UK Book Club discussion

1. France A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
2. Japan The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell
3. Ireland Skippy Dies - Paul Murray
4. England The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
5. Yugoslavia The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht
6. Canada Annabel - Kathleen Winter
7. Australia English Passengers - Matthew Kneale
8. Sierra Leone The Memory of Love - Aminatta Forna
9. India Tiger Hills - Sarita Mandanna
10. Singapore The Piano Teacher - Janice Y.K. Lee
11. Afghanistan The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
12. USA The Book of Negroes - Lawrence Hill

13. Germany The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite - Beatrice Colin

(Doubling up as my C for the A-Z challenge - nothing like killing two birds with one stone!)

I saw The Piano Teacher in the library - is it worth a read?

I gave it a three star rating. In my personal opinion, it is one of those books that I don't really have any bad things to say about it, but at the same time I wouldn't run out and recommend it to everyone. I like a book to grip me, and whilst I managed to read it all the way through, and did enjoy the story, I never felt particularly 'gripped' until I reached the last chapters. Overall, I would say it probably is worth a read, and would give you another country for your list (!), but it is a bit slow in places

What did you think of Skippy Dies, Abi?
I thought it was brilliant, and have recently read An Evening of Long Goodbyes: A Novel, which was equally good.
I can't wait for him to publish another book....he has become one of my favourite authors.

Susan wrote: "What did you think of Skippy Dies, Abi?
I thought it was brilliant, and have recently read An Evening of Long Goodbyes: A Novel, which was equally good.
I can't wait for him to publish ..."

Loved Skippy Dies Susan! I can't wait to read more by him, although I'm trying to focus on completing my A-Z challenge at the moment so the books will have to wait until after that!

14. Spain - The Angel's Game

Really loved this book, although I did find some of the scenes a bit violently graphic - especially for an 8am train ride!

15. Tibet - Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet

Abi wrote: "15. Tibet - Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet"
What did you think of it? I loved this book, its possibly the most beautiful story I think I've read.

Just bought this Abi - thanks

Starfish13 wrote: "Abi wrote: "15. Tibet - Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet"
What did you think of it? I loved this book, its possibly the most beautiful story I think I've read."

I absolutely loved it! This is definitely one of those books that completely transports to another place. Before I read it I didn't really know much about Tibet, and was absolutely fascinated by how Tibetan culture was portrayed in this. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a true story, and that this way of life actually existed.

My only criticism (if any..) was that it was so short - I managed to finish it in 2 days, and would happily have kept going!

Yes, I definately wanted it to be longer!

I've 'visited' a couple of countries since I last updated this!

16. Nepal - Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
17. Laos - Disco for the Departed
18. Norway - The Snowman

Looking at the books I've read this year, I seem to be leaning towards books set in the USA, so think I might have to check what states they were in and start on the USA challenge too!

I'm falling really far behind both in this challenge, and general reading. Every time I log-on to GoodReads it tells me that I am 6 books behind for my goal of 50 books in a year. Hopefully this lovely weather will give me more reading opportunities!

19. Colombia - One Hundred Years of Solitude