Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

A book group meeting seems a good way to say goodbye to a house, Susie has sold her house and is moving to Maidenhead although we hope she still can travel back to Reading for book group :-)

We liked this book, quite a lot.  Kidnappers storm the Vice-Presidents house in the middle of a party hoping to take hostage the President and have their demands for poor people of the small Latin American country (never named) and free political prisoners.  Unfortunately it all goes wrong and the kidnappers end up holding a group of about 50 men (and one woman) for several months.  The plot line was excellent but the real story is in the relationships between the main characters, how the rich party guests come to learn from and like their keepers and how tragedy brings people together.

Concept: 9/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Cover: 7/10
Page Turner: 8/10
Who to Slap: The Accompanist (lacklustre effort of dying in the name of love)
Where's the Cheese: The weird soap opera which keeps popping up

Overall: 8.5/10

We chose the next book from:

• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (I know this was proposed last time)
• The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric
• These Hidden Things by Heather Gudenkauf
• Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

We randomly chose 'The Song of Achilles' by Madeline Miller which we will be reading for our May meeting.

Our next meeting will be at Copa Bar on Wednesday 10th April at 8pm.