dear God, what has the weather been like over the last few weeks?
There really is no other option to preserve sanity than curling up in bed with a good book, so that’s what most of us have been doing.
This month we kicked off the 2010 Book Group with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, who by the way is a tragic loss to the world of crime fiction. The group was competently and entertainingly hosted by bluzkat, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves – thanks bluzkat!
The current read for the remainder of January is Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, and hosted by the lovely Ginger, who is taking us on a wild journey through the Cornish landscape with Mary Yellen. We’ve only just started discussing this book so there is still plenty of time to join us.
Coming up in February we will have another two books to discuss. The polls are still open for another week if you want to vote for your favourite. The books that are in the running are:
Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantell (Historical Fiction, Henry VIII)
Scar Tissue – Anthony Kiedis (biography of Red Hot Chilli Peppers frontman)
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (Modern Classic)
The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson (Crime fiction)
19 Minutes – Jodi Picoult (Modern Fiction)
The Enchantress of Florence – Salman Rushdie (Modern Fiction)
Vagabond (Grail Quest #1) – Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction)
Existing members can join the Book Group via their profiles. If you are not yet a forum member you can register by clicking on the forum link at the top of the page.
Our Paranormal Social Club picks for January are Beneath the Skin by Adrian Phoenix (Maker’s Song #3) and Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick as previously advised. We have been a bit slow in kicking off these groups due to some problems getting hold of the Adrian Phoenix book in the UK. The book was showing the same publication date for both US and UK but despite that, there have been some delays which have meant that instead of the group starting on 4th of January we have decided to wait until everyone has had a chance to read the book!
The PSC book for February is still being decided, so if you have any suggestions as to what urban fantasy or paranormal romance we should read, then please post your suggestions in the thread.
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One more thing… I nearly forgot to mention that the replacement for the Richard and Judy Book Club (UK) launched last Sunday evening at 7.30pm on More 4 and is repeated on Monday lunchtimes on Channel 4. It’s run by the same people as the defunct R & J book club and the same people are selecting the books, so if popularity is based on the book selection alone and not the popularly of the presenters then it shouldn’t matter who’s spearheading it and it should be successful. However I have a sneaking suspicion the popularity of the books was generated mainly by the influence that Richard and Judy held over the British public so I don’t have high hopes for this new TV Book Club. Don’t get me wrong, I hope it does succeed because I’m all for generating interest in reading books and overall getting more people to put down the playstation and pick up an actual book and read something that isn’t a few lines of text on a website, but judging by the first show, I don’t think it’s a go-er in it’s current format.
The main problem is the presenters – who are they and why are they telling us what to read, and more importantly why should we care? Jo Brand has done a lot of promotion for literacy and encouraging children especially to read, but the others? Dave Spikey was introduced as the comedy element or there for comedy value but Jo Brand is also a comedian. Perhaps they forgot. Gok Wan was one of the most interesting and vocal of the presenters and is obviously under contract to Channel 4, and I like him a lot but I want to know why he was chosen, same as with the others. Do they read a lot? Did they really read the actual books? Nathaniel Parker I absolutely love and TV will not be the same without Inspector Lynley – which is incidentally based on a series of books by Elizabeth George – but again, why him and also he was a little bit quiet, or more talked over by Gok et al. By far the most interesting person to speak on the show was Chris Evans (who I don’t even like) who was there to promote his new biography It’s not what you think. Quite honestly after listening to him talking about it I am actually considering reading it! Well done Chris!
They had a taped interview with Cecelia Aherne talking about how the “book club” influenced her reading choices and how some of her favourites were from “the book club” with no reference whatsoever to it being the Richard and Judy Book Club and not this new one. The featured book before I forget, was Sarah Waters – The Little Stranger, so we had another taped interview with her talking about the book and how there were no lesbians in this one unless you possibly count the male doctor or the house, both of which are obviously lesbians in disguise. So bad luck anyone who was planning to play spot the lesbian because there isn’t one! So I think that was about it. It will be interesting to see how it develops and whether the presenters get better and get more confident in their new roles. What? What do you mean there were five presenters? Really?
*pretends to check notes*
oh yeah there was some chick in a red dress who smiled a lot and laughed a few times. Been in some crap show and some dancing show but I don’t want that crap so why bother mentioning her. I predict now that the panel will lose a few people along the way – sooner rather than later please – and they may well be replaced by some other B list celeb but I think it would run better with less people and more actual discussion, headed up by Jo Brand and maybe Gok Wan if he has time. I need to see more from the other three before commenting further.