Sunday, April 28, 2013

April meeting - June Book
We had a great meeting at Ros's place, with lots of conversation about Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. A rich and complex book to discuss, framed entirely through the voice of the narrator, the Reverend John Ames. The extent of his unreliability as an informant was debated.  It was a topic that raised many others, and we can now read another version of the events in the book, if we read Robinson's book Home, singing Verdi and Pat R getting ready for a big trip.

Our June book was decided from several contenders - including Kate Atkinson, Life after Life, Toni Jordan's Nine Days and Drusilla Modjeska's The Mountain. None of these got the nod this time, it's to be Graeme Simsion's current bestseller, The Rosie Project at my place in June. Clare's place in May.

Friday, April 19, 2013

March 2013
I missed this one, at Stella's place, but am told that Middlemarch proved hard work for some people.
The May book was decided - a 1960s Australian publication that is having another lease of life - The Watch Tower by Elizabeth Harrower and that will be at Clare's place. Ok I'm up to date now. See you at Ros's place for Gilead at the end of April.
February 2013 - Dear Life by Alice Munro
This was another winner, and prompted a very lively discussion and it wasn't just that we related to the well-told stories that dealt with ageing. We don't always do well with short stories, but these worked well.
The April book was decided - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.



January 2013
Still catching up  - I missed the discussion of The Dark Room by Rachael Seiffert, a collection of 3 stories linked in theme. I'm sorry I missed it because I loved these stories, and I hear that was pretty much the unanimous view.  The March book was set - George Elliot's Middlemarch as our annual classic.
November 2012
I've been hopelessly remiss with keeping the blog up to date so will do a quick catch up.
November book at Maggie's place was The Garden of Evening Mists. Ken didn't go to Namibia after all as he was recuperating from an injury! Maggie did a great job as first time host, and the discussion was lively, even if the book was flawed. The places and themes it covered resonated with many of us.
We decided on the February book - Dear Life by Alice Munro, a book of short stories.