Book Club

The Woman in White

2011-06-07T01:40:00.000-07:00

Monday 6th June. Today we had a most interesting discussion when we reviewed 'The Woman in White' by Wilkie Collins.

This is one of the classics, written in the Victorian age, it was the first detective novel written.
Most of our group enjoyed this book, (apart from the very small print in some copies), although a couple of members found they couldn't get into it.

11 members attended and we had a good discussion, a good general chat and, of course, lovely biscuits and tea.

January and February Books

2011-02-21T03:02:00.000-08:00

In January we reviewed "The Book Thief" by Maarkus Zusak. Narrated by Death this told the story of a young foster girl, Liesel Meminger, living in Nazi Germany. Unable to find books, she resorted to stealing them from Nazi book burnings, the major's wife's library or anywhere they could be found.
A very mixed review followed, with some members loving it and others not able to get into it at all. A very good discussion, followed by tea and cakes, of course.

Our February book was River Town by Peter Hessler. This told the story of Peter Hessler's time in Fuling, a small city on the Yangtze in China. Between 1996 and 1996 Peter (a member of the Peace Corps) taught English Literature. This was a very descriptive book with most members really enjoying it.

Book Club Christmas Party

2011-01-03T03:07:00.000-08:00

On 6th December 2010 13 members of the Book club met at Gills house for our Christmas get-together.

What a lovely evening it was. Each member brought some, very delicious, food, with prawn cocktail starters, 3 main courses and various lovely deserts, followed by cheese and biscuits. Oh and 'some' wine of course.

We all agreed it was a very good evening, with lots of chat and laughter. Heres to the next one. Maybe a barbeque in the summer?

Pompeii by Robert Harris

2010-11-02T04:18:00.000-07:00

The U3A Book Club met on the 1st November to discuss 'Pompeii' by Robert Harris. All 13 members attended.

This was a very lively discussion with some members finding the book very hard to get into, and some not finishing it, whilst others thought it a very good read. We sometimes wonder if we are all reading the same book, but this is what the Book Club is all about. It really stretches us to read books we would not normally choose.

We do not discuss a book in December, instead we all meet at a members house for an American Supper.

Small Island by Angela Levy.

2010-10-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

On October 4th 8 members of the book club met to discuss 'Small Island' by Andrea Levy.

The book centres on the influx of Jamacians, into Britain, in the 1950's and the racial tension it caused. We had a mixed review (as usual) with some members really enjoying the book and others finding it difficult to 'get into'.

Mainly most members enjoyed the read with some finding it getting better towards the end.

Our next book review is on the 1st November when we will discuss Pompeii by Robert Harris.

This is a lively group with most of agreeing that we are reading books we wouldn't normally pick up.

book reviews May and June 2010

2010-10-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

May 2010: we reviewed 'Crow Stone' by Jennie Mills. The book follows the life of Katie, whose mother left her when she was a toddler. It follows her early life living with a bullying father and into her adult life when she is now Kit and is working as a mining engineer in Bath. The book was judged a 'jolly good read' although some found the chapters, changing from past to present and back again, a bit of a challenge.

June 2010: We reviewed 'The Savage Garden' by Mark Mills. Set in Italy and involving a certain amount of history it was not as tense as expected but was still enjoyed and judged interesting.

Book Group Schedule for 2010

2010-05-04T12:33:00.001-07:00

The new organisers for this group are Gill Mawby [8066 8411] and
Angela Reeves [8048 1574].

the schedule for the year remaining is as follows:
10th May reviewing 'Crow Stone' by Jennie Mills
7th June reviewing 'The Savage Garden' by Mark Mills
5th July reviewing 'Three Cups of Tea' by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
2nd Aug reviewing 'Brixton Beach' by Roma Tearne
6th Sept reviewing 'Trust Me' by Lesley Pearce
4th Oct reviewing 'Small Island' by Andrea Levy
1st Nov reviewing 'Pompeii' by Robert Harris
6th Dec tba

This book group is very full. If you would like to lead a new group [which just involves a bit of organising and notifying members what is happening], then please contact Gill or Angela or Pat Moule [8087 3378]

A Happy New 'reading' Year!

2010-01-20T11:49:00.001-08:00

We rounded off 2009 with an American Supper at Angela's - and a good time was had by all.
During 2009 we reviewed:
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Le
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flag
Empire of Dragons by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
The Best of Times by Penny Vicenzi
The Road Home by Rose Tremain
Miss Garnett's Angel by Sally Vichers and, finally
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver.

So a very varied year with some books more popular than others but all extending us in some way!

We have three books on our reading list for 2010 so far:
Jan: 'The Hotel on the Roof of the World' by Alec le Sueur suggested for us by Angela Reeves.

Feb: 'The English Patient' by Michael Ondaatje suggested for us by Beryl Jackson and

March: 'Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction' by Sue Townsend and suggested for us by Linden Kuyser.

If you would like to join the book group just telephone Pat Moule on 8087 3378 for details and you will be made most welcome.

book group schedule to year end 2009

2009-07-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

Meeting on 24th August at Dee Batterbury's home we will be reviewing 'The Best of Times' by Penny Vicenzi

On 21st September we will be meeting at Kay Smith's home to discuss 'The Road Home' by Rose Tremain.

On 19th October, meeting at Angela Reeve's home, we will be discussing 'Miss Garnett's Angel' by Saly Vichers
and
on the 23rd November at Margrett Butcher's home, we will be reviewing 'We Need to Talk about Keven' by Lionel Shriver.

We would be so happy to have more members in the group, so if you would like to join us, just get yourself the next book to read and come along. We always meet at 2pm. Contact Pat Moule on 02380 873378 for further details.

Update, February to July 2009

2009-07-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

This group has expanded its horizons by reading a wide variety of books suggested by members - many of which we would not have picked out for ourselves! it has helped us to 'not judge a book by its cover'!

So far this year we have read and had lively discussions about:

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini
'To Kill a Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee
'Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe' by Fannie Flagg
'Empire of Dragons' by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
'A Suitable Boy' by Vikram Seth
'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' by John Boyne

At some meetings we also have poetry readings but at every meeting good chat and laughter!

Jan 09 Book Group meeting

2009-02-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

We met at Dee Batterbury's home to review 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' by Paul Torday. This book was chosen for us by Patricia Berry. The concensus was that we enjoyed the mild humour of this book and thought it a sad reflection of government that we thought it so plausible! It was a bit 'Yes Minister' ish. The scientist in him took over the main character so that he went with an idea which he had initially thought foolish and unable to succeed. An author some of us had not read before but who we would certainly read again.

The next book for review on 23rd February is 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini. If you would like more information about the book group then please do not hesitate to contact us. Details can be obtained from Celia Turner.

meeting on 24th November

2008-11-27T02:44:00.000-08:00

The book group met at Gill Mawby's home on 24th November to review 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi. A few ladies did not finish the book and some did not enjoy it - but others thought it was really good.
This is what a book group is all about and we are really enjoying the discussion. the concensus is that we are all being stretched in our reading and reading books that we would not choose ourselves is eye opening.

Our next meeting is on 19th January at Dee's home and we are all reading 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' by Paul Torday.

Book Group Meeting 1st September 2008

2008-09-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

We met on 1st September and welcomed Beryl Jackson as a new member. The chosen book for discussion was 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon. This was chosen for us by Kay Smith who explained that she had taught an autistic child and found the book gave an interesting insight into the problem.
This book received varied reviews:
Margrett - wouldn't recommend it to someone else to read but found it interesting and felt sympathy for the family.
Gill - didn't finish it because of time constraints and the fact that she knows someone who is like this and found it difficult.
Angela - struggled and skipped the maths [as did most of us!] but found it flowed more in the second half. Found it interesting that the father coped so much better than the mother.
Dee - did not enjoy it but did read it from beginning to end. A good book for people who work with children with these issues. However, she was not impressed by the story.
Patricia - felt it was a clever book and an interesting story. She enjoyed the maths.
Pat- felt it was a very interesting book and would like a follow up to find out if the child did manage to get to university and hold down a scientific job.

We had a good general discussion on the problems of autism and decided that this book would really help older children and adults to understand the problems and pressures of a family coping with this.

Our next book is 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop chosen by Dee Batterbury to be discussed on 22nd September. Our meeting will be held at the home of Patricia Berry in Marchwood. If you would like to come to this meeting to see if you would like to join the group or would just like more information, then please telephone me on 02380 873378.

posted by Pat Moule

Book Group meeting 21st July

2008-07-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

The book group held its first book review meeting on Monday 21st July. We reviewed 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini. The concensus of views was: powerful / intense / descriptive / a book of contrasts / disturbing violence / an insight into how other people live and what makes them 'tick'. This book is recommended as a good read.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 1st September at 2pm. Venue: Pat and Dave Moule's home at 154 Water Lane, Totton, SO40 3GX. The book we will be discussing is 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon.

If you would like to join the group, or need further information to help you decide then please do not hesitate to call: Kay Smith on 02380 813661, Pat Moule on 02380 873378 or Gill Mawby on 02380 668411.

Inaugral meeting of Book Club 30 June 2008

2008-07-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

The first meeting took place in Gill Mawby's house and the three initial members of the Book Club (Gill, Pat Moule and Kay Smith) sat in the conservatory on a very warm day to discuss how they wanted the Group to move forward. Pat Moule "volunteered" to be Secretary and dates and venues were agreed as to when the monthly meetings would take place.

Pat produced a list of the top most popular books (standards and recent titles)which had been produced by The Telegraph, and an initial selection was made of four books. The idea being that each month the members of the group read the selected book and make comment on it at the next month's Group meeting.

The first book selected by Pat for the Group to read was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Certain rules were drawn up such as: members of the Group should always advise the "host" if they were unable to attend a meeting. If members didn't enjoy a selected book they shouldn't be afraid to say so. Members would take it in turns to select a book and also take it in turn to host the meeting. In general the Group will meet each month on the Monday following the TSU3A general meeting. Meeting to commence at 2pm. Pat undertook to contact the three ladies who had shown an interest in joining the Book Club.

The first meeting of the Group will be on Monday 21 July and will take place at Kay Smith's house at 2pm. Contact Kay on 8081 3661 tjrice@btinternet.com

2008-06-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

This group will be starting soon, hopefully in July. If you are interested in joining then please contact either Kay Smith telephone 02380 813661 email tjrice@btinternet.com, Pat Moule 02380 873378 badgermoule@btinternet.com or Gill Mawby 02380 668411 gill-mawby@yahoo.co.uk