Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Suzy The sequel to The Vintner’s Luck in which the angel Xas settles in Hollywood 1929 and becomes involved in the seductive movie industry. © “Movie director Conrad Cole is working late on elaborate plans for his aeroplanes and… Continue Reading “Angel’s Cut – Elizabeth Knox”
READ FOR BOOKERTHON A middle-aged Englishman suffers memories of childhood abandonment as he embarks on a walking holiday Futh is an Englishman leaving his wife. He stands on the deck of a Ferry about to embark on a walking holiday around Germany. One of… Continue Reading “The Lighthouse – Alison Moore”
READ FOR BOOKERTHON A former Japanese prisoner of war becomes an apprentice gardener and tries to make sense of her life © Supreme Court judge Teoh Yun Ling retires from her role prosecuting war criminals in Kuala Lumpur and returns to the Malaysian hilltops… Continue Reading “The Garden of Evening Mists – Tan Twan Eng”
READ FOR BOOKERTHON A story set over three decades about a Bombay opium den and the diverse cast of characters who frequent it. © “The main character in Narcopolis is Rashid who owns an opium house in Bombay. We meet him first in the 1970s, entertaining a variety… Continue Reading “Nacropolis – Jeet Thayil”
READ FOR BOOKERTHON Apparently, the plot of Umbrella revolves around psychiatrist Zack Busner who works in Friern mental hospital. One of his patients, Audrey Death, has been catatonic for 50 years. The doctor recognises that she and several other long-term patients may be suffering… Continue Reading “Umbrella – Will Self”
READ FOR BOOKERTHON Poet Joe Jacobs’s family vacation is interrupted by a fanatical reader who wades, naked, out of their swimming pool © Joe Jacobs is a Polish poet living in Britain, holidaying with his family and another couple in the South of France.… Continue Reading “Swimming Home – Deborah Levy”
READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Rachel The Tropic of Cancer was published in 1934 and was widely banned for its explicit sexual content, including for a 27 year period in the US. Its protagonist is a struggling writer living in Paris and is named… Continue Reading “Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller”
READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Rachel Kurt Vonnegut writes of his own experiences as a World War II prisoner in Slaughterhouse Five, in particular the bombing of Dresden. On February 13, 1945, only months before the end of World War II, the Allies undertook… Continue Reading “Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut”
Any entity with five years’ history should be open to review: analysis and self review to continue with realised successes, and a thick-skinned willingness to shoulder the opinions and expectations of others. For example, when we ask ourselves what are we doing right, we realise… Continue Reading “2012 – Critical Review”
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… Continue Reading “2011 – End of Year Thoughts”
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