July 2014- The Dinner by Herman Koch

Two sets of related parents meet in a swish restaurant to discuss what to do about their sons, and the crime they have committed. The story slowly unfolds over dinner, painfully through each course, back and forth, up to the point of the dinner they are now sharing. The characters at first thought to be the sanest gradually become the most deranged, the ones you identify with you now want to distance from. Gen found the book disturbing; Cheryl said it was interesting but not enjoyable. We all agreed that it was ideal for book club as it generated much discussion.

Anna 8

Annette 6

Cheryl 6

Deb 8

Gen 7.5

Megan 6

Average  6.9

June

Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson

Annette 8

Kristy 7

Phil 8

Average 7.6

May 

The Narrow Road To The Deep North 

by Richard Flanagan

A grim story about the Thai Burma railway and the unfortunate lives of the prisoners and captors. The blurb on the back of the book didn't relate this as the bulk of the story, instead referring more the love story of Dorrigo Evans, the protagonist and a Weary Dunlop type character.

Annette 7

Anna 7

Cheryl 9

Gen 8

Kristy 8

Average 7.8

April 

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick 

Annette      5
Cheryl        5
Deb            8
Genevieve  7
Kristy          6
Megan        6
Phil             7 

Average 6.28

March 

Daisy Bates - biography

Daisy Bates : "the great white queen of the never never" Elizabeth Salter

The passing of the Aborigines : a lifetime spent among the natives of Australia

Daisy Bates

Desert queen: the many lives and loves of Daisy Bates / by Susanna De Vries and Daisy Bates

Maralinga : the Anangu story / by Yalata and Oak Valley Communities, with Christobel Mattingley

Kabbarli: A personal memoir of Daisy Bates by Ernestine Hill

Anna 7

Annette 7

Cheryl 7

Genevieve 6.5

Kristy 5

Megan 8

Average 6.75