book ninety-five: The Prague Cemetery

Sunday 27 March 2022

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco has been called a sort of highbrow Dan Brown.  No word on how either Umberto or Dan feels about that.

Steph kindly hosted; Leigha brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Leigha - 7 - Like trudging through a university assignment
Stephanie - 5 - So over it by page 100
James - 12 - Was hoping for something more like Eco's other novels. Respect but not love it.
Ann - 10 - Thought provoking, but didn't like it

Average: 8.5

book ninety-four: A Gentleman in Moscow

Sunday 16 January 2022

A Gentleman in Moscow, the worldwide bestseller by American novelist Amor Towles.  Apparently, it is "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Eloise" meets all the Bond villains.

We met at Leigha's place.

James contributed the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Tim 16

Wendy 15

Leigha 16

Steph  14

Maree 16

Monika 15

Ann 14

Average: 15.1

book: ninety-three: The Labyrinth

Sunday 28 November 2021

From Anne's shortlist comes the winner of the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award by Tasmanian and one-time alleged senator-defamer Amanda Lohrey.

We'll meet at Tim and Wendy's place.

Maree will bring the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Monika 12

Ann 12

Leigha 13

Stef 12

Tim 9

James 12

Maree 12

Average: 11.7

book ninety-two: No Time Like the Future

Sunday 24 October 2021

Selected from Tim's shortlist, Michael J Fox's (aka Alex P Keaton and Marty McFly) third book gives us a glimpse of his recent life, still living with Parkinson's disease but now with the added complication of a spinal tumour, the surgery to treat it and the aftermath from that.

We met at Maree's place.  

Ann brought the shortlist for the next book.

Ratings (out of 17):

Ann 8

Jim 10

Tim 12

Nicole 13

Wendy 13

Monika 8

Steph 12

Maree 13

Leigha (in absentia) read it but did not score

Average: 11.1

book ninety-one: Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Sunday 12 September 2021

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien.

 

We met at Steph's place.

Ratings (out of 17):

Ann - 15 - would have given more but it was complex and info not always tied together well 

Maree - 15 - it matched the epic- ness of China and its size and history. Beautifully written. 

Steph - 15. Leaving space for a 16 or 17 in the future ! Comprehension of

Chinese history. 

Leigha - 14. Really enjoyed it. Struggled with first 30% when identifying all characters but once that sorted, I really enjoyed it. 

James - 15 - really lovely. Great flow of characters and story. 

Average: 14.8 

book ninety: The Dictionary of Lost Words

Sunday 25 July 2021

We'll meet at Leigha's place.

 Ratings (out of 17):

Leigha 14

Jim 12

Ann 14 

Steph 14

Mari 11

Average: 12.3

book eighty-nine: Flyaway

Sunday 16 May 2022

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings. 

We met at Tim and Wendy's place. 

 Ratings (out of 17):

book eighty-eight: This is Going to Hurt

28 March 2021

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, a nonfiction book by the British comedy writer Adam Kay.

We met at Monika's place. 

Ratings (out of 17):

TIm: 14 

Wendy: 14 

Monika: 14 

Leigha: 13

Jim: 10

Average: 13

book eighty-seven: The Master and Margarita

Sunday 31 January 2021

Apparently the favourite book of most Russians, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov features the Devil, which I think is a first for this book club.  Bonus points if any book-clubber reads it in the original Russian.

We'll meet at Jim and Mari's place and Monika will bring the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

book eighty-six: The Woman in the Window

Sunday 8 November 2020

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn, the pseudonym of Dan Mallory.  Mr Mallory tells fibs, apparently.  The movie adaptation is reportedly coming to Netflix soon.

We met at Leigha's place.  James brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Leigha 14

Nicole 15

James abstain

W 14

Tim 14

Monika 13

Average: 14

book eighty-five: Boy Swallows Universe

Sunday 13 September 2020 

Much to Jim's and Cherie's chagrin, from Damian's shortlist comes the debut novel from Brisbane's favourite journo, Trent Dalton.  His publisher reckons it has heart of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, both of which we rated highly, so let's see...
We'll met via Zoom and Tim brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Leigha 14

Monika 12 

Nic 13 

Maree 15

James 13 

Wendy 13 

Tim 16

Average: 13.7

book eighty-four: The Natural Way of Things

Sunday 26 July 2020

The Natural Way of Things, by Charlotte Wood.  Touted as ‘Handmaid’s Tale for the 21st Century’.  Follows the story of a group of young women being held captive in the Australian desert.

Chosen from Leigha's shortlist comprising the University of Canberra's five most recent Books of the Year (this one was Book of the Year for 2019).

We'll meet at Nicole's place, or somewhere nearby, depending on the virus.  Damien will bring the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Cherie: 15 really liked it (but she gave the road 17 so she has form for this). Very atmospheric.

Damo: 15 works more as allegory and polemic text than novel.

James: 14 does not mind that the wider world was not built out (did not complete)

Nicole: 11 the unresolved story threads were unsatisfying

Leigha: 13 bit of an Atwood ripoff (but it predates the TV deal. Liked the Australian nature of it. At the end, wanting something more

Tim: 9 (did not complete)

Wendy: 14 aspects of the ending were great, but still some unresolved dissatisfaction

Average: 13.0

book eighty-three: Wild

31 May 2020 | by Zoom

Wild by Cheryl Strayed. New York Times Bestseller.  Movie with Reese Witherspoon.

Listen to ABC Radio’s Conversation with the author. 

Leigha will bring the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):
Nicole: 15
Cherie: 16
Damien: 16
Jim: 11
Leigha: 11
Wendy: 13
Tim: 12
Average: 13.4

book eighty-two: The Last

26 April 2020 | by Zoom.

The Last by Hana Jameson.

Nicole brought the shortlist.

Monika 13.5 
Leigha 11 lacked purpose bet each way
Nicole 12 w
CheriE 10 didn’t quite done niche last ten pages - Cooke have been longer but better, liked that his wife wise don’t come
Damian 12 liked it, eternal optimist 

Wendy 12

Average: 11.8

book eighty-one: Any Ordinary Day

15 March 2020 | Tim & Wendy's place

Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales.

Ratings (out of 17):

Tim: 12

Wendy: 13: 

Leigha: 13

Nicole: 14

Cherie: dnf

Damian: dnf

Average: 13

Next time, we'll meet at Nicole's place and Nicole will bring the shortlist.  

(Welcome back Nicole!  According to the (unreliable) bookclub records, Nicole's last book was The Dinner way back in June 2013.)

book eighty: Machines Like Me

8 December 2019 | Leigha's place

Bookclub rebooted after a beauty nap with Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan. 

Ratings (out of 17):

James 14
Mari 12
Monika 13 
Leigha 12
Damian 11 
Cherie 15 
Wendy dnf 
Tim dnf
Average: 12.8

book seventy nine: Monstress Volume 1: Awakening

Sunday 25 November 2018

Monstress Volume 1: Awakening.  Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.

We'll meet at Cherie's place and Jim will bring the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

book seventy-eight: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

Sunday 23 September 2018

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Australian author Holly Ringland.

We met at Jim and Mari's place and Monika brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Monika 11 - first half doesn’t match second half

Johanna 8 benign; didn’t learn anything 

Cherie - 15 - liked the use of flowers as the medium for telling a story - but hasn’t finished it yet 

Wendy - tentative 13 haven’t finished yet but enjoying so far - like the imagery but concerned about some of your criticisms 

Tim - 12 - enjoy but frustrated at same time 

James - 10 - made decision not to finish 

Mari - 9 - disappointing because had such high expectations and looking forward to the fairy tale aspect of it but this didn’t come through - she wasn’t well read even though she was described as this - and suddenly she wrote a best selling novel! Eye roll!

book seventy-seven: Tigers in Red Weather

Sunday 12 August 2018

Tigers in Red Weather by 

Liza Klaussmann.

We met at Monika's place.

Ratings (out of 17):

Jim 12
Mari 12
Tim 14
Monika 13

Average: 12.8

book seventy-six: Hillbilly Elegy

Sunday 17 June 2018

Hillbilly Elegy is 'A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis' by JD Vance.  It tells his story of growing up a hillbilly and, against the odds, graduating from Yale Law School  Here is his TED Talk. 

We met at Tim and Wendy's place.

Wendy brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Tim: 13
Jim: 13
Cherie: 13
Monika: 16

Average 13.8

book seventy-five: Lincoln in the Bardo

Sunday 22 April 2018

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, from Leigha's shortlist.

We met at Tim and Wendy's place.

We forgot to score - maybe that was because only half of us (Jim and Leigha) had read the book.  Better luck next time! 

book seventy-four: Whipbird

Sunday 4 February 2018.

The next book is an Australian new release (published 31 July 2017) called Whip Bird, by Robert Drewe.

We'll meet at Monika's place.

Leigha will brought the short list.

Scores:

Leigha 12 

Johanna 10 

Wendy 13  

Cherie 13 

Tim 11 

Mon 13 

Average: 12

book seventy-three: Leviathan Wakes

Sunday 8 October 2017

Our next book is from Monika's sci-fi shortlist - Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey.  This is book one of the "Expanse" series, but Monika assures us we should be able to read it on its own.  

The series has been made into a TV series (it's on Netflix), if you're into that kind of thing.

We'll meet at Leigha & Steve's place.

Tim will bring the shortlist.

book seventy-two: The Orchard Keeper

Sunday 23 July 2017.

The Orchard Keeper, Cormac McCarthy's first novel.  

Maree hosted. 

Monika brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Leigha 10 didn't go anywhere but prose was well written 

Monika 3 put me off trying any of his other books. Interesting picture of time and place. Three points: one each for the prose, one for the picture of the time and place, and one for the dog.

Average: 6.5

book seventy-one: The Gentleman

Sunday 7 May 2017

Our next book is The Gentleman, by Forrest Leo.  It appears Jeeves would approve.

Johanna hosted and brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):
Leigha: 12
Maree: 16
Monika: 17
James: ??
Mari:  ??
Johanna: ??

Average: 15.0

book seventy: Gaudy Night

Sunday 12 March 2017

In a change of pace, we are going to back to the Golden Age of mystery novels with Gaudy Night, a 1935 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers,  the tenth in her series about sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.

We met at Jim and Mari's place. Jim brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Johanna - 9 Will keep reading it.
James - No score
Mari - 9 as well. Slow and a bit boring but I do think about the world she created.
Leigha - Will score once through more - you've all told me that it picks up!
Monika- 12 Found it slow going to start with. I did enjoy some of the discussions between the characters. Like how the world was described. How passionate the female scholars were and the description of the old English culture. Words were almost too eloquent and could have been more concise. Could have edited it though!
Wendy - 14 Enjoyed the world. Great discussions around role of women. Snapshot in time but the same conversations are still happening!

book sixty-nine: Nimona

Sunday 15 January 2017

The second graphic novel we read over Christmas was Nimona, a debut young adult graphic novel by Noelle Stevenson, based on her web comic.

Ratings (out of 17):
Jim: 12
Wendy: 14
Mari: 15
Leigha: 9
Tim: abstained (hadn't finished)

Average: 11.8

book sixty-eight: Habibi

Sunday 15 January 2017

The first of two graphic novels from Mari's shortlist that we did over the Christmas break, Habibi is an exquisitely illustrated epic by American Craig Thompson.  

We met at Tim and Wendy's place and Wendy did the shortlist for next time.

Ratings (out of 17):
Jim: 15
Wendy: 14
Mari: 15
Tim: 16
Leigha: 13

Average: 14.6

book sixty-seven: Olive Kitteridge

Our last book for 2016 is the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge by reformed lawyer Elizabeth Strout.

The short stories that make up this book were made into a television miniseries by HBO, available in Australia to stream on Presto or purchase on iTunes or you could go old-skool and get the DVDs.  The TV show won eight Emmy awards.  Of course, being a bookclub and not a TV club - read the book before you watch it!

We met at Monika's place.

Mari will bring the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Monica - 15 liked unconventional novel style, interlinking characters. Liked Olive, a bit different. Found interesting enough to go to another book of same author. Am finding more about Olive in second book.

Mari - 10 didn't dislike but didn't read enough to really like it. Too slow, didn't grab me. Too loosely woven.  Meet one character and then they're gone.

Terri 8 - that's it.

Maree 15 - really enjoyed it. I finished it.  I liked that it wasn't neatly pulled together and the characters made a lot of sense to me. Maybe a lot not likeable about Olive but it seemed true to life. Especially re mental health issues.

Leigha 14 - could recognise a lot in Olive from a close relative who is a retired teacher. Some characters didn't add value which bothered her a bit. Expected them to return, but they didn't. Quite enjoyed major characters.

Wendy 


Johanna 13 but being generous.  Easy and enjoyable but not life changing.  Ploughed through happily enough; did not offend.  Liked the small story format.  Interesting characters.


Average: 12.5

book sixty-six: Various Pets Alive and Dead

9 October 1016

Various Pets Alive and Dead by Marina Lewycka, the author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian.

We meet at Leigha & Steve's place.

Leigha brought the shortlist.

Scores:

Tim, Mari and Marie - present but abstained because (as usual) they hadn't read much

Wendy 12 - hasn't finished but will because she wants to find out what happened 

Monika 11 - found it slow, some aspects not finished to her satisfaction.  

Jim 8 - didn't like it. The writing was flat and the story didn't go anywhere. 

Leigha 9 - disappointed, didn't meet expectations of hilarity. It was like bad Franzen

Johanna 9 - didn't hate it but didn't love it, but did finish it, which is saying something.  

Average: 9.8

book sixty-five: The Signature of All Things

7 August 2016

The Signature of All Things by Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert - the story of Alma, the heiress of the Blackmores of its day in early nineteenth century Philadelphia. Alma's a botanist.  She's into moss.

Gilbert spoke in the Sydney Opera House in 2013 and has given a TED Talk in March 2014 about life after Eat Pray Love.  The Signature of All Things is part of that life.

We met at Johanna's place.

Tim brought the shortlist.

Ratings (out of 17):

Jim - 8 It takes a long time to go nowhere

Tim - 11- not even half way through, was enjoying up to this point but the discussion at bookclub has me wondering whether to go on.

Leigha - 8 About two-thirds of the way thought, will finish it.  There seem to be too many characters who aren't developed.  

Johanna - 7 Feels robbed, finished the book - persisted hoping for resolution but didn't deliver.

Mari (postal vote) - 8 Read about 75%
Monika (postal vote) - 5, and that's being generous. Disliked the lack of plot, and thought it needs a good edit.  

Average: 7.8