July - August 

Documentary - My Octopus teacher

Burnt out film maker Craig Foster befriends an octopus in the kelp forest near his home in South Africa. Each day he braves the water, no matter the temperature or conditions to swim amongst the kelp and observe the at first shy, sea creature.

It is truly beautiful, although due to the slow start, can take a couple of attempts. 

Megan sped it up to 1.25 and then found it bearable, as at first she couldn't stand the sound of Craig's voice narrating the story. The slow moving rhythmic narrative lent itself to the ebb and flow of the ocean, currents and life under water.

Introducing his son into the movie also annoyed Megan but Glenda explained that people generally do include their children in their interests. 

Anna also commented that the director had wanted it as part of the story as Craig's mental health journey included reestablishing a relationship with his son. 

We didn't take scores but those of us that watched it, Anna, Glenda, Kristy and Megan loved it.

Also as a note to COVID 2021 - Kristy watched the last bit in her car, waiting for her son at Olympic stadium having his first vaccination.      

June 2021

The Dickens boy / Tom Keneally

Had a different meeting to talk about Thomas Keneally’s “The Dickens Boy.” Megan, Anna and Deb had a video meeting from their cosy places on a cold Sunday.
 
Deb and Anna – both liked learning about the personal side to Charles Dickens and his family. His youngest son Edward, known as Plorn, was sent to Australia in 1868 to work on sheep stations in NSW and Victoria where his older brother was also working.
 
Megan made a start, but found the language too hard. Deb also commented on the language, but kept going as the story was interesting. Anna had no issue with the language.
 
Deb and Anna – liked following the ongoing discussion between the 2 brothers on their perception of their father. He was so highly regarded as a writer, yet his decisions regarding the children were not always compassionate.
 
Deb liked how Keneally was able to use historical documents, letters and articles to put the story together. Especially the detail about life and work on remote sheep stations.
 
Anna 9/10
Deb 9/10

Note from Anna - Plorn's brother Alfred had issue with their father's relationship to them and why he had sent them to Australia; and his treatment of their mother. Alfred wrestled with his demons drinking excessively and desperately trying to engage Plorn in the debate. Despite his feelings for his father he did take offence if anyone spoke badly of him, and later made a living for himself on speaking tours of things Dickensian, in the U.S. 

Megan asked why would he do that when he held his father in such disdain. Anna thought well,  it was like a scene out of Kath and Kim. After Kim had chucked Brett out, again, the Boulton twins, Kylie and Danni, spiked his drink and took advantage of him. In a scene in the carpark of Fountaingate Shopping Centre, Kim was taunted by the twins when they witnessed her eating potato wedges in her tight jeans. One insult led to another with finally Brett being shamed as a "dud root" to which Kim replied Yeah, he is, but he's my dud root.. So it's kinda like that, it's ok for him to pass judgement about his father, but not anyone else. 

The White Girl by Tony Birch

May 2021

The white girl by Tony Birch

This was a lovely breakfast book club meeting, held at the Rowers Club on the banks of the Nepean River. 

Kristy had not finished reading so the ones who had finished did not wish to give the ending away, this however did not stop the discussion of the importance of the book. Deb didn't finish the book as she felt a sense of impending doom at the bicycle scene. Several of us agreed, however we encouraged her to finish the book as it did not go in a negative direction. The bicycle scene was a turning point in the novel.

One comment, "I was horrified about stuff I didn’t know" was largely the consensus. As a group we felt completely ignorant of the indignity that aboriginal people in Australia faced, as well as the existence of an 'exemption certificate' and what this meant. Phil informed us that students at school nowe larn about this. 

The characters were interesting and realisitc, and the town was 'anywhere Australia'. People liked the character of the old town cop (or good cop). His recollections of his conflict about being a child and being torn about which group to walk to and from school with was touching. The encounters Odette has with characters when she leaves town are memorable. Jack was pivitol in helping Odette navigate her new world, and was to a large extent her saviour. We loved the scene where the girl in the hotel asked Odette to hug her. Anna had book-marked the page as it made her cry. 

Phil described it as as 'Psychological thriller' which is not inaccurate.

The book was enjoyed and was informative. 

Anna       10
Deb          8
Glenda     9
Kristy -
Margaret   8
Megan      9
Phil          10

The funny thing about Norman Forman

April 2021
The funny thing about Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson 

Norman is a boy who pretty much has nothing going for him: he's covered scabs, his hopeless but loving mum has her own demons, and his very best friend Jax, and partner in comedy is dead.

With his mum Sadie he travels from Cornwall to Edinburgh to perform (hopefully) at the Fringe Festival and fulfil part of his 5 year plan with Jax. 

The other part of his plan is to find his father. 

Sadie's elderly work mate Leonard has taken all the community college courses anyone could need to help them. He's a whiz at making a Facebook fan page, using google maps and searching the net for lost fathers. In his vintage Austin Maxi they set off to finish what Jax and Norman started. 

This is a debut novel for the author and the funny thing is, while the feel of the story is nostalgic, quirky English, surprisingly she's from north Queensland. It turns out she lived in the U.K. for 10 years, which explains the very Englishness.

The book's an easy and funny read. 

Margaret describing as a tra la la la book, which is spot on. It has serious moments but doesn't leave you disturbed. 

Megan liked Norman, and other stuff also noting that the many references to Dave Allen and Morecambe and Wise, the book might be targeted at English and probably older readers. 

Phil liked the first four pages the best, and felt it should be classified as a teen book rather than adult fiction. I was originally surprised that it wasn't, but after reading it I think it crosses both. 

It made Deb laugh, she loved the growth of the characters throughout the journey and the wisdom in so many quotes. She also noted the opening of the book, Sadie being born with all her insides out, and questioned what meaning that had for the story.

Scores:

Anna 7

Deb   9

Margaret 7   

Megan 7

Phil 5

The land before avocado

 

March 2021 

The month we read a mix as we couldn't decide, and we had an extra week due to Easter. 

The land before avocado / Richard Glover

The first was Richard Glover's book about life in Australia between 1965 and 1975, the big question being was life better back then? His conclusion - there were only a few things that were better; the ones I agree with are the music and Countdown.  

Deb loved the reminiscence of the book. She was away up at Bowen and played the audio book to Steve's mum who enjoyed it thoroughly. It brought back memories for me too - Chariots of the gods, I'd completely forgotten about that. Aliens coming to Earth was a hot topic, Glenda even having written to the Prime Minister about them. 

Megan    3

Deb        8

Anna      7

Glenda   7

The second option was anything by Agatha Chrsitie. Kristy's jaw hit the floor when a few in the group (Deb, Megan and Glenda) admitted they'd never read one, it was then decided that would also be our March read. Margaret joined the group today and it turns out she hasn't read Agatha Christie either.   

Rather the read a complete novel Megan preferred to find out more about the woman and in particular her disappearance for eleven days in 1926. A marriage breakdown was attributed, which at the time was scandalous news. 

Phil had read many of her books already, commenting they're usually about the aristocracy and that there are better mystery authors. Glenda is reading 'The murder of Roger Ackroyd' written in 1926 and finds it humorous. Deb couldn't understand the attraction of murder mystery, mainly the murder part. As for me I enjoy whodunnits, the characters are always an odd bunch which is probably my favourite bit. I read 'And then there were none' and watched the recent mini series. I wanted to discuss with someone who's read it, the order in which everyone is bumped off. 

Megan 7

Anna    8

Glenda 8 

Phil       6

Brief answers to the big questions - Stephen Hawking

February 2021

Brief answers to the big questions / Stephen Hawking

Deb     8

Anna   7

Megan 9

January 2021 - A Room Made Of Leaves by Kate Grenville

January 2021

A Room Made Of Leaves by Kate Grenville

Deb 10 

Megan 9

Glenda 9

Phil 9

Anna 9 

Alex 6.5

A lovey meeting at Anna’s following a late change of venue due to Anna babysitting Eleya. A lovely book well researched and written with empathy. It was delightful to hear the voice of the woman in the early years of colonial Sydney. The writing about the landscape painted a lovely picture of familiar places. The characters were interesting; particularly the way Elizabeth interacter with them and behaved in accordance with social norms of the time. We are agreed that a visit to Elizabeth Farm is needed, followed by a stroll to Parramatta River.

February 2020 - We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson

Deb 3
Anna 8
Kristy 7
Phil 4
Megan 7
Glenda 7
Annette 5.5


A book about misfits divided the group, luckily we’re all still talking.

Megan and Anna liked it a lot, quick, straight to the point, quirky characters and a lot to talk about. Kristy didn’t like the ending but still gave it a seven. Phil found it depressing a read at what was an awful time of year anyway, fires, smoke, flood, locusts. Annette didn’t finish it and found it a hard read. Deb hates poor bugger books. And interestingly, Glenda (absent) hadn’t checked the publication date and placed it in a more modern period than early 1960s.

March 2020 - Love in a cold climate by Nancy Mitford

 Nil notes and scores

 

May 2020 - A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird

Kristy 7

Anna 7 

Phil 3

Megan 3 Deb 3

April 2020 - The Shepherd’s Hut by Tim Winton

Glenda 8 
Megan 9

Small group met and it went well.


Megan enjoyed the book as the the voice of the narrator reminded her of her friend Kev. 'It was lovely to read as I could hear Kev's voice in my head.'

Megan re-read shortly after as she knew how it ended so she could read it with less tension about how things would end.

June 2020 - The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Glenda 7

Anna 7

Glenda scored it a 7 for the twist she didn’t see coming. Meeting was at Glenda's. Deb, Megan and Anna hadn’t read it so Glenda gave a synopsis (without revealing the twist). Anna then got a copy and is planning a quick read of it.

July 2020 - Working Class Man by Jimmy Barnes

Deb 9

Read by Deb who have it a whopping 9. She loved the info about the bands at the time, lack of money and hard work. A revealing insight into the music culture and at the same time therapy for the author himself. I assume Glenda read it too, as it was her book on the coffee table but Glenda, I didn’t get a score from you.

August 2020 COVID 19 exhaustion - no book

September 2020 - The seven good years by Etgar Keret

Megan 10 

Anna 6 

Deb 7

Kristy 6 

October 2020 - The Badass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer

Phil 7  

Megan 7

Anna 7

An interesting book. Everyone felt that they were ill informed about the time and the place of the book. We all agreed that the topic was fascinating.

November 2020 - French Exit by Patrick DeWitt

Phil 5 

Deb 7 

Anna 8

Megan 8

A delightful read, until the final part. Megan suggested reading up until the bath scene. Enjoyable until there. Interesting, characters: except for the parts where they are quite screwed up. About the time of reading it was discovered that a film was being released. That is a “might watch”.

February 2019 - Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

Phil 10 

Cheryl 8.5 

Kristy 8 

Megan 6.5

Glenda 4

Glenda said she didn’t mind the 45 pages that I read; I was confused, it had some potential, but as Cheryl commented it was a bit “ blah, blah, blah”.

March 2019 - Dear Mrs Bird by A.J. Pearce

Anna 7 Phil 7 Megan 7 Deb 7  Cheryl 8.5  Annette 8

April 2019 - Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng

Phil 3 

Glenda 8

Kristy had read the book previously but didn’t score. Many characters, and none too likeable was the general consensus. Glenda liked it.

June 2019 - The Ape House by Sara Gruen

Megan 7

Deb 7

May 2019 - The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

 Phil 8

July 2019 - The Shell by Christina Olsen

Deb 8

Anna 5 

Megan 2

Well only three of us read Shell. Deb loved it and gave it an 8, she was interested in that period of history as hadn’t really known much about it previously. Megan on the other hand did not like it and gave it a 2, saying it had way too many metaphors, no substance and felt that the Swedish glassmaker Axel was stalking Utzon. I was torn, and gave it a 5. I was looking forward to getting deep into the heart and politics of Sydney and the building of the Opera House, but found too much poetry. I got what I wanted in the end but it took a lot of effort.

August 2019 - The Lido by Libby Page

Cheryl 5 

Annette 6 

Megan 4 

Phil 2 

Anna 6

All filler, no killer. No meat, just broth - Deb and Megan.
Dull boring predictable Cheryl. Poor man’s Eleanor Oliphant.

September 2019 - 1984 by George Orwell

Megan 9

Deb 7  Anna 7

October 2019 - The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh

Megan 7 

Deb 7 

Anna 5

February 2018 - Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

Deb 3

Annette 6

Megan 6

Phil 8 

Anna 8

We all agreed there was not a lot of substance and
largely forgettable.

March 2018 - Ghost Empire by Richard Fidler

Annette 10  Cheryl 9  Anna 8  Deb 8  Phil 5

Deb – Really enjoyed reading ancient history by a non-historian. His writing was easy to understand and remember. I learned a lot. Loved his reflections about religion and his son’s reactions and questions about being in Istanbul/Constantinople.

April 2018 - The Choke by Sophie Laguna

 Glenda 7

May 2018 - The Trip of a Lifetime by Monica McInerney

Megan 6 

Cheryl 6 

Deb 7 

Steve 6.5 (Guest reviewer)

‘A trip of a lifetime ‘ was read and discussed by three: Cheryl, Deb and Megan.


Deb provided questions and hospitality. The meaning of ‘home’ was discussed and if lying was ever necessary (yes) by five: the above three, Glenda and myself. Deb recalled seeing Monica McInerney at Penrith Library and not being impressed. She did like this book though, and thought it was an enjoyable easy read. Phil read 150 pages and thought life is too short to continue any further. Annette I think, may have not persevered that far.

June 2018 - Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Kristy 4 

Annette 6 

Phil 6 

Cheryl 6  Anna 7 

August 2018 - The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

Nil notes and scores

July 2018 - Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman

Megan enjoyed it and would recommend. Different and interesting.

No scores recorded.

September 2018 - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Nil scores

Annette – I couldn’t get through the book, I gave up not long after starting. I like the concept but found it too difficult to read.



Anna – I haven’t read it either, same experience as Annette, started, stopped. I took it back to the library then reborrowed it for Phil.

October 2018 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Anna 9 

Megan 10 

Deb 8 

Cheryl 9.5 

Phil 10 

Annette 10  Kristy 10

November 2018 - Educated by Tara Westover

Megan 7  Phil 8  Anna 8

January 2017 - All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

 Nil notes and scores

February 2017 - The Spy by Paulo Coelho

 Nil scores

Megan - I recommend viewing the documentary Anna found. I didn't know anything about Mata Hari so I watched the video before I read the book. It really helped.

https://youtu.be/SWvk00RbMcM

March 2017 - Small Island by Andrea Levy

 Nil notes and scores

April 2017 - The Dry by Jane Harper

 Nil notes and scores This was made into a film released in 2021.

May 2017 - This Is Where I Leave You by Johnathon Tropper

Glenda 8 Deb 8 Megan 8 Anna 8  Phil 6 Alison 6  Annette 5 Cheryl 5  Carmel 6.5

So some of the group found the writing to be too easy and a supposed cheat's way of writing.

The other criticism was that it was too American and also belittles women.

The opposing view was that it was written from a male perspective and a certain type of male way of thinking. Whether you can read this or not is going to be very individual.

Most thought the book entertaining, and hilarious at many moments and could easily translate to an American dysfunctional family sitcom.  

The characters were not explored in any depth.

June 2017 - Working Class Boy by Jimmy Barnes

 

Phil 0

Megan 4 

Kristy 5 

Cheryl 6 

Anna 7

Glenda 7 

Annette 6 

Phil - the writing was not good, didn’t explore the characters, Annette very annoying American style, Megan entertaining and readable.