The joy of book clubs

 

Photo from @Unsplash

 

 First of all, an apology. For various reasons, I've not been posting for a while but I'm back now, so I'll try my best to stay. 

 Have you ever being in a book group? I've been in two. One in the early 00's when I first lived in Sheffield, and now one though work. They are wonderful. Not so much because of sharing about the book but the way you can discover new books though them. 

Three of my favourite books I may never have picked up if they hadn't have being chosen for me. 

The first one was Small Island by Andrea Levy – a fascinating insight into life in London during the Second World War and the Windrush boat that brought people over from Jamaica. I adored the singsong style of the Jamaican accent from the two Jamaican protagonists, and then you becoming an eyewitness to the horrors of the blitz and the impact of the war from the other two main characters. 

Then there was A Gentlemen in Moscow by  Amor Towles – which in some ways is a simple plot - Count Alexander Rostov is living under house arrest for thirty years in a luxury hotel in Moscow, but the people he meets and the way it is written makes it an absolute fruitcake of a book. On nearly every page is a sentence or two that you want to relish and share with someone else. This desorption from Amazon sums it up perfectly -  an amazing story because it manages to be a little bit of everything. There's fantastical romance, politics, espionage, parenthood and poetry.

And then their is the current book choice – My Friends by Fredrik Backman, which has only come out this year, which is probably why I was number 23 on the waiting list at my library so I had to get it on Audible, which wasn't a bad thing as the narrator has been excellent – perfectly capturing the attitude of an 18 yr old girl, one of the main protagonists. 

It's a book about a painting of the sea – or that's what it seems, but it's more about not only the impact this painting has had on Louisa, the 18 yr old girl, who has no filter whatsoever so just says whatever comes into her brain, but the story of three friends who appear on a pier in the painting. 
 

This is a book that I've highlighted so many quotes from – both laugh out loud funny ones , but also heartbreaking ones too because it's a book that deals with abuse and pain, though that said, I can thoroughly recommend it, but I still have over three hours left to go, so this post may have a sequel if the ending impacts me in a way that I wasn't expecting.

I know their is far more that I could say, and also that this isn't the best post I've ever written, but my post is due tomorrow, the clock is ticking and as I've been missing for a while, I want to re-appear whilst I still can. 

I'd love to hear of any book groups you've being members of, or your favourite book you've discovered in one.

 

Untill next time....

Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional and four flash fiction anthologies.  He's currently trying to finish his first novel.