Hello Bookworms, and a Huge thanks to Aginghippy who I co-host this group with (I do the first part of the month and Aginghippy hosts the latter part of the month)
Lots of great ideas for new reads every month – keep them coming!.
We both tag regulars and those new to the group, but if you’re peeping please join in, and if you know anyone who might enjoy it here, just give them the link 😊
The great thing about RAAI, is that unlike other book groups, there’s no pressure to read something you don’t like, or get a book finished for the next meeting. Instead, we just love finding out what everyone has enjoyed, so that we can add to our teetering piled of “books to be read”, or even not enjoyed, so we know what to expect.
I’ve recently finished 2 books:
George Orwell – Keep the Aspidistra Flying (Audible) Narrated by Richard E Grant this was a great way to enjoy Keep the Aspidistra Flying. Gordon Comstock despises (that he doesn’t have) money. A fairly unsuccessful poet and a book sellers assistant, we see Gordon metaphorically cut off his nose to spite his face by refusing to take part in the materialism of the world around him. The one time he has a significant amount of money for himself, he squanders it away with disastrous results. Throughout the story, the poor Aspidistra is seen as the symbol of the stuffy middle classes. Apparently Orwell drew on his own experiences when writing this quite enjoyable novel.
Christopher Brookmyre – Be My Enemy (Audible) Be careful what you say yes to! Investigative journalist, Jack Parlabane, has been invited to the trial of a new team building outward bound weekend based in a cursed castle in the Scottish Highlands. Things are already a bit full on with the participants getting shot at, but then a stranger knocks on the kitchen door with a quantity of unidentifiable meat for sale, just after the chef has been sacked, and things really get (very amusingly) sinister. Not for the squeamish, but I found it very entertaining!
Hello Grigid ! Thanks for continuing to tag me. I've been incredibly antisocial on the book front lately, as I've been away so much and barely had time to read anything! The two books I am reading at the moment are both nonfiction, and very political. The first, Change Everything, How we can rethink, repair and rebuild society by Natalie Bennett, former Green Party leader and now one of two Green Party House of Lords representatives. It's a really lively easy read, very inspiring, and hopeful that there are alternatives to the highly toxic environment we in the UK have been living in for some time. I'm two thirds through, so I will report back to let you know if it manages to hold that to the end. It covers topics in decommodifying time, Universal Basic Income, Education, Earth restoration, Land ownership etc. It is a practical book with strategies, solutions, and talking points.
The second is by the former and first Green MP Caroline Lucas called Another England, How to reclaim our national story. I was a bit disappointed to start because I thought I had read that this book was similar to the previous one, and so my expectations of it were different. I was expecting this to be in layman's terms and highly accessible to everyone, whereas I would say it's actually a more academic style. Now I have got over that, I'm enjoying it!
It's a series of essays, as Caroline goes back to her academic roots as an English Literature scholar, and looks as how narrative shapes our national culture and how it has been used for the worse over the past decade and a half, and how we can reclaim it for good.
So, both very political, inspiring, thought-provoking, and both quite different. And at present, neither disappointing now that I know what to expect.
I have to say the Natalie Bennett sounds very refreshing! Not sure about the Caroline Lucas one - Politics was part of my degree, and Youngest is doing Politics and Philosophy now, so I link non fiction politics with having to think hard. Now having said all that, our current book club book is Rory Stewart's Politics on the Edge, and despite my initial reaction (eye rolling, arms folded, a lot of tutting) and him being a posh boy, I have to say I'm quite enjoying his candour, and especially his withering descriptions of the personalities and moral fibre of some well known politicians. It's a long book and I may not get to the end by next Tuesday when our meeting is, but I think I will finish it.
It will be good to hear what you think when you've got to the end, and if their ideas, if not their styles, are similar.
I completely understand what you mean! It gets all brain hurty and philosophical, lol! I get myself in knots. I did English Lit with Creative Writing for my degree, and I only did it a few years ago, so when I opened this book, I was like, oh! It's this stuff again! (As you can see, I'm sooo eloquent now! 😄 🤣)Natalie Bennett is really refreshing and definitely worth a read. A lot of it is Green Party policy, tbh, which is refreshing indeed!
He's a funny one, Rory Stewart. Out of anyone in the tory party, I think if he'd got in as PM, then I would have been weirded out that I mildly liked a tory! I sometimes wonder how different the country would have been had all the moderates not been purged. We'll never know! I've always thought he was in the wrong party. He's definitely more of a New Labour type.
I will definitely give you my opinions at the end of both!
You're spot on about Rory Stewart - he had me at the prologue, where he describes the moments ahead of a live TV programme, with Emily Maitlis interviewing all 5 candidates.
"I don't trust any of the other four middle aged men, teetering on bar stools over that mirrored floor to be Prime Minister. I don't trust myself either"
Hilarious! It's mad that they didn't choose him, having been a diplomat among any other things. He's led such a privileged yet varied and interesting life. I only read a Wikipedia article about him ages ago, so I bet the book is jampacked.
It really is. His problem seems to have been a lack of time served in door knocking and other local constituency experience, (risking his life in Afghanistan instead), oh, and that David Cameron seemed not to like him.
Ooh, Be My Enemy, sounds good. I have an Audible credit in a couple of days, I think I will get it.
Our local telephone box ( you know the old red ones), has been turned into a free mini library. I picked up a book called The Paris Flat ( I think). I might look at that too.
I have a lot of reading research ( non fiction) to do this week, so will be in the library a lot.
I tend to listen to a wide range of things. The last audio book I bought was a non fiction book on The Florentines-by Paul Strathern. I am not so keen on fiction but I have a few Agetha Raisin (which are quite light and fun) and have some George Orwell if I qant something more deep.
I really wanted to listen to Pox Romana, about The Plague in Ancient Rome. Sadly the narrationwas really not to my taste. Always try out the sample!!
Oh you're spot on about the importance of the narrator! I'm sure I've been put off some great books by poor narration - some of it is so stilted, like they're reading a shopping list!
I'm sure I enjoyed Keep the Aspidistra Flying more than I would have otherwise because it was narrated by Richard E Grant.
I love Audible but ended up with a whole other stack of books, so had to cancel the subscription! I have so many to get through. Great for when washing up or laundry or other household tasks! The Paris Flat sounds interesting because I love Paris. What's it about?I also love mini libraries. It's hard not to take too many! Maybe I should start one of my own!
I listen to my Audible books whilst driving, especially longer journeys.
I know what you mean about stacks of books though - my worst one is Kindle - I'm so drawn in by a 99p offer (I'm not the only one on here easily tempted ! 😂)
I am a volunteer welfare rights person and I like to keep abreast of things. But also I to read The New Scientist and Nature. I am lucky that I live near the British Library and some good Academic libraries, otherwise I would be stumped.
I got the name of the book wrong its the Paris Appaetment. photo below. 🙂
colour photo of a book called The Paris Appartment
It probably takes a lot of organising. I have no idea who looks after this one, but it is well cared for. It a place to share house plants too, or at least, there were some house plant in there yesterday.
I love old phone boxes. I hated them when they were phone boxes, they always smelt of wee! Useful though, when there were no mobile phones and we had to ring someone’s’ dad to pick us up from the station after a night out! ( no uber either).
We have a few repurposed boxes near us, little coffee stalls, a library and an amazing one which has been decorated
We have a phone box book swap in our village. I must admit I don't go to it as I'm trying not to buy/swap more books as I'm still trying to work my way through the many on my kindle. It's a great idea though.
I think my hairdresser wanted to kill me the other week. I popped back in three days after she did it because it was still a bit too triangular, as often happens with my curly hair. I didn't know they were going to call her off a lunch break either, so I'm sure that didn't help. She had a face like thunder and I was very nervous as she brandished the scissors! It was worth it though. It was much better after!
I have done the same before with a different hairdresser within the same salon and they were completely different about it and did a good job. People react in different ways. I figured maybe she was already having a bad day x
She was only grumpy after being asked. She'd been fine in the first instance! She did however keep saying that what I had asked her to do would make my hair look frizzy and weird, but in fact it didn't! I am pretty useless when it comes to hairdressing terms and hairstyles are either up in a pony tail, low bunches, or down, but I do understand how my hair works, being a curlylocks, so I just had to trust myself and put on a brave face!
Ikr! She was really laying it on thick. Plus she said this after she'd brushed my hair while it was dry, again another big no no for curly hair! I just remained polite and said thank you and sorry they'd called her off her break, and left!
I have curly hair it took me ages to find a proper hair dresser who knows how to cut it.
I spent years responding to to people including hairdressers saying ‘ it will be fine if you just brushed it’ or trying to cut out the curl, which unless they are going to chop up my DNA is ridiculous!
Mine’s wavy, and the best hairdresser I ever had used to look at the direction each section of hair grew and snip accordingly. I grew it long after he moved on and I ended up with bits sticking out at all angles after a trim.
Yes, the spring back is phenomenal after a haircut sometimes! But when it's not been cut for a while it doesn't grow downwards and look long, it grows up and out and triangular! Often, when I've had a good haircut, people comment that my hair is long. I say thanks, I just had it cut!
It has turned out fine, but I'm not sure I'll be going back after that treatment. Another curly haired friend gave me a discount code for her hairdresser, and she gets a discount too when I redeem it 😀
Hi Grigid, please can I join. I’ve never belonged to a bookclub even though I love reading. I think I was put off by having to read a named book in a given amount of time. This one sounds much more flexible and a great source of inspiration -especially loving the sound of be my enemy.I’ve just started a book called Night (Nuit) by Bernard Minier - only read the beginning but it opens in Norway, on a night train in winter, so has a lot of potential.
Hoping joining you guys will inspire me to pick my book up daily. Happy reading.
Now, we just could not get into that, but my in-laws utterly loved it, as did many others. The main character irked me somewhat. I think she was meant to be neurodivergent and something didn't ring true. That was way before I was diagnosed last year! Could've been picking up on it!
I really enjoyed the Bridge, in fact weren’t there 4 series? I watched it, didn’t read it. There was an english french version based on the channel tunnel which I quite enjoyed.
Hi Frenchfields, that sounds really good. Love any books with lots of settings on trains, have a deep love for them. Adding this to my list of books to seek out
Love both books you have reviewed, the latter would be something I might get out on borrow box.... Have screenshot both for info later as I am listening to cruel and unusual by Patricia Cornwall... This one is the guy who died on death row and had a nose bleed then her assistant is found shot dead in her car... I am enjoying the book 📖😀
The op room girls was a book club choice and I loved it and forgot to go yesterday as I would have given it a 10 out of 10... Its set in 2nd world war and the girls enlist as wafs and become friends, there is romance, ofcourse war on, and there is sabotage and the urgent need to find a traitor... Its part of a series and this was book one... Recommend
What a shame you missed giving full points at your book club. I wonder what everyone else thought? It sounds like it has a lot of good elements to it 👍🏼
Cruel and Unusual sounds good - I've definitely read a Kay Scarpetta, but can't recall which one.
That’s not a bad score, a shame yours didn’t bump it up.
We’ve started a WhatsApp group so people who can’t get to a meeting can have their say. It’s not for everyone I know, but useful for getting messages round too.
Both involving spies so both lovely romantic reads in their own rights.The caged countess is about her father marrying her off at 14 and she nevers meets her husband until she is in France paying her part in the war... She only finds out when she returns home...
Not that duke is a really lovely story of Verity who never forgets a face even if disguised and she Calls the man the phantom, he is there to find out who shot his uncle. As I said really lovely book with some comedy intertwined. I loved all the characters and family times.. Recommend
Hello. I’m new so hope I am doing this correctly? I love reading ,and it’s great getting new ideas here. I have just finished reading The mad woman’s ball by Victoria Mass. I belive there is a film about it on Net Flix. The review of it describes “a portrait of women who were unfairly banished to asylums often because they did not fit into the sstraitjacketof 19th-century society is moving... beautifully drawn. ―
I was drawn into the story from chapter one , and in fact read it really quickly on a couple of days off work. I have to say though no Ironing or cleaning/gardening were completed in my house for those two days:-). It’s easy reading ,easy to feel you know the characters, beautiful to see how the woman cared for each other ,and horrifying how woman could be banished from their homes in such a cruel way so easily. I would definitely recommend.
You have inspired me to at least look this one up - and how apt that whilst you were reading it you weren't fitting into any century's perception of women's work
It's great to have new members here - I hope you get some new ideas too 🤞🏼
That sounds so interesting Mollydex. It's something I was aware of, but haven't read a book specifically about it. Will write this down so I can look it up. Thanks for sharing it
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Shirley Jackson short stories. Can see how much impact she had on so many horror and sci fi writers.
Was in a bit of a quandary what to go for next, my brain is terribly foggy at the moment so I am going to re-read of The Fifth Season (first in the Broken Earth Trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin.
Really enjoyed it when I read it first.
Summary:
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is a captivating fantasy novel set in a world constantly threatened by catastrophic geological events. It follows the story of three women with extraordinary powers, exploring themes of oppression, prejudice, and the resilience of the human spirit.
I generally don't re-read anything, but I totally get why people do.
I've got "How Long 'til Black Future Month?" in my 'to be read' pile, and I know I've read at least one of N. K. Jesimin's short stories in a short story and poetry group I was once in, but can't recall the title(s).
I agree about Shirley Jackson's influence - that weird slight twist that makes you feel unnerved...
Our book club read To Kill a Mockingbird a few months ago. We all agreed it was a good book. Amazingly some of us including myself had never read it. It was something I always intended to read but somehow hadn't. I'm glad I've read it now.
I'm also working through the many books on my kindle.
There's a mixture. A lot are thrillers but there's all sorts. I've been scrolling through my kindle library and found a lot of books I'd forgotten I had 😂
Wow Grigid. It's only the 5th of Aug and so many comments. Welcome to all our newbies. We are a very diverse group. I do the second half of the month, so hope you all return.I have straight hair, am retired and a volunteer in our local village library. I feel a bit guilty but most of my reading is on my kindle. I have just finished my library book club book. All That Remains by Sue Black this was highly recommended on this group but greeted with dismay by some if our members ( she cuts up dead bodies ) I enjoyed it and found some parts especially interesting. I will give you the feedback after Thurs meeting.
As light relief I then read another one recommended on here Enchanted April by Elizabeth Van Arnim. Written in the 1920s I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it.
Then the third in Ann Cleves new series The Raging Storm which was excellent. Her description of the North Devon coast and the characters was really good and I didn't guess the ending !
It will be interesting to hear what the group thought of All that Remains. My daughter loves Sue Black and says she’s given her a completely different perspective on death.
I have that new series by Ann Cleeves on my kindle but haven't read any of them yet. I'm trying to work through some of the many books on my kindle. I will have to find them and read them as I like her books.
Just finished reading Yellow Face By Rebecca F. Kuang. Despite seeing it everywhere I'm not sure if I would have chosen to read it, but my other book group chose it for this month.
Its about two authors June who isn't very successful and her friend from College Athena Liu is the total opposite to June, Athena dies in a freak accident and June steals her final manuscript and re writes it as her own. The book then follows her story from the publication of the book which becomes a best seller to accusations that the work wasn't hers. hence the term "Yellow Face"
The book gives a really good insight into the publishing world and how they manipulate their readers.
It also highlighted how vicious and intrusive social media can be. I enjoyed it and might look at her other books.
Crone of the Midnight Embers (Myrtlewood Crones) Iris Beaglehole on Audible
Book 1 of 5. Narrated by Bethan Dixon Bate
Delia Spark is a 60+ former London Theatre Director on the brink of a scandalous divorce who can't understand why things keep spontaneously combust around her. She flees to the remote village of Myrtlewood where strange adventures await.
The book contains whispers of Magic, an ancient prophecy and a Secret Order watching her and her new found friends all mean that Delia has to confront her destiny.
Really enjoyed listening to this as Bethan manages to bring to life all the characters, so I'm looking forward to listening to the 2nd Book Crone of the Solstice Flame
I’ve read Yellow Face and thought exactly the same as you about the publishing world and social media. The one downside I picked up on was that June’s family seemed to have no idea about her success which I thought was very unlikely.
Whispers of Magic sounds like something I’d enjoy, and you highlight the importance of a good narrator 😊
When I tried a book on BBC sounds (a Richard osman one, can't remember which now) it was an abridged version so I gave up on it and bought the book 😂. I don't know if they are all abridged. I haven't tried again.
I read Yellow Face recently while I was on holiday as it was recommended by a friend. I read it in two days. I agree about social media and I definitely recommend it.
I haven't posted on here for a while. I have recently left my job and am trying to make time for more reading. I have just finished Evil Eye by Etaf Rum which was our book club choice. Unfortunately only 3 us could make the meeting last week so we will discuss it next month. The blurb says:
Raised in a conservative Palestinian family in Brookland Yara thought she would be free when she married a charming entrepreneur. Now she has a good job at a local college and balances it with raising her 2 daughters and keeping her home. Yara knows her life is more rewarding than her mothers so why doesn't it feel enough?
After yara responds to a colleagues racist provocation she is put on probation and must attend mandatory counselling. Her mother blames a family curse for Yaras troubles and while Yara doesn't believe in superstitious she is uneasy about falling victim to the same mistakes as her mother.
Yaras carefully constructed world begins to implode and she must face up to the difficulties of her childhood, not fully realising how it will impact her future and her daughter's.
It was an interesting book and gave a good insight into the culture differences between the Arab and American cultures. I would definitely recommend it.
I have just started Homecoming by Kate Morton which sounds like it will be interesting about a journalist discovery about a crime in her family. I'll let you know what I think about it.
Congratulations on your decision to leave your job Gizmocat. Having more time to dedicate to what you choose to do is so liberating!
Evil Eye sounds good, and Homecoming sounds promising too.
It's a shame numbers in book groups drop over the summer months. We tried missing August, but it didn't really help, so we've set up a WhatsApp group to enable people who can't make the meeting to join in. Not everyone uses it, but it does help some.
Here's to loads of reading opportunities coming your way! 📔📕📖📗📘📙📚
We have a WhatsApp group but it's mainly used to arrange meetings. Sometimes someone will put comments if they can't make a meeting.
We met up during covid using zoom which worked really well but now everyone is just so busy especially in the summer. It usually picks up again in the autumn 🤞
I got the wrong week for my book group - it’s next Tuesday, not today, which gives me a week longer to finish our book - kind of a good thing as I’ve still got about 300 pages to go! I’ve set myself some pink post it targets 😂
420 pages - I've been a bit slow reading it, memoirs aren't really my thing although I am enjoying how he writes. I do think the book group should put a page limit on though 🙄
I've just finished a book today that made me cry. It also made me want more.It all started in the library, I was shelving returned books and saw. A Town Called Solace. Loved the title and checked it out. I loved it, and looked up what else she had written. I discovered her first book Crow Lake by Mary Lawson already on my book case. An unread gift, now one of my all-time favourites. The End of the Road is the one I have just finished. Unfortunately she has only written four books, so one to go. They are set in coldest Canada and family sagas and nothing like my usual English crime dramas. I just thought I would share. X 📚
I'm looking forward to this tonight! I've read and enjoyed a few of her books before.
Elif Shafak: There Are Rivers in the Sky
"Elif Shafak’s There are Rivers in the Sky is a story of one lost poem, two great rivers, and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water. Stretching from Mesopotamia to Victorian London, this rich, sweeping novel conjures a web of characters living in the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time: the Epic of Gilgamesh.
An outspoken critic of the Turkish government and a champion of women’s rights and free speech, Shafak’s books explore themes of love, identity and cultural division. In 2019, her novels became a target for ‘crimes of obscenity’ by the increasingly repressive Turkish government. She has since been living in self-imposed exile in London."
Sorry , I haven’t read finished any books recently, I am ready Fairy Tale by Stephen King & have come to a bit of a sticking point - not usual for me with his novels as I have been a big fan since I was a teenager.
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