This was our second read of a Terry Pratchett, and again feelings were mixed. Comedy is such an individual thing – some found it hilarious (the footnotes are something special – and you miss these on the kindle edition), others found it mildly amusing. One comment was that he tries too hard. Wyrd Sisters is […]
Archive | Book Club
Book review – Complete short stories of Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway — short stories — acknowledged master of the genre — Nobel prize winner. Let’s just say that he didn’t float the boat for most of us. I guess we should have expected it and maybe the choice wasn’t great given the times we are living in, but so many of the stories are macho […]
Book review – The great alone
I struggled to get into ‘The Great Alone’ by Kirstin Hannah’ however the rest of the group had all enjoyed it – it was a story that moved with pace with much packed in. The comment was ‘What else can possibly go wrong for them’. The story is told from Leni’s perspective – at the […]
Book Review – Keeping the world away
‘Keeping the world away’ follows the life of a painting from creation through the hands of various owners – all women. The painting Margaret Forster has selected as the basis for the book is a real one – a simple sunlight interior – painted by Gwyn John, the sister of the painter Augustus John – […]
Book review: The Clockmaker’s Daughter
Kate Morton’s book ‘The clockmaker’s daughter’ is something of a door stopper – and the considered view was that she could have cut down on a few of the strands of her story without losing the essential plot – there are multiple characters across multiple time strands all drawn to Birchwood Manor, the house at […]
Book review: Once upon a river
‘Once upon a river’ was a magical, fairy-tale read – Diane Setterfield’s storytelling is powerful and allows you to suspend disbelief. Set in the nineteenth century on the upper Thames it starts at the winter solstice, and whilst the regulars at The Swan are entertaining themselves by telling stories the door bursts open and in […]
Book review: Where the crawdads sing
‘Where the crawdads sing’ was an engaging read. Delia Owens has created a memorable character in Kya and the detail in her writing conjures the North Carolina marshes and their wildlife in exquisite detail. The story combines a murder investigation woven into the account of Kya, abandoned by her family, growing up in the marshes […]
Book review: The silver dark sea
‘The silver dark sea’ by Susan Fletcher is a tale set on the island of Parla, a remote community a two hour ferry trip from the mainland. Although it isn’t made explicit it has the feel of a Scottish island. The islanders are struggling to come to terms with the drowning of Tom Bundy when […]
Book Review – The Stories
We hadn’t read any short stories previously so Jane Gardam’s collection ‘The Stories’ was a departure for us. Gardam’s writing is lovely – full of detail and gentle humour and great insight. The stories are very English although covering a range of genres (domestic, fantasy, end of Empire) and settings (Yorkshire, Wimbledon, Hong Kong, Malta) […]
Book review – The Century Girls
The Century Girls by Tessa Dunlop was published to coincide with the anniversary of the first votes for women in this country. It interweaves the stories of six very different women mainly born during WW1 who have celebrated their 100th birthdays in the last few years and gives a fascinating insight into the impact of […]
Book review – The Baltimore Boys
We all enjoyed ‘The Baltimore Boys’ by Joel Dicker. It was originally written in French, but it still feels very rooted in its setting. It tells the tale of 3 boys – cousins Marcus and Hillel and Hillel’s adopted brother Woody – all told from the perspective of Marcus, now a writer. It as easy […]
Book Review: The Goldfinch
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is a very readable tale – despite the length (it definitely qualifies as a door stopper). It has been described as Dickensian – there is an immense amount of beautifully written detail capturing atmosphere and character. Tartt describes place in a deftly chosen collage of images time and again. The […]
