Books Read in 2022
These are the books read by the group in 2022
December Meeting
This month we discussed “A rising man “by Abir Mukherjee.
This book wasn’t what we would normally read as it was a detective story, set in India, in 1919.
The book was well researched and had a wonderful sense of place. The characters were well written and the story well told. This is his first book and he has since gone on to write several more.
We combined the meeting with our Christmas lunch at The Waterside café at Bow Garden Centre, which was enjoyed by those who came.
November Meeting
For a November book group we read Another life by Jodi Chapman.
Here is the review from one of our members:-
When I saw the tagline for this book “this is not a love story, this is a story about love“ I thought “oh lawks, Mills and Boon. I am happy to have been proved wrong. Although the intensity of some of the characters was occasionally challenging, I enjoyed the book very much. The story was well told and I particularly liked the delivery of the shock elements.
There are characters in the story that people can identify with for sure. Most families will have dealt with at least some of the issues raised. Early death, distant father, depression, young love and mixed religion relationships to name but a few. The character of Anna was clearly based on the author who acknowledges her own struggles with having been brought up a Jehovah’s Witness.
The book travels to different time zones which became a little bit annoying after a while but apart from this it was quite an enjoyable read.
October Meeting
This month the book group read “This Lovely City” by Louise Hare. Our second book about immigrants arriving and living in London after the war. The plot is essentially a murder mystery but this is combined with the racism and austerity suffered by the Windrush generation. An interesting book, of the two books we have read on the subject we preferred this one, but I think we will be happy to move on to a different topic in our next book “Another Life” by Jodie Chapman.
September Meeting
The book we read for the September meeting was All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle.
Some of our members loved it, some of our members hated it. Described as a heartwarming story about the power of community it had many themes:- loneliness, race, ageing, drugs, death, family, friendship. With a very surprising plot twist towards the end of the book. I guess this is a bit like marmite with some wanting more, but the majority were not inclined to read another of his many books.
August Meeting
This month we discussed The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna. A powerful novel about the indelible effects of war and the memories which stir beneath the silence of a quiet Croatian town. We loved the writing and the way the story unfolded slowly through the book. Everyone enjoyed this book and I will certainly be looking to read more by this author.
July Meeting
This month we discussed “The Motion of the Body through space “ by Lionel Shriver.
Said to be a dry and witty observation of a long marriage, of ageing, of the need to belong, and of the obsession that drives ordinary people to take on extraordinary fitness challenges. This book got a very mixed response from the groups but it inspired various topics which we discussed at length.
June Meeting
This month we discussed Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers. A story inspired by an article on woman’s hour about virgin birth.
It starts with a newspaper article about the 1957 Lewisham train disaster and follows the life of a journalist investigating the claim of a Virgin birth and her relationship with the family involved. An interesting read enjoyed by most of the group.
May Meeting
This month we read All the light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
It is the story of Marie-Laure a blind French girl and Werner Pfenning, a young German boy whose paths are destined to collide in the chaos of World War ll France.
Although it is a long book, it is beautifully written. The characters are well described and you can feel their hopes for the future and the frustrations of war. I think that having lived through a covid pandemic we were very sympathetic to the isolation of the characters. Some of us felt that the ending was little disappointing. On the whole, the book was enjoyed by most of our members.
April meeting
This month our book groups discussed "The Girl with the Louding Voice" by Abi Daré.
This is the story of a fourteen year old girl growing up in a village in Nigeria. The themes of this book are child marriage, trafficking and slavery but despite this, it was, for most of us, a very enjoyable read. The book is full of humour, the characters are well written and the story takes the reader on a journey which is uncomfortable at times.
March Meeting
This months book was The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. The story of a couple who loose everything and decide to walk the entire length of the South West Coast Path. He is also diagnosed with a terminal illness. It’s a journey that changes their lives There are some lovely descriptions of places along the way and living close by, many of us recognised the places she was describing having walked them ourselves.
The book deals with the issue of homelessness and the attitudes of people to the homeless. I guess it will make us all think twice next time we walk past a homeless person.
Feb Meeting
This month we discussed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Described as “Its a wonderful life” for the modern age, there were very mixed opinions in the group. A bit like marmite, some loved it and some didn’t. One point in its favour was that it was short and easy to read so even if you didn’t enjoy it you hadn’t wasted too much of your time by reading it! Some people thought it was one of the best books they had read.
January meeting
For our January book group meeting we discussed The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. It deals with the flight of refugees from Aleppo to England. A book about love and loss, it certainly opened our eyes to the plight of refugees today. It was good to have an informed discussion and I’m sure it has made some of us more sympathetic to asylum seekers.
December’s book Group discussed Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. This is a book telling the stories of the life of twelve characters, mainly black, mostly women, living in London, whose lives are intertwined and finally brought together by one main event which rounds off the novel.
Opinions of the writing style were divided but we had an excellent discussion of the interesting topics covered in the book.First Meeting
The first meeting of the u3a book group took place last Tuesday in the library. We discussed Hamnet written by Maggie O’Farrell. A novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright, exploring the themes of grief and loss, the bond between twins and bringing to life the characters that surrounded Shakespeare and his family. We all agreed that this is a book we would recommend.