Hello Ladies,
I thought the July book club night was a really pleasant evening. A huge thanks to Clare for looking after us all and to everyone else for bringing such lovely food.
For those of you who weren't there, Claire Jones brought along a bottle of sparkly so we had a toast to Emma and her new baby boy. Emma (by text) told us about a book she is reading at the moment: Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan.
It sounds really good so we decided we would read this in September (to discuss in October) and push 'I bought a mountain' by Thomas Firbank back a month and discuss it in November instead.
To give you a taste of Ellis Island, one review says:
A finely crafted story, gripping from start to finish. It covers a fascinating period of Ireland's
history and brings home the extreme conditions and poverty that people were living in. It is well contrasted
with the section of the book set in New York in the twenties and this new exciting world.
The characters are all empathic and fully rounded, and Ellie, the heroine, is a particularly strong
character. The ending was very clever, you, as the reader, identified with the conflict, and frustrations Ellie was
experiencing. Although fiesty and adventurous she was also a woman of her time. It is in the end a book about
the endurance of love between two people.
So back to last night. We discussed One Day by David Nichols. Everyone enjoyed it and even though it wasn't the most sophisticated novel it was compelling and we just had to keep on reading. It scored 7.8 out of 10 for enjoyment and 7.1 out of 10 for quality of writing.
The date for our next meeting is September 16 when we will be discussing our two summer reads: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. Andrea had previously offered to host the September meeting but as she wasn't there last night we couldn't confirm that September 16 is ok for her. Therefore, if Andrea can't do the 16th, Claire Jones will host us instead.
Marija has offered to host the October meeting and Val the November meeting. Both dates to be decided.
Anyway, I think that's all for now. I hope you all have a lovely summer and get time to read lots of wonderful books (including your surprise book from the book swap).
Calendar 2011
