Inspiration from other groups

I thought it might be interesting to see what other local book groups have read recently or are now reading; would any trends emerge? The results of my random research are not ground breaking but may offer us some inspiration for our next read. 

From Ealing, the report is:  "The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen which after a slow start I really enjoyed. Themes of family bickering, sibling rivalry, elderly parents' illnesses, marriage problems, depression - what's not to like or identify with..... It is however strangely compelling & actually quite amusing".  An American book, published last year, it looks like it is good book group fare and was the winner of the US National Book Award for Fiction.  

From Chiswick (there must be loads of book groups in Chiswick) a report of the Hare with the Amber Eyes (which won the Costa biography award: see blog entry for 19 January) and also the curiously named Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen.  Look it up - it looks like a thoroughly entertaining read and might be a good choice for us. 


Another Chiswick group is presently reading the Booker long-listed The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.  It seems to have provoked very mixed reviews on Amazon and I'm not in a rush to read it as a result (which is probably harsh but there you have it).

From a rival Kew book group another Costa choice - Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai (again, see blog entry for 19 January).  This could be a good one for us - I'd certainly be keen to give it a go.  Any first novel written at the age of 54 is surely something to marvel at (as, if this photo is half accurate, is Kishwar Desai - I wonder what products she uses). 


From a cross border Barnes/Hammersmith group which is also presently reading the Hare with the Amber Eyes, I have received the following fulsome report: 
"in the eight or so years we've been meeting this [the Hare etc] is the first non-fiction book we've read. Before that, the last book we did was Firmin (most of us were underwhelmed) and before that The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which was POSSIBLY the most depressing we've ever read. Hmmm, actually maybe The Road wins that title. Totally recommend The Jungle, though; who knew that the meat packing industry in Chicago at the turn of the century could be so rivetting? (Having said that I think we all skipped the socialist diatribe at the end).  Have you read the Helen Simpson short stories Hey Yeah Right Get a Life.  Seem to remember at least one of them was set in Kew so it would be a perfect choice for  your book club."

Having investigated the latter, I'm not sure I could face it despite its Kew connections, as it is a collection of short stories about the "hectic day to day whirlpool of women's lives". Personally, I like to read to get away from all that.


I'm not sure what I draw from this high level research other than the fact that The Hare is a popular read at the moment and the extent to which groups choose books from prize lists.  For discussion on Thursday?