General Chat

Hi Dee I have only just managed to get a day in the Life of from the library so will take it on holiday next week to read. At the moment i am re reading the other one which I have as a trilogy. (But this one wont be going on holiday with me). If we are going to have two books I think it would be a good idea to have two lists, one of lighter reads and one of more 'meaty' reads. The second could include classics. if we put them all in one list it may be that the lighter books get passed over which might put some people off starting to read any of them. Plenty of classics I haven't read including the two you mention, also some Austen, Bronte, Dickens. Mike please message me if you agree/disagreee with anything you see on here. Hope you are OK Ann Glos

Hi Dee and Ann (and Mike, who I'm sure will read this!!) I will be back at the library on Tuesday, so will have a little rummage! I am fairly easy about which classics - unless I have read them already of course!! - and I think the contrasting books idea is a good one. Hopefully Mike will let one of us know what he thinks too, and the other GReaders! See you Sunday Dee!! Maz. XX

Hi Mike and all, may I also `join` your book club please? I love reading and this would be a great way to see what others have to say about certain books. Not sure how articulate I am but will give it a go (if I may). I dont` know what books you have already read but if any of the Classic`s are in the running then that`s great. Has any one read `The Jane Austen Book Club`? Also may give `The Time Travellers Wife` a read, have also heard that its good. Look forward to your return Mike. Love and Peace Marianne.xxxx

Hi Marianne - you are MORE than welcome! The books for June - for review from 23rd - are A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer OR A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (spelling may be a bit off!) Books for July are listed on this thread and we will give our comments from 23rd July on those. Don't worry about being articulate - I wasn't!! Just tell us what you thought of it! I have just finished the Time Traveller's Wife and it was EXCELLENT!! Wasn't so impressed with the Jane Austen Book Club though! Sorry! See you on here again soon I hope! Maz. XX

Hi Marianne I read Jane Austen Book Club and must agree with Maz, it was not that great. Not read Time Travellers Wife but will look out for it. Maz I will bring the Merry Christmas DVD on Sunday, then you can see what you make of it Ann Think the idea of two lists is a good one, perhaps Mike can let one of us know what he thinks Dee

A message re the selection for August and the review for June from the boss! I think thats a good idea to have 2 lists... I'd like to read a few classics (will have to think which ones as so many). I'm back on the 27th July so will miss the review, but will send my 'highly intelligent appraisal'' lol of A Day in The Life to either yourself or Dee. Thats means I'll be back in time for the next voting though so we'll do that then if you could tell people to have a classic and another choice and start putting them on the board after the review? I knew I'd get someone else to run it for me. Ann Glos

Hi folks Well I have finished A Day in the Life and am looking forward to the review I won't be around when we vote for the next selection, am off on my holidays, so thought I would put my choices for next month on the board now in case I forget nearer the time. Classics Sketches by Boz - Dickens Sketches by Boz collected a rich and strange mixture of reportage, observation, fancy and fiction centred on the metropolis. It was Dickens's first book, published when he was twenty-four, and in it we find him walking the London streets, in theatres, pawnshops, law-courts, prisons, along the Thames, and on the omnibus, missing nothing, recording and transforming urban and suburban life into new terrain for literature. Sketches is a remarkable achievement, and looks towards Dickens's giant novels in its profusion of characters, its glimpses of surreal modernity and its limitless fund of pathos and comic invention. Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain The tale of a boy's life in a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River. Tom skips school and with his friends, Huck Finn and Jim, spends his days on mad adventures - some real, some imagined. Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain Huck, the disreputable boy in 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer', was beaten whenever his drunken father was sober enough to hold the strap. He was 14 when he got away from him, and met old Jim, also on the run. Together on a raft they tumbled in and out of experiences Non classics Under the skin - Michael Faber Brilliantly told and beautifully written that defies categorisation, Under the Skin introduces Isserley, a woman obsessed with picking up male hitchhikers - so long as they're well-muscled and alone. But why? As the novel unfolds and the reason is made explicit, the reader is drawn inexorably into a completely unexpected and increasingly terrifying world. Never Look Back - Lesley Pearse This novel tells the story of one woman's journey from the slums of 19th century London to the gold rush of San Francisco and the Opulence of New York's 5th Avenue. The reviews are all courtesy of Amazon Dee xx

Dee....'Never Look Back' by Lesley Pierce is brilliant! I love her books! Have you read 'Remember Me'? That is the best one I think.... Its about a young girl from Cornwall who gets 'transported' to a colony in Australia! Based on a true story and well worth reading! Bev x

Hi Bev I've got Remember Me, someone on here recommended it and it looked good. I haven't read it yet. There have been so many good books recommended I really need to go into retreat so I can find time to read them all!! Dee xx

Hi everyone Has anyone else any thoughts about books for next month? Mike, if you are reading this perhaps you can get in touch with one of us and let us know what you fancy? Dee xx

Hi Mike sorry to interupt your thread! but I just want to say its nice to see you back take care!! Val :~)

sorry all!! just caught the tail end of the thread, didnt look at date! still hope all is well Mike Val :~)

Hi Val Just seen you message, we are hoping to keep the Book Club going until Mike gets back so you are welcome to join us Dee xx

Hi folks A message from Mike Good Evening Greaders, I’m keeping an eye on you! It’s great to see new people joining in. As Dee is away I’ve made a note of her choice for August, but don’t put your choices down yet until after the review on the 23rd June. (Only cos I ‘ll get confused! Lol) I’ve read A Day In The Life Of…. And will share my most immemorable views on the 23rd!! Don’t forget July books are: The Crimson Petal Cloud Atlas. See you soon, Happy reading, Mike

Hi folks Hope nobody minds me adding these few quotes. I thought they were relevant to us, as a group pf people who enjoy books and reading Dee xx To learn to read is to discover a pleasure that will last a lifetime A child that enjoys reading inhabits many worlds Every time you read with a child, you are sharing the human experience and enlarging the size of their world

Hi All I've got visitors coming end of June so hopefully they will be bringing me one of the July books so that I can take part in that review... Other than that I will just lend my support of this great thread...get people reading...that's my motto.... At the moment I have read every book I possess about 4 times.....lost a few in September and that nearly broke my heart!!!! Hubby saved most of them (knew how important they were to me...ah bless!). Anyway girls keep up the good work. Jacquie xxx

Hi Jacquie Can any of us send books out to you? Dee xx

That's funny Dee, I hadn't read your answer to Jacqui but I was about to say the same thing. I would happily post you a paperback jacqui, I have loads, just say which authors you like and we can take it from there. (Of course I may not have any of the authors you like but we can see.) Ann Glos

Dee and Anne....that is such a kind offer but I think it would work out a bit expensive to post them. As to Authors I just like reading, from William Golding to Charlotte Cornwall, from Herman Wouk to Clive Cussler..have any of you read Amy Tan? Thank you so much for the thought. Jacquie xx

Jacqui, I don't think the postage would be that bad. However, I don't have any of those authors. And no i haven't read Amy Tan. My paperbacks tend to be a bit light weight as they are mostly holiday reading - Freda Lightfoot, lillian harry, susan Sallis, Margaret Dickenson, to name a few. Ann Glos