August Meeting

Thursday 13th August - Warwick Arms Pub, Reading

I am blaming the school holidays on the fact that only 3 of us were in the pub last night, a poor turn out but it gave us the opportunity to discuss more than books! We discussed 'The Truth About Melody Brown' by Lisa Jewell, a great summer read as the story was gripping, the characters easy to like and the whole book wasn't too complex or in depth, perfect for reading on the beach. Everyone enjoyed the book, we liked the teaser at the start and also the way Melody's returning memory gave short flashbacks which didn't read like a narrative but gave us an insight into what happened. We felt sorry for Melody, so much tragedy in a young life but didn't like her son who seemed altogether too perfect for an 18 year old. It was so nice to finally find out that Melody was so loved by so many people, including her step-mother and little step-sister. A happy ending and tying up all the loose ends of the story was perfect for closure and a very satisfying conclusion.

Result: 3 people liked this book (I actually forgot to take a vote but I'm assuming we all liked it).

We chose our book after next from the following:

• Poison Study - Maria Snyder
• In The Eye of The Sun - Ahdaf Soueif
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

We chose 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' by Stieg Larsson.

The meeting will be in the Warwick Arms again, Thursday 10th September.

Thanks to everyone who filled in their availability for the theatre trips, I emailed everyone who is available on the most popular day (21st August) so hopefully I'll be able to book that soon.

We also discussed a few other things including themed book selections, the first we'll try will be classics. Classics can be any book really, use your discretion. The idea is that people may have read it before but it would be long enough ago that they might want to read it again, also any books which you've always wanted to read but never got round to it. So, for the next meeting, please bring a classic book review with you.

The Warwick Arms also does a meal deal on their Thai food, starter and a main for £10. The food smelt so delicious last night that I almost ordered some, so we thought that a meeting with food might be good. I'm open to suggestions on this one, shall we make it September or wait until October? Answers on an email please.

July Meeting

Thursday 9th July - Warwick Arms Pub, Reading

We had a group of 7 at this month's meeting and the kind man at the Warwick Arms turned some of the speakers off so it was lovely and quiet to discuss this month's book 'If Nobody Thinks of Remarkable Things' by Jon McGregor.

It was an interesting and varied discussion, we all liked the premise of the book being a normal street on the surface but scratch beneath and everyone had a story, everyone had a history and suddenly ordinary lives became extraordinary. Most of us guessed the ending, well the first part of the ending anyway. We mostly didn't think that the book was driven by the characters but by the fact that the author reveals that something happens at the end and that makes the reader carry on.

Result: 6 people liked this book.

We chose our book from the following:

• Kieron Smith, Boy - James Kelman
• Engleby - Sebastian Faulks
• Past Imperfect - Julian Fellowes
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
• Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
• Unless - Carol Shields

We chose 'Engleby' by Sebastian Faulks.

The next meeting will be in the Warwick Arms, Thursday 13th August.

Lisa and Ros are still investigating open air theatres, look out for emails from them and hopefully we can find a date where most people can make it.

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.