starring Reece Witherspoon. See you in January - Happy New Year!

December's Book - The Sense of an Ending

As well as our Christmas meal on the 1st, we are meeting on 8th December to talk about The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.

Happy Christmas everyone!

November's Book - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Our next meeting is on Thursday 3 November 2011. This month's book is The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. Here's the blurb (courtesy of W H Smith's website):

On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents' attention, bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother - her cheerful, can-do mother - tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes perilous. Anything can be revealed at any meal. Rose's gift forces her to confront the secret knowledge all families keep hidden - truths about her mother's life outside the home, her father's strange detachment and her brother's clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up, she realises there are some secrets that even her taste buds cannot discern. "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" is a luminous tale about the heartbreak of loving those whom you know too much about. It is profound and funny, wise and sad, and Aimee Bender's dazzling prose illuminates the strangeness of everyday life.

Hope you enjoy it!

October's Book - The Wasp Factory

We're reading Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory, chosen by Maddy, for our next meeting on Thurs 6th October. I dislike wasps so I'm hoping it's not too horrific! The cover looks suitably sinister, so let's see (although you know what they say about judging a book....)

Book for September - The Girl With Glass Feet

Following our discussion of One Day by David Nicholls, the next book is The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw. We'll be meeting on Thurs 8 Sept to talk about this one.

From the blurb:

"Strange things are happening on the remote and snowbound archipelago of St Hauda's Land. Unusual winged creatures flit around icy bogland; albino animals hide themselves in the snow-glazed woods; jellyfish glow in the ocean's depths...And Ida MacLaird is slowly turning into glass."

Upcoming read - One Day by David Nicholls

The next book, which we will be reading in August, is One Day by David Nicholls. It's had some rave reviews so let's see if it's worthy of its hype.

Get in touch if you are interested in joining our group - we've got room for new members.

April's book - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

We really enjoyed Room, the consensus being that the 5 year old Jack was well realised and utterly believable, and the book was read by all in a couple of days flat!

Our next book for the 7th April discussion is Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, described as "An enchanting, humorous and heart-warming novel set in an English village".

Sounds good! Look forward to seeing you in April.

Inaugural gathering

We are going to have our first gathering on Thursday 3rd March at 7.30pm. March's book is Room by Emma Donoghue.

Here's what it says on the back:

"Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don't have the key. Jack and Ma are prisoners."

Sounds intruiging and will hopefully lead to some lively discussion!