October 2015 - A Man Called Ove

Hi all,

In October we will be chatting about A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

Enjoy!

Remiss again!

We've read some great books in the last few months.

July 15 - Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
June 15 - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
May 15 - The Death of Grass by John Christopher
April 15 - Reminder by Tom McCarthy
March 15 - A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Feb 15 - Inheritance by Nicholas Shakespeare

Next up for August is The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith.

If any of these sound like your sort of thing, why not come along and join us? More details on the About Us page!

2014 into 2015

I've been even more lax than usual at updating what we've been reading in the last year, but the book group has continued to meet each month and we've got through some interesting reads.

The book we will be reading in February 2015 is Inheritance by Nicholas Shakespeare. Nick wrote the introduction to the book we read in Jan, and we thought we'd give his works a try.

Here's what we've read in the last few months:

Jan - Cakes and Ale by W Somerset Maugham
Dec - Tenth of December by George Saunders
Nov - Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Oct - The 100 Year Old Man Who Jumped Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Sept - He Wants by Alison Moore by Herman Koch
Aug - Summer House with Swimming Pool
July - The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
June - The Sportswriter by Richard Ford

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.