tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41970833863496932282024-02-08T04:18:25.054-08:00Cheshire Book Groupsrajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-2787853580120717302011-03-15T07:32:00.000-07:002011-03-15T08:00:28.152-07:00..and for 2009Looking further back to 2009 our choices were:<ul><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Did we meet in January?</span></li><li>Wendell Berry 'Hannah Coulter' </li><li> Wm Paul Young 'The Shack'</li><li> Jack Drummond 'Avalanche'</li><li> Chris Cleave 'the other hand' </li><li>Gao Xingjian 'Soul Mountain'</li><li> (July) G K Chesterton 'The Man Who was Thursday' </li><li>(Sept) Marianne Fredriksson 'Hanna daughters'</li><li> Jodi Picoult 'My Sister's Keeper' </li><li>Danny Scheinmann 'Random Acts of Heroic Love'</li><li> Maile Meloy 'Liars and Saints'</li></ul>As before there's teasers from all these in my more-or-less weekly posts <a href="http://rmstar.blogspot.com/search/label/BATS">here</a> but you will need to scroll down a bit!rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-20470822339275431142011-03-15T03:13:00.000-07:002011-03-15T03:30:13.190-07:00BATS books in the last yearThe approaching of the need to produce an annual statement on what we've done in the book group over the past year, causes this blog to spring back into life (and I'm hoping to keep it going!).<br />So in 2010 we read the following:<ul><li>Kate Summerscale 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: or, the Murder at Road Hill House'</li><li> Hans Fallada 'Alone in Berlin'</li><li> Marilynne Robinson 'Gilead'</li><li> Elizabeth Gaskell 'North and South'</li><li> C J Sansom 'Dissolution' </li><li>(July) Sebastian Barry 'The Secret Scripture'</li><li>(September) Kathryn Stockett 'The Help'</li><li> Marguerite van Geldermalsen 'Married to a Bedouin'</li><li> Anne Tyler 'Noah's Compass'</li><li>Sebastian Faulks 'A Week in December'</li></ul>I don't think we met in August...but there's a good range of books there - they are chosen, in rotation, by members of the group. There's teasers from all these in my more-or-less weekly posts <a href="http://rmstar.blogspot.com/search/label/BATS">here</a>.rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-22182277321558298722009-09-06T09:20:00.000-07:002009-09-06T10:05:32.916-07:00Book swappingOver the past months we have acquired a number of sets of books - we're now operating a different system and each member is buying one of the books. We still have 12 sets though and we had been thinking of trying to swap out sets with another group.<br />Cheshire libraries (or whatever has taken its place since the big split!) have now notified us that a book group book-swapping morning has been arranged on 26th September (Saturday) at Hoole United Reformed Church between 10 and 12.<br />I'm not sure if you need to register to attend but the more that attend the better the chance of getting something you don't already have and the better the choice!<br />At the moment I can't find a URL to link for this event. If you know of one please link to it in a comment.rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-52625294175004235612008-10-26T09:09:00.000-07:002008-10-26T09:28:03.598-07:00Two more meeingsThings have fallen a bit behind here, I hope I'll add something to this, but we've discussed:<br /><ul><li>Tracy Chevalier's Burning Bright - discussed in September<br /></li><li>Sadie Jones - <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/product/0099513420?pageNumber=6">The Outcast</a> - October meeting</li><li>And we're in the midst of Ann Marie MacDonald's The Way the Crow Flies<br /></li></ul>rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-25575625178709417422008-10-26T09:03:00.000-07:002008-10-26T09:08:58.477-07:00Meeting Schedule (for BATS)Bit of a change around both of dates and places, so here's the latest state of things:<ul><li>November - 4th at Chris G's (Jacqui choosing the book)</li><li>December - 8th at Chris CK's (Chris CK choosing the book)</li></ul>rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-34470844997088793802008-10-09T13:32:00.000-07:002008-10-09T13:35:26.737-07:00Irene NemirovskyThe exhibition devoted to Nemirovsky is now up on the <a href="http://www.mjhnyc.org/irene/index.html">web</a> and well worth a visit.<br />Also springing from another comment here - the <a href="http://knutsfordlitfest.blogspot.com/">Knutsford Literature festival</a> is in full swing.rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-15103147347238854432008-09-03T13:12:00.000-07:002008-09-03T13:27:00.045-07:00I'm not afraid!(Io non ho paura) July's book was Niccolo Ammaniti's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1841952974/ref=cm_rdp_product">novel</a> about a young boy discovering unwelcome truth. I've seen the film <a href="http://rmstar.blogspot.com/2008/03/we-went.html">twice</a> - maybe a few more times than that, as I've also seen it on dvd. I was therefore gratefuly for the opportunity of reading the book - in English! Beautifully written but a deeply disturbing book. Good review <a href="http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/deptlang/fulgor/volume1i3/papers/fulgor_v1i3_Book_reviews.htm">here</a> (apart from the unprintable characters!) - though it does give a little too much away! Another review at <a href="http://valentinasroom.blogspot.com/2007/10/im-not-scared-niccol-ammaniti.html">Valentina's room</a>:<br /><blockquote>I was afraid of ghosts and my grandfather told me the same thing as Michele’s father once. He lived with Mafia all his life. He knew that men could be a lot more dangerous than monsters or ghosts.</blockquote>rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-64931590332743569222008-08-03T09:38:00.000-07:002008-08-03T09:54:30.255-07:00Suite Française - (BATS June)Having missed most of June's meeting, where we discussed Pesthouse (Jim Crace), I found that I was away altogether for the July meeting where the discussion was on <a href="http://www.irenenemirovsky.guillaumedelaby.com/en_index.html">Irène Némirovsky's</a> Suite Française - the book I chose!<br />I read it before the 'proper' month, as I was going to be away, so it seems a long time ago now. It seemed to be mostly enjoyed - by others - telling the story of the fall of France in 1940 and the flight from Paris, the second half of the book deals with the consequences of occupation. A breathtaking novel - as it seems to stand back from the events - and yet it was written in 1941-2 and its composition terminated by Némirovsky's arrest, transportation to a concentration camp and death. The (incomplete) novel was only published in 2004. The Guardian review is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/mar/04/featuresreviews.guardianreview2">here</a>:<blockquote>In the fictional world of Suite Française, everything is in flux. Some are stunned, while others already jockey for position in the new order. A few prepare themselves to resist. But nothing is abstract; everything is made present, whether it's the cherries on the pillow, the privileged little dinner that Corte secures for himself and which is then snatched away by a hungry man, or the sound of music drifting over a lake at evening while young German soldiers celebrate. Perhaps Némirovsky's most extraordinary achievement is the humanity of these individual Germans, and the sense of tragedy when their celebration dissolves at the news that Germany has invaded the Soviet Union. Their dreams of peace vanish; fantasies of a bargain between conquerors and conquered cannot survive.</blockquote><br />Strongly recommended!rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-78313333287733051752008-08-03T09:15:00.000-07:002008-08-03T09:37:58.988-07:00The Pesthouse (BATS May)This was the first of our new sequence of book group choices made (and bought) by the members. Sylvia chose <a href="http://www.jim-crace.com/">Jim Crace's</a> The Pesthouse - a powerful novel of the aftermath of an apocalypse. According to an interview with Crace in Writing Magazine (pdf's on his website), it was inspired both by the Scilly Isles where there is a pesthouse and his love/hate relationship with America:<br /><blockquote>‘I have always loved beingin America; I have always loved its generosity and hospitality. But in the last ten years I have found that my hatred was stronger than my love for it. I wanted to address that. So, take the issue of a destroyed community, place it in America and give it a medieval future. All of those issues are in the book.’</blockquote><br />Wonderfully written, imaginative though I'm not sure I was always convinced by the narrative - but maybe I was shutting out the fantasy?<br />A Guardian review is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/mar/17/featuresreviews.guardianreview19">here</a> and <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/books/28543/part_2/struggling-to-survive-the-future.thtml">here</a> is a rather more positive one from the Spectator.rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-1799419969388114572008-05-24T10:08:00.000-07:002008-05-25T09:50:44.668-07:00March 2008This has been sitting around for a bit, better let it go!<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo_Calvino">Italo Calvini</a>. Adam One Afternoon - this was my BATS book of (ooh) a few months ago, collection of short stories very much rooted in the Italian countryside and the world of nature, an environment that had just been fought over. There's some good looking stuff on Calvino <a href="http://www.italo-calvino.com/">here</a><br />Anthony Doerr <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shell-Collector-Stories-Anthony-Doerr/dp/0142002968">The Shell Collector</a> - from Italy to Africa. Again read a few months ago now. Nature is still very much in the forefront - like Calvino. Another set of short stories - recommended particularly the first.rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-7004611209680639602008-05-10T05:53:00.000-07:002008-05-10T05:58:48.889-07:00A progress report(and about time too!)<br />The book group has gone for purchasing our own books with the hope that in time we can combine with other local book groups with some sort of rotation of stock. So at the moment one member each month buys around a dozen identical books (ideally, though not essentially, using a waterstones 3 for 2 offer) which we read and then the buyer retains them hoping that other local groups might want to use our copy and we could organise a swap.<br />Syvia bought this month's book and I'm inthe process of organising the book for June.<br />If you're East Cheshire based and this sounds good to you - comment on this posting or drop me an email!rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-17522384481840771942008-02-26T10:33:00.000-08:002008-03-09T13:19:55.977-07:00Latest readsAnd the most recent collection-<br /><ul><li>John Banville <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sea-John-Banville/dp/0330483285">the Sea</a> a meditation on loss <br /><li>Emma Donoghue Touchy Subjects - a wonderful collection of short stories<br /><li>Carol Shields Duet - a repackaging of two earlier books - Small Ceremonies and The Box Garden<br /></ul>rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-19950134715344011622008-02-03T13:09:00.000-08:002008-03-09T13:09:28.910-07:00Catching up...Must be quite a few months of reading here<br />We've had<br /><ul><br /> <li>November - Guterson's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Falling_on_Cedars">Snow falling on Cedars</a></li><br /> <li>October - Myla Goldberg's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Season">Bee Season</a></li><br /> <li>September - Robert Harris Pompeii</li><br /></ul>and more recently...<br /><ul><br /><li>Philippe Besson En l'absence des hommes</li><br /><li>BATS January - Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird</li><br /><li>Jessica Duchen Rite of Spring</li><br /><li>James Baldwin Go tell it on the mountain</li><br /><li>Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie <a href="http://www.nigeriavillagesquare1.com/purplehibiscus.html">Purple Hibiscus</a></li><br /><li>Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum</li><br /><li>Salley Vickers - The Other Side of you - comment on her work <a href="http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/learning/learn-libraries/learn-libraries-authors/learn-libraries-events-2007/learn-libraries-events-070427-vickers.htm">here</a></li><br /></ul><br />better post now otherwise it won't get done!rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-13401507989292249212008-01-01T02:34:00.000-08:002008-01-01T02:41:43.073-08:00Books and musicSome thoughts generated by something on the radio this morning about the closure rate of British libraries.<br />I grew up in the 1960's and after moving to Macclesfield learnt an awful lot about music from the piano music and scores that the library then had. If it hadn't been for them I wouldn't have discovered - so early or easily - enthousiams for Scriabin, Prokofiev, Ireland. I'd never have learnt to read orchestral scores fluently or understand piano reductions of operatic scores - my love and understanding of Wagner was greatly helped by being able to play the reductions.<br />Now when I go into the local library I could weep, a section of scores all bunged together no order, no arrangement according to type - and as far as I can tell only very popular stuff - it is so difficult to work out whether there is anything which might interest I can never be bothered.<br />What have we lost for the next generation?rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-91915019638636558802007-10-01T22:50:00.000-07:002008-02-03T13:30:56.689-08:00The Cheshire Reading groups rationale..and a <a href="http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/ReadersAndWriters/Readers/joinreadinggroup/">link back</a> to Cheshire's write up and encouragement to start reading groups.rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197083386349693228.post-90863481952626030762007-10-01T14:35:00.000-07:002008-02-03T13:30:56.690-08:00Whither book groups?I'm a member of a Cheshire book group that has just received a letter from Chester saying that they have 75 book groups with 40 on a waiting list so rather than invest in the scheme they are going to cut the older ones loose! We've had a short discussion, I've created this blog - I've blogged entries previously <a href="http://rmstar.blogspot.com">elsewhere</a> and <a href="http://brock-marshall.no-ip.info/~robert/wpblog/">here</a>. A number of avenues to explore were suggested:<ul><li>Suggest to Cheshire that if they introduce subscriptions for the 'older' groups then the groups will continue to expand rather than potentially stifling them - there is also the potential of more people appearing at <span style="font-weight:bold;">their</span> author events rather than depriving us of this information</li><li>the letter suggests reserving the books (which we'd have to decide upon) but getting all the books at the same time would seem to be difficult to coordinate (unless they have something in mind?)</li> <li>Use Waterstones 3 for 2 offer buying 12 identical books at a time</li><li>Suggest to Waterstones - that's really the only bookshop in town (Macclesfield) for us - that we'd buy 12 identical books 12 times a year and what discounts do they do?</li><li>Do groups of similar books so we're not all getting the same book every month </li><li>Combine with other local book groups with some sort of rotation of stock (aha!)</li><li>Get a base of suggested books by each producing a list</li></ul>Some of these suggestions overlap!<br />If other book groups in Cheshire who have also received this letter read this and want to comment on this entry - maybe we can share ideas and get other suggestions and maybe a bit more pressure.<br />I'm going to link back to this entry from my other blogs and so - hopefully - this blog will get some reasonable google listing!rajmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15772878283460648912noreply@blogger.com1