March meeting (Burial Rites); May book (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)

Hi all. We met in Lady Jane's garden on a perfect day, with Princess Stella, Lady Margaret Hayes, Lady Susan Wood, the Crown Princess Margaret, The Lady Rosalind, The Hon Patricia (Bunty) Strauss and her sister in law Elizabeth, the Maharani of Bonnells Bay. The champagne was by appointment, poured by Sir Keith himself. Cook managed a wonderful feast of ripe cheeses and oat crackers, with a rich rum chocolate cake to follow. What fun!

Seriously, Sue reported in on Clare who is in palliative care, with her son Jonathan in attendance until tomorrow. We were in awe of her organisation and command of the situation. She knew it was book day and that we would be discussing Burial Rites.

Jane was able to share a book and great photos of a trip to Iceland a few years ago, with landscapes and houses like those in the novel. The book was greatly appreciated by all of us. The main idea was 'doing the right thing'.  Agnes was a flawed heroine but most of the characters showed growth throughout the story - even Toti, who disappointed some by not being the one to hear Agnes' story at the end. Margret, the mother was the key, setting the tone. Others thought it fitting that she was the one to hear the story.

We spent time casting the film based on the book - but heard that the film is already in production.

The May book is to be The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, at Stella's place. I have the April meeting - on the long weekend - when we look at the Evie Wyld. We have some apologies already, with Jane, Sue E, and Maggie all travelling. But looks like we will still have a quorum. See you then.

PS

February meeting - April Book

Hi to Clare, Moy, Maggie and Liz who weren't able to be at Margaret's place for the meeting today. We used the round table technique again, revealing that only Margaret has read the book right through - and even she admitted to skimming some pages. Sue W and Ros performed very strategic scans focusing on 'The Golden Notebook' section. (I scanned too after dutifully reading 13% of the book.) They declared the book interesting - but that view wasn't generally shared by those who had tried to read right through from beginning to end. Repetitious, boring - those words were spoken round the table. We had lots to talk about though  - the characters, the structure, the politics, the reception of the book in its day, the prefaces, Lessing's other work...

The discussion about the next book didn't take long as we agreed to read All the Birds, Singing, by Evie Wyld, which has been on our back burner for a little while. That will be at my place on the Anzac day long weekend.

Next time, March, we will be at Jane's place, reading Burial Rites by Hannah Kent.

Sue E will be an apology for March, April and May so I hope she will participate remotely! She has some good news by the way!

Thanks to Margaret for lovely lumberjack cake and chocolate brownie, served on a heritage cloth. Thanks also to Pat R for a contribution of nashi pears for all, picked in her mountains garden that very morning. There are some hard acts to follow in the bookgroup.

Cheers
Pat

January meeting, March book

January meeting was at Ros's place, with a good roll-up, missing Sue E and Liz but otherwise all in attendance. The book was The Namesake by Jhumpa Lampiri. At Sue W's suggestion, we took turns to comment around the table, before opening discussion to the floor. This was deemed a most satisfactory addition to our afternoon's deliberations, to become standard practice in the future. The book was well-received, an easy to read coming of age story for a young man straddling 2 cultures. We liked the way it referred to Gogol's story 'The Overcoat' which added depth. Several of us had sought it out to clarify its relationship to the story.

We voted for the annual best/ worst books of 2013. Everyone agreed that the winner shouldn't really have been The Rosie Project - but 3 people voted for it as their most enjoyable, fun read of the year, and other favourites were split across a range of excellent novels. One person put The Rosie Project as their worst book! We had a fair amount of agreement that the worst book as Claire Messud's The Woman Upstairs, not that it was terrible, but this was a strong year.

The March book is to be Hannah Kent's Burial Rites after quite a bit of discussion and shows of hands. Other contenders were a new novel, All the Birds, Singing by Edie Wyld and Life after Life by Kate Atkinson. We've had a few instances of people reading the wrong book so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned them. Forget them, it's to be Burial Rites. That meeting will be at Jane's home.

The next meeting is at Margaret Lackenby's house at Kirribilli, on 23 February so we don't have long to read The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing.

November 2013 meeting and February 2014 book

Hi all - we missed Sue E, Jane and Pat R at Long Jetty today, as we celebrated with a Christmas lunch meeting, catered beautifully by Moy. Ham and Turkey with gorgeous salads, washed down with plenty of bubbly and topped off by a gloriously sinful cheesecake.

Yes, we did talk about the book, American Rust, by Philipp Meyer. Depressing but not as depressing an end as might have been expected. For those who haven't finished it, definitely worth it. Strong characterisations and some wonderful descriptive writing about the beautiful American countryside, as it reclaims the industrial rustbelt of Pennsylvania. Ros filled up her page with comments quite easily even the group was easily sidetracked onto a great range of other topics!

Next book is of course The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, and we will skip December as usual and meet on 26 January (even though it's Australia Day) at Ros's place.

March book is at Margaret Lackenby's place at Kirribilli. Book is The Golden Notebook, in honour of its author, Doris Lessing, who passed away during the month.

October meeting - January book.

Wonderful get together at Maggie's place with a spirited discussion, because we were divided in our response to the book, The Woman Upstairs. Margaret L  told us that even the author, Clare Messud, didn't like the protagonist. Margaret heard her speak at the Writers Festival where she said she had written a most unlikeable lead character. However, some of us rather liked her and saw in her quite a bit of ourselves and our good friends. And even those who had reservations about the character found the book to be quite well written, within the narrow point of view. Lively meeting. Great cake. Clare managed to get to book group, although jet lagged after a 3 week trip to London and thereabouts. Good rollup.

A reminder that the November book is American Rust - that's the one by Philippe Meyer. It is at Moy's and because its our Christmas meeting, it will commence earlier than usual, and Moy will provide lunch. that will be 24th November from 11.30am. Thanks Moy. We will car pool to get to the Central Coast. Hope everyone can come.

The January book will be The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Jhumpa won the Pulitzer prize for an earlier collection of stories, and was shortlisted for her most recent book for the Booker prize. For ease of availability, we have chosen her earlier work, also well received.

September's Summary

Hello Ladies
I have now had a refresher from Pat for achieving a blog entry. So better late than never to summarize September’s book group discussion on The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson. However just before I go on I would like to mention that we did appreciate Stella’s round up of the Organ Master’s Son, the book she read instead of the former. It sounded like a less controversial read Stella.
First comments on the prescribed read were, it was confusing, tedious, lacked consistency and a bit jumpy. The booked worked in some ways in that it brought up the issue of human rights and the atrocities purported to be carried out in North Korea. A question raised was on what authority did the author speak? It’s difficult to know. A consensus reached was that the book was sinister and brought back memories of books read in the 80’s even if half of what the author wrote is true it was indeed traumatic. The agreed genre was political dystopia, comedic and satirical. Sue W and Clare thought the book warranted the Pulitzer, no one else did.
As Pat S has said, November’s book is American Rust by Philipp Meyer, October’s meeting is at my home.
Cheers,
Maggie

September meeting - November book

News from Ros re the September meeting which I was unable to attend, being in Japan - and too much to do to connect in by Skype - or even read the book, I have to admit.

However, I gather there was a lively mixed reaction - always good - and that the November book is to be American Rust by Phillip Meyer. October meet is at Maggie's place you will recall, for the Clare Messud, which I had better read quick start or be drummed out of the group.

Look forward to a good roll-up and the usual great discussion.
Patricia

August meeting: October book

Today we met at Sue Wood's place, so many people we had to put the folding table to work! Sue had catered magnificently and we all enjoyed the Leichhardt Ricotta Cake in particular.

Most were positive about the book Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud. A novel made up of a series of stories, loosely linked by the presence of Olive, but a big cast of well drawn characters. Liz didn't like the small town claustrophobia of the setting. We agreed that Olive herself wasn't entirely a likeable character, but do we alway want to read about nice people! Some great writing.

The October book will be Claire Messud's The Woman Upstairs. Margaret has read it and liked it, so there is high praise.

Remember that the September book group meeting is at Stella's place, and the book is The Orphan Masters Son by Adam Johnston.

Cheers from Patricia

July Meeting at Jane's - September book will be The Orphan Master's Son at Stella's place
We managed to have an almost perfect attendance record today - just Pat R who is travelling and Liz who is welcoming a traveller couldn't be there. Three - yes 3 - new babies! A grandson for Sue W, and two new granddaughters to Maggie. Congratulations to all. We marvelled at the lovely foodstuffs they have at Wollstonecraft - beautiful charcuterie spread! And a yummy cake too.

Didn't get to The Reluctant Fundamentalist till 3pm as a result - too much to tell. But when we got there, we had much to admire about this pithy book in the form of a dramatic monologue.
A few of us had seen the film too and liked it too, but it was of necessity less subtle than the book.

The next book is the Pulitzer Prize winner - a recent one - The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson, set in North Korea.

We have worked out the places for the new few book group meetings:

August - Sue W - Olive Kitteridge
September - Stella O'R - The Orphan Master's Son
October - Maggie H - TBA
November - Moy - TBA

Cheers to all
Pat

June Meeting; August book

Thanks to you all for coming to my place today for book group. I thought The Rosie Project was fun. Not everyone liked it - and it was lightweight - but still it gave us plenty to talk about. Most of us did the quiz to see which character we are like - there were lots of Claudias and a few Dons! Those who weren't there can check it out at:

http://quiz.therosieproject.com.au/character.html

The important thing - the next book... It is Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud, a Pulitzer Prize Winner from a few years ago.

Next book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, will be at Jane's place, and the one after, in August, at Sue Woods. See you next month.

May meeting and July book
Today we met at Clare's, feasted on lovely food in Clare's elegant dining room and created conversational chaos! Missed Margaret in Canberra, Moy on the Coast, and Pat who is en route to Iran, and Liz  - come next time if you can (Maggie can't I know)!

Today's book was Elizabeth Harrower's The Watch Tower. We found so much to talk about! It wasn't universally liked - Sue Woods loved it enough to read it twice. Jane didn't like it very much at all. We all HATED Felix Shaw, the male protagonist, and wondered where Elizabeth H. found that character - in her life or in her imagination? Our research showed that all her writing seems to focus on controlling men and trapped women - except where women are the controlling characters, ruining the lives of other women. Indeed the mother in The Watch Tower was a pretty awful character. The writing was excellent - 'austere, intelligent, ruthless in its perceptions...'. It was published in 1966 - how did we miss it all this time?  I have the job of writing to Elizabeth Harrower and asking her to a meeting -yes, she is still alive and lives in Sydney.

Next book is The Rosie Project at my place on 30 June - and then on July 28th, we read The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid at Jane's place.

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.

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.

Booksnthings: October 2012 meeting, January 2013 book.Lovely da...

Booksnthings: October 2012 meeting, January 2013 book.
Lovely da...: October 2012 meeting, January 2013 book. Lovely day at Sue W's place, lively discussion of Hemingway's The Moveable Feast , comparing the 2...

Ladies
I have now attended 4 of the Book Club meetings and I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  I felt a little nervous at the meeting on Sunday when Pat S handed me the hallowed note book and told me to scribe. Apparently it is the person whose home is designated next month's venue to write the notes on the discussion of the day.  Re-reading my notes - I am sure I haven't summarized very  well the great discussion on EH's book and I can hardly read my own writing.  My excuse is that its was my first time and I almost never write these days, not even Christmas cards, but use my computer to type everything.  So apologies, I will endeavour to do better next time.
With kind regards to all,
Maggie

October 2012 meeting, January 2013 book.
Lovely day at Sue W's place, lively discussion of Hemingway's The Moveable Feast, comparing the 2 published versions and discussing the many drafts. We had the Paris Wife version of the story to refer to as well. And Sue and I had had a recent look at The Sun also Rises as well. We were very pleased that we had taken the time for a look at this ground-breaking writer, and think about the importance of this time in art and literature, and of Paris.

Stella - you will be pleased to hear that Pappa's had run out of Ricotta cheesecake, so you didn't miss out. But you did miss out on the yummy apple tart that replaced it.

Maggie took notes because the November book is at her place  and Ken is heading off to Namibia to get out of the way - Ken, really you didn't have to!

No meeting in December as usual. The January meeting will look at The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert, which has been in the news as one it's 3 stories is the basis for the recent Cate Shortland movie, Lore. I've read the book and seen the movie and am recommending it far and wide - though it was Sue W's suggestion. Sue E volunteered to host in January.
Cheers Pat

September meeting at Sue E's and November book.

I was an apology for the meeting, but I have a report from Ros. The November book - on my recommendation, apparently - is The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, at Maggie's place.  I did rave about the book based on the first 3rd, before the plot developed a life of its own, so I will have to be responsible. I enjoyed it to the end but in the cool clear light of day, I fear that it is not going to win the Booker Prize. It touches on lots of ideas that interest me. There are no cowboys. I have a copy to share anyway.

Ros also said there was a suggestion that we could read The Sun also Rises as well as The Moveable Feast at the October meeting, which will be held at Sue W's place. There was a review in the SMH Traveller today of a Spanish restaurant we might visit as part of our research!

Cheers
Patricia

August meeting. October book

Lovely meeting at Jane's place at Wollstonecraft. Six of us there and we made up for  smaller numbers with energetic discussion. Lots to say about the book Beyond the Shallows - quite an achievement by a very young writer. We will hear more from her.

Next meeting is at Sue Ellyard's place, when we look at The Paris Wife.

Then the October meeting, we will do a Hemingway: A Moveable Feast.

Venue TBC for October.

Regards
Patricia