April and May

The book for May is Heft by Liz Moore. Trying to break a pattern of recent sad and dispiriting books, we're hopeful that this one has a positive vibe.

"Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising sporting career - if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel's mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur's. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene's unexpected phone call to Arthur - a plea for help - that jostles them into action."



In April we discussed Falling Man by Don Delillo.

"Falling Man begins on September 11, in the smoke and ash of the burning towers. In the days and the years following, we trace the aftermath of this global tremor in the private lives of a few reticulated individuals. Theirs are lives choreographed by loss, by grief and by the enormous force of history."

February and March

I'm a little behind with updating for the latest book.

In February we read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. As he comes to the end of his life, Reverend John Ames begins a rambling letter to his young son, describing his both his life and his hopes for his family after he has gone.


In March, we are going to discuss Boxer Beetle by Ned Beauman.

The rather enigmatic blurb states:

"This is a novel for people with breeding.


Only people with the right genes and the wrong impulses will find its marriage of bold ideas and deplorable characters irresistible. It is a novel that engages the mind while satisfying those that crave the thrill of a chase.


There are riots and sex. There is love and murder. There is Darwinism and Fascism, nightclubs, invented languages and the dangerous bravado of youth. And there are lots of beetles.


It is clever. It is distinctive. It is entertaining.We hope you are too."

Book for Jan - Apple Tree Yard

For our meeting on 9 January 2014, we'll be reading Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty.

"Yvonne Carmichael has worked hard to achieve the life she always wanted: a high-flying career in genetics, a beautiful home, a good relationship with her husband and their two grown-up children.

Then one day she meets a stranger at the Houses of Parliament and, on impulse, begins a passionate affair with him - a decision that will put everything she values at risk.

At first she believes she can keep the relationship separate from the rest of her life, but she can't control what happens next. All of her careful plans spiral into greater deceit and, eventually, a life-changing act of violence.

Apple Tree Yard is a psychological thriller about one woman's adultery and an insightful examination of the values we live by and the choices we make, from an acclaimed writer at the height of her powers."

Have a very Happy Christmas and see you in the New Year!

The Uninvited by Liz Jensen - December

The next book is The Uninvited by Liz Jensen.

"A seven-year-old girl puts a nail-gun to her grandmother's neck and fires. An isolated incident, say the experts. The experts are wrong. Across the world, children are killing their families. Is violence contagious?"

Mine has just arrived in the post and I'm looking forward to starting it.

As well as the usual book discussion, our Christmas meal with a book gift-Secret Santa is on Thurs 12 December.

See you in December.

November - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

Our book for November is If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor.

On a street in a town in the North of England, ordinary people are going through the motions of their everyday existence - street cricket, barbecues, painting windows...But then a terrible event shatters the quiet of the early summer evening.

In October we read If On A Winter's Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino. This generated some good discussion, and the book was later proved not to be as far from real life as might otherwise have been thought:

September - Shades of Grey (no, not that one)

In August we discussed Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee. Not technically fiction, but we let Maddy off (this time...). It had a mixed response, with general agreement that it was an interesting picture of early 20th Century life, but without enough substance to really hook us in.

Ian is hosting the next discussion in September and has chosen Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. Not to be confused with a certain popular book by E L James.

July - The Cellist of Sarajevo

We're meeting on the 4th July to discuss The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

"Sarajevo, in the 1990s, is a hellish place. The ongoing war devours human life, tears families apart and transforms even banal routines, such as acquiring water, into life-threatening expeditions. Day after day, a cellist stations himself in the midst of the devastation, defying the ever-present snipers to play tributes to victims of a massacre."