Books and Literature 3

Our book group meets on the third Monday in the month at the home of a member of the group. The discussion, along with tea/coffee and biscuits, usually lasts for about one and a half hours and is very friendly and informal. Sometimes we choose a theme, then we tell the other members about our different theme-related books; at other times we organise with the library that we all read the same book (the library has a good list for us to choose from) and at the meeting we will discuss that particular book. Sometimes we read a short story or poem during the meeting. Here are some of the books we have read and what the group thought of them:

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

An easy read about a man who owns a record shop in the 80s (and will not accept these new fangled CDs!) and a German woman with whom he falls in love. It isn’t straight forward (but love never is) however, some of the characters are funny and it takes you back to issues that you may not remember too well.

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

Nicholas, his sister and mother’s lives are turned upside down by the death of his father. They, stupidly, rely on an avaricious uncle to help them out, but he makes their lives even more miserable.  Nicholas becomes a teacher at Dotheboys Hall in Yorkshire and his sister works for a milliner. They both go through various trials and tribulations, some of the characters are very sad (Smike), some very funny and some just plain stupid (the mother), some of the Yorkshire accents are weird! However, I’m a huge fan of Dickens and found this very readable, although somewhat long.

English Pastoral by James Rebank

This is a book about Rebank’s his, his father’s and grandfather’s experiences of working the land in Cumbria and how and why farming practices have changed over the years and how that has affected not just his family, but the country and the future of our land.

My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

We recently took Elizabeth Strout as our author of the month and most of us read “My Name is Lucy Barton” and one person read “Oh William!” although a couple of us had read that in the past.  These are books 1 and 3 in a series of books about Lucy and her family. They are easy to read with quite a simplistic, if sometimes annoying, writing style.  The group thought many themes were the same in both books, but they don’t seem to have been developed very well.  Some people thought the books make you think, whilst others were dissatisfied and overall nobody would recommend others to read them, even though Oh William! did make The Booker Prize short-list in 2022.