My Labrador Friends Book Club - Fiction Choice

[Lisa]

Oooh! Lisa, I shall have a look at that tomorrow (couple of glasses of wine consumed just now) I so much enjoyed your book, so look forward to reading your interview.

Ah shucks, thanks!

 

[Jacqui-S]

Me too! (Not the wine, it's not yet midday here.....)

 

[Granca]

Just read this - doesn’t take long - beautiful. I am going to buy a copy for each family unit to read with the grandchildren

Yes, it's lovely - and beautifully illustrated.

 

[snowbunny]

I recently listened to Where the Crawdads Sing on Audible. I had heard rave reviews of this book, so I decided to give it a listen as I have loads of credits in my account.
It's really not my usual sort of thing, however I found it quite soothing to listen to at first, and the story slowly drew me in as it progressed. By the end, it had totally won me over. It's a truly beautiful story, and wonderfully performed in the audio version.

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[Candy]

I have just finished 'Once upon a river ' which I found beautiful and unputdownable. Thoroughly recommended it!

 

[Joy]

@Candy Oh yes I read that last year and loved it too. Have you read 'Possession' (A.S. Byatt)? The story-telling parts of 'Once upon a River' reminded me of a section of 'Possession' with story-telling on winter nights in Brittany and the legend of Melusine. (If you haven't read 'Possession', it's possibly the best book ever!)

I'm reading a really intriguing crime / metafiction novel called 'After She Wrote Him' by Sulari Gentill.

 

[Candy]

@Candy Oh yes I read that last year and loved it too. Have you read 'Possession' (A.S. Byatt)? The story-telling parts of 'Once upon a River' reminded me of a section of 'Possession' with story-telling on winter nights in Brittany and the legend of Melusine. (If you haven't read 'Possession', it's possibly the best book ever!)

I'm reading a really intriguing crime / metafiction novel called 'After She Wrote Him' by Sulari Gentill.

I read 'Possession ' years ago when it was newly published. I absolutely loved it and thought it was one of the best books I had ever read. It made me want to have a piece of Whitby jet, so I went on holiday there and bought a jet ring that I still wear. It might be time to re- read that book!

 

[snowbunny]

I just finished listening to Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. What a beautiful story, of raw humanity. It starts with the death of Lydia, the teenage daughter of mixed-race parents, and follows each member of the family up to and after the trauma.
I found this book because I loved the narrator’s performance in Where the Crawdads Sing, and then heard about Celeste Ng through interviews with Brené Brown. Another of her books, Little Fires Everywhere is on Netflix, and looks stunning.

Like Where the Crawdads Sing, this isn’t my typical genre that I’m drawn to, but I found it similarly hauntingly beautiful. I can’t speak to how it presents on the page, but as an audiobook, it is a gem.

 

[Jacqui-S]

I'm listening to Where The Crawdads Sing at the moment. Enjoying it.

 

[Jessica]

I've recently finished George Saunders A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, and loved it. It's based on a course he teaches on Russian short stories, and each chapter looks at a different story by e.g.Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gogol. The story comes first so you read it, have your own readerly thoughts about it and then compare them with his readerly thoughts accumulated over 20 years of teaching this material. It was such an enjoyable way to read these stories and think more about their craft and construction - which maybe sounds a bit dull but he is such an enjoyable guide to them that it doesn't feel that way at all.

 

[Lisa]

I've recently finished George Saunders A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, and loved it. It's based on a course he teaches on Russian short stories, and each chapter looks at a different story by e.g.Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gogol. The story comes first so you read it, have your own readerly thoughts about it and then compare them with his readerly thoughts accumulated over 20 years of teaching this material. It was such an enjoyable way to read these stories and think more about their craft and construction - which maybe sounds a bit dull but he is such an enjoyable guide to them that it doesn't feel that way at all.

There’s a book called Reading Like a Writer that is kinda like that which I enjoyed.

The kids got me a special box set of LOTR for Christmas and I’m enjoying a reread of series, going slowly as I’m going through the Reader’s Companion book that came with the set which gives you alllllll the background about every chapter.

I want to read When the Crawdads Sing. Heard lots of good stuff about it!

 

[Joy]

@Jessica I've ordered that one from the library but there's a waiting list. Good to hear it's interesting.

 

[Selina27]

The last few months I've been doing "click and collect" from my local library and I'm loving it! Every few weeks I order about 6-8 books from the various categories on offer and it's wonderfully exciting finding out what they pick for me . It's a bit like a book club in that it means I try different books and authors that I wouldn't necessarily take off the shelf myself.

I wouldn't have said that I am a crime thriller afficionado previously, but I think I must have been reading the wrong ones! Two that stand out for me are "Liar Liar" by Lisa Jackson and "Cruel Acts" by Jane Casey, one of her Maeve Kerrigan series. I'd definitely like to read more by these writers.
I do like historical fiction, and enjoyed "The Tudor Crown" by Joanna Hickson.

I've just finished "The Silence of the Girls" by Pat Barker and loved it. Set in Greece at the time of the Trojan wars it follows the lives of a group of women captured and forced to endure a life of slavery. I've tried one by this author before and didn't take to it but this was a great read. Has anyone else read it?

There are usually a couple of more "frothy" novels which have their place and I've learnt to take less notice of the quality of the writing and just take them for what they are and enjoy the stories.

So all in all it's great fun.

 

[Jessica]

@Selina27 someone else recommended that Pat Barker book to me. I loved her Regeneration trilogy, I read them years and years ago but they were so moving and real. I must get Silence of the Girls. My friend's description made it sound a bit like Circe by Madeleine Miller, which I also loved. And I had a copy of it but can't find it and it's really bugging me!!! I really want to reread it.

I read loads of crime fiction, though avoid the more violent stuff which often feels horribly misogynistic, describing violence against women in gory gruesome detail. I like lots of golden age stuff, love Dorothy Sayers, like Josehine Tey, and always read Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, PD Jamesetc. I quite like the Jack Reacher books too for a quick read.

 

[Selina27]

describing violence against women in gory gruesome detail.

I've never really got the whole "violence as entertainment" thing which is why I guess I wouldn't have chosen this type of thing before. In both the books I mention I thought the plots were clever, and in the Jane Casey one I was/am caught up in the relationship between the 2 investigating officers. I found the character depictions to be fascinating and very well done.

I'll be interested to hear your view of Silence of the Girls.

 

[Joy]

@Selina27 @Jessica Oh I enjoyed Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy too and I loved Madeline Miller's Circe so I'll see if I can get hold of The Silence of the Girls.

 

[Selina27]

I enjoyed Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy

I'll have to read this!

 

[Jacqui-S]

We read Pat Barker's Toby's Room for book club. Beautifully written. Have Life Class on my kindle but not read it yet.
I shall look out for these too.

 

[Jessica]

@Joy we seem to have similar tastes! What else are you reading?! My attention span for reading seems to be shot at the moment and I also have a huge backlog of work stuff to get through before I can read for fun, but I'd like to get some books in for when that is possible again! Girl, Woman, Other is on my list, and now Silence of the Girls too!

 

[Selina27]

We read Pat Barker's Toby's Room for book club. Beautifully written. Have Life Class on my kindle but not read it yet.
I shall look out for these too.

Funnily enough Toby Room was the one I couldn't get with, maybe I'll try it again.