December-January 2017- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Our big read for the summer break was the Pulitzer Prize winner for 2015, All the Light We Cannot See. This is yet another book based on World War II, however it looks at the conflict from a different perspective. The two main protagonists are teenagers. One is a blind French girl named Marie-Laure, the other an orphaned boy pushed through the German war-machine named Werner.

It was refreshing to see a depiction of WWII from the German perspective, and which didn't revolve around the unquestionable horrors of the Holocaust. This book is based on the occupation of France, is centered around Saint-Malo on the Breton coast, and contains horrors aplenty.

Our discussion turned to the fact that this war still continues to resonate with people; so many stories are still being written about it. Later generations have no experience of the suffering that so many people went through. Cheryl put it succinctly- how on earth did anyone survive the horror of WWII? The experience of war changes people, as we see through the story's characters.

It scored well and some of us loved it. There were some negatives, however. The drawn out ending ruined the story for Megan, and Annette thought it was too contrived and felt like a soap opera.

Scores:
Allison- 7
Anna- 10
Annette- 5
Carmel- 10
Cheryl- 7
Glenda- 8
Kirrily- 7
Kristy- 10
Megan- 7
Phil- 9

Average: 8.0

August 2016- H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

Only a small group of readers met this month to discuss Helen Macdonald's critically acclaimed 'grief memoir' H is for Hawk. Annette picked this one based on its popularity at the library- it seemed to be borrowed frequently by various book club groups. She hadn't even read the blurb on the back cover.

One word seemed to sum up the book for us all- boring! Megan called it all "self indulgent twaddle". We all struggled to empathise with Helen as she pushed humankind away and locked herself into the house with Mabel (her baby Goshawk). Helen isolated herself from the world and from us, the readers. Apparently the book is based on her diary entries, and was written years later. We agreed that her diary was a suitable place to express her crippling sadness whilst she was struggling with her grief, but felt that It ultimately wasn't really for public consumption. It got in the way of us feeling any personal connection with Macdonald- her only personality trait seemed to be grief.

On the plus side, we all learned something about hawks and falconry! I didn't even know what a goshawk was prior to reading this book and found her descriptions of Mabel quite endearing. Most of us didn't understand or enjoy the constant references to TH White and his similar struggle to tame a hawk, although Anna has since emailed in her reactions and did enjoy those sections of the book. Annette didn't end up finishing, but those of us who did found the ending anticlimactic.

Scores:

Anna- 6

Annette- 2

Carmel- 3

Kristy- 3

Megan- 3

Average- 3.4

June 2016- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

June's read was The Goldfinch, nominated by Alison. This won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014. For a book that is a brick (at almost 800 pages) surprisingly quite a few of us finished it. Some reviewers have called the novel 'Dickensian': Megan said that it was because Tartt used too many words, and they were all the same words! Phil thought that there was not enough variety in the storyline and/or characters. There needed to be a bit more light to balance out the unremitting darkness and misery. Carmel loved it, particularly the constant thread running throughout of Theo's grief at losing his mother and the impact that had on the rest of his life. Alison enjoyed it so much she has now read it twice- what an achievement! Kristy enjoyed it at the beginning, particularly the early scenes in New York, but grew frustrated by the lack of redeeming features in almost every single character once they headed off to Vegas. She also felt that it dragged on way too long.

All of us were fascinated by the actual artwork The Goldfinch and wanted to know more about the Dutch painter Fabritius. This book was polarising- we either loved it or found it incredibly frustrating. You have to love a book club pick which does that and generates so much debate and discussion!

Scores:

Alison- 9

Carmel- 10

Kristy- 5

Megan- 5

Phil- 7

Average- 7.2

Dec/Jan 2014- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall was our annual epic to be savoured over the summer break. The thought of Tudor history and cold medieval castles was not enticing Christmas fare.

The winner of the Man Booker prize 2009 tells of the rise of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's divorce from Katherine of Aragon and break from the Church of Rome, and the demise of Thomas More from the viewpoint of Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief advisor.

It began as a laborious read, Phil preferred to organise our weekend away instead and so spent her time  at Hello World Glenbrook booking the Wamberal accommodation for our annual inaugural book club weekend away. A great effort on her part!

The style, even for those who have a knowledge of this period in history was difficult to follow. Mantel uses "He" when referring to Cromwell, which is often, it was confusing as to which "he" was being referred to at the time. I began to feel that the book was written for readers of a much higher intelligence than I can ever hope to have. But eventually it becomes worth the effort as the scores below indicate.

Alison       8
Anna         8
Annette     6
Deb           8
Kristy        8.5
Megan       7.5
Phil           4

Average   7.14

March 2013- All that I am by Anna Funder- we came, we drank and we talked

A lot has been written (and read) about the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. The topic presented may have just been too much of the same for some, for others we found it provided a different view. Annette sought out more info on the topic that inspired the book. Cheryl had to push through parts of the book as did others, and Deb who scored a 2 only managed to read the first hundred or so pages.

The scores are:
Alison           6
Anna             7
Annette         7
Cheryl           5
Deb               3
Genevieve
Kristy            4
Megan           3
Phil                8

Total 43, average score 5.4

And I'm really sorry Genevieve I can't remember what score you gave the book so let me know and I'll add it.