The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Tag: book-reviews
2024: Coming of Age
Bookclub has come of age – it is 18 years old, officially grown up! And what an upbringing it has had. From simple beginnings, it has changed and flourished and developed a life of its own. Now, with a mass of memorable evenings, blog… Continue Reading “2024: Coming of Age”
Women’s Prize: 2022
After loving the Women’s Prize shortlist in 2023, we have decided to back read the Women’s Prize shortlists. The finalists for the year we have completed were so readable, meaningful and highlighted the female experience. That’s a winning reading combo we want to chase… Continue Reading “Women’s Prize: 2022”
2023: End Of Year Thoughts
There’s an intriguing stream of literature being published post Covid. That time of constraint and restriction appears to have spurred a greater range of freedoms post pandemic, especially in the way in which writers examine the human psyche and societal change. Characters we met… Continue Reading “2023: End Of Year Thoughts”
Bookerthon – 2023
The announcement of the Booker longlist in 2023 elicited a wide spectrum of reactions in the literary world. There were many unheard of titles amongst the finalists, and those expected to make the list did not. The absence of Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead was… Continue Reading “Bookerthon – 2023”
Western Lane – Chetna Maroo
READ FOR BOOKERTHON In this coming of age novel, 11-year-old Gopi takes up competitive squash as a way to cope with the grief of her mother’s death and the challenges of being an ethnic minority living in Britain. ● After some wordy novels on… Continue Reading “Western Lane – Chetna Maroo”
This Other Eden – Paul Harding
READ FOR BOOKERTHON After inhabiting Apple Island for six generations, the small, multi-racial community face the authorities who decide its time to “cleanse” them. Real events that happened to the people of Malaga Island in 1911. ● While I appreciate that Paul Harding has educated… Continue Reading “This Other Eden – Paul Harding”
Prophet Song – Paul Lynch
READ FOR BOOKERTHON Prophet Song is set in an alternative Dublin where a tyrannical government is weaving its way into people’s lives, and society is slowly collapsing. It focuses on one family who suffer in many ways and one mother, Eilish Stack, who is… Continue Reading “Prophet Song – Paul Lynch”
The Bee Sting – Paul Murray
READ FOR BOOKERTHON An Irish family saga based around Dickie Barnes, his failing auto dealership and his wife and children who are each dealing with huge issues of their own. A 600+ page drama that investigates each character’s plight indepthly. ● I didn’t connect… Continue Reading “The Bee Sting – Paul Murray”
If I Survive You – Jonathan Escoffery
READ FOR BOOKERTHON A series of linked stories about a Jamaican family in Miami, centered around younger son Trelawny and his determination to survive racism, financial woes and Hurricane Andrew. ● I am privileged in that I have generally always had a pretty strong sense… Continue Reading “If I Survive You – Jonathan Escoffery”
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