Devon Book Club discussion

Ruth wrote: "And I in turn have never read Trollope, but am told he's very good and intend to get to him one day. (I'm assuming you mean Anthony and not Joanna?) Which one would you start with?"

Yes Anthony - for a short read try The Warden - first in the series of the Barchester Chronicles; if you like a longer read then Can You Forgive Her is the first of the Palliser series - they are all wonderful

J.G. wrote: "Ian wrote: "J.G. wrote: "Reading old favourites after a long gap for me is rather like visiting old friends after 20 or so years: we've both changed. An old book can seem very different , perhaps b..."

Absolutely

Jane wrote: "Ian wrote: "Jane wrote: "

Murder in Absentia. A murder mystery set in ancient Roman times. Highly recommended"

What did you enjoy about it, Jane?"

Murder i..."

If you like Roman murder mysteries have you read any of our local author Ruth Downie's books? They are a very enjoyable read.

I recently tried Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and one of Terry Pratchett's (can't remember the title). I have tried both before but thought I would have another go. Really disliked them both, as before, and am disappointed as they are such famous authors and so many people love them. They are obviously, however, not for me. I find, as I get older I am more choosy. Time is too short etc!

Carol wrote: "I recently tried Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and one of Terry Pratchett's (can't remember the title). I have tried both before but thought I would have another go. Really disliked them both, as befo..."

I also didn't get on with Terry Pratchett but some of Neil Gaiman's work I have enjoyed - American Gods was particularly good I thought

Ian wrote: "Carol wrote: "I recently tried Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and one of Terry Pratchett's (can't remember the title). I have tried both before but thought I would have another go. Really disliked them..."

Yes, I must try American Gods. It is certainly very celebrated. I think my trouble with Terry Pratchett is that I am not a fan of fantasy and although he writes well that is not enough to carry me through the novel.

Ian wrote: "for a short read try The Warden - first in the series of the Barchester Chronicles"

Y..."
Thank you Ian! I see the library offers a lot of his books in downloadable audio, which is ideal.

Lizzie wrote: ""

Thanks Lizzie - are you enjoying the book? - be great to hear a little about it

I am reading 1830 in France, edited by John Merriman, which is a series of essays and which husband bought from Amazon for 57 p.
Am also reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which i have tried before. This time I am really enjoying it. It is clever and imaginative.Cloud Atlas

Maybe I should give 'Cloud Atlas' another go one day - I gave up halfway through last time. Currently reading Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge" which is beautifully perceptive but a bit depressing.

Ruth wrote: "Maybe I should give 'Cloud Atlas' another go one day - I gave up halfway through last time. Currently reading Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge" which is beautifully perceptive but a bit depress..."

I enjoyed Cloud Atlas when I read it. Inventive, I thought

Ruth wrote: "Maybe I should give 'Cloud Atlas' another go one day - I gave up halfway through last time. Currently reading Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge" which is beautifully perceptive but a bit depress..."
I read it shortly after it was published and enjoyed it ... so much so that I was happy to re-read it, when it was a Reading Group choice, several years ago. I remember that those in the group who disliked it, had struggled with some of the language forms and with the change of narrators. However, those who had no problems with its 'oddities'(?) loved it. It was definitely a Marmite novel, rather than our usual full spectrum of responses.

I'm reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid and really enjoying it. I don't want it to finish. Set partly in the US and Pakistan it charts a man's life from his academic and business success before the Twin Towers to a change in his perspective, particularly on his adopted country. It is written as a one sided conversation over tea. Very unusual, interesting, revelatory and a refreshingly different outlook.

I am reading two books on the Auvergne at the moment, bought cheaply by my usual supplier-husband:The Michelin Guide to Auvergne, Rhone Valley and Walking in the Auvergne by Rachel Crolla and Carl McKeating. I hope to visit the region next year so am planning ahead.

Not been the best of days weather wise has it? Certainly wasn't pleasant clearing leaves and moss from a blocked down pipe. But the consolation, having finished the job, is to come back into the warm to read and talk books.

Firstly, a rather belated review of Blue Gold by David Barker. I finally had the pleasure of meeting David at our Dartmouth event last November, having been chatting to him on our various platforms over the last year.

Blue Gold was near the top of my TBR pile and was welcome relief after reading the rather turgid Emma (as in Jane Austen), the book choice for January for a reading group I attend. But, enough of that - to Blue Gold.

Blue Gold is set in the not too distant future and is centred around the frighteningly plausible idea that there could be a world war for water. It is an international thriller which carried me along at breakneck speed. Action packed but also with some interesting character development of the main protagonists.

The book felt very well researched as well and this helped to convey the sense that this really could happen. The title conveys the value of water as a commodity and the book explores what could happen if it became the focus of global battle for control over it.

I read the book very quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, if you like an action - packed thriller why not give it a go?

Last year I had the pleasure of meeting Lorna Hunter who is the owner of the Hartland - based publisher, The Write Factor.

It is wonderful to see successful local publishing houses and Lorna's business has now been running for over 10 years.

Earlier this month, I was delighted when Lorna sent me a copy of a novel which she published last September - The House by the Marsh

The House by the Marsh lays bare subjects of grief, love and hope for men and women in their later years. I am only a short way into the book but it has engaged me and I am looking forward to reading it.

I have just started The Magic Mountain (this edition, courtesy of Devon Libraries Unlimited) by Thomas Mann, as part of a 'DoveGreyReader - thon'. At the same time, I'm reading Harlan Coben's Missing You as my 'easy read' - it's our next Rdg Grp book (quite unlike our usual fare!). Prior to that, I had read A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson: it was the R Grp's previous book ... and it received our highest accolade for a long time - maybe since Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance: Drama. I bought it, to reread, immediately. It's not a straightforward read, and you may want to take notes and/or set aside dedicated reading periods; however, I think it is superb. It has, possibly, some of the best writing, ever, to capture both the fact and in/humanity of battle, while also conveying the utter futility of war.
I also have some not-read Booker winners lined up to read, as it's the 50th anniversary of the (Man) Booker Prize. Maybe the DevonBookGroup could join in?

I have had flu since New Year's Eve, but am a lot better now. Have managed some reading however. Have started Lamentations by CJ Sansom and have finished 'Samuel Pepys, the unequalled self by Claire Tomalin. It brought his diaries vividly back to me and I found her detail about life at that time very fascinating. Have also just started History of France by Andre Maurois, always a succinct and informative historian

Carol wrote: "I have had flu since New Year's Eve, but am a lot better now. Have managed some reading however. Have started Lamentations by CJ Sansom and have finished 'Samuel Pepys, the unequalled self by Clair..."

Hi Carol,
I adore Claire Tomalin's writing. I think the Pepys biography is (perhaps) the only one of her biogs I have not read, so I must get it. Her writing is superb. I also read her autobiography A Life of My Own: A Biographer's Life over Christmas. It was a present: I'd started reading it on Kindle, but decided that the 'real' book was called for. I don't usually like autobiographies, but this one is stunning.

DrMama wrote: "Carol wrote: "I have had flu since New Year's Eve, but am a lot better now. Have managed some reading however. Have started Lamentations by CJ Sansom and have finished 'Samuel Pepys, the unequalled..."
Yes, her writing is excellent. I have also just bought 'Jane Austen, a Life,' by her and will shortly read that. I haven't read her autobiography, but I will.

DrMama wrote: "Carol wrote: "I have had flu since New Year's Eve, but am a lot better now. Have managed some reading however. Have started Lamentations by CJ Sansom and have finished 'Samuel Pepys, the unequalled..."

I read the Pepy's biography some years ago - very engaging

Recently finished reading The House by the Marsh William is an older man, whose wife dies following an illness. William is devastated and struggles to make sense of life alone. At a dinner party some months later, he strikes up a relationship with another woman and has to navigate the complexity of his emotions and whether they match with hers.
He heads to the Sussex Marshes to rent the house of a friend - the house in the title of the book. There, over time, William explores his loss, and thinks about loneliness, solitude, friendships, love and family. He is a writer and so records much of his thoughts in a journal.
I liked this extract from Eliot's "Little Gidding":
"We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive at where we started
And know the place for the first time"
This is a gentle, thoughtful book, with a lot of wisdom and insight. It deals with sadness and ageing but is also optimistic and explores love and affection in many forms. Reconciling oneself to continuing with life in the aftermath of loss. It is, at times, humorous and always compassionate.
I found the treatment of ageing very thought-provoking:
" It seems to me that as I get older and my days pass, the boundary between being and not being begins to slip"
In some parts I felt the book could have been written a little more tightly but I enjoyed it very much.

I just finished The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen, which I didn't enjoy much (so disappointing as had been looking forward to it for ages) and only gave it 3 stars.


Am now reading I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir and am loving it - a spooky story - not normally my choice but it was recommended to me and I was looking for a Y to complete my A-Z challenge for 2018 :)

Cinnamon Gardens
I've just finished Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. I loved it and didn't want it to end, but at the same time I couldn't stop reading it. Set in Sri Lanka in the late 1920s it has everything a good read needs: family, tradition, betrayal, an excellent political backdrop, women's independence, being gay, love and compromise.

I've just started Normal People by Sally Rooney Normal People...I'm not sure about it at the moment. I think it might be aimed at a younger audience. I'll see how it goes.

Karen wrote: "Cinnamon Gardens
I've just finished Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. I loved it and didn't want it to end, but at the same time I couldn't stop reading it. Set in Sri Lanka in th..."

I'm hoping to go to Sri Lank in the next year so this one caught my eye when you reviewed it a few days ago and it is on my tbr shortlist for 2019

Ian wrote: "Karen wrote: "Cinnamon Gardens
I've just finished Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. I loved it and didn't want it to end, but at the same time I couldn't stop reading it. Set in S..."
Have you been before Ian? I worked in Colombo for two years, if you need any recommendations on places to go and visit, just let me know.

Karen wrote: "Ian wrote: "Karen wrote: "Cinnamon Gardens
I've just finished Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. I loved it and didn't want it to end, but at the same time I couldn't stop reading ..."

No - I haven't and will certainly be keen to get recommendations. I remember you saying before that you lived there. Not sure when I will go yet - possibly the Autumn

Ian wrote: "Karen wrote: "Ian wrote: "Karen wrote: "Cinnamon Gardens
I've just finished Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. I loved it and didn't want it to end, but at the same time I couldn't..."

Roma Tearne is Sri Lankan born, and has written some really good novels based in Sri Lanka, or reflecting on Sri Lanka, or featuring Sri Lankan characters.
Mosquito I recommend this.

Well, I recommend all her novels. I loved Brixton Beach and The Swimmer. I've read all her books.

Thanks

I have Mosquito on my shortlist of tbr books - think you previously recommended it,

July another really good one to read that is set in Sri Lanka in the part of Colombo where I used to live, but this is during the height of the civil war. A Sinhala/Tamil love story.

Karen wrote: "July another really good one to read that is set in Sri Lanka in the part of Colombo where I used to live, but this is during the height of the civil war. A Sinhala/Tamil love story."

Thanks Karen - I shall have to have a Sri Lank reading month

Fascinating range of books being read by our members - I'd love to hear what you are reading - here is a link to our FB page where there is lots of chatter going on today https://www.facebook.com/devonbookclu...

Finished : All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells .. last night. And began The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
(Inheritance Trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin last night as well!

Ive just given up on The Idiot by Elif Batuman. Got to page 186 and said enough is enough! Has anybody else here read it?

Janet wrote: "Finished : All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells .. last night. And began The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
(Inheritance Trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin last night as well!"

Chain reading - I love it. Was All Systems Red a good read?

Karen wrote: "Ive just given up on The Idiot by Elif Batuman. Got to page 186 and said enough is enough! Has anybody else here read it?"

Not heard of it. Why did you give up

Ian wrote: "Karen wrote: "Ive just given up on The Idiot by Elif Batuman. Got to page 186 and said enough is enough! Has anybody else here read it?"

Not heard of it. Why did you give up"
I got bored. I think Elif Batuman has a really good style of writing and each time I nearly gave up there was an excellent passage which kept me going, but in the end, I realised I was skimming trying to find these bits I enjoyed.

The story wasn't gripping me at all. In fact when I started reading it, I had to to check I hadn't read it before because it seemed similar to Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak, which was the only book by Elif Shafak that I didn't rave about.

It appears from the reviews I've since read that this is a book you either love or hate. There didn't seem to be any inbetween. One person did say after nearly giving up, he was pleased he didn't, but I just felt huge relief at not having to plough through it anymore.

So then I picked up The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, and I just couldn't face it. So I've ended up with a very easy Rosamund Pilcher, set in Cornwall, that I picked up at the village hall community bookshare because I've completely run out of library books and can't get there for a few days.

I'm not having a good run of books at the moment!

Why didn't you fancy the Atwood? I've got the work on Kindle, but I have not looked at it, yet. However, I've read a lot of her work, and usually love it - as well as her political / ecological stance. I'd love to hear more, before I delve in.
I have not read any Batuman, although she's on the list … along with thousands of others.

DrMama wrote: "Why didn't you fancy the Atwood? I've got the work on Kindle, but I have not looked at it, yet. However, I've read a lot of her work, and usually love it - as well as her political / ecological sta..."

I usually love Atwood too, except The Heart Goes Last where there's a strange Elvis section. I didn't give The Penelopiad a chance and may well come back to it. It was more about me needing an easy read after suffering the Batuman. I don't know The Odyessey, which The Penelopiad is taken from and thought it might be too hard for me at this time. I thought I would feel inadequate not knowing the background, However, it did seem like it would be easy to read from the first few pages, and I reckon it takes an interesting stance from the original story. I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.

Okay, will do! I'll try to fit it in soon.
I think you would only need to read a very simple outline of the Ulysses/Odysseus story to be able to follow the story. I've just read Pat Barker's the The Silence of the Girls which deals with the actual siege of Troy, and although it has made me start trying to read the Illiad - which I'd never read, before - I found that I understood the novel, just based on learning about the 'Trojan Horse' story as a child, and watching a Brad Pitt film on TV. However, Pat Barker's book is wonderful - read it twice before taking it back to the Library. I will get back to you if/when I get to grips with 'The Penelopiad'!
Cheers,
Carole - aka DrMama.

I've got The Silence of the Girls marked as 'to read' after reading Hag-seed by Margaret Atwood, which I loved. I hadn't read The Tempest, but thoroughly enjoyed this remake.

Great, I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Karen wrote: "Ian wrote: "Karen wrote: "Ive just given up on The Idiot by Elif Batuman. Got to page 186 and said enough is enough! Has anybody else here read it?"

Not heard of it. Why did you give up"
I got bor..."

Oh no re Elif Shafak - I bought that recently. I love her work. Hope I am not disappointed

DrMama wrote: "Why didn't you fancy the Atwood? I've got the work on Kindle, but I have not looked at it, yet. However, I've read a lot of her work, and usually love it - as well as her political / ecological sta..."

HI Carol - hope all is good with you. On the subject of books about Troy - I also read Emily Hauser's For The Most Beautiful which tells the story from the ppoint of view of two women who receive but a line or two in Odyssey. I enjoyed it very much . Emily is a classical poetry lecturer at Exeter University.

Ian wrote: "DrMama wrote: "Why didn't you fancy the Atwood? I've got the work on Kindle, but I have not looked at it, yet. However, I've read a lot of her work, and usually love it - as well as her political /..."

Hi Ian,
I didn't know that, thanks.
I've now had a quick look online, and she sounds fascinating. I will add her fiction to my TBR list: I'm also keen to look at her academic publications. Meanwhile, I'm building up a list of 'retellings', but I am also trying to read 'The Illiad' ... so as to be able to compare it to the various new takes on events - especially feminist ones.
Thanks again, I will let you know how I get on.
Cheers, Carole (with an 'e' - 'tho I know it's hard to tell from 'DrMama'!)

I'm currently reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I read this some years agao and am re-resding it for the Shelter Box Book Club - I had forgotten just how good it is. I really recommend it

I'm currently reading two wonderful books - The Salt Path by Raynor Wynn and All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Vastly different books but each have me gripped. Unusual for me to read two novels at the same time but they are so different it works :)

I've read both those and really enjoyed them. It's so good to read about how Raynor Wynn turned her life around through walking the coast path.

I've just finished A Different Drummer A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley. It's a very unusual tale of a small town in a Southern state of America, written in the 60s. A black farmer destroys his own land and walks away from this backwater, followed by all other black citizens. It leaves the white townspeople wondering what the hell is going on and why. It's a powerful exploration of race and attitudes towards racial differences.