UK Book Club discussion

I am excited about this challenge, hopefully it will help me branch out a bit.

Jan - Historical: Alone In Berlin by Hans Fallada
Feb - Crime/Detective: The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
Mar - Classics: The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Apr - Biography/Memoir: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
May - Sci-Fi/Dystopian: Inside Out by Maria V Snyder
Jun - Fantasy: White Star by Beth Vaughan
Jul - Young Adult: The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
Aug - Comedy/Humour: May Contain Traces of Magic by Tom Holt
Sep - Magical Realism: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Oct - Horror/Gothic: Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
Nov - Espionage/Spy: Stettin Station by David Downing
Dec - Short Stories: On The Prowl by Various

Getting into this now. It started off with a calm, measured pace, kind of like Otto, but all of a sudden I can't put it down.

Sounds great, maybe that will be my next book to read then, stop it gathering dust!

The Snowman - This has just arrived in the post from Amazon. It looks fat and grown up. I want to read Harry Potter again instead...

GemS wrote: "The Snowman - This has just arrived in the post from Amazon. It looks fat and grown up. I want to read Harry Potter again instead..."

I guess you don't mean The Snowman by Raymond Briggs!....I'm walking in the air....

The Raymond Briggs book is a quick read - only pictures (no words) - Good pictures never the less!

Em wrote: "The Raymond Briggs book is a quick read - only pictures (no words) - Good pictures never the less!"

Em, did you read it to the kids this Christmas too then? Max really liked it - as there were no words he was telling me the story!

I usually go through the bookshelf and pull out all the Christmas books at the start of December, this one included!

A couple of years ago I bought a CD which had the story told rather nicely by Jimmy Nesbit and the music as a backdrop. Officially purchased for the kids but I enjoyed it too - I played it in the car for quite a while and more than once we arrived at our destination but had to sit in the car until the story finished!

Telling the story based on the pictures is a really good skill - not as easy as it sounds, that's how the girls started "reading" in Reception class.

Liz wrote: "GemS wrote: "The Snowman - This has just arrived in the post from Amazon. It looks fat and grown up. I want to read Harry Potter again instead..."

I guess you don't mean The Snowman ..."

Er... nope. By Jo Nesbo... was good, although quite predictable but good twists and interesting characters. Would pick up more of this author's books for holiday reads.

I ordered The Great Gatsby to read for classics. It came today - I had no idea it was so short! Might need to do a second one me thinks.

I am reading The Great Gatsby too. I downloaded it from feedbooks.com for free.

Finished The Great Gatsby. I really enjoyed the style of narration and liked the voice of Mr Carraway. But what a terribly sad story.

It was sad, not a bit like I expected. I did enjoy it very much too.

I also enjoyed the Great Gatsby, very good stort good characters and well told.

I felt confused in many parts but i really like how the story was weavered and the twist, i felt sad for Gatsby and dislike almost rest of the characters except for Nick himself. Although Gatsby seemed mysterious i felt sympathy for him all through the book. The narration was very descriptive and effective.

I read The Great Gatsby in high school and was probably too young to appreciate as I did not enjoy. And unfortunately I think that has set me against ever trying to read again.

I have read it thanks to a groupread, otherwise I don't think I'd pick it up myself.

I'm reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson for April. This has been on my TBR pile for some time so thought I'd better get to it.

GemS wrote: "I'm reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson for April. This has been on my TBR pile for some time so thought I'd better get to it."

I read that just recently, let me know how you get on. :)

Loved it! Incredibly inspiring read and educational too. Greg Mortenson is an amazing example of what can be achieved with little money and a lot of passion. A real eye-opener I will recommend to everyone.

GemS wrote: "Loved it! Incredibly inspiring read and educational too. Greg Mortenson is an amazing example of what can be achieved with little money and a lot of passion. A real eye-opener I will recommend to e..."

I thought it was a great story, inspiring is the word. The man has incredible persistance; he must be great with people, enthusing and encouraging them to participate in his vision.

I just couldn't get comfortable with the writer's style. I felt it read too much like an extended Sunday Times magazine article, rather than a 'proper' book. ('As he looked over the snowy peaks of K2, shimmering in the distance, Mortenson thought of a far greater challenge he had yet to face,....blah-Mortenson, blah-Mortenson, blah-Mortenson'). Such a shame as it's a wonderful story.

Liz wrote: "GemS wrote: "Loved it! Incredibly inspiring read and educational too. Greg Mortenson is an amazing example of what can be achieved with little money and a lot of passion. A real eye-opener I will r..."

I do know what you mean Liz, having never read any kind of biography or memoir before (apart from Anne Frank's Diary) I wasn't sure if that's just how they are!
Having bought this from Amazon I have noticed my recommended list now includes The Bookseller of Kabul which looks really interesting too. I might give it a go to get a better idea of this genre.

Ooh, I just read The Bookseller of Kabul for my in person book group and bonus that it fitted the genre theme for April too - I don't know how typical it is for the genre but I thought it was good - mentally composing a review as I type!

I like the idea of dystopian but am a little scared of how complicated it could be so have decided to go for a YA novel - Inside Out by Maria V Snyder. So far, so good.

Well, I enjoyed that! I read it in a day which is most unlike me. It was action packed from the start with excellent characters and a world I have a vivid picture of in my mind. It had a nice story arc with a tidy ending but left just enough questions and intrigue to have me purchasing the sequal shortly.

Sounds like it had everything you could want from a book!

I am reading White Star by Beth Vaughan for Fantasy. This is the second book in a trilogy where I read the first one a couple months ago. I was unsure about the first book but it did grow on me throughout and I found that this second book was centred around one of the most interesting characters from the first book so here we are.

For Young Adult I am going to read The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra. I've decided on this as I came across it in my Amazon recommendations beause I read Three Cups of Tea and because most other YA I have read tends to be fantasy so thought this would be a good break from the norm for me.

Read May Contain Traces of Magic by Tom Holt fro August. I wasn't very keen, I found the plot extremely confusing and it wasn't particularly funny either. Disappointment.

Magical Reaslism: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Highly recommended, a fab little story that begins each chapter with a recipe and has household hints and tips littered throughout. Set in Mexico where according to her family tradition, Tita, as the youngest daughter, must not marry and must stay at home and look after her mother until she dies. It's not as depressing as it sounds, honest!

GemS wrote: "Magical Reaslism: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Highly recommended, a fab little story that begins each chapter with a recipe and has household hints and tips littered throughout. Set..."

I liked it too. I felt rather hungry reading it!

Liz wrote: "GemS wrote: "Magical Reaslism: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Highly recommended, a fab little story that begins each chapter with a recipe and has household hints and tips littered th..."

I know! Some of those receipe's sound amazing, if a bit onerous!

Long time no see! Hope everyone is well. I'm going to be catching up now with Dark Matter by Michelle Paver for October and then Stettin Station by David Downing for November.

Welcome back Gem

Horror/Gothic: Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. Really enjoyed this, the setting was fantastic and the atmosphere created really did give me the creeps. It is written as a journal and so is pretty easy to read and really gives a good feel of the main character's deterioration. Would def recommend if you liked The Woman in Black.

Oh Dark Matter - my friend recommended this to me - but she keeps forgetting to bring it when I see her :(

Just getting started on Stettin Station for November's read. Have read the two previous books by this author so am pretty sure I'll enjoy it.

Had some unfinished business here that was niggling at me. Having now completed a full 12 months I am bowing out of this challenge.
Thanks for broadening my literary horizons.
Xxx