tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52961147123305113532023-11-16T11:42:41.863+00:00Bournemouth Book ClubBook club based in Bournemouth, Dorset since January 2010. In 2013 we created a Blog, so hopefully we can reach more of the UK and World with our book choices and reviews.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-7974072716991094272014-03-12T10:44:00.002+00:002014-03-12T10:45:35.901+00:00The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dcrtT5Etz81lUR0ra-EmmR7NDalOyK7IIZUAqU2laF6Up2as5V-q86oOL-mM2sTcFZGJGiv2X0hpJbbv11UkdnaEZuZKzDUKfjp88h53zC4cnws5Bxvk7s_wSYfVeplZJUaSQWNbQSI/s1600/isbn9780755380527-1x2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dcrtT5Etz81lUR0ra-EmmR7NDalOyK7IIZUAqU2laF6Up2as5V-q86oOL-mM2sTcFZGJGiv2X0hpJbbv11UkdnaEZuZKzDUKfjp88h53zC4cnws5Bxvk7s_wSYfVeplZJUaSQWNbQSI/s1600/isbn9780755380527-1x2a.jpg" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This month's book is:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Meeting:</b> Monday 14th April 2014, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Book Description:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize 2013.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Snow Child</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was a bestseller on hardback publication, and went on to establish itself as one of the key literary debuts of 2012, and was a Richard and Judy Bookclub pick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alaska, the 1920s. Jack and Mabel have staked everything on a fresh start in a remote homestead, but the wilderness is a stark place, and Mabel is haunted by the baby she lost many years before. When a little girl appears mysteriously on their land, each is filled with wonder, but also foreboding: is she what she seems, and can they find room in their hearts for her?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Written with the clarity and vividness of the Russian fairy tale from which it takes its inspiration, <i>The Snow Child</i> is an instant classic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now an original comedy-drama series from Netflix, Piper's story is a fascinating, heartbreaking and often hilarious insight into life on the inside.</span><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0755380533/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0755380533&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buy on Amazon</span></a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006YIA9NA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B006YIA9NA&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buy Kindle Version</span></a></b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-83949960110603386222014-02-24T10:39:00.001+00:002014-03-12T10:47:51.587+00:00Orange is the New Black - Piper Kerman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLnG0poDlj5h8ZJsZwWQAO5ZdZYrUCZQLZnXpRXMq2GvlE0Tia-2dTExPpnkD6AkJKgOjXAWaJ98HmSuHj4VeXDVEMhLw5WfUT12nOarYoM84SK8buTaUGWN2DeSx9K9viC6QJCB0-B0/s1600/9780812986181_custom-26e71a3f635d0b5971b1c7ccd36f7cad15c77b69-s6-c30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLnG0poDlj5h8ZJsZwWQAO5ZdZYrUCZQLZnXpRXMq2GvlE0Tia-2dTExPpnkD6AkJKgOjXAWaJ98HmSuHj4VeXDVEMhLw5WfUT12nOarYoM84SK8buTaUGWN2DeSx9K9viC6QJCB0-B0/s1600/9780812986181_custom-26e71a3f635d0b5971b1c7ccd36f7cad15c77b69-s6-c30.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
<b>This month's book is:</b><br />
<br />
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Meeting:</b> Monday 10th March 2014, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).<br />
<br />
<b>Book Description:</b><br />
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<div class="productDescriptionWrapper" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">
Not just a tale of prisons, drugs, crime, or justice; it is, simply put, a beautifully told story about how incredible women can be' Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of <i>Eat, Pray, Love</i><br />
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With her career, live-in boyfriend and loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the rebellious young woman who got mixed up with drug runners and delivered a suitcase of drug money to Europe over a decade ago. But when she least expects it, her reckless past catches up with her; convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at an infamous women's prison in Connecticut, Piper becomes inmate #11187-424. From her first strip search to her final release, she learns to navigate this strange world with its arbitrary rules and codes, its unpredictable, even dangerous relationships. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with tokens of generosity, hard truths and simple acts of acceptance.<br />
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Now an original comedy-drama series from Netflix, Piper's story is a fascinating, heartbreaking and often hilarious insight into life on the inside.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0349139865/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0349139865&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank">Buy on Amazon</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DHHFKE4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00DHHFKE4&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank">Buy Kindle Version</a></b><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-46769395742213471112014-02-08T22:58:00.001+00:002014-03-12T10:48:32.280+00:00January 2014 - The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCCZ75KGo-6YanvIo7AOvAxgxgyxSDaaCKa-XteJlJOw5lU83HhSP3xFuHfySJcIO67sHGatMO6AjZZ0BE4RnFj__24hkuBBy1Rnltk2CT7_rI0vDvRO_7mVGazA5OzDuJ-KJuoMqbQg/s1600/the-shining-girls-sa-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCCZ75KGo-6YanvIo7AOvAxgxgyxSDaaCKa-XteJlJOw5lU83HhSP3xFuHfySJcIO67sHGatMO6AjZZ0BE4RnFj__24hkuBBy1Rnltk2CT7_rI0vDvRO_7mVGazA5OzDuJ-KJuoMqbQg/s1600/the-shining-girls-sa-cover.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It
has a terrible fury all its own.' The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes follows
the story of Harper Curtis, a time travelling serial killer and Kirby Mazrachi,
one of his victims who not only survives but chooses to hunt down her attacker.
The book was generally well received by the group although some found some of
the content both disturbing and difficult to read. Most people felt this
reaction was a credit to the author's skill at building tension and depicting
such unsettling events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was felt that the author's ability to write believable
characters was particularly strong. The character of Harper in particular was
felt by most to be a vivid portrayal of a man with deeply psychopathic
tendencies. His sense of compulsion and cruelty came across very strongly
throughout the novel, lending no sympathy to his character but an unwelcome
understanding of his mind. The house itself played its part as a character in
this novel with a sense of it being almost sentient in its influence over
Harper. Some felt that more of an explanation was needed as to the history of
the house and its inner workings. Others felt that too much information on the
myriad influence that it has on the characters would have overwhelmed or halted
the flow of the novel, particularly with the complex ideas of time travel and
fate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One passage that the group felt particularly significant was
when Harper discovered the wall of trophies of murders he was yet to commit.
Another striking section of the novel was the attack on Kirby. Many members of
the group found this a very difficult chapter to read as the author did not
hold back on details, creating a vivid and disturbing chapter. The group felt
that the author dealt well with the theme of violence by introducing us to
Harper's victims very intimately in their own chapters prior to the attacks. By
creating such complex and rich characters we see them as individuals and not
just faceless targets. It was felt that the varied imagery of their respective
'trophies' echoed this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When discussing the overall structure of the novel the group
felt that it was generally easy to follow despite jumping through different
time periods. Most felt that following the timeline of the killer rather than
one of his victims was a clever way of building tension through the novel as the
conclusion to the story remains unknown until the last chapter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall the group felt that the novel had well written
ending with some mixed views as to whether the author should have included a
bit more information on the fate of the characters after the climatic events of
the final chapter or if the feeling of uncertainty lent a certain freedom to
characters who had so far been governed by a preordained line of events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Average score of 7.8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write up by Karen</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-62346011911641454732014-01-15T17:53:00.000+00:002014-02-24T10:53:40.720+00:00Our next book is... The Machine by James Smythe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9UhN5nJDAP00ujRHHklPsqNNAjrW-VgsQ8Q_urBR1hnFe9FWm0lo3EDPeR6Izz-vGNd1xIUSg99o2kSCgea1r8NNJFDUOzJXmb2c6VojnRBfILS6dvMO6eu5vG4wIAR4DjDzYAQ1QmP4/s1600/the+machine+pb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9UhN5nJDAP00ujRHHklPsqNNAjrW-VgsQ8Q_urBR1hnFe9FWm0lo3EDPeR6Izz-vGNd1xIUSg99o2kSCgea1r8NNJFDUOzJXmb2c6VojnRBfILS6dvMO6eu5vG4wIAR4DjDzYAQ1QmP4/s1600/the+machine+pb.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>This month's book is:</b><br />
<br />
The Machine by James Smythe<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Meeting:</b>
Monday 10th February 2014, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).<br />
<br />
<b>Book Description:</b><br />
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Beth lives alone on a desolate housing estate near the sea. She came here to rebuild her life following her husband’s return from the war. His memories haunted him but a machine promised salvation. It could record memories, preserving a life that existed before the nightmares.<br />
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Now the machines are gone. The government declared them too controversial, the side-effects too harmful. But within Beth’s flat is an ever-whirring black box. She knows that memories can be put back, that she can rebuild her husband piece by piece.<br />
<br />
A Frankenstein tale for the 21st century, The Machine is a story of the indelibility of memory, the human cost of science and the horrors of love.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/000750750X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=000750750X&linkCode=as2&tag=curikillthebo-21">Buy on Amazon</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009QU6V94/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B009QU6V94&linkCode=as2&tag=curikillthebo-21">Buy Kindle Version</a></b><br />
<br />
For free delivery without minimum spend you can also buy at <a href="http://www.hive.co.uk/book/the-machine/16702277/">Hive</a> or <a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/james+smythe/the+machine/9850611/">Waterstones</a>.Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14377404526123600035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-75312976948855431312013-11-28T11:59:00.002+00:002014-02-08T22:49:36.270+00:00November 2013 - Ghost World by Daniel Clowes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitL-1MTFg0h_VUMWxjd2_K-lTe7d9r9fobebU9JDRlnLLvsmOganesY7H1llTNYdUrQHPLucxO1_1CYbWJ2s3Zhn3fMV-RvSeZAjIaEVBG170oJntl93W51DSg5yzc4sdfn4ece0F62Ds/s1600/ghost+world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitL-1MTFg0h_VUMWxjd2_K-lTe7d9r9fobebU9JDRlnLLvsmOganesY7H1llTNYdUrQHPLucxO1_1CYbWJ2s3Zhn3fMV-RvSeZAjIaEVBG170oJntl93W51DSg5yzc4sdfn4ece0F62Ds/s320/ghost+world.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US">Ghost World </span></i><span lang="EN-US">is a graphic novel and tells the story of two teenage girls, Enid
and Rebecca, who are trying to come to terms with their impending adulthood.
The story also explores their apparent confusion over sexuality as they attempt
to cope with the evolution of their complicated friendship post high school. A
graphic novel was a new experience for a lot of our members and had a somewhat
lukewarm reception. Even though it was relatively short at 80 pages, not
everybody finished it with some saying they missed what was going on. We felt
that to get anything out of the story it needed to be read in a different way
to a novel and attention had to be paid to the pictures juxtaposed with the
dialogue, similar to how you might watch a subtitled film.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There was general agreement that nothing major happened, which may
be down to the subject matter. Rebecca and Enid weren’t exceptional in anyway
and while this may have been intended to help the reader connect with them the
general consensus was that the book felt flat and slow paced. We mostly felt
that the characters themselves were believable and were impressed at how true
to life the protagonists were considering the author is male. Some felt that
the character of Enid especially, with her ‘devil may care’ attitude, would
have resonated with a younger self, but reading as an adult she became more
irritating. However, we felt it was strange trying to get to know characters
purely through dialogue with no narration which went against many initial
expectations that the illustrations would make them easier to understand.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The ending felt very abrupt as time seemed to speed up, and wasn’t
satisfactory for some with the plot being ‘up in the air’. However, it did
generate some interesting discussion with very different conclusions drawn. A
number of individuals found it to be a very hopeful ending after quite a
depressing tale, and took Enid’s departure to be a symbol for new beginnings.
On the flip side, some believed this to be a metaphor for suicide.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The majority of the group would not read anything else by Daniel
Clowes. However, there was a generally positive attitude towards reading
further graphic novels with some being more interested in something else ‘true
to life’ with others more interested in reading something at the Marvel end of
the scale.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We had 12 members present and we gave the book an average score of
4.75/10 with 7 being the highest and 1 the lowest.</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: #0400; mso-bidi-language: X-NONE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #0400;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Write up by Byron</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-60873007306483307282013-11-13T13:47:00.001+00:002014-01-19T20:39:39.095+00:00The Shining Girls - Lauren Beukes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCCZ75KGo-6YanvIo7AOvAxgxgyxSDaaCKa-XteJlJOw5lU83HhSP3xFuHfySJcIO67sHGatMO6AjZZ0BE4RnFj__24hkuBBy1Rnltk2CT7_rI0vDvRO_7mVGazA5OzDuJ-KJuoMqbQg/s1600/the-shining-girls-sa-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCCZ75KGo-6YanvIo7AOvAxgxgyxSDaaCKa-XteJlJOw5lU83HhSP3xFuHfySJcIO67sHGatMO6AjZZ0BE4RnFj__24hkuBBy1Rnltk2CT7_rI0vDvRO_7mVGazA5OzDuJ-KJuoMqbQg/s1600/the-shining-girls-sa-cover.jpg" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>Monday 13th January 2014, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">
The jaw-dropping, page-turning, critically-acclaimed book of the year: a serial-killer thriller unlike any other from the award-winning Lauren Beukes. ‘GONE GIRL has not exactly gone. But THE SHINING GIRLS have arrived’ (The Times).<br />
“It’s not my fault. It’s yours. You shouldn’t shine. You shouldn’t make me do this.”<br />
THE GIRL WHO WOULDN’T DIE<br />
Kirby is lucky she survived the attack. She is sure there were other victims were less fortunate, but the evidence she finds is … impossible.<br />
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HUNTING A KILLER WHO SHOULDN’T EXIST<br />
Harper stalks his shining girls through the years – and cuts the spark out of them. But what if the one that got away came<br />
back for him?<br />
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<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007464584/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0007464584&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Buy on Amazon</span></a></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><br /></b><b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Kindle Version:</span></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><br /></b><b><span style="color: #20124d;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A61ZV3O/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00A61ZV3O&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank">Buy Kindle Version</a></span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-49014684660378790072013-10-18T14:28:00.003+01:002013-11-04T22:19:34.124+00:00Shake up of the Rota!<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">The rota will be changing to a vote soon, to include a wider range of genres and give our growing number of members each a chance to have their say on what book they would like to read. The following names are the remaining few I have on the rota and will still get to pick their book, if you feel you should be on this list, please let me know ASAP (you must have been at two meetings within the last three months and class yourself as a regular member): </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">November: Teresa</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">January: Vicki R</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">February: Ellie</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br />March: Kelly<br />April: Joy<br />May: Sarah<br />June: Karen<br />July: Barbara<br /><br />Apologies if I've missed you out, I've not been at many meetings this year and it's another reason the rota needs to change to keep it easier to maintain and fair on everyone. I can easily add you when requested <i class="_4-k1 img sp_fuslt2 sx_88de95" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yA/r/UCB4YRmLPJN.png); background-position: -17px -767px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"></i><br /><br />If anyone on the list would like to forfeit their place it will take us into the vote system a month earlier <i class="_4-k1 img sp_fuslt2 sx_88de95" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yA/r/UCB4YRmLPJN.png); background-position: -17px -767px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"></i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-4341648744731122962013-10-18T14:05:00.000+01:002013-10-18T14:06:29.564+01:00October 2013 - A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVrepKw_ZXSRvHelG7q96s3OiidAbYyi9NO3fP65EDKYXXp2Duk16s9G7pIeoSGoXiJvi37sqUKZbOO2mZNIa0QDxCEC6j-3FLreQYsEr8q9Rfb2Xw_Ne7hxCmtVzA_QFQOAP_0altJDY/s1600/a-walk-across-the-sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVrepKw_ZXSRvHelG7q96s3OiidAbYyi9NO3fP65EDKYXXp2Duk16s9G7pIeoSGoXiJvi37sqUKZbOO2mZNIa0QDxCEC6j-3FLreQYsEr8q9Rfb2Xw_Ne7hxCmtVzA_QFQOAP_0altJDY/s320/a-walk-across-the-sun.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
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Unfortunately this book wasn't received well at all, with the exception of just a couple of the members (who really liked it) we found the book irritatingly unbelievable and couldn't connect emotionally with any of the characters, which given the difficult subjects covered in this book (child prostitution and loss of a child), could only be put down to the authors lack of descriptive writing, and character development.<br />
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We all started out, wanting to be engaged and educated by the subject matter but either found it hard to get into with the story swapping or were immediately put off by the writing style. Right from the beginning the characters were extremely cold, without emotion, making it hard for us as the readers to care about them, even though we understood the impact the events would have had in the real world. It almost felt as though Addison was writing a journalistic piece, just stating the facts rather than "showing" us a story. Addison seemed torn between wanting to write a legal thriller and a shocking story about two girls lead into the child trafficking world in India after the devastating effects of the Tsunami; one or the other would have sufficed. Many times at our meeting the "hero" was thrown in with regards to Thomas, every hunch he had seemed to pay off, and all the clues fell nicely together... This just wouldn't happen in the real world, let alone within three months of a child going missing and trafficked across the world into the "undergrowth".<br />
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Many of the members failed to finish the book, which is uncommon for us as a group, due to mainly his writing style, convenience of plot progress and lack of emotional connection with the characters. Even the quotes that were added at the top of each chapter seemed out of place, and irrelevant to the chapter ahead, as though they were there to make the book feel a more intelligent read.<br />
<br />
It's a shame that as a group we found the plot unbelievable, Addison would have done better to keep to one or other of the genres (child trafficking or legal thriller) and also to one country to avoid the "Jet-Setting" that took place far too often in this book! The poor girls Sita and Ahalya went through a lot, but the details were too sanitary and just didn't get gritty and descriptive enough to make us believe or do justice to the very, very real issues of child exploitation. Thomas seemed to always "tag along" and kept saving the day, it all moved far too fast and should this have been a true story it's very unlikely that Sita would have been found at all, let alone in three months and without being hooked on drugs or sexually abused. It may seem as if we wanted to read a horror story, but in truth, all we wanted was a realistic novel, were the author had done their research, this did not seem the case.<br />
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Many members also stated how the writing was poor, non-descriptive making it difficult to place the surroundings, even though you knew the scene was in Bombay, or Paris, the writing done nothing to spark up our imagination. The couple of members who did enjoy the book, found it an eye opener, page turned and would read other books by Addison.<br />
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There were far too many characters in the book, the bad guys didn't seem as bad as they should have and the main characters were not developed well. Thomas was annoying from the beginning, self involved and thought himself a hero, who wasn't even really sure if he wanted to win his wife back at the beginning and if the convenience of a job opening in Bombay didn't arise, we're not sure he would have ever tried. Poor Tera, was a stereotypical office fling gone wrong and in general women were portrayed badly, never giving women in these horrendous situations enough justice.<br />
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The only parts that stuck with us, were how Sita managed to keep escaping but then getting caught - Never really enduring any harsh punishment and their pre Tsunami life was memorable. An eye opening passage, once mentioned by one member jogged the memory of others was the swallowing of large grapes, preparing Sita to be able to swallow the drug packages without chocking. <br />
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The ending was far too happy and unrealistic, all the ends were tied up and the only bit of sadness came in the form of an earlier side story of a young girl in the USA being found dead... It was as though that was thrown in to make sure the readers had mixed emotions towards the end. It would have worked much better as one story instead of two and set in one country. Both the girls were accepted back into society, even though Ahalya was unclean and was a single mother, sadly this would unlikely result in the happy ending portrayed.<br />
<br />
Only 4 out of 17 would read another book by Corban Addison, making him one of our least popular authors. Interesting subject matter, just not written particularly well. The book is probably better suited to those who like "have a go hero", legal thrillers with a happy ending, which as it seems, is not really us.<br />
<br />
We had 15 people give their score out of 10, resulting in an average of <b>4/10 </b>(lowest score 2, highest 7)<br />
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Write up by VickiAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-33223651969046403452013-10-18T12:11:00.000+01:002013-11-13T13:48:23.597+00:00Ghost World - Daniel Clowes *graphic novel*<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUfc2BCiKugGJKPiGDEihkcwU3JaoIxcNEfCqJJiMP8zpc40USbTOw1eQ6OXAlKwTtdcputo95UqiNGVdytIkPx6Qe6izeUYIEGg1Xz-X9QiJEi7Rf2By0drZiuuZEdtvpMrQOuhcLf8/s1600/ghost+world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUfc2BCiKugGJKPiGDEihkcwU3JaoIxcNEfCqJJiMP8zpc40USbTOw1eQ6OXAlKwTtdcputo95UqiNGVdytIkPx6Qe6izeUYIEGg1Xz-X9QiJEi7Rf2By0drZiuuZEdtvpMrQOuhcLf8/s320/ghost+world.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">T</span>his months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">Ghost World by Daniel Clowes <i><b>*this is a graphic novel and a first for our book club, *</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>Monday 11th November, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1998 Ignatz Award Winner, Outstanding Graphic Novel: The inspiration for the feature film and one of the most acclaimed graphic novels ever.</span></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;">Ghost World</em><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;"> has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original release as a graphic novel. Originally serialized in the pages of the seminal comic book </span><em style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;">Eightball</em><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;"> throughout the mid-1990s, this quasi-autobiographical story (the name of one of the protagonists is famously an anagram of the author's name) follows the adventures of two teenage girls, Enid and Becky, two best friends facing the prospect of growing up, and more importantly, apart. Daniel Clowes is one of the most respected cartoonists of his generation, and </span><em style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;">Ghost World</em><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;"> is his magnum opus. Adapted into a major motion picture directed by Terry Zwigoff (director of the acclaimed documentary </span><em style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;">Crumb</em><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.390625px;">), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This graphic novel is a must for any self-respecting comics fan's library. Two-color comics throughout</span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0224060880/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0224060880&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buy on Amazon</span></a></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-70374238754634848582013-10-18T11:48:00.001+01:002013-11-28T11:58:07.333+00:00September 2013 - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmq8F7fVR2aWhz4U3s_Gmk7IvEPJAKf856B0LpcBGFYVcVpLixYD2aOKgPPYQmPJ3nOoWcuXXISMAk5SX2ondytfT_xJ6rmO5A887BypuZcflDlXsj30BrQAmVCK7_K-upyTpaf0faX0/s1600/the-sense-of-an-ending.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmq8F7fVR2aWhz4U3s_Gmk7IvEPJAKf856B0LpcBGFYVcVpLixYD2aOKgPPYQmPJ3nOoWcuXXISMAk5SX2ondytfT_xJ6rmO5A887BypuZcflDlXsj30BrQAmVCK7_K-upyTpaf0faX0/s320/the-sense-of-an-ending.jpg" width="207" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This book
follows Tony Webster from his school days through to retirement. It explores
the idea of memory and it’s imperfections when Tony’s life and perception of
events is turned around by the arrival of a lawyers letter that throws up
surprises. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall
most of the members were unsure if they liked the book, they found the writing
often beautiful and the central theme of memory to be interesting and well
explored, however found the main character irritating and difficult to like and
that it was a bit repetitive and that they felt the author was showing off. It
was discussed that this was a literary book and it was felt that this was the
reason many members found it lacked storytelling and many found it a “sad story”
and a “passionless book”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many
members found the narrator to be dull and that he showed a lack of emotion and
they would have liked him to change in some way through the course of the book.
He showed denial around the main incident in the book and seemed to have
created his own history, which he had to confront and reflect on towards the
end of the book. As this was a single narrative many felt that the other
characters were sketchy and that they were not in the book enough to get to
understand them properly. The members found Veronica to be complex but
humourless and that the hatred she felt towards Tony was not explained. She was
meant to be aloof and many found that this took away from her character. It was
felt that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Adrian</st1:place></st1:city>
was well drawn but again his role was more as a device for the narrator’s story
to unfold around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent
very little time discussing the plot as it was felt that the book was built
around the themes not the story. The main theme being memory and how this can
be distorted, this rang a bell with many members and they felt that it had been
very well done. Another theme that ran through the book linked in with the
theme of memory was the idea of what is history. These were discussed during
their school days in a somewhat pretentious way and the idea about evidence and
interpretation wove through the book. This led to a discussion on the nature of
perception and facebook. We also discussed the theme of suicide at some length
and the way that the first suicide was felt to be weird and received with a
lack of empathy by the school boys and the idea of it being a “blaze of glory”
was a bit uncomfortable. It was felt that overall this theme was not well
developed and was shown as being more about intellectual reasons and philosophy
which didn’t hold true through the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were
mixed views of the writers style. Overall it was felt to be too factual and dry
and therefore not very moving, some didn’t finish the book as didn’t feel
inclined to care. The letters were seen as a good device which grabbed the
reader however the writer style was lacking in peaks and troughs and this meant
that the book didn’t grab many of the members. It was felt that the book
evocated the sense of the period it was set in. Some members would read another
short book by this author but not many would bother with a longer one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ending
was shocking but because it was dealt with in such a factual manner many felt
that they had missed something and had to check back to make sure they had
understood. Some felt that they weren’t sure they<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
got the ending either, while understanding it they didn’t understand why
veronica kept saying to him "you still don't get it". There were felt
to be too many questions left hanging that people just didn’t care enough
about.</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span>There was manly relief at it being
tied up and done and there was a general apathy towards the book. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were 16 members
who gave a score and the average was 4.6 out of 10 with the highest being 8 and
the lowest 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write up by Vicki R</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-75197790469531007092013-09-10T21:58:00.001+01:002013-10-18T12:11:44.545+01:00A Walk Across the Sun - Corban Addison<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBndGpsb1NgBl6zQ15226V4K2CvffzeKWvX-8WM5Ghvfa6qjb9ONn55_BBQXwaKtXayZD0IO0Ox4tmECmpgYWsGVD6G3kgxwgt0FngI5KdKTKWLVBvPom748wuJGA5ZOV0iwqW5l-Fsow/s1600/a-walk-across-the-sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBndGpsb1NgBl6zQ15226V4K2CvffzeKWvX-8WM5Ghvfa6qjb9ONn55_BBQXwaKtXayZD0IO0Ox4tmECmpgYWsGVD6G3kgxwgt0FngI5KdKTKWLVBvPom748wuJGA5ZOV0iwqW5l-Fsow/s320/a-walk-across-the-sun.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>Monday 14th October, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
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<div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">
Ahalya Ghai and her younger sister Sita are as close as sisters can be. But when a tsunami rips through their village on India's Coromandel coast, their home is swept away, and the sisters are the sole survivors of their family. Destitute, their only hope is to find refuge at a convent many miles away. A driver agrees to take them. But the moment they get into that car their fate is sealed. The two sisters - confused, alone, totally reliant on each other - are sold.<br />
<br />
On the other side of the world, Washington lawyer Thomas Clarke is struggling to cope after the death of his baby daughter and the collapse of his marriage. He takes a sabbatical from his high-pressure job and accepts a position with the Bombay branch of an international anti-trafficking group.<br />
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Thomas is now on a desperate path to try and save not only himself and his marriage, but also the lives of the two sisters.<br />
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<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0857388215/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0857388215&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Buy on Amazon</span></a></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Kindle Version:</span></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><br /></b><b><span style="color: #20124d;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0073HNKLE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0073HNKLE&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank">Buy Kindle Version</a></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-19139400172434485362013-08-13T16:57:00.001+01:002013-09-10T22:00:27.478+01:00The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeINTeeFpGjKpDhz-ShCrNWxoitRvD7aT5QXvk_Wzlhubt9lRPyckPumvYDNoaPgcEO-SWhq7trpAVSzJFH1Gcb28TlgdtqMa9louth2DiS1_CuqNNgRMvpbiWihznzUo37vqrh5iBLTU/s1600/The+Sense+of+an+Ending-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeINTeeFpGjKpDhz-ShCrNWxoitRvD7aT5QXvk_Wzlhubt9lRPyckPumvYDNoaPgcEO-SWhq7trpAVSzJFH1Gcb28TlgdtqMa9louth2DiS1_CuqNNgRMvpbiWihznzUo37vqrh5iBLTU/s320/The+Sense+of+an+Ending-.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>Monday 9th September, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<br />
<div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">
Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2011 and a <i>Sunday Times</i> bestseller - this is a brilliant novel from a writer at the very height of his powers</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0099564971/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0099564971&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Buy on Amazon</span></a></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><br /></b><b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Kindle Version:</span></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><br /></b><b><span style="color: #20124d;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005E87GLY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B005E87GLY&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank">Buy Kindle Version</a></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-18577923139013408312013-08-13T16:46:00.001+01:002013-10-18T14:07:11.210+01:00August 2013 - The Fault in our Stars by John Green<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tpLzhTOE9FS6YuFOr9O5SDNOwu2Qz3vGvJvkAh-2UepImiD7O_5Zzn__Y39fubZBdZNgQzznY5e0P7s7NpTwBH-wydLU-iZOHUuBsDdzYTPd0RZwARNufybfL11J55iPjs1DMySM4Q0/s1600/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tpLzhTOE9FS6YuFOr9O5SDNOwu2Qz3vGvJvkAh-2UepImiD7O_5Zzn__Y39fubZBdZNgQzznY5e0P7s7NpTwBH-wydLU-iZOHUuBsDdzYTPd0RZwARNufybfL11J55iPjs1DMySM4Q0/s1600/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
The Fault in Our Stars is the
story of Hazel, a teenage girl who has terminal cancer. Hazel meets cancer
survivor Augustus at support group and romance blossoms! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
Overall the group was very
positive about this book. We were a little apprehensive to read a book about
cancer as we were worried it would be depressing but we felt that the author’s
writing style and way of dealing with the topic really worked well. It wasn’t
overly sentimental or romanticised, it dealt with cancer in a very matter of
fact way. A lot of the group found that they got into the book as it went along
and ended up liking it despite themselves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
The characters felt very real,
both the teenagers and the adults. It was commented that in ‘young adult’ books
the parents are often not developed as characters but they were in this book,
some of the exchanges between Hazel and her parents were very moving. Some felt
that the dialogue was a bit affected, with the teenagers trying too hard to use
big words and coming across quite pretentious. But we then realised that that
is the way teenagers do speak, they are not very self-aware and are trying to
sound cool in everything they say! Some felt that the children were too mature
for their age. Most of the characters though, had real depth. For example, it
was interesting we (as readers) could tell that the author in Amsterdam had had
someone close to them die of cancer, we actually knew before the other
characters realised.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
Everyone felt that the plot was
believable. Meeting a cancer support group is likely to happen, with children
being much more pragmatic than adults at dealing with illness. Some felt that
the story of the author in Amsterdam wasn’t very believable and didn’t really
fit into the story, but others really liked it and gave the teenagers a
purpose, something to live for. One part that a lot of us found unbelievable
was when the author turned up at the funeral and in the back of Hazel’s car. It
might have been more realistic if the author had just corresponded through
email or post, not very likely he would have come to America considering he was
a very self-centred person and an alcoholic!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
One passage that someone found
particularly interesting was when Hazel got the call to tell her Gus has died.
One member of book club had been through a similar experience so really related
to it and felt that the author portrayed it accurately. A lot of us liked the
concept of Hazel thinking of herself as a “grenade”, ready to explode at any
moment and ruin the lives of those around her. Another passage that was
mentioned was when they held Gus’s pre-funeral so he could hear what they would
say about him – a bit gratuitous but played to many people’s secret desire to
hear what people would say about them at their funeral. Another person
mentioned the part where Hazel looked at Gus’s Facebook page and saw loads of
comments from people that didn’t know him.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
Considering mostly we are very
critical of the endings of books, the comments about this one weren’t bad at
all! We felt it was emotional and were all glad it didn’t just end
mid-sentence, mirroring the end of Hazel’s favourite book! A lot of us liked
the authors writing style, we found it bold, honest and just the right amount
of descriptiveness. Many people would read another book by the author (one
already has!). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The book received an average rating of 7.6/10,
with 9 being the highest and 6 being the lowest (13 votes).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Write up by Sarah.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-14318174957920128732013-08-13T16:45:00.000+01:002013-10-18T14:07:11.207+01:00July 2013 - One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2VDKjoU9sEeZL8B-IHR21sFS99MC1yC7zkR7EBsbfGW5mCi4HCjBWZJDMb2P0Z0NEXfr6J8mdJa1-viyqryMcDd7aQdzcm3BW1W-7INrlG1vQGtMR9XwF3C8MQy4fc64Ls-rLDvgVWx0/s1600/onethousandwhitewomen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2VDKjoU9sEeZL8B-IHR21sFS99MC1yC7zkR7EBsbfGW5mCi4HCjBWZJDMb2P0Z0NEXfr6J8mdJa1-viyqryMcDd7aQdzcm3BW1W-7INrlG1vQGtMR9XwF3C8MQy4fc64Ls-rLDvgVWx0/s320/onethousandwhitewomen.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus was fictitious with a
vein of truth at the beginning.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It tells the story of how the U.S government made a deal
with the Cheyenne tribe in which they would give them one thousand white women
as brides with the purpose of making lasting peace between the two of
them. And that is where the truth
ends. This deal was never arranged but
the story that follows is a fictional account of what would have happened.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were mixed feelings about this book, with most of the group
acknowledging that although this was an interesting period of history, the
story of May Dodd was so unbelievable that it spoilt the book. As this book had only been published in the
USA and France, we wondered why it had not been published in UK but then
decided that it was so bad that was the reason!! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We found this book easy to read, maybe a good choice to take
away on holiday or to read at the beach where you would just enjoy some
frivolous fiction but because it was unrealistic that made people irritable, as
they could not connect with any of the characters. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some readers thought it was a bit of a Mills and Boon novel,
with no real meaty stories, with the characters skipping from one adventure to
the next and not in any sense like real life.
With the journey the characters seemed too stereotyped and most parts
were too idealistic and this made the story weaker. Even the rape that took place was glossed
over and never talked about again and this is not a true portrayal of what
would happen in a real life situation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No body thought the plot was believable as May Dodd seemed
to be too modern a character as the book was written in the ‘Wild West’ days. We
didn’t think that anyone would have volunteered to go with the Cheyenne to be
their brides in those times. Although we realise that some women might have
wanted to escape their situation, ie. the ones who were locked in asylums for
instance but then most probably those women might have not even been sane. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The part about the white baby being accepted as special in
the Cheyenne tribe was unbelievable because that was the whole point of the
women going to be brides, to mix the races, and yet May Dodd has a pure white
baby and the Chief is obviously not the father, yet he accepts the baby as his
own. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The characters were unconvincing and no one really felt any
empathy towards them. The characters
were too stereotyped even down to the Vicar.
The fact that the Irish twins were regarded as something special and
then managed to find twin Cheyenne boys to marry just made you realise that the
whole story was just getting out of hand.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The book was sympathetic to the Indian cause but was very
patronising to the women. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The prologue was quite good but other than that, the style
was immensely irritating and it would have been better to have read something
like Anne Frank rather than reading the diaries of May Dodd. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The ending did tie up loose ends but that’s not always a
good thing with a book. When May Dodd
was hit in the shoulder, that should not have been a fatal shot, but she just
seemed to die straight away. Most of the
group thought that the Chief should have died in battle like he would have in
real life, as he would never have run away from the battle. The group all felt that the Cheyenne would
have been ready for battle but the government troops were able to surprise them
and massacre all of them, except the Chief!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The ending did disappoint most of us but on the plus side,
there won’t be a sequel! We felt that
the ending was a bit rushed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of the group felt that they would not read anything
else by the author except maybe out of curiosity to see if the first novel
might just be better.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The rating of the book varied tremendously with the
following scores between 2 and 6.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Average score: 4/10<br />
<br />
Write up by Joy.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-28880418080242082032013-08-13T16:37:00.001+01:002013-10-18T14:07:11.215+01:00June 2013 - Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-zsDw7wjvjRWWqSGM0X_4WbMUOrYBk0bM5ZHTEX3MoBd-U2fIb5s8hKUNgyxzBZPX895WjyeZarICevCaC_8W_gl-y0AsnKA5Pre6wZFJzsdVj-sXDF0Zj1kWPlMvfK7h6jShYweMSo/s1600/riversoflondon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-zsDw7wjvjRWWqSGM0X_4WbMUOrYBk0bM5ZHTEX3MoBd-U2fIb5s8hKUNgyxzBZPX895WjyeZarICevCaC_8W_gl-y0AsnKA5Pre6wZFJzsdVj-sXDF0Zj1kWPlMvfK7h6jShYweMSo/s1600/riversoflondon.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rivers of London by
Ben Aaronovitch is a crime novel set in London, with a difference – the
difference being that DC Peter Grant has just found himself the newest recruit
of a secret magical branch of the Metropolitan Police. Blending urban fantasy with crime procedural,
the novel follows Peter as he investigates a series of grisly murders in the
heart of London’s Covent Garden, takes an eyewitness account from a ghost and
meets Thomas Nightingale, gentleman wizard and investigator who’s keen to show
him the real magic that lies within London’s streets. And if that’s not enough he’s also got to
sort out a growing turf war between two tribes of water spirits on opposite
sides of the Thames.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of the group
found this book an easy and enjoyable read. They enjoyed the fact that whilst
it is a fantasy book, it was still very grounded in reality. We were all quite
pleased to see that the day-to-day aspects of police work were not glamorised
as they can be in some crime novels. The characters, bar the slightly more
outlandish ones, were all very average, down to earth people you’d meet on the
street. Those members who read fantasy, enjoyed the book and even those who
didn’t normally dip into the genre, found parts interesting. Many of us enjoyed
the sense of humour within the writing and the witty dialog and observations
made by DC Grant. However a few of us felt that sometimes the dialog,
particularly the swearing, was a little forced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing we did like
was that the author didn’t shy away from the multi-cultural aspects of his
setting. His protagonist Peter Grant is mixed race and many of his characters
are people of colour and varied ethnic backgrounds, but they are never reduced
to stereotypes. You can tell the writer has a strong grasp of both his setting
and the people that populate it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of us felt that
the author got carried away with the two separate plot lines running through
the book. Some people really loved the “Spirits of the Thames” and how each of
them represented their own area of London. Oxley was very posh and suburban,
whereas Mama Thames was more urban. A lot of us really liked the character of Beverley,
a gobby, feisty, black teenager that takes a bit of a shine to Peter. Most of
us thought, based on the title, that the Rivers plot would form the main part
of the book, but were disappointed it didn’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead the focus was
mainly on the string of gruesome murders that are somehow linked to the
children’s puppet show “Punch and Judy.” Most of us remembered Punch from
childhood, but many of the group had no idea how gory and disturbing the
original tale is. Many of us found one particular incident involving a child
pretty horrible. Where the author lost many of us was when he brought in the
idea of people’s faces changing shape. Whilst many of the group were able to
buy into the idea of the magic, we felt the idea of people’s faces moving and
changing shape was a little too outlandish in the midst of the book’s more
grounded aspects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the time we were
reading the novel, in a strange kind of synchronicity, London was in a state of
turmoil following the Woolwich murders. The group remarked on the strong sense
of place within the book. It couldn’t really be set anywhere else. London is
such a melting pot of cultures and histories and so many different kinds of
people all living on top of one another. You can tell the writer has done
plenty of research and really loves the city. Although one reader felt the
research was too heavy sometimes and threatened to get in the way of the story.
It was almost as if the author was trying to throw too much in at once and
needed to follow the plot through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all agreed the
theme of the book was that we all choose how we react in a bad situation and
that when we let our own anger and prejudices spill over into micro
aggressions, people can get hurt. Many of us were struck by the scene in which
Peter is squashed in on the Underground, surrounded by others and gouded by an
evil spirit to take his anger out on people. Many of the victims in this novel
are fuelled by frustrations that are played upon. Members of the group remarked
on how easy it can be to “flip out, but at any given moment we can choose how
we react and what we do can change a whole life.” You could see the author saw
the city as a potential “tinder box” waiting to ignite. One reader was
particularly struck by the image the author had of Londoners “growing together
like spots of mould on a petri dish.” The city is a teaming mass of mixed
cultures and traditions all in one place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because Rivers of
London is the first book in an on-going series, some of us felt the ending
didn’t give enough closure for some of the characters, particularly Peter’s
fellow officer Leslie May whose fate many of us were concerned about. One
member felt that despite the book being part of a series, the plot should still
be self-contained, without too much left hanging. A number of the group said
they would plan to read the rest of the series and some had already started the
second book “Moon Over Soho” to find out what happens next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book was enjoyed
overall with the average score being 7/10. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The lowest score was 4. The
highest score was 8.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write up by Kelly.</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-22444602680361839692013-08-13T16:35:00.001+01:002013-10-18T14:07:11.213+01:00May 2013 - Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkzkL6lEG1DOtuNCFAx4Yd7ntfrJ3IH96p92YLovY2MCYwklMhAqgzThmOTbxaJHGlYVQdi96uavALtkMArpADJIfMdqy9kJ70kOWnVW-6BEZiRErGWrpRaX1gyeoCzUznVzaK-xp6ko/s1600/careofwooden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkzkL6lEG1DOtuNCFAx4Yd7ntfrJ3IH96p92YLovY2MCYwklMhAqgzThmOTbxaJHGlYVQdi96uavALtkMArpADJIfMdqy9kJ70kOWnVW-6BEZiRErGWrpRaX1gyeoCzUznVzaK-xp6ko/s320/careofwooden.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Opinions were split on Care of Wooden Floors but overall the group found it quirky and quite funny. There were some cringeworthy moments, like The Office, which made it a little embarrassing to read in places. The general consensus was that it gets a bit ridiculous near the end but most of us carried on reading to find out what on earth would happen next! One person didn’t find it at all funny, perhaps because she related to Oskar more, but liked how it was written. There aren’t any sympathetic characters and it didn’t seem like the two friends liked each other very much. Amongst the humour there were some dark moments too.</div>
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There were certain aspects of the plot that were convincing up until the cleaner dies, which seemed to be the turning point for most readers. When you’re alone by yourself in a strange country, you don’t know what to do with yourself and the little things that go wrong are exactly what happen to real people. Imagine you were drunk for a week. Some thought he might even have been hallucinating. Someone questioned as the narrator was a writer, why didn’t he do any writing. The book is a homage to procrastinating; even he couldn’t believe how much time he’d wasted not really doing anything.</div>
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Both the narrator and the city he is in remain un-named. Not knowing what language he doesn’t understand put you in the same mindset as the narrator. Though many readers wanted to know what city he was in. Picking out landmarks in a book can be part of the reading experience when recognisable. We did wonder what the cleaner actually thought of him.</div>
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Some thought the characters were unlikely but others knew people that could fit the roles. The narrator chooses to spend time with people who are completely different to him. Oskar is very picky and has a completely obsessive personality. In comparison the narrator is a complete slob and doesn’t know what he’s doing with his life. Although not intended as rude, the notes left behind came across that way however his reaction was very defensive.</div>
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Rather than a main theme it was smaller lines and events that people picked up on most. Walking home from the strip club in the puking rain and puking in the gutter, Oskar replacing the vodka in the freezer with pee which seemed so out of character, the moment where the floorboard were turned over. Will Wiles certainly knows how to write being drunk and hungover! We marvelled over the stupidity to get to the point where the cat went down the chute, a small mishap that snowballs into something major. And why did the cleaner bring back the cat?</div>
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We all felt the death of the cleaner was a step too far. We thought that scene could have been removed and the rest of the book would still have worked. It didn’t make sense why they were fighting or why he would hide the body. Was this just an addition to spice things up? There were no consequences for his actions and the whole thing made him seem like a sociopath. To him the marks on the carpet were more important than a death. The characters seem to swap at the end; the narrator has become obsessive and Oskar is understanding. Some felt let down by the revelation that is was all a test.</div>
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The writing style is quirky and gets funnier although a few people didn’t like the short sentences. Some thought it was atmospheric, especially descriptions of the storm. The description of the interior of the apartment was in-depth, reflecting the fact that Wiles is an architectural journalist. We felt it was just the right length, any longer and it would have been less enjoyable. Out of 15, only 3 wouldn’t read something else by him again.</div>
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Average Score: 6/10</div>
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Write up by Ellie</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-76108332713194402022013-07-08T21:55:00.000+01:002013-08-13T16:58:08.551+01:00The Fault in Our Stars - John Green<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjJv2lmHw8LQwZLNrPTnQg8gviWl61nhIcXDU88FBYtYIK8kbOLYqSx7c1fdihCb66z4RiFvPwuY5oymgDbtb7a5F6dNG-I1vQTKKKNS29COPSxq1GgiDqmcrfGULBGlkCEkacUeca8I/s1600/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjJv2lmHw8LQwZLNrPTnQg8gviWl61nhIcXDU88FBYtYIK8kbOLYqSx7c1fdihCb66z4RiFvPwuY5oymgDbtb7a5F6dNG-I1vQTKKKNS29COPSxq1GgiDqmcrfGULBGlkCEkacUeca8I/s1600/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>The Fault in Our Stars by John Green</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b>Monday 12th August, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
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"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once."</div>
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Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.</div>
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<div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.</div>
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** A thought-provoking love story from the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>Looking for Alaska</i>, <i>An Abundance of Katherines</i>, <i>Paper Towns</i> and - with David Levithan - <i>Will Grayson, Will Grayson</i>.</div>
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** John Green has over 1.2 million Twitter followers, and almost 700,000 subscribers to Vlogbrothers, the YouTube channel he created with his brother, Hank.</div>
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** <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> will capture a crossover audience in the same vein as Zadie Smith, David Nicholls' <i>One Day</i> and <i>Before I Die</i> by Jenny Downham.</div>
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** 'Electric . . . Filled with staccato bursts of humor and tragedy' - Jodi Picoult</div>
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** 'A novel of life and death and the people caught in between, <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> is John Green at his best. You laugh, you cry, and then you come back for more' - Markus Zusak, author of <i>The Book Thief</i></div>
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<div style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">
John Green is an award-winning, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author whose many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers (youtube.com/vlogbrothers), one of the most popular online video projects in the world. You can join John's 1.2 million followers on Twitter (@realjohngreen) or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com and fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com. John lives with his wife and son in Indianapolis, Indiana.</div>
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<b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007Z8ZKS2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B007Z8ZKS2&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Buy on Amazon</span></a></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><br /></b><b style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Kindle Version:</span></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333;"><br /></b><b><span style="color: #20124d;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007Z8ZKS2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B007Z8ZKS2&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank">Buy Kindle Version</a></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-87138870785566136492013-06-12T23:04:00.001+01:002013-07-08T21:56:36.833+01:00One Thousand White Women - Jim Fergus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28pneyURl6v1N5lfgPgaOCRIVVC4Iug6aqG_NOkJn_dWxAqDKXCVoxecnQjlcPv5ihYDk0rQwSdi3eX-PxxZN6RJ1RhqYLXhufEY0L7d1yIX7XE-ywf44G3Xlp7p8l3_r9ogtRvKmydQ/s1600/onethousandwhitewomen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28pneyURl6v1N5lfgPgaOCRIVVC4Iug6aqG_NOkJn_dWxAqDKXCVoxecnQjlcPv5ihYDk0rQwSdi3eX-PxxZN6RJ1RhqYLXhufEY0L7d1yIX7XE-ywf44G3Xlp7p8l3_r9ogtRvKmydQ/s320/onethousandwhitewomen.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>Monday 8th July - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May Dodd, born to wealth in Chicago in 1850, left home in her teens and through a family disgrace is imprisoned in a monstrous lunatic asylum. In 1875 Little Wolf, chief of the Cheyenne nation, comes to Washington to seal a treaty with President Ulysses S. Grant and suggests that peace between Whites and Cheyenne could be established if the Cheyenne were given white women as wives, and that the tribe would agree to raise the children from such unions. Grant secretly recruits 1,000 women from jails, penitentiaries, debtors' prisons, and mental institutions offering full pardons or unconditional release. May, who jumps at the chance, embarks upon the adventure of her lifetime, along with a colourful assembly of pioneer women. She keeps the fictional journal we read, marries Little Wolf, lives in a crowded tipi with his two other wives and their children and lives the life of a Cheyenne squaw. 'Jim Fergus so skillfully envelops us in the heart and mind of his main character, May Dodd, that we weep when she mourns, we shake our fist at anyone who tries to sway her course, and our hearts pound when she is in danger'--Colorado Springs Gazette</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330445871/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0330445871&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21" target="_blank">Buy Used on Amazon</a></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Link to The Book Depository:</span></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/One-Thousand-White-Women-Jim-Fergus/9780312199432" target="_blank">Buy New at The Book Depository</a></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-67650268124246070842013-05-14T21:55:00.001+01:002013-06-12T23:04:32.661+01:00Rivers of London - By Ben Aaronovitch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-zsDw7wjvjRWWqSGM0X_4WbMUOrYBk0bM5ZHTEX3MoBd-U2fIb5s8hKUNgyxzBZPX895WjyeZarICevCaC_8W_gl-y0AsnKA5Pre6wZFJzsdVj-sXDF0Zj1kWPlMvfK7h6jShYweMSo/s1600/riversoflondon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-zsDw7wjvjRWWqSGM0X_4WbMUOrYBk0bM5ZHTEX3MoBd-U2fIb5s8hKUNgyxzBZPX895WjyeZarICevCaC_8W_gl-y0AsnKA5Pre6wZFJzsdVj-sXDF0Zj1kWPlMvfK7h6jShYweMSo/s1600/riversoflondon.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>Monday 10th June - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden . . . and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0575097582/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0575097582&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21%22%3ERivers%20of%20London%20(Rivers%20of%20London%201)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=bourbookclub-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0575097582" target="_blank">Paperback</a></span></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004K1EC1S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B004K1EC1S&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21%22%3ERivers%20of%20London%20(PC%20Peter%20Grant)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=bourbookclub-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B004K1EC1S" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">kindle Version</span></a></b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-48848454853669065922013-04-17T20:41:00.000+01:002013-04-17T20:43:41.884+01:00Our New Venue!Today I had an appointment at The Norfolk Hotel in Bournemouth to talk about the possibility of them being the new location for our meetings.<br />
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I can confirm that we've now reached an agreement with the management that we can host our monthly meets at the hotel. Normally there would be a charge for functions, however they are happy for us to conduct our meetings providing we purchase drinks. There is secure, underground parking, of which you will need to obtain the code to access. For those of you who catch the bus, the hotel is located on Richmond Hill, about a one minute walk from the Town Centre. Disabled parking is available but must be booked in advance, please contact the hotel prior to the meeting if you wish to reserve a place.<br />
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Occasionally they may need to move us to a different area/room in the hotel depending on how busy they are, or how many members we are expecting (generally ten or less would be seated in the lounge area), for this reason please always ask at reception where the book club is being hosted.<br />
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I'm really excited about this change of venue, they seem a perfect fit for us and can even move us to the garden area in the summer months - If the sun ever shows its face!<br />
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The venue suitability will be reviewed by both the hotel and members of the book club after the June 2013 meeting to make sure that all involved are happy with the arrangement.<br />
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The hotel details are:<br />
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<b>The Norfolk Royale Hotel</b><br />
<b>Richmond Hill</b><br />
<b>BH2 6EN</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>01202 551521</b></span><br />
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Thanks for being so patient :-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-59076506843745980132013-04-09T17:04:00.001+01:002013-04-09T17:05:15.797+01:00April 2013 - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcndkU4q4DJQXQYPUL6ktDqOtVUYsRmqpbR7BIFNIcSn4ZgweUDduUgdYXFiEYa6Y26eqOAxm9PXGGj1__Rp5cwC31nr57TBt0PiFDD_aVb82RlOCi0urD3c_a1DdJuDP-p58SICqOfDM/s1600/Miss+Penegrine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcndkU4q4DJQXQYPUL6ktDqOtVUYsRmqpbR7BIFNIcSn4ZgweUDduUgdYXFiEYa6Y26eqOAxm9PXGGj1__Rp5cwC31nr57TBt0PiFDD_aVb82RlOCi0urD3c_a1DdJuDP-p58SICqOfDM/s320/Miss+Penegrine.jpg" width="206" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar
Children follows the story of an American teenager, Jacob, who traces
his grandfather's footsteps back to the Welsh island he grew up on.
The story is accompanied by a collection of strange vintage photographs.<br />
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Most of the group enjoyed the book and found the way that it is built
around photographs to be interesting and original. Some of the photographs
felt forced into the story for effort, and some were inconsistent (the photos
of Emma for example) but overall we found it to be a refreshing way of telling
the story. We found it to be visually exciting and well put together,
particularly for a first novel.<br />
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Many of us found it quite scary; with creepy photos of tentacles and blank
eyes, we thought it would be especially chilling for a young adult! Some felt
that it had been mismarketed as a horror book though, it was more fantasy than
horror. One person did not like fantasy so didn't connect with it at all, they
found it too farfetched; although another, who doesn't usually enjoy
fantasy, enjoyed it.<br />
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In reality the plot could not really be described as believable as it is
fantasy, but while you are reading the story you do not question the
fantastical things that happen, such as bringing people back from the dead;
this seemed normal as part of the story! One person mentioned the similarity of
the book to the Narnia series - stepping through a portal into a magical world
and the fact it was set in the 1940s. A few people thought that some parts
of the time travel were confusing and didn't make sense.<br />
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Regarding characters, we had mixed feelings. Some thought Emma and Jacob
were convincing but we also had issues at how easy it was for Jacob to ditch
his parents. The parents seemed supportive and Jacob had
quite a privileged background but didn't seem to appreciate it. We thought
that it took a while for the book to get going, for example some of the
secondary characters weren't developed fully until near the end.<br />
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One passage that was mentioned as a particular favourite was when the
children snuck out of the house by using Olive to float down from the roof!
Many of us found the romance between Jacob and Emma to be slightly unsettling
and we weren't sure how it would be developed in the next book as it feels a
bit wrong for them to be together (Emma is trying to replace Abe, Jacob's
grandfather and the love of her life). Perhaps Emma will be killed in the next
book to bring an end to that (slightly incestuous) relationship!<br />
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The story is actually classified as 'young adult', although some of us did not
realise until we got a way into the book. We didn't feel it was written in a
child-like way, but you began to realise that it was targeted at young adults
as it was written from the perspective of a teenager, developed into a love
story, and the themes, although creepy, were not too disturbing!<br />
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The author was originally a screenwriter and the rights have now been bought
for a film but we did not feel as though it had been intentionally written to
be made into film, it stands up as a book in its own right. We think it would work
as a film though. The author is American and some readers found that the
English dialogue was a bit cockney! We also thought some of the language was a
bit too modern to be in the 1940s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The book is left open for a sequel/trilogy so many of us found the
ending disappointing as we didn't realise it was not going to
conclude until we reached the last pages! We thought that the ideas were strong
enough to carry through to another book or two, but questioned how
the photographs will work in the next book. 7 out of 8 of us wanted to see how
the story continues and will definitely be reading the next one when it
comes out (due out January 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write up by Sarah</span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1594746060/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1594746060&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21%22%3EMiss%20Peregrine's%20Home%20for%20Peculiar%20Children" target="_blank">Buy on Amazon</a></span></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-50976947409845826242013-04-09T13:52:00.000+01:002013-05-14T21:56:18.265+01:00Care of Wooden Floors - By Will Wiles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJZPI5eMzC0R4NTVKm7hERTT-jplyL5jqk50kkxFUrZXo9Cnu757VpQaRxyHrJnfuoYmFYMgqBzhh3ahKuPzyq9ox9rSJ3GL5umhhyphenhyphenrEPSax_rUMo0ohbKgiqIwIVnTPKvJLjj3KsL2w/s1600/careofwooden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJZPI5eMzC0R4NTVKm7hERTT-jplyL5jqk50kkxFUrZXo9Cnu757VpQaRxyHrJnfuoYmFYMgqBzhh3ahKuPzyq9ox9rSJ3GL5umhhyphenhyphenrEPSax_rUMo0ohbKgiqIwIVnTPKvJLjj3KsL2w/s320/careofwooden.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This months book is:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Meeting:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>Monday 13th May - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Description from Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bold and brilliant debut from a darkly funny new voice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oskar is a minimalist composer best known for his piece ‘Variations on Tram Timetables’. He lives with his wife and two cats in an unnamed Eastern European city. But this book isn’t really about Oskar. Oskar is in Los Angeles, having his marriage dismantled by lawyers. Meanwhile, he has entrusted an old friend to take care of his perfect, beautiful apartment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite Oskar leaving extensive notes on how to keep his flat in pristine condition, a tiny oversight initiates a chain of farcical, and even fatal, disasters. ‘Care of Wooden Floors’ is about loneliness, friendship and the quest for, and struggle against, perfection. And it is, a little, about how to take care of wooden floors.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Link to Amazon:</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007424442/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0007424442&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21%22%3ECare%20of%20Wooden%20Floors" target="_blank">Care of Wooden Floors</a></span></b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-67588811056638618422013-04-08T15:50:00.003+01:002013-04-08T15:53:01.518+01:00March 2013 - Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? By Jeanette Winterson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNUqWuPkCwzDyIVs2-EWrJgArEiWRrt0PMp0HBjwvg9HVXbEaSTZafTwycQX2tBmR5LjL6jQ17pR-hgellK8eb2ab6E4UdnnfpCG6r6fDzoT72cFKPHc6G5nO0QK6crKSvms6s3zONjM/s1600/Why-Be-Happy-When-You-Could-Be-Normal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNUqWuPkCwzDyIVs2-EWrJgArEiWRrt0PMp0HBjwvg9HVXbEaSTZafTwycQX2tBmR5LjL6jQ17pR-hgellK8eb2ab6E4UdnnfpCG6r6fDzoT72cFKPHc6G5nO0QK6crKSvms6s3zONjM/s320/Why-Be-Happy-When-You-Could-Be-Normal.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The account of
depression enabled us to understand how Jeanette felt, it sounded profound,
e.g. as if she were two people. It encouraged us to be more empathetic to
people we knew with depression and why they may come across as cold. Some
readers preferred the 2nd half of the book as it felt more of a narrative so it
was more interesting. The first few chapters seemed self-involved which made
some readers feel impatient but then it is a memoir, but for some readers a few
chapters in it clicked and they warmed to the author and found it more
enjoyable. Some readers felt the timespan skipped in time so it felt like they
were missing something but others felt that it was current as in her feelings
at the time and flowed as if the reader was going through experiences and
memories with her. We considered that memories are not linear anyway, they
occur when they resonate with life and hindsight rather than in the order of
growing through childhood. We agreed it is difficult to imagine such a harsh
upbringing but those with less empathy for Jeanette said there are so many
worse off than her and wanted her to elaborate good aspects such as the church
outings! The narrative seemed circular, drifting in and out of time but she
explained that as her personality. She seemed very resourceful considering
experiences such as sitting out on the doorstep all night but never seemed to
have hatred or anger rather appreciation of the kindness of people around her
helping her to cope. We considered that a child wouldn't necessarily recognise
anger anyway or why it happens as they are often not insightful enough. We
found recounts of her childhood more interesting than adulthood. Ironically
some felt she seemed more grown up as child, she 'stamped her feet more as
adult' but then she was living in fear as child so she wouldn't have been allowed
to show her individuality or get her needs met. Jeanette would describe a
memory but not why it occurred as she moved on quickly in the telling of events
so there was not as much depth. Some Book Club members with personal knowledge
on adoption felt the explanations on adoption showed the loyalty felt to your
adoptive parents but that you can't fit in, then connecting with birth parents
doesn't necessarily live up to what is expected. It is rare for a memoir to be
written by the person themselves which was beneficial for expressing depth of
feelings - Jeanette didn't hold back on the ugliness of her feelings which was
brave. The leap between childhood and adulthood seemed rushed. However Jeanette
has a no-nonsense attitude when she speaks so the book is written in a style
which reflects her personality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The part where Jeanette
left for Oxford after sleeping in her car highlighted the strength of character
and determination that Jeanette possessed and the unconditional support of two
significant women giving her the belief and tenacity to get to Oxford at a time
when she was the minority. These acts of kindness from relative strangers were
significant such as the trampolining teacher letting Jeanette move in and the
old lady from church who always wore her coat as he had no clothes but fed the
children every week. Many readers were inspired by Jeanette's references to the
books she read as she moved through the alphabet and how her relationship
between books and depression had been so special. It gave a linear structure to
her life and gave her meaning when she had nothing else. This made us want to
fall in love with reading again. It was fascinating when she simply decided to
write her own book as her mum burned all of hers! Some readers were affected by
the scene when Jeanette's uncle turned up and was so reactive. However, it
seemed the attempted suicide was glossed over considering how significant it
must have been.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some readers felt sorry
for Mrs Winterson, they felt that details of her childhood would have been
interesting especially around religion and the mix up of babies and why did she
want to adopt? She appeared very complex, especially her many quirks, and
readers felt bad for her as she can't tell her side of the story. However, there
was a sense of loss and richness not seeing her side. Discovering Jeanette's
sexuality provoked a harsh reaction in her mother but at that time we agreed this
would have seemed normal as people then didn't talk about problems as everything
was behind closed doors. We were expecting a more explosive reaction when
Jeanette came out as gay, there seemed an emotional detachment, e.g. we can
cure you in church. It came across that this attitude of coping through
detachment was passed on to Jeanette. Some readers felt the father was unable
to have a positive relationship of love with Jeanette because the mother came
between them, he was weak as he was forced to do what his wife wanted. It was
positive that he met his new wife who was so different to Mrs Winterston. It
was lovely that the book showed the two very different women.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">To
some readers Jeanette appeared to regress, jumping between childhood memories
which they could understand but not empathise with. Obviously a reader never
knows the full story and it is unfair to judge anyone in a memoir as they are
real which is why we wanted to know more about reasons for behaviour and
feelings.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Although this lack of detail reflects
Jeanette as a person, as she does not waste time in unnecessary words. Our
opinions of Mrs Winterston changed when she was trying to be normal as she
seemed more ridiculous, e.g. providing pineapple for Jeanette's friend but it
did make her a more interesting person! We discussed that you don't have to
feel for the person in a memoir but the genre can make you resonate with your
own life or other peoples. For example we discussed how we would have related
to Jeanette if we had been at school with her, she was very prickly, not
friendly and pushed people away! Some of us did grow to admire her resilience
and how her ability to be different has brought her such success.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We appreciated how
Jeanette bravely shows that families are not as chocolate box as society likes
us to believe and can have a profound effect on our personality. We liked how
it reflected the importance of connecting with people who accept you as you
are, we might not start out with them but find them through life. Also how
sometimes we need to leave our environment to be accepted, as we become older
we realise we have to decide who or what is good for us and make informed
choices. We agreed it is important to have books as an escape, Jeanette
inspired us to want to read more books, to find the passion to interact with
books although she did this more than with people! We were aware of her being
in an environment that didn't nurture her but sheer drive for something better
made her explore other places and people. It was empowering to read through a
no-nonsense style, rather than fuzzy feelings which was achieved with humour
and non-criticism. The explanations of poetry made us want to read more and
reflect on the meaning, to dig deeper. We learnt how it is possible to read
books for survival, to have contact with a world outside, such as Accrington,
and have hope!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We enjoyed Jeanette's
writing style and her references so we would read other books by her. Her other
books are based on very different ideas, and almost unexpected by her which is
an attraction<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5296114712330511353" name="_GoBack"></a>. We enjoyed the conversational style which
led some readers want to read something fictional by Jeanette as it would be
interesting. Overall readers enjoyed her dark sense of humour, friendly style
and matter of fact eloquence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had nine people turn
up to the meet, as many others were poorly this month or just didn’t fancy this
book. We did notice that most of the people at the meeting who contributed to
the above enjoyed the book whereas those who didn’t attend didn’t enjoy it so
much, finding it a bit depressing or disjointed. We did however have 14 votes
come in, with an average of 6.3 out of ten, lowest 3 highest 9. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write up by Teresa</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/009955609X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=009955609X&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21">Buy on Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=bourbookclub-21&l=as2&o=2&a=009955609X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-13749907273587885902013-04-08T14:29:00.003+01:002013-04-08T15:55:03.771+01:00Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins<br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6472227-catching-fire" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)" border="0" height="320" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1339497278m/6472227.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I read The Hunger Games about a year ago for book club, and knew that I wanted to read the whole series, I just didn't feel that keen to get started right away. That aside, it's safe to say that as soon as I'd finished reading Catching Fire, I had to download Mockingjay with the aim to start reading it ASAP.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Catching Fire was really slow to get started, with all the recaps from The Hunger Games and build up to what is to come but really didn't get started until Part Two, which is actually 170 ish pages in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bearing in mind the trilogy is for YA, I really felt this book had matured a lot since the first. The romance isn't as clingy (which I hated about the first book), and there were many more twists in this one. Oddly I didn't find the punishments as harsh as the first book but still interesting and actually more realistically implemented.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In terms of the plot, I thought there is only one way for the book to head in, and although it's predictable to a point, it's far from the same as the 74th games. Before the obvious happens, the twists run parallels with what our World has been witness to over recent years, and I love how this ties in. I can now actually see where Collins states she got the idea from (after flicking between a reality show and the news) which wasn't apparent to me after the first book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I suppose as with the first there are too many characters to keep a grip on, and not even Katniss knows who all the tributes are, but I still feel I need to start writing down names as I go along as I just forget characters far too easily.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ending, although extremely cruel to the reader, certainly does its job in making me buy the final book in the trilogy. I cant wait to get started and have big expectations for this book. I'm looking for more of what was in book two, less of book one and to get stuck right into the action! I love where it's heading and hope it can live up to my expectations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4/5 because 170 pages is just far too long for a book to get going!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRskhSaaQeFYtBIqUe0F5PzFzdu0loeF360VWL0mL5T2YuV3AnsFlyITvmvhxOJQE5Ax6kbHtTQEq5FofWGhFzfJCbYjEU8NdKCkdrojb5N2o3f43TSPyPU-EjlKV4lT2PbHXrlvetEA/s1600/4-star-rating.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="38" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRskhSaaQeFYtBIqUe0F5PzFzdu0loeF360VWL0mL5T2YuV3AnsFlyITvmvhxOJQE5Ax6kbHtTQEq5FofWGhFzfJCbYjEU8NdKCkdrojb5N2o3f43TSPyPU-EjlKV4lT2PbHXrlvetEA/s200/4-star-rating.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Review by Vicki Lawrence</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1407109367/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1407109367&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21">Buy on Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=bourbookclub-21&l=as2&o=2&a=1407109367" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296114712330511353.post-81544731806970301922013-04-06T01:27:00.002+01:002013-06-13T00:03:04.122+01:00The Interrogative Mood: A Novel? by Padgett Powell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3P2V4ZE-4W-snOoBIweRqIbfyr3Z28afot86JpmAbo8EoPlfLUz2j1R-HyYaQp6RQhF2bcfgUVl1b9SMCf6jMjrTZRdeDciIR8L51vDnTvxrn4FsQS3waIqekU86SFoQDCYcbM0KXrOc/s1600/6601408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3P2V4ZE-4W-snOoBIweRqIbfyr3Z28afot86JpmAbo8EoPlfLUz2j1R-HyYaQp6RQhF2bcfgUVl1b9SMCf6jMjrTZRdeDciIR8L51vDnTvxrn4FsQS3waIqekU86SFoQDCYcbM0KXrOc/s320/6601408.jpg" width="224" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">A Novel? Not quite, but this book certainly provided me with some light entertainment, that I really didn't think I'd get from a book that comprised solely of questions. Essentially the book takes you on a thought provoking journey of nonsense...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">OK I'm not really selling this book am I?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The fact is, the book is cleverly written, quite scarily gets inside your mind and pokes fun at your answers but the questions asked, also give you pause for thought, some make you NEED to look up the answers online; some do not have a correct answer! It takes you through a series of emotions such as guilt, laughter and concern.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">"Have you ever heard the saying, life is a sandwich of activity between two periods of bed-wetting?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">"Do you know what the longest military siege in history was?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">"If one of three planes was destined to crash, killing either the entire football team, the entire marching band or the entire cheerleading squad and you had to decide which plane was destined to crash, which plane would you select?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The above questions are just a few examples, mostly the questions are cleverly laid out, to follow on from the last or a previous question.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">This book would have received 5 stars from me, but many of the American references were lost on someone from the UK who doesn't follow US television or sports.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Should I discourage you from reading this book? If I were to ask you, have you ever picked up a book you didn't think you'd like, but upon completion was entirely surprised at your enjoyment of said book, what would you say? And If I were to say that this, simple, quick and quirky read may provide you with such enjoyment, would you still wish that I had tried to discourage you?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9kW8yadp2n9QjT7GyFVJFCguDML48gO_aCtPCpsbkPwm4SNj6niOqPuLq6v2gMqFoG2sDbhAsMyn2z9zRIa0m8KcNQXUlsK0ZaULhDAxJ9VpXL45r2HIeNik6muL9KWXXtN3EHAv0CM/s1600/4-star-rating.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="38" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9kW8yadp2n9QjT7GyFVJFCguDML48gO_aCtPCpsbkPwm4SNj6niOqPuLq6v2gMqFoG2sDbhAsMyn2z9zRIa0m8KcNQXUlsK0ZaULhDAxJ9VpXL45r2HIeNik6muL9KWXXtN3EHAv0CM/s200/4-star-rating.png" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Vicki Lawrence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/184668367X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=184668367X&linkCode=as2&tag=bourbookclub-21">Buy on Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=bourbookclub-21&l=as2&o=2&a=184668367X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00306198549092359291noreply@blogger.com1