March 2008

This has been sitting around for a bit, better let it go!
Italo Calvini. 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 here
Anthony Doerr The Shell Collector - 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.

A progress report

(and about time too!)
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.
Syvia bought this month's book and I'm inthe process of organising the book for June.
If you're East Cheshire based and this sounds good to you - comment on this posting or drop me an email!

Latest reads

And the most recent collection-

• John Banville the Sea a meditation on loss
  
• Emma Donoghue Touchy Subjects - a wonderful collection of short stories
  
• Carol Shields Duet - a repackaging of two earlier books - Small Ceremonies and The Box Garden
  

Catching up...

Must be quite a few months of reading here
We've had

• November - Guterson's Snow falling on Cedars


• October - Myla Goldberg's Bee Season


• September - Robert Harris Pompeii

and more recently...

• Philippe Besson En l'absence des hommes


• BATS January - Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird


• Jessica Duchen Rite of Spring


• James Baldwin Go tell it on the mountain


• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Purple Hibiscus


• Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum


• Salley Vickers - The Other Side of you - comment on her work here

better post now otherwise it won't get done!

Books and music

Some thoughts generated by something on the radio this morning about the closure rate of British libraries.
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.
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.
What have we lost for the next generation?

The Cheshire Reading groups rationale

..and a link back to Cheshire's write up and encouragement to start reading groups.

Whither 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 elsewhere and here. A number of avenues to explore were suggested:

• 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 their author events rather than depriving us of this information
• 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?)
• Use Waterstones 3 for 2 offer buying 12 identical books at a time
• 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?
• Do groups of similar books so we're not all getting the same book every month
• Combine with other local book groups with some sort of rotation of stock (aha!)
• Get a base of suggested books by each producing a list

Some of these suggestions overlap!
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.
I'm going to link back to this entry from my other blogs and so - hopefully - this blog will get some reasonable google listing!