Gratuitous picture of a very lovely cat
An absolutely riotous book group meeting for summer- just when I’d expected everyone to be on their hols a room full of people appear. So many people, indeed, it was almost impossible to squeeze us all in. But despite the slightly cramped conditions, we soldiered on and had one of the most fun meetings for a while, with lots of new faces and a whole evening of freestyle book recommending. It’s endlessly fascinating to find out the books people enjoy and an interesting little window into a person’s soul, sometimes confirming what I already suspected and some times surprising me no end. By the amount of scribbling down titles going on, I think we also found it very helpful in narrowing down some new book choices and providing some interesting suggestions for future book group books. The only downside is I now have an even longer “to-read” list than ever….
Just in case you missed them, here are the recommendations (as far as I remember them):
- “We Need to Talk About Kevin” Lionel Shriver
- “Charlotte Grey” Sebastian Faulkes
- “The Book Thief” Marcus Zuzak
- “The Help” Kathryn Stockett
- Any Michael Connelly book!
- “Diary of a Nobody” George and Weedon Grossmith
- “The Ghost” Richard Harris
- “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society” Mary Ann Shaffer
- “The Lottery and other stories”/ “The Haunting at Hill House” Shirley Jackson
- “Three Cups of Tea” Greg Mortenson
- “The Budda, Geoff and Me” Edward Canfor-Dumas
- “East Lynne” Ellen Wood
- “North East Delights” (local poetry)
- “Against Nature” Joris-Karl Huysmans
- “Sold into Marriage” Sean Boyne and Brigid Tobin
- And Henning Mankell was thoroughly demolished.
Apologies to those I forgot, I know there are a few omissions but I got a bit carried away at some points and must have been too busy talking to write! Also special note to t Raymond’s poetic tribute to Kelly, causing all our new members to think that she spends all her time frolicking around in the nip. Which, lets face it, is pretty close to the truth…
So I just hope the summer spirit will last until next month when we return to our more traditional format and discuss One Day by David Nicholls, a rather gentle and heartwarming beginning to our new season (perfect for taking on holiday). Happy reading and hope to see everyone next month. x
The Sunderland Book Group 