June Meeting

Thursday 11th June - Warwick Arms Pub, Reading

Thanks to everyone who came to this months meeting, 6 of us met in a very quiet Warwick Arms (makes a nice change) to discuss this months book 'The Story of Forgetting' by Stefan Merrill Block.

Thanks to Mary and Ros who brought some discussion questions which we kind of stuck to. We liked the symbolism of Isidora, a world were people forgot everything and it was a good thing, also when memories and speech came to Isidora at the same time Seth was doing his research and what the impact of both of these had on the inhabitants. We felt that Jamie's regression to childhood reflected the fact that that was when she was most happy, before her parents died and her uncle decided (on the day of the funeral!) to tell her he was her real Dad. We were split in deciding whether Abel was actually her Dad and whether they both new this by the onset of her illness. Most of us would want to know whether we had a disease like this which cut short your life at 35-40.

And all of us wanted to slap Seth's Dad for being generally useless.

Result: 2 people liked this book, 1 person was undecided.

We chose our next book from the following:

• Rabbit, Run - John Updike
• The Truth About Melody Brown - Lisa Jewell
• The Island - Victoria Hislop
• A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
• The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje

We chose 'The Truth About Melody Brown' by Lisa Jewell.

The next meeting will be in the Warwick Arms, Thursday 9th July at 7:30pm. Can whoever proposed 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things' bring some discussion questions and can everyone bring a review of something they'd like to read?

To follow on about the discussion we've been having about borrowing books en masse from the library, Mary very kindly investigated this for us and we have to be even more organised to reserve the books we want. Our next book is not available until next year. I would suggest that if we wanted to borrow books then we need to pick a few from the library list and see when they are available. Then we can slot them into our book reading year. After a long discussion it was decided that this was more hassle than it was worth and that we would see how we go choosing books on a month by month basis. Most of the books we choose are available to borrow from the library on a personal basis anyway, so members don't have to buy a new book every month.

We also discussed going to see an open air theatre performance this summer, Ros and Lisa are investigating and I'll post any decision we make on here.

May Meeting

Thursday 14th May - Back of Beyond Pub, Reading.

A rather depleted group this month, 5 of us met at the BOB pub to discuss 'Three Cups of Tea' by Greg Mortenson and what a discussion we had! Thanks to Ros and Mary who provided some discussion questions, they really helped to extend and push our thoughts on the book. We were unlucky again with our choice of venue, it seems BOB has a curry night every Thursday and it was very busy. But we managed to bag two sofas near the front which was quiet enough to talk.

Everyone liked the book and how it portrays the Pakistani people, we all felt we learnt something about their culture and how important education is to them. We couldn't decide whether Greg's acceptance to the villagers was due to his courage and charity or whether his acceptance of their religion helped. We all felt that religion was played down in this book for whatever reason. Greg's risk-taking both climbing mountains and entering dangerous situations like being kidnapped by the Taliban provided a gripping story line and we all wanted to meet his wife to see how and why she puts up with it! All in all, a great read.

Result: 5 people like this book.

We chose our next book from the following:

• The Drowning Girl - Margaret Leroy
• If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
• The Other Hand - Chris Cleave
• The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway

We chose 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things' by Jon McGregor.

The next meeting will be back at the Warwick Arms, Thursday 11th June at 7:30pm. Can whoever proposed 'The Story of Forgetting' bring some discussion questions and can everyone bring a review of something they'd like to read?

We also discussed borrowing books from the library to save people buying each book, the book we chose this meeting is available on the Wokingham library book group list and as such I can borrow up to 15 copies of it. If you would like me to pick you up a copy, please let me know by Friday 5th June. You will need to be attending both the June and July meetings to pick up and bring back your copy. Can people also confirm if they are attending each meeting? I like to try and wait until everyone has arrived before starting the discussion and I need to know approximate numbers so we can save all the chairs needed.

See you all in June.

April Meeting

Thursday 9th April - Warwick Arms, Reading.

Thanks to everyone for coming to our second meeting, 10 people in all! Even though we choose the busiest mid-week night of the year (Thursday before Good Friday), we managed to have a very interesting and thorough discussion on 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga.

It was decided that this was a really thought provoking insight into the dual world of India, the poorest of the poor alongside the richness of Delhi. We couldn't decide whether Balram was insane (he seemed happy to justify the brutal muder of his boss) or did what he needed to do (to get out of the 'darkness'). One member had found that his Indian workmates thought the book rather realistic which surprised a few of us who had assumed that this view was rather polarised. We also discussed whether we would read another of his books or whether he would be a one-book-wonder and also how representative book awards are of how good a book actually is.

Result: 9 people liked this book, 1 person was undecided.

We chose our next book from the following:

• When Will There Be Good News - Kate Atkinson
• The Story of Forgetting - Stefan Merrill Block
• Brodeck's Report - Philippe Claudel
• The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite - Beatrice Colin
• The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
• The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
• The Outcast - Sadie Jones
• The Warrior's Princess - Barbara Erskine

We chose 'The Story of Forgetting' by Stefan Merrill Block.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday 14th May, 7:30pm at Back of Beyond pub on Kings Road. This venue will hopefully be quieter and have a big table we can all sit around.

Other things decided were:

• The person who proposed the chosen book would bring a list of questions (your own or from the internet) to prompt the discussion.
• I will bring a list of bookclub books which my local library (Lower Earley) has in stock. We will see if any books take our fancy and include those in our list for choosing the next book. This would mean we don't have to buy the book instead I would borrow all the copies, hand them out at the meeting and gather them back at the next meeting.
  

If I missed anything out or you'd like to add anything, please feel free to leave comments. Hope you all had a good Easter and I'll see you in May!