Synopsis: Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka’s death, The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.
Rating: 0.94
Review: As you can probably tell from the average rating, we didn’t enjoy this book! We think the translation didn’t help as the member who read it in the original German scored it a little more highly. If you’re a fan of confusing storylines, no paragraphs and books being published without the author’s permission, this could be the book for you. If not, maybe give it a miss!
Synopsis:
In the first book of a visionary fantasy trilogy with its roots in the mythology of Africa and Arabia, three women band together against a cruel empire that divides people by blood.
Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.
Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.
Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts.
Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.
As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.
Rating: 3.5
Review: We had almost a full range of scores with scores from 0.5 to 5! If you enjoy fantasy novels, this is a refreshing take on the genre. Some usual tropes are avoided even if some of the plot points are predictable. As usual we had a mix of people frustrated by plot points or main characters ignoring the obvious but in general after the slow start, its an enjoyable novel. The author did miss an opportunity to expand on some of the more unusual plot points although that might come in book 2!
Synopsis: It’s the following Thursday.
Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.
As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?
But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?
Rating: 3.2
Review:
As decided by the group: meh, in a good way, as opposed to meh in a bad way!
(If you need a gentle murder mystery on a cold day, this is the series for you)
Synopsis:
1914: Young Anton Heideck has arrived in Vienna, eager to make his name as a journalist. While working part-time as a private tutor, he encounters Delphine, a woman who mixes startling candour with deep reserve. Entranced by the light of first love, Anton feels himself blessed. Until his country declares war on hers.
1927: For Lena, life with a drunken mother in a small town has been impoverished and cold. She is convinced she can amount to nothing until a young lawyer, Rudolf Plischke, spirits her away to Vienna. But the capital proves unforgiving. Lena leaves her metropolitan dream behind to take a menial job at the snow-bound sanatorium, the Schloss Seeblick.
1933: Still struggling to come terms with the loss of so many friends on the Eastern Front, Anton, now an established writer, is commissioned by a magazine to visit the mysterious Schloss Seeblick. In this place of healing, on the banks of a silvery lake, where the depths of human suffering and the chances of redemption are explored, two people will see each other as if for the first time.
Sweeping across Europe as it recovers from one war and hides its face from the coming of another, SNOW COUNTRY is a landmark novel of exquisite yearnings, dreams of youth and the sanctity of hope. In elegant, shimmering prose, Sebastian Faulks has produced a work of timeless resonance.
Rating: 3.2
Review: Unlike some other books we’ve read recently, Snow Country didn’t divide the group. We all thought it was ok, but not much stronger than that. Its well written, feels historically accurate and gives interesting insights into different countries during this time period. It was a bit dark in places and the romance portions weren’t particularly interesting. The book is written in five parts which was sometimes jarring but gave some interest to our discussion as we all seemed to have different favourite parts.
Synopsis: Sixty years after its original publication, Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its message has grown more relevant than ever before.
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.
Rating: 3.5
Review: In general this book was well received, with variation in scores coming down to preferences for or against short stories! This is a short book made up of three short stories that just about link together and we can see why its considered a classic and studied. Its a fairly traditional dystopian novel, but eerily relevant still (as it has been multiple times since it was written). As a group we’d have liked a bit more character development/scene setting. It certainly gave us lots to discuss and think about!
Synopsis: From the best-selling author of Skinny Dip and Razor Girl, a new novel that captures the Trump era with Hiaasen’s inimitable savage humor and wonderful, eccentric characters. A surefire best seller.
Carl Hiaasen’s Squeeze Me is set among the landed gentry of Palm Beach. A prominent high-society matron–who happens to be a fierce supporter of the President and founding member of the POTUSSIES–has gone missing at a swank gala. When the wealthy dowager, Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons, is later found dead in a concrete grave, panic and chaos erupt. The President immediately declares that Kiki Pew was the victim of rampaging immigrant hordes. This, as it turns out, is far from the truth. Meanwhile a bizarre discovery in the middle of the road brings the First Lady’s motorcade to a grinding halt (followed by some grinding between the First Lady and a lovestruck Secret Service agent). Enter Angie Armstrong, wildlife wrangler extraordinaire, who arrives at her own conclusions after she is summoned to the posh island to deal with a mysterious and impolite influx of huge, hungry pythons . . .
Completely of the moment, full of vim and vigor, and as irreverent as can be, Squeeze Me is pure, unadulterated Hiaasen.
Rating: 2.8
Review: There’s no escaping the political statements in this book or any difficulty in guessing who “Mastodon” is based on. There are many different threads through the book which coming together in a very arbitrary way. The environmental aspects were more interesting/engaging. There was some debate about how much satire can be had around Trump, given how low hanging the fruit is and how ridiculous the things he gets up to are. Angie is an engaging character. The writing is fairly simplistic and journalistic. Some of the scene changes are abrupt and its hard to follow which location/characters/timeline you’re reading about.
Update: Another book by this author – Bad Monkey – has been adapted by Apple TV. Its ace! Give it a watch!
Synopsis: The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller and Humour Book of the Year
Winner of the Books Are My Bag Book of the Year
Winner of iBooks’ Book of the Year
Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.
Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward.
Rating: 3.7
Review: This book was enjoyed by most of book club (at least on first reading – those who had read it before were less amused on a second reading). If nothing else this book will increase your empathy towards healthcare professionals. The stories are in places funny, heartbreaking and could make you cringe!
Slight content warning – the authors language is not always inclusive and often is punching down.
Synopsis: Dawn breaks across the archipelago of Popisho, a world where magic is everywhere, food is fate, politics are broken, and love awaits. Everyone in Popisho was born with a little something… The local name for it was cors. Magic, but more than magic. A gift, nah? Yes. From the gods: a thing that felt so inexpressibly your own.
Somewhere far away– or maybe right nearby– lies an archipelago called Popisho. A place of stunning beauty and incorrigible mischief, destiny and mystery, it is also a place in need of change.
Xavier Redchoose is the macaenus of his generation, anointed by the gods to make each resident one perfect meal when the time is right. Anise, his long lost love, is on a march toward reckoning with her healing powers. The governor’s daughter, Sonteine, is getting married, her father demanding a feast out of turn. And graffiti messages from an unknown source are asking hard questions. A storm is brewing. Before it comes, before the end of the day, this wildly imaginative narrative will take us across the islands, their history, and into the lives of unforgettable characters.
Rating: 1.5
Review: This book scored 0 and 5, so you might love it, you might struggle to finish it! Most of Book Club didn’t enjoy it as is reflected by the average score.
Positives: the book itself is beautiful, the environment is immersive, the writing is descriptive, dialogue is generally well written and it’s relentlessly weird.
Negatives: some people found it slow to start, the patois used in dialogue put off some readers, there’s no clear plot, some people felt there was some arrogance from the author in places and it’s relentlessly weird!!
The Next Chapter Book Club 