Tuesday, 14 July 2020

The Street Ann Petry

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

Tuesday, 16 June 2020

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

Monday, 8 June 2020

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

Tuesday, 21 April 2020

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 .

Friday, 13 March 2020

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

Sunday, 1 March 2020

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...

Tuesday, 7 January 2020

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