Book Club
Interest Group Contact: PAT CLUNESS.
Send message using our Book Club webmail.
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CURRENT STATUS: JOIN WAITING LIST
Please contact Pat Cluness using the Book Club webmail contact link to go onto a waiting list.
With 3-4 people waiting the Interest Groups Coordinator will be asked to form another group - will require 1 or 2 waiting members to become the Group Contact(s).
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Meeting on: Monthly - usually last Monday in the month.
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Group News and Reviews
Next read: Exactly What You Mean by Ben Hinshaw.
Next Meeting at 2pm Monday 25 March 2024.
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Previous Reads
February 2024:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn by Taylor Jenkins Reid
An unusual book, based on characters in the film industry in Hollywood. Phenomenal egos presented plus explicit sex.
A very mixed reaction from group members from dislike to a good read. No one was anxious to read another book by the same author. I found it very predictable apart from the ending.
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January 2024: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
This book was so illuminating and could be compared to modern day events. It was written during the pandemic but it is about American depression during the 1930s. It was hard to believe the poverty that existed during America’s depression. The dust, the drought, the travelling for work.
There were state benefits in California but only after a year. People lived in the most appalling conditions. The main character was strong and resilient. She had a bad relationship with her teenage daughter - again comparable to modern times all over the world. When they eventually got a dwelling on a cotton farm, they were unbelievably exploited. Some comparisons with slave labour could be made.
The 2nd World War seemed to bring some sort of ending to the terrible situations that people lived under.
Disappointing ending. Descriptions of scenes contained too many adjectives. Apart from these points, a very enjoyable book. This view was shared by whole group. An easy reader that was hard to put down.
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November 2023: A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe.
This book covers the Aberfan disaster and in particular a newly qualified embalmer. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all members, and was also profoundly moving. Thoroughly recommended.
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October 2023: rescheduled for November 2023.
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September 2023: Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
It was based in U.S.A. And the main characters were a brother and sister. The mother also took a main part. The mother was a radical freedom fighter. The daughter was a wedding planner and the brother was a politician and they were Puerto Rican.
A peculiar read. Most members found it hard going and had to force themselves to do the reading. One did not like it at all. There were absorbing bits which were enjoyable. My problem was “is this a love story or a political drama.” It certainly did not encourage any of us to seek another novel by the same author.
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August 2023: The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
We’ve had our usual meeting as and it was lovely as we were all able to attend. We had read The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. This was about five women who had been killed during Jack the Ripper’s time. This story has been recounted hundreds of times and we were all aware of that. However, this book gripped us all.
The author had obviously researched the subject extremely well and there were historical aspects that reminded us of the times these people lived in. The author summed up the stories very well indeed. These women had the odds stacked against them, including poverty, poor living conditions, etc. but the main problem they had was being female. The narrative was refreshing as it was straightforward and the author not stray into using the story as trivia/fun as is seen in many versions.
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July 2023: Two books this month
No one is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
It was about internet living and damaged thinking - whatever that means. I personally had to look up a synopsis to try to understand what I was reading - no joy there. On discussion, these were the words the whole group used: Baffling; Incomprehensible drivel; Rubbish; Couldn’t bear it.
These words describe a book shortlisted for Booker prize 2021 and nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021!
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
Again I had to search the internet to understand what I was reading - an account of a dystopian society where parents have their children taken away from them for various misdemeanors and are retrained using lifelike dolls.
These are the group comments: Difficult but readable; Could understand desperation of mothers; Exposed questions about what constitutes a good mother; Characters dredged up.
Hoping that next book is more acceptable
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May 2023: A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Blackman
Five enjoyed the novel and one thought it was all right. One group member had sent her review by email so had 6 reviews.
Most thought the book funny and charming. Surprising in places. Ove spends his days enforcing rules and regulations that only he cares about, and visiting his wife’s grave. He obviously dearly loved her and misses her intensely. He was forced into a relationship with neighbours who were kind and cared for him. This changed his life. We all (mostly) loved this book.
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April 2023: Thirty Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani.
A strange book but it had funny parts. Not laugh out loud and certainly not hilarious.
An Asian lass with a lovely boyfriend, a dearly loved brother and a loved mother had a relationship, which was challenging at times. Very westernised. The girl’s mother was very interested in knowing “the right people in society”. The brother was extremely ill with clinical depression. The boyfriend was lovely but was "let go”.
I did not dislike this novel at all but I certainly did not “adore” it or find it PERFECT.
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March 2023: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin.
I didn’t understand this novel AT ALL. Man moves from USA to Europe, forms relationship with another man, then gets back with his female fiancée, but still in love with previous man.
Very hard to read, so it was fortunate that it was short. This view shared by members present and one who sent a written report. The Guardian said it was “Exquisite, a fear of fire-breathing, imaginative daring”. Oh dear.
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February 2023: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.
Very mixed feelings about this book. Some found it thought provoking and others really disliked it finding it to be very difficult to read.
An area of USA had been affected by nuclear fallout and had formed another society run entirely by men. Women were only of use for childbearing and subjected to very harsh regimes. Lots of women had been made infertile by radiation so their partners had been forced to use others to reproduce.
I think it is worth reading but this was disputed by quite a few.
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January 2023: Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendes
I re-read a review, one which said it was a raw look at black citizens in the states and also in Britain. I do accept I should have read the reviews much more carefully.
I have given each member’s comments.
- Me. I ended up retching and gagging at the sexual descriptions which for me were far too explicit and graphic.
- Could have been a good story without the sex.
- Repulsive
- Take two thirds out and it could be a good story.
- Patois (local French dialect) difficult to penetrate.
- Absolute rubbish.
I know we will be judged as a group of old ladies with no street cred but so be it. At the library, I laughed out loud when I saw one librarian trying to find “the good bits”.
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Book reviews: These are available on the page above and/or select on the right hand column on this page.