The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

21 January 2009

Not a book we're reading at book club, but one I was given for Christmas, and one that I'm enjoying immensely so I thought I'd write a little bit about it.

The book is written completely in letter format, tracking what's going on in London, Australia and Guernsey, the style is light, fun and easy to read. A great book for lifting the winter spirits.

This book is so big it even has its own website: www.guernseyliterary.com/

Billy Liar - Keith Waterhouse

14th January 2009 - First Book Club Of The Year



This, the grand opening of BC 2009, and my choice of book: Billy Liar.

I chose this because I watched the film before Christmas and I really enjoyed it. The story is light and funny and it is very well written. Bits of it made me laugh out loud.

Some of the book clubbers didn't like the fact that the book only covers one day (similar to this http://londonreads.blogspot.com/2008/09/one-day-in-life-of-ivan-denisovich.html).


Venue: E's house, New Cross

We ate: lots of crisps, pasta bake with salad, fig tart from Paul, a lot of other chocolate

The Adventure Of The Christmas Pudding - Agatha Christie

December 10th, 2008

A bit of light fun for the Christmas book club, we read this collection of Agatha Christie stories. They were all good and very entertaining.

We took book club out that evening, eating at Ciao Bella on Lamb's Conduit Street, yum!

http://www.ciaobellarestaurant.co.uk/

Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama

19 November

I missed this book club but I think generally this was regarded as a good read - if a little overdone.

Yes Man - Danny Wallace

Date Meeting Held: October 22

Summary: Comedian Danny Wallace decides that after saying no to various different things and generally feeling very depressed, he will start saying YES more often.

The book charts the highs and lows of his yes quest and is generally very funny: he goes on lots of random trips and meets interesting people.

Threaded through this is the ongoing tale of Wallace's love life and his career progression (both of which seem to go from strength to strength on the basis of saying YES).

Generally I liked the book: it is easy to read and entertaining - but my inner cynic found the love story part a bit cloying and the end a bit contrived. I thought Wallace did well at conveying the central message of the book to his readers without becoming too bogged down in it. While reading it I resolve to adopt a more positive attitude towards life and take up more offers.

Venue: T's Flat, Elephant & Castle

We Ate: Crisps and dip, roast chicken, lemon meringue pie, chocolate cake

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Date Meeting Held: September 17

Summary: Describes one day in the life of a prisoner in a Soviet labour camp in the 1950s called Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.

What We Thought: Most people found the book laborious and dull. We enjoyed the initial stages where the author was describing the camp and some of the other characters but after that found it fairly repetitive. Going against the grain again, K loved it and thought it was the best book we've done at book club so far.

Venue: K's House, Victoria

We Ate: Spaghetti with mascarpone sauce; hot chocolate pots (yum)

The Kite Runner Wins Reading Group Book Of The Year

Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, has been voted as the Reading Group Book of the Year for the third straight year. His second book, One Thousand Splendid Suns, came second in the survey organised by Orange and Penguin.

The top 10 favourite reading group books:

1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


2. One Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini


3. Old Filth by Jane Gardam


4. The Island by Victoria Hislop


5. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver


6. Small Island by Andrea Levy


7. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky


8. We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver


9. Salmon Fishing In The Yemen by Paul Torday


10. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai