January 2016

Happy New Year!

Bookclub met up last weekend to welcome in the New Year and to discuss our Christmas read which was Karen Joy Fowler's 'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves'. It was agreed by everyone that this was a great novel, full of unexpected twists, thought-provoking situations and attention-grabbing ideas. I won't reveal too much as I don't want to give any spoilers away - I would just say READ IT!

On a different note, this month we are reading Jon Ronson's 'The Psychopath Test' so February's meeting should prove an interesting one as we all compare results!

A number of our members are on Good Reads online and have signed up for the 2016 reading challenge - I've set myself the challenge of reading 52 books this year, that's one per week! I'd better get cracking!

I've had loads of enquiries recently about joining our Bookclub. Unfortunately, at the moment we are at capacity, the venue can't fit any more people in and I also feel that if we have too many members it becomes difficult for everyone to take part in the discussion and people start to talk over each other.
We're always happy to share our thoughts on what we're reading so please still get in touch if you'd like any ideas about what to read next. Our Twitter feed is also regularly updated with what we're reading @booknantwich

Here's to discovering lots of new favourites in 2016,

Kate

November 2015

A lovely, cosy meeting was shared on Sunday (along with some homemade cake!) Thanks to Joy for running things in my absence (I can't believe I missed the cake!)

Overall, the Bookworms were disappointed with our read for October which was Harper Lee's 'Go Set A Watchman' (see Joy's review below) and are looking forward to the more promising French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles. We'll be meeting on Sunday December 6th to discuss it over a Christmas meal and a drink (or two!)
If you'd like to join us, please drop me an email at nantwichbookworms@gmail.com for details as we'll be in a different location to usual.

Happy reading,
Kate


Joy's Review of Harper Lee's 'Go Set A Watchman':

We read the hotly-anticipated sequel to Harper Lee’s classic and much loved 'To Kill a Mockingbird' this month. 'Go Set a Watchman' sees Lee’s protagonist Scout return to Maycomb from New York on a trip that shakes her once, unshakable relationship with the rock that is her father – Atticus Finch.

The reader is reunited with favourite characters from To Kill a Mockingbird fifty-five years after its original publication date and set some twenty years after the original story. However, a lot can change in twenty years (let alone 55) and the transformation of the characters left us more than a little disappointed.

Scout, or Jean Louise as she is now called, is no longer our narrator but our whiny, sanctimonious, sweaty protagonist who’s illusion of her father, ‘the moral conscious of 20th Century America’ is shattered when she witnesses him condoning views such as negroes ‘mongrelising the race’. And if Scout’s illusion is shattered, then we are left standing in the shards of disappointment.

The story was enjoyable until the last third when we felt it lost it’s direction and became a complex stream of political consciousness, that was very niche to Southern American states and unfortunately lost on many non-American readers. It also had none of the tightness of To Kill a Mockingbird, little of the wit and skill that Lee’s writing demonstrates in her first masterpiece and in fact it seems as though it is written by a different person!

Maybe expectations were too high, or maybe there was a good reason it was locked in a safe deposit box for years. Either way, thumbs down from the Worms.

Update

Our bookworms really enjoyed last night, thanks everyone (and well done to those who had actually read the book!)

Our upcoming reads are:

October - To Set A Watchman, Harper Lee (Meeting Sunday November 8th)

November - The French Lieutenant's Woman, John Fowles (Meeting Sunday December 6th)

December - We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Meeting Sunday January 3rd).

October 2015

As the nights begin to draw in, what better excuse do we need to curl up with a good book?

The Bookworms have continued to meet throughout the sunnier months and enjoyed some great (and some not so great!) novels over the summer: 

Most of us failed dismally to tackle Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita in May, finding it a confusing, surreal jumble that failed to entice us.

June was more successful, with Girl on a Train by Paula Hawkins providing an interesting read (and a fun Beer Garden Bookclub meeting over a glass or two of wine!) While we didn't love this book, we all liked it and found it gripping enough to want to read until the end.

July found us exploring 17th Century Amsterdam in The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. Some of our Bookworms attended the Hay Festival and were lucky enough to meet Jessie and hear all about her reasons for writing the book. We all really enjoyed her writing but agreed that the ending was disappointing and more could have been done with it - perhaps a sequel could even be written.

August saw us tackling A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving - this was a favourite of several members of our group prior to becoming a Bookworms read and personally I can now see why. I found it a real page-turner and actually felt like I was mourning the loss of a friend when I had finished reading it! Another enjoyable meeting took place where we mainly concluded that we would like to explore more of John Irving's writing.

For our September read we have tackled A Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. Our meeting this month has been slightly delayed and we are going to meet this Sunday (October 11th) to discuss this one - new members are always welcome!

Our next read will be Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee and we will meet on Sunday November 8th to discuss it. 

As always, we meet at the Black Lion Pub, Welsh Row, Nantwich and new members are always welcome.

Our Twitter page is regularly updated @booknantwich and you can contact us by email on nantwichbookworms@gmail.com

Happy reading!

Kate

May 2015

Finally....the Bookworms blog is back!

There are no excuses for the appalling lack of updates recently and only promises that I will try harder. Life just has a bad habit of getting in the way of reading -  never mind writing about reading!

So far this year, we have found ourselves wanting to write real letters with The Peculiar Life of the Lonely Postman, munching (and increasing our waistlines) along with The Gourmet, remembering that books are always better than films with Far From The Madding Crowd and falling in love with furry insects with The Bees.

The month of May sees us tackling The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - although disappointingly it's not about cocktails! I've only just started reading it but so far I've established that it's set in a Soviet Moscow where God is dead but the Devil is alive and only The Master and his beautiful lover Margarita can conquer the chaos. Translated from Russian, I think reading this is going to be a fascinating experience!

Bookclub still meets on the first Sunday of every month at The Black Lion, Welsh Row, Nantwich. We always welcome new members, new ideas and suggestions of what to read next - we will give anything a try! We also try to get together for cinema trips, theatre visits or meals out a few times a year.

Please follow us on Twitter @booknantwich (I tend to update it more regularly!) or email nantwichbookworms@gmail.com for more information.

Happy reading!

Kate

Far From the Madding Crowd – A Book and Film Review by Kate Lindop.

Thomas Hardy's Far From The Madding Crowd (Published in 1874) has been on my 'must read' list for as long as I can remember so it was with some excitement that we decided upon it as our Bookclub novel for the month.

As an avid bookworm, having no previous relationship with Hardy was something I was keen to rectify – and I'm so glad that I did.

As Hardy's fourth but most successful novel, Far From the Madding Crowd tells the intricate, complex tale of the beautiful, independent and feisty Bathesheba Everdene and her three suitors – Gabriel Oak – the reliable, hard-working and dedicated shepherd, William Boldwood - the rich, reclusive older farmer and the dashing, careless soldier Sergeant Frank Troy - who proves that good looks are not the only prerequisite for a happy marriage!

The novel is based upon the themes of unrequited love, wealth and poverty and chance and luck. The rural landscape, nature and the changing seasons also run as a significant thread throughout the whole plot.

The cast are supported by a number of bumbling 'country bumpkin' characters who add humour and narrative to the plot (although at times, some of their dialogue was akin to reading Shakespeare) and they are essential to the overall pace and feel of the book – slow, lazy, relaxed and carefree, reminding the reader of hazy days in the countryside and emphasising the quiet, unassuming way of life away from the 'Madding Crowd' which we assume is the hustle and bustle of city life.

The novel builds to a dramatic and tragic finale before readers are given the much-longed for happy ending proving that true, steady, reliable love – and patience! - conquer all and this seemed a fitting end to the novel.

Our Bookclub were so enamoured with 'Far From the Madding Crowd' that we were delighted to discover it was being re-released at the cinema and a group trip was quickly organised.

Being unfamiliar with the famous 1967 Schlesinger film adaptation, I was keen to see Madding Crowd on the big screen. Carey Mulligan played an excellent Bathsheba – in fact portraying her as warmer and more likeable than in the novel and other notable castings included Michael Sheen as Boldwood.

Whereas Hardy's novel is embedded with romantic, evocative and poetic descriptions of the countryside, I found these to be somewhat lacking in this version of the film, which at times felt like it was missing the point. Some of the major stand-out scenes in the novel had been omitted for the big screen and most notably, the role of the countryside 'crowd' was significantly downplayed with these characters appearing seldom and with no great addition to the plot.

Gabriel Oak, played by Matthias Schoenaerts is depicted as quiet, responsible and dependable yet I felt that he lacked the 'oomph' and backbone of Hardy's Gabriel and I struggled to will him on to his triumph at the end of the film.

I'm sure that many people will have watched this new adaptation of the film and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it myself, although left the cinema feeling that Hardy's magnificent writing could not be lived up to on the big screen. I would be interested to watch the original 1967 version of the film and see if my feelings changed!

To conclude, Far From the Madding Crowd was an excellent novel, enjoyed by all members of Bookclub and once again we found ourselves agreeing that film adaptations very rarely live up to books!

Nantwich Bookworms meet on the first Sunday of every month at the Black Lion pub, Nantwich.

For further information follow us on Twitter @booknantwich or email nantwichbookworms@gmail.com

January 2015.

Happy New Year!!!  And here's to an exciting year ahead, hopefully full of yet-to-be-discovered treasures. If your New Year's Resolution is to read more then you've come to the right place.

Welcome also to our new and improved blog. We hope you like it but suggestions for improvements or additions are always welcome.

Our first meeting of 2015 took place at the Black Lion on Sunday January 4th and we had a great time discussing suggestions for upcoming reads for 2015.

None of us were particularly enamoured with John Grisham's 'Skipping Christmas' so we are looking forward to our January read - Denis Theriault's 'The Peculiar Life of the Lonely Postman'.

Our Facebook and Twitter pages are constantly being updated with our thoughts, comments and suggestions throughout the month. These can be related to our current read, future reads, local goings-on, news stories or even ideas of local bookclub trips that we might set up so please check us out at @booknantwich on Twitter and Nantwich Bookworms on Facebook. New members are always welcome!

Our next meeting will take place on Sunday February 1st at 8pm in the Black Lion, Welsh Row, Nantwich.

Hope to see you there!

Kate