It was a thoroughly congenial meeting this month. Cricket and golf stole away two of our readers, but the rest of us were ready to discuss the books for July. There were three, so variety gave us much to talk about.
‘The Echo Chamber’ by John Boyne
The first was John Boyne’s ‘The Echo Chamber’. What a family! Mark commented that he really did not like this family but read to the end. It certainly was an eye-opening example of modern living with social media and relationships with celebrities being exposed. It revealed the worst aspect of the nature of some types of people. I’m glad I read it, but we all agreed with Mark that we hope these traits do not show up in our own families. There was general praise for other books by John Boyne too.
‘A Narrow Door’ by Joanne Harris
Our second book was by the author of ‘Chocolat’, Joanne Harris. ‘A Narrow Door’ was an electrifying tale of psychological suspense and revenge at an elite boarding school where secrets run deep. The first female Head of the school has a haunting history that she slowly unravels. A dark world of emotional complexity and betrayal, where twist follows twist, and nothing is what it seems. A compelling read, again with non-too pleasant characters but it is a page-turner. This definitely caused conversation!
‘The Monstrous Regiment’ by Terry Pratchett
The final choice was an introduction for some of us to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, ‘The Monstrous Regiment’. It seems that once you become a reader of Terry Pratchett’s books, then all his books are awaiting you and the reader becomes a firm fan.
General Book Chat
As always, we had time to discuss many other books and, on this occasion, the films, that some of us have enjoyed this month.
Carol really recommended Tim Weaver’s ‘The Black Bird’. She hinted that it was wise to make a list of places and time zones to get the best benefit from this amazing novel.
Another one that is enjoyed if characters and time are listed is ‘Wrong Time Wrong Place’ by Gillian McAllister. ‘Wrong Place Wrong Time’ is a family drama and a thriller, but with a time-travelling twist. It was described as an astonishing, compulsively twisty psychological thriller about a mother who witnesses her teenage son stab a man and then seizes on an unconventional way to try to save him. Time is the theme of this page-turner.
Future Reads
Then came the time to choose our books to read ready for when we return on the second Tuesday in September (12th) at 12 noon at Westlands Lounge.
We have chosen a detective novel ‘The Three Dahlias’ by Katie Watson. This looks like an entertaining novel so settle down and enjoy it.
After Carol’s recommendation we all chose to read ‘The Black Bird’ by Tim Weaver. Intrigue awaits our readers!
August is when we sit back wherever we spend this summer month and read those books we’ve always wanted to read. I am racing through those that are on the top of the pile, but I hope to vary the types of novel as well as an historical classic.
Enjoy your summer reading and we will meet again on 12th September.
Keep smiling!
Liz