General Chat

Please add two books for the December selection. Voting will be on Wednesday 30th. You may add books that have already been suggested but not yet read. Ann Glos

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson A young fisherman is found dead in the nets of his boat off an island in the Pacific Northwest. The novel tells of love and war and the ways men and women struggle for survival and redemption. Ann glos

The Last Time they met by Anita Shreve 'When Linda Fallon and Thomas Janes meet at a writers' festival in Toronto, it is the first time they have seen each other for 26 years. theirs is a story bound by the irresistible pull of true passion. a love which begins in Massachusetts in the early 1960s, is rekindled in Kenya in the 1970s, and which is about to play out its astonishing final episode.' From the book cover. Reviewed in the Times - A luminous combination of stylistic simplicity and emotional complexity, revealing her to be a supremely elegant anatomist of the human heart. ann Glos

I'd better get my thinking cap on, had forgotten that we were choosing books again today. When is the vote Ann? Dee xx

Ireland – Frank Delaney One evening in 1951, an itinerant storyteller, the last of a fabled breed, arrives unannounced at a house in the Irish countryside. By the winter fireside he begins to tell the story of this extraordinary land. One of his listeners, a nine-year-old boy, grows so entranced that when the old man leaves he devotes his life to finding him again Ireland travels through the centuries by the way of story after story, from the savage grip of the Ice Age to the green and troubled land of tourist brochures and news headlines. Along the way, we meet foolish kings and innocent monks, god-heroes and great works of art, shrewd Norman raiders and strong tribal leaders, poets, politicians and lovers. A novel of huge ambition, beautifully told, Ireland is the unstoppably readable story of a remarkable nation

Secrets – Lesley Pearse Adele Talbot is twelve when her younger sister is killed in a road accident, and her mother Rose – so devastated and demented by the loss – begins to abuse her Rose is sent off to an asylum and when her father, too, relinquishes any responsibility for her, Adele is sent to a children’s home, but finds the treatment there even worse, She is soon forced to run away and walks through the night to Rye to trace her grandmother, Honour, a bitter, eccentric woman who is not best pleased to see her granddaughter. Eventually, the two forge a bond and Honour allows Adele to stay and enjoy the peace, serenity and safety of her new home. And when Adele meets Paul Bailey two years later and real love and friendship enter her life, she feels she can at last start to put her hurtful past behind her.

Dee, I suspect you have already seen at the top that the vote is on wednesday 30th. Ann Glos

1.Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge. A novella length work. The story of Master Georgie Harding a young gentleman surgeon and photographer who goes off with his entourage to offer his services in the Crimean War. This is preceeded by an account of the boat jouney from Liverpool. The story commences when Master Georgie comes across his father who has died in the bedroom of a prostitute, and the hilarious (I've got a strange sense of humour) description of how they smuggled him home in the back of a Punch & Judy van with the little servant girl to cover-up his misdemeanours! 2. The Lion , The Witch, and The Wardrobe. by C.S. Lewis. Don't think this needs a description. I've just enjoyed reding it again after ** years in preparation for watching the film. Paula.

will have to have a bit of a think!!!

Better take this back up to the top. Ann Glos

Ann Yes, I have noticed the voting date , how on earth I missed it earlier I don't know, Guess we are not allowed to vote for our own choices Dee ;-((

dee, Noooo 'cause you told me we couldn't last month. Ann Glos

Small Island by Andrea Levy Returning to England after the war Gilbert Joseph is treated very differently now that he is no longer in an RAF uniform. Joined by his wife Hortense, he rekindles a friendship with Queenie who takes in Jamaican lodgers. Can their dreams of a better life in England overcome the prejudice they face? Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible tells the story of an evangelical Baptist minister who takes his wife, four daughters and his mission from a small town in Georgia to the Belgian Congo in 1959. It is a move that will have unspeakable tragic consequences for the Price family as they confront the unstoppable forces of nature, hubris, and history. (this is a long one!) Maz. XX

Ann The older I get, the worse my memory gets Dee :-))

Where are all the people who joined in last month? Or is this all the suggestions we are going to get? Ann Glos

Ann Would anyone notice if I added another book do you think Dee ;-))

Dee I reckon we'll all have to if nobody else joins in. But then it looks like there will only be four of us voting. Or have I miscounted? Go on add another one. Ann Glos

Ann Sorry to have 'gone missing', but I did manage ti read one book, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, and enjoyed it very much. I'm afraid that when it came to reviewing I was snowed under with other things and missed it completly. Sorry! I have started The Moonstone but it has gone on the back burner at the moment as my niece has produced a little boy (7 weeks early, both fine and just heard coming home tomorrow), so now its back to the sewing with a vengeance! I will try to read over the next few weeks and have viewed the suggestions so far with interest. I shall suggest the one \I mentioned last time. 44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith Scotland Street occupies a busy, bohemian corner of Edinburgh's New Town, where the old haute bourgeoisie finds itself having to rub shoulders with students, poets and portraitists. And number 44 has more than its fair share of the street's eccentrics and failures. Originally serialised in the Scotsman, this is a dry, funny and very entertaing read. Sheila

Thank you Shela. I have read a couple of A Mcolls books and enjoyed them. Voting tomorrow. Ann Glos

Hi peeps I haven't joined in before but I read an amzing book last year you lot might like. The Linnet Bird by Linda Holeman. India, 1839: Linny Gow, a respectable young wife and mother, settles down to write her life story. To outside appearances Linny is the perfect British wife: beautiful, gracious, subservient. But appearances can be very deceptive… Born into direst poverty in Liverpool, Linny escapes the life of prostitution her stepfather has forced her into, transforms herself into a young lady, and flees to India, where the British Raj is in its infancy. There she will find heartache and suffering, but also an understanding of what love can mean and — perhaps most precious of all — freedom. But how did Linny achieve all this? And what has she sacrificed along the way? Most importantly, is this the end of Linny's journey, or is her story not yet over? I was very impressed by this book and the horrendous lives led by some of the characters. Not a nicey nicey wasn't the Raj wonderful book at all. xx Jen