November 2013 - The Conductor

A book that a lot of members wanted to read at the beginning of the year.  Several members actaully managed to read for themselves since then.  But maybe a second read will be beneficial.

The conductor by Sarah Quigley

In June 1941, Nazi troops march on Leningrad and surround it. Hitler's plan is to shell, bomb and starve the city into submission. Most of the cultural elite are evacuated early in the siege, but Dmitri Shostakovich, the most famous composer in Russia, stays on to defend his city, digging ditches and fire-watching. At night he composes a new work. But after Shostakovich and his family are foced to evacuate, only Karl Eliasberg - a shy and difficult man, conductor of the second-rate radio orchestra - and an assortment of musicians are left behind in Leningrad to face an unendurable winter and start rehearsing the finished score of Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony.

A tribute to Mary Kayes

Mary joined our book group around August 2008, after Stan Edgar chose to leave.  When Mary hosted meetings, it would not be unusual for other young people to be walking through her home - whether grandchildren or water polo players.

She was a very generous and hospitable host. In the final months, Mary allowed the book group to come to her home for the meeting.  This was a great bonding experience for the group.  Thank you, Mary.

Reading was one of Mary's loves, and she was very well read.  If Mary hadn't read the book group book by the meeting, it was usually because she was reading other things.  These books she shared with all the other book group members.

Mary was very knowledgeable about a lot of different things, and provided a lot of insight into the reading we were doing.   She will be sorely missed by us all.

Thank you Mary, for your friendship and hospitality.  You were one of a kind.

October 2013 - Avil's Ghost

The year is coming to a close, but the books keep coming.  The book for October is Avil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

Forensic anthropologist, Anil Tissera, returns to Sri Lanka as a representative of an international human rights organisation to assist in an investigation into suspected mass political murders throughout the 1980s and 1990s. With almost hallucinatory imagery and the gradual interweaving of characters' pasts, Ondaatje leads his readers into a riveting mystery. Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for Fiction, 2000.

September 2013 - The hand that first held mine

The next book of our list of "want to read" - The hand that first held mine by Maggie O'Farrell

Lexie and Elina are young women living in London 50 years apart; Lexie is a journalist in 1950's Soho and Elina, a present day artist who along with her partner Ted is recovering from the traumatic birth of their first child. When Ted seeks to understand his own childhood, the dual stories begin to collide, solving a decades-old mystery and exposing the reader to the richness of lives passionately led. This is a novel of mesmerising characters and family secrets well seasoned with the peaks and troughs of love and parenthood.

August 2013 Get on the Waka

Now for something closer to home...

A collection of fiction writing by Maori since 2000, selected and with an introduction by Witi Ihimaera. It showcases 17 stories and extracts from established writers, most of whom have won awards and recognition in New Zealand and overseas. Contributors include: Patricia Grace; Alan Duff; Paula Morris; Kelly Ana Morey; Witi Ihimaera; and others. NZ Interest.

Favourite reads for 2012

Only three members answered the two questions in the survey posted about your favourite read in 2012.  I guess it was hard to remember all the details about the various books.
The results are as follows.

1) Please rate these books from "Really did not enjoy" to "love"

Title	Really did not enjoy	Dislike	Neutral	Like	Love
As the earth turns silver by Alison Wong				2	1
Bulibasha The King of the Gypsies by Witi Ihimaera				2	1
Back when we were grown-ups by Anne Tyler				1	1
How to be Good by Nick Hornby				1
Mitford Girls by Mary S. Lovell		1		1
Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers				1	1
Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Al				1	1
The Invisible Mountain by Carolina de Robertis				1	1
Wild Mary - A Life of Mary Wesley by Patrick Marnham		1
The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin				3

2) Which book did you find particularly challenging, but you would recommend to other groups that enjoy a challenging yet rewarding read?

Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Al	2
As the earth turns silver by Alison Wong	1
How to be Good by Nick Hornby	1
Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers	1
The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin	1

To see what other book groups in New Zealand thought of their books see this link

Favourite books of the year (as voted by groups)

July 2013 Before I go to sleep

For a complete change of pace, we have S.J. Watson's thriller, Before I go to sleep...

Every morning Christine Lucas wakes without memories. Her past, her present, the people she loves -“ all are erased every night when she goes to sleep. Each day she must try to piece her life together. Each day the questions come. Who can she trust when she can't remember yesterday? How can she love without memory? And why is she so frightened? [Taken from the book cover].

June 2013 Various Pets Dead & Alive

Various Pets Dead & Alive by Marina Lewycka - an interesting title by an author who writes books with interesting titles, such as "A short history of tractors in the Ukraine".  This is how the BDS catalogue describes this book.

Clara, Serge and Oolie Anna (Ulyana) are the adult children of Marcus and Doro, ex-commune dwellers from way back. Clara strives for order, Serge for money and Oolie Anna for the right to live on her own. From communes to capitalism, chaos to conformity, the times are a changing, and so too are the dynamics of this intriguing family.

May 2013 - The Cellist of Sarajevo

This book has been on our list for a long time.  Finally it is our turn to read The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

From the notes

This brilliant novel with universal resonance tells the story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist who plays undaunted in their midst.

I wonder what we will make of it.

April - In the place of fallen leaves

This month we are reading a story by Tim Pears.  Set in Devon, it tells the story of life beneath the blazing sun in a small rural village in England during the devastating drought of 1984.  This is something we can relate to as our own long dry drought is coming to an end.

We will be discussing this meeting together  on Monday 13 May.

This meeting is now at Yvonne's home.  See you here at 7:30 pm.

Reading for March

This month we have the third choice from our reading selection - The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. Hope you enjoy it.  Our meeting will be hosted by Jackie at the beginning of April.  Enjoy!

A piece of New Zealand (and Mt Albert) history

On Monday night we discussed our first book of the year - Something for the Birds by Jacqueline Fahey.  This was all very close to home as various members of the group (or their immediate family)  remember the extended family of Jacqueline herself - from her use of the public library to her husband being in charge of Carrington Hospital to Jacqueline's sister and family.

Recently Jacqueline has had a second book about her life published titled Before I forget. 

Summer reading

At the first meeting of the year (11-Feb-2013), there was plenty to talk about - holidays, traffic, family updates, and the weather.  But to top it off, everyone had a chance to discuss the books that they had read (and could remember!)  Here is a brief summary (please forgive any misrepresentations).

Denise

• Heart of Coal - Jenny Pattrick (Sequel to Dennison Rose)
• Elephant Keepers Children - Peter Hoeg
• Standing in another man's grave (Rebus is Back) - Ian Rankin 

Jan

• Week in December and A possible life - Sebastian Faulks
• Flight behaviour - Barbara Kingsolver (Highly recommended)
• Capital - John Lanchester (highly recommended)

Marlene

• A casual vacancy - JK Rowling (not very inspiring)
• Novel by Ernst McIver (didn't tell us what it was called)
• Two Brothers - Ben Elton - is still reading it and enjoying it

Jackie

• Sophie's key (Sarah's key by Tatiana de Rosnay??)
• Mr Pip - Lloyd Jones
• People of the Book - Geraldine Brook
• Broken - Isla Evans (highly recommended)

Shirley

• A story of a Chinese family living between England and China

Freda

• Searching For Wild Asparagus In Umbria - Terry H. Bhola
• A book by Terry Hatch
• a book about boating on the canals

Yvonne

• Ender's Game / Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card (highly recommended)
• Thousand splendid suns - Khaled Hossein
• Water for elephants - Sara Grue
• Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

Caroline  (in absentia, read by Yvonne)

• Digging to America - Ann Tyler
• Second Person Singular - Sayed Kashua
• Captain Courageous - Rudyard Kipling
• The red house - Mark Haddon (Mark has a great website according to Jan.  See http://www.markhaddon.com )

Diana (mentioned by Denise)

• All that I am - Anna Funder  (also wrote Staziland)

There were a lot of pages turned in our group!

2013 - First meeting of the year

Hope you have had an amazing summer, enjoying the sunshine and reading all sorts of interesting books. 

Bring them along on Monday to share, if you are able to. 

Yes, the first book group meeting is this coming Monday 11 Feb at 7:30 pm.  

Jan has agreed to let us meet at her home.  Hope you can come along.