The first title that the group chose was  a big book with lots to discuss. An American Southern Baptist takes his wife and four daughters off to Africa as missionaries. The book is narrated by the four girls in turns, each adding their own unique viewpoint to the telling of the tale. For some reason, I remember not liking it that much, even though the rest of the group loved it. I think I should maybe re-read it - sometimes I think you just have to be in the right kind of mood to appreciate some books.


Unless - Carol Shields


This book I loved. The central character, Rita, is a forty-something writer coping with being a mother and a wife and a daughter as well as having a career, when her teenage daughter inexplicably starts living on the street and not speaking. I loved the beautiful writing style and felt totally drawn to and empathetic toward Rita. I had never read anything by Carol Shields before - I'm so glad the group introduced me to her. I've since read and loved The Stone Diaries and Larry's Party. Carol Shields wrote Unless after she'd been diagnosed with cancer, and she died soon afterwards, in 2004.



The Star of The Sea - Joseph O'Connor

The Star of The Sea is the name of a ship traveling from Ireland to America in 1847. The book follows the stories of various crew members and passengers from first class to steerage. All their stories are somehow intermingled and connected, like the cast of a Dickens novel. I did enjoy this book, and it got a general thumbs up from the whole group. Joseph O'Connor (brother of the famous Sinead O'Connor) has just released a new book called Redemption Falls.



The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon

I loved this book too. Told from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy with Asperger's syndrome, it is very readable and funny as well as being quite deep and meaningful. It was also fascinating to me to get into the mind of somebody with Asperger's as I have a nephew with this condition.

The story of an American civil war soldier, Inman, who deserts by walking out of hospital and across America to return to his home and the girl he left behind. Meanwhile the girl, Ada, has troubles of her own after her dad died leaving her alone. I very much enjoyed this book, although I found myself wishing the passages about Inman would hurry up and end so I could get back to Ada and her friend and helper, the irascible but wonderful Ruby.



 Dubliners - James Joyce


I have to admit that I found it a real struggle getting through Dubliners. I think I was alone in this, the others in the group raved about how much they love Joyce. Perhaps it's because I'm the only one who grew up outside Ireland, because the characters that Joyce portrayed all seemed to evoke memories of grandparents or other people known to the other group members, but not really to me. And I'm told that  Dubliners, being a series of short stories, is easier to read than other books by James Joyce. I shudder to think.




Buddha Da - Anne Donovan

You nearly have to read this book out loud to get a grip on the Glaswegian dialect, but it's worth persevering. A middle aged Scottish painter and decorator, his wife, and his teen-aged daughter, all tell in their own words what happens to the family when 'Da' decides to embrace Buddhism. It's funny and heartbreaking and thought provoking.







The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad


This book gives a fascinating account of life in Afghanistan at a normal family level. It is a book that I felt I learned a lot from, and I'm glad I read it, but it is not up there with my favourite books. This is maybe because the style was more journalistic than artistic, which I guess is because the book is written by a journalist who had lived in the country and researched the characters. I don't know why I prefer fiction to non-fiction so much. Maybe because life seldom works out quite so poetically as art.

I had never heard of Rose Tremain before the book group read The Colour, and I instantly fell in love with her. Her writing is like belgian chocolate - smooth and divine, and more-ish. I've read several more  of her books now and love them all. The colour is set in New Zealand's gold rush and it's a harsh and sad tale, but unlike some of the people who reviewed in on Amazon, I found myself totally connecting with the main character, Harriet.  The scenes near the end with Chen, 'the china-man' were so beautiful - and that thing he did with her feet had us book group ladies giggling like schoolgirls!

I had been quite a closet fan of Robbie Williams - until I read Feel.This is the only one of all the book group books before or since that I haven't managed to finish. In fact the only member of the group that did finish it was new and thought we'd be cross with her if she didn't. It is dire. I know celebrities have a hard time with the media and what not (bless 'em) but poor Robbie just comes across as a self centered child telling tales about how everyone is being mean to him. I didn't find the writing engaging or interesting. I don't like to be critical, but I really can't find anything good to say about this book.



The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger


Henry has a genetic condition that makes him hop somewhat randomly through time throughout his own lifetime. His story, and that of his wife are told in a chaotic, sometimes funny and increasingly poignant manner. The plot may sound far-fetched but it is told in a such believable way that it seems almost normal. I loved this book. I was gripped and fascinated, and horrified as the ending became more and more inevitable. I wish I'd have written it!



Frankie and Stankie - Barbara Trapido

Frankie and Stankie is about a white girl growing up in South Africa under Apartheid. It was well recieved in the group, although I don't think it was one of my favourites. I can't put my finger on why I don't really love this book. I've read a couple more Trapido books (Juggling and Temples of Delight) which I have enjoyed. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood.






A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

I did like this book. The story of two estranged sisters coping with their 84 year-old widowed father's new 36 year-old girlfriend. Complicated family dynamics tied up with an interesting history and the writer's flair for the comic made this for me a very enjoyable read. I've heard the new book by Marina Lewycka (Two Caravans) doesn't get such good reviews. I still want to read it though.

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

I remembered reading 'Of Mice and Men' at school, and although I knew it was a good book, it hung under the cloud of memories of essays and comprehensions, so when the book club suggested East of Eden, I thought, 'okay, it will do us good, I suppose.' Not long into it though, I realised that here was a book worth reading for sheer enjoyment. Forget education, reading should be a pleasure, and reading East of Eden was just that. An American classic, but with all the life and excitement of modern literature. If you haven't read Steinbeck, give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised. 




Aunt Julia and The Scriptwriter - Mario Vargas Llosa

Once again my opinion differed from the rest of the group's regarding Aunt Julia and the scriptwriter. Most people thought it was a little too strange and unbelievable, but I LOVED it. I think I have a taste for things that are a bit weird, and I'm finding I have a taste for South American books - I also loved 'Like Water for Chocolate' and Louis De Berniers South American Trilogy - the crazy mix of melodrama and magical realism just draws me in. I don't know what that says about me!


The Five People you meet in heaven - Mitch Albom

I read this book while on holiday in Barbados - I guess it would be hard to feel negative about any book read in that idyllic setting. It's quite a short book, and very American in it's feel (which can be a little off-putting for us Brits), but I did really enjoy it. An old man dies saving a little girl from a fair ground accident. He is met in 'heaven' by five people who he had important interactions with during his life, and by meeting them we learn his life story. I cried buckets as I read it, then I read it out loud to my daughter (she was eleven at the time) and I cried buckets again. (Rebecca didn't cry - she gave me an 'oh mum!' withering look).

Stuart - A life backwards - Alexander Masters

This is the story of a homeless man, told by a Cambridge graduate who met him and decided to write about him. It isn't really an easy read,  Stuart, as Alexander Masters points out, can be annoying and frustrating. As we delve into his past though, we gain some understanding and sympathy for his state, and that of some of the other homeless people around him. Being journalistic and not a work of fiction, it wouldn't be my favourite choice as reading matter - but that's just me. The rest of the group loved it.


My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

This is the only Jodi Picoult book I've read, and I was fascinated to read it because its plot is similar to the real-life news story that inspired me to write The Forbidden Room. It's the 'saviour sibling' story - a family that have a second child (or in this case third) in order to extract stem cells to treat their existing sick child. In 'My Sister's Keeper, the child takes her family to court to gain the legal right to stop giving cells to keep her sister alive. There are other sub plots that keep things exciting, and the book has several unexpected twists. I enjoyed the book, although I haven't been inspired to read anything else by Jodi Picoult yet.


The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson

I know I keep going on about how I don't like reading non-fiction, but I am a huge Bill Bryson fan, and it was me who suggested that the book group do 'The Thunderbolt kid' Bill Bryson's memoir of growing up in America in the fifties and sixties. It's a very funny book, and although, as a Brit, the American nostalgia sometimes left me cold, the remembering of childhood and family is fairly universal - we can all wince with embarrasment over the things parents do, or the things we did too when we were kids. I don't think this is my favourite Bill Bryson book ever, but I still really enjoyed it.


Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Once again I was surprised by the spirit and passion in what for some reason I had thought of as a classic and therefore boring. I guess the classics are so called for a reason, and they wouldn't have stood the test of time if they didn't have something special. Wuthering heights is full of passion, as well as some thoroughly nasty people. My enjoyment of the book was helped by the book group having a visiting speaker from the Bronte society who gave a very interesting and informative talk (seriously - not boring at all - I had a great time.) I should revisit more classics.



My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok

This is a fascinating and quite dark book about a boy growing up in a very strict Jewish Hassidic  community. Asher's gift and passion is for art, something that is considered at best a waste of time, and at worst 'from the dark side' by his father and others in the community. It's about family relationships, and the expectations that parent have for their children. It's a book that drew me in and held my attention until I was holding my breath as Asher's parents finally attended one of his art exhibitions with inevitable disastrous results. Now I really want to get my hand on the sequel -'The Gift of Asher Lev' and see what happened next.



Digging to America - Anne Tyler

This is the first Anne Tyler book I've read. It's about two families in America, one true blue all-American family, the other first generation Iranian immigrants, who adopt Korean babies and meet up every year to celebrate the arrival of the children. There's a lot about acceptance and belonging and cultural tradition. I didn't hate the book, but I didn't really love it either. If I saw another Anne Tyler book going cheap somewhere, I would probably buy it and read it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to seek her out on the strength of Digging To America.



A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

I loved this book! I found it a real page-turner from beginning to end. It was very harrowing at times, but not gratuitously, and I felt huge sympathy for the two main women protagonists - trapped in an abusive marriage in war torn Afghanistan, where women's rights just didn't exist. Plus I found the ending satisfying . (I loved The Kite Runner too). I think everyone in the group enjoyed the book, although one or two members found it a bit too harrowing, and might have given up on it for that reason if it wasn't our book group read.



The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan

I was really looking forward to reading The Joy Luck Club, because I had listened to The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan as an audiobook, and loved it. We did enjoy this book as a group (those of us who'd read it) but we also all found it quite hard to follow the stories of eight different women and remember who was who and who was related to whom. Still, there were lots of things to talk about with the mother-daughter issues raised, and the things that seemed to be unique to the Chinese culture, but that actually had parallels in our own culture and experience. On the whole we felt positive about the book, but felt the movie might be easier to follow.




For One More Day - Mitch Albom

I find Mitch Albom's style a bit overly sentimental (although it still draws me in and makes me cry) but I did actually enjoy this book more than I thought I would, in spite of its sentimentality, and the author's obvious obsession with death and regret.
I liked the way the book forced the main character to understand his relationship with his daughter better after reliving his experiences with his mother.

This book is set in Belfast and written by a local TV and radio personality and writer. It's a fairly light and fun book, and it was nice reading about places that are familiar to me. The style reminded me a bit of Alexander McCall Smith's Edinburgh books. I enjoyed the book - I felt quickly drawn into it, and felt for the characters. It was also an interesting look at the ideas of class and self worth.  My only negative comment is that I thought the

Creatures of The Earth - John McGahern

The Road Home - Rose Tremain

 This is the story of an Eastern European immigrant coming to England to earn money to send home to his daughter and ageing mother. As usual Rose Tremain writes with easy beauty, and The Road Home got a thumbs up from everyone who attended book group this month. We all liked it, especially the descriptions of food and cooking. We found the character of Lev very complex and sometimes hard to like, although we wondered how much of that was because of how our cultural ideas of the way people should behave differred from his. I personally still prefer The Colour by Rose Tremain, but The Road Home is definitely worth a read.

The Outcast - Sadie Jones

I missed book group on the night that this book was discussed, so I can only say what I thought of it. I found it very readable - it was one of those books that had me so gripped that I had to bring it about with me all day so I could snatch a few minutes reading whenever I could. I really felt for the main character, Lewis, and I loved the way that Kit felt about him, and I wanted to hit the people who treated him so badly, although I did want to tell him to control himself better at times too. I thought both Lewis and Kit's fathers were evil, but I did chat to one of the other book group ladies about it, and she thought Lewis's dad had a hard time too, and was trying his best in the circumstances. Hmmm, maybe.