Anne Patchett The Dutch House

 A good read but not a great book . To neat a finish and some characters not fleshed out  perhaps deliberately so  ...a modern fairy tale?

Book by one of us

 We read and commented on a book being written by one of us.

Colin Barrett Young Skins

Linked short stories  , gritty  energetic ,violent  too much so for some . A slice of life we don't normally see.

George Alagiah -The Burning LAnd

This is Alright . A novel written by a journo not a novelist  , some interesting elements some rather formulaic elements .Quite readable and  not a waste to have read it.

E M Forster The Longest Journey

No one liked it , not everyone finished it . Despite some wonderful sentences  the whole is less than the sum of these parts ... Read one of his others. 

The Street Ann Petry

A great success   ... top marks  . Set in Harlem  in 1940s   still relevant today and well written

Jan Carsons. The Firestarters

A divided jury. Half thought it great  ,half a good book  (or potentially so) spoiled by elements of magic realism ..Some good writing in it whatever you may think of it as a whole

Where the Crawdads Sing

Another one that divided us .Atmospheric setting but rather stock characters and not entirely credible   degenerating into a  bit of a romance -but an easy read  . Surely a film soon

Jenny Offil Dept of Speculation

Written as a series of brief thoughts, full of anger and other feelings. Worth reading but wouldn't want our read another one in same style .

The Fishermen - Chigozie Obioma

A Greek tragedy plays out  in Nigeria . Can you escape your Fate or does your belief in it make it happen?
Generally liked , more by some then others

Nancy Mitford Love in a Cold Climate

Comparison to Wodehouse   - not as funny , some great one-liners and observation, Characters a bit thin
But if one is willing tread about the poor, downtrodden    then we should also read about the privileged rich...

Toni Morrison - Paradise

Not Paradise  but Hell to read , or so most of us thought. Interesting but likes so many Nobel winners ..hard to get into and follow