July 2020: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

A return to meeting face to face, in a garden in Billingshurst. Happy to be reunited once more, and to be discussing such an intriguing book. With shades of The Time Traveller's Wife, this proved a need to 'go with the flow' while reading and resist over-analysis, page-turner - plunged into the middle of bewildering action, changing character 'hosts', plot twists and a plague-doctor for good measure!

Over the summer we will read Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo and The Overstory by Richard Powers, ready to meet in Horsham on the 10th September.

May/June 2020: Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

A popular choice: echoes of To Kill A Mockingbird; perhaps without its longevity.

April 2020: The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather

Our first book club discussion to take place via GoogleMeet, well into lockdown - we didn't 'meet' until May as it took a little while to get our act together! The book was well received as a compelling, if at times, uncomfortable, read.

March 2020: Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

Brighton was the destination for March's meeting, described as a 'hoot'. A small and select gathering this month as the coronavirus pandemic begins to take hold. 

The big question seemed to be who was driving that silver BMW! 

A big thank you to Gill for hosting.  On reflection, most thought the book was enjoyable but had a few issues with structure (including that protracted series of short chapters at the end) - and maybe not a substantial enough central plot.

 

Next book is The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather: widely raved about and hopefully uplifting in these difficult times.  Meeting is scheduled to be in Billingshurst on 30th April - if we’re not all in long term isolation by then.  Happy reading in the meantime.

February 2020: War Doctor by David Nott

Another foray into non-fiction for February, and another gory one! The meeting was in Horsham. Thank you to Sheila for hosting.

The 2019 List

As we met in late November, there was no December meeting - so a total of nine books in 2019.

January: The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley

It looks like there was no February meeting - perhaps because of a short month and half term.

March: Winter by Ali Smith

April: Education by Tara Westover

May: Machines Like Us by Ian McEwan 

June: Circe by Madeline Miller

July: Milkman by Anna Burns

August: no meeting over the summer holiday 

September: No Way Out by Cara Hunter

October: Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls

November: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

January 2020: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

We met at Trish's to discuss this strange story - and rich discussion ensued. 

None of us could think of another book that we had read that took quite this form: half of a conversation. It was fascinating and thought-provoking.

Changez is the novel's protagonist, and it is his monologue we share as he sits in a restaurant in Pakistan with an American sharing his life story and the transformative moments surrounding the 9/11 attacks.