General Chat

Just bringing this up to the top so that those voting can see the synopsis of books. Ann Glos

Sorry so late just in here's my choice: The Sixth Lamentation - William Brodrick From back of book: What should you do if the world has turned against you? When Father Anselm is asked this question by an old man in the nave at Larkwood Priory, his response is simple: claim sanctuary. Then the old man demands just that: his name is Eduard Schwermann and he is wanted by the police as a suspect war criminal 'Wonderful. The engrossing essence of this novel is the morality of the individual. And - rare for a first novel - the questions we are left with are ones that are basic to human existence' Gitta Sereny, THE TIMES Norah

Sorry to leave it so late but not had much time the last few nights. 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith From the back of the book 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. Dry, funny, hugely entertaining, with its glittering cast of rogues, oddballs and innocents, McCall Smith's Scotland Street is proof that the author of 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' can be as witty, incisive and humane in observing his native Edinburgh as his adopted Botswana. My comment This was originally serialised in The Scotsman newspaper, reviving a 19th century custom. It proved so popular that McCall Smith wrote a second volume for the paper and is now onto the third. Sheila

Ann, its not large and its not hardback lol!! I think it is just regarded as a classic like Dickens/Hardy that sort of thing - we have quite a cross-section on there - even Tolkien! Maz. XX

Sorry Dee, didn't catch you before youw ent out. i will start a new 'vote' thread. Ann Glos

Hi Ann Will you be listing the books to choose from on this thread, or on a new thread? Don't want to miss out on the vote. Dee xx

Oh Maz, I want to read them all!!!! that one sounds intriguing. Why a classic though? is it very large? I assume it will only be available in hardback? Ann Glos

Can I be really greedy and sneak another one in please! It came into my hands at work today and I thought it sounded really interesting. We shelve it in the 'classics' section - so if we have a separate Classics month, can we add it to the list for that if it is not chosen this month. Oh by the way, we charge £1 in London for reserving a book - so Ann, you are not so badly off after all !! The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins A fabulous yellow diamond becomes the dangerous inheritance of beautiful young heiress Rachel Verinder. Outside her Yorkshire country house watch the Hindu priests who have waited for centuries to reclaim their ancient talisman, looted from the holy city of Somnauth. When the Moonstone disappears from Rachel's bedroom the case looks simple, but ... no-one is what they seem, and nothing can be taken for granted. Witnesses, suspects and detectives take up the story in turn. The bemused butler, the love-stricken housemaid, the enigmatic detective .., the drug-addicted scientist, each speculate on the mystery ... a cat's cradle of suspense with a surprise ending which can still take the breath away. 'the first and greatest of English detective novels' Maz. XX

Thank you Kaz and Kaye, a fabulous response from everyone. we are going to have such a hard choice when we vote tomorrow. Ann Glos

A WALK IN THE WOODS - BILL BRYSON Taken from back of book - At the age of forty-four, in the company of his friend Stephen Katz, Bill Bryson set off to hike through the vast tangled woods which have been frightening sensible people for three hundred years. Ahead lay almost 2,200 miles of remote mountain wilderness filled with bears, moose, bobcats, rattlesnakes, poisonous plants, disease-bearing ticks, the occasional chuckling murderer and - perhaps most alarmingly of all - people whose favourite pastime is discussing the relative merits of the external-frame backpack. Entertaining and often illuminating - Sunday Telegraph THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR - JEAN M AUEL Taken from back of book - Its heroine Ayla, a courageous and indomitable young woman whose story begins when she is a five-year-old orphan adopted by the Clan, a group of Neanderthal. Ayla inpires first surprise, then wariness and finally acceptance by the Clan. She is cared for by its medicine woman Iza and its wise holy man Creb. But she makes an implacable enemy of the group's future leader. Broud does all he can to destroy her, but Ayla is a survivor. Both of these books should be really easy to get hold of in your local library or a cheap book shop. A major bestseller ... a remarkable work of imagination - Daily Express Beautiful, exciting, imaginative - New York Times Meticulously researched and fascinating ... it is a work of the purest imagination - Guardian Kaye x

Hi Anne Sorry for delay have been racking me brains (which gets more difficult evry day!!) What about- Bad Blood by Lorna Sage 'In one of the most extraordinary memoirs of recent years, Lorna Sage brings alive her girlhood in post-war provincial britain. From memories of her family and the wounds they inflict upon one another, she tells a tale of thwarted love, failed religion and the salvation she found in books' The Sunday times said 'a totally unexpected book... rackety, painful, sometimes menacing and mad. Out of it all she has made something devastatingly funny.... A memorable account of breaking the rules and breaking out.' Sorry if its already been done! Kaz

Georgina I have added your name to the list at the top. Ann Glos

Ros Yes I think our library is a bit dear. Still it is cheaper than buying the book if you don't want to keep it. Ann Glos

Thank you Georgina, are you also interested in joining in with the reading/book club? ann Glos

Please can those who were interested put their thinking caps on and come up with a title suggestion that they would like/have always wanted to read. Ann Glos

Thank you Paula :-)) Maz. XX

Following the prompt by Maz, I would like to suggest: 1. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson. How an American views some of the more eccentric British situations. Bryson travels round Britain making observations on our behaviour. Very funny book. 2. Thirteen Steps Down by Ruth Rendell. Living in a decaying house in Notting Hill, Mix Cellini is obsessed with 10 Rilllington Place, where the notorious John Christie committed a series of foul murders.He is also infatuated with a beautiful model who lives nearby. Mix's landlady lives her life through her library of books. Both landlady and lodger inhabit weird worlds of their own. But when reality intrudes into Mix's life, a long pent up violence explodes. 'Rendell's eerie capacity to comprehend disturbed criminal minds continues to astonish' The Times. (from the back cover of the book.) Paula

Pushing this up - we need more suggestions for book titles to vote on from those who said they were interestedplease. Ann Glos

Taken from Reading group guides web site as suggested by Maz. Thanks for that Maz. Nancy Pearl: I think the most important factor in choosing a good book for a discussion is to find one that is character-driven, that has an ambiguous ending, or both. You want a book that doesn't have everything tied up neatly, in which the author doesn't tell you everything, so that each reader can reach his or her own conclusions about a character's motivation or behavior. One way to enliven discussion is to begin with a question about the title of the book you're discussing. In the case of some books, this is the only question you'll need --- for example, for the book A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, a natural first question is 'What was the lesson learned, and who learned it?' For Ward Just's A Dangerous Friend, the best way to begin a discussion is to ask, 'Who is the dangerous friend of the title?' Another way to enliven the discussion is to have everyone come to the meeting with one question they want to discuss. Don't begin with the question, 'Who liked this book?' It's sure to polarize members and you'll often never get past that question. End with it instead. Ann glos

It has correctly been pointed out to me that allowing us to vote for our own book choice could cause a hung ballot. I have therefore deleted that from my posting at the beginning of this thread. Sorry to confuse you. Ann Glos