The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
2011 – End of Year Thoughts
The end of the year already!
This year we chose to lunch at The Grape Escape in Appleby and discuss the who, whys and whats of the year. We agreed it’s been a tumultuous year with the Christchurch earthquake and the Japanese tsunami and we were very pleased to have our feet on solid ground over the months.
At year’s start we agreed theming our book choices would be stabilising and connecting and after a year of shaky grounds, and friends and family severely impacted, we needed that stabilising force more than ever.
Theming our choices resulted in a reading list primarily of classics and home-grown works which resonated with us and reminded us about the importance of recording history. Even though we are living through traumatic times, the reaction to it, the learnings from it and the survival stories will one day be noted down as history for others to absorb and gain greater understanding of.
With our reading, we found the Russian classics heavy but rewarding; we relished the opportunity to learn more about Pacific writers, and agreed the entire content of Lolita was the most shocking reading moment of the year! There were a lot of punchy novels this year and here are our favourites:
Book of the year:
Sophia: Lolita
Jo: Lolita
Suzy: Freedom
Rachel: Lolita
Runner up:
Sophia: The Pregnant Widow
Jo: Sons For The Return Home
Suzy: Sons For The Return Home
Rachel: The Pregnant Widow
We’re currently reading:
Books read:
How many books have we read for bookclub in the past 17 years?
The Free-Range Bookclub 
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