Thursday, June 3, 2010

Alex Miller

Hi All, welcome to June and Alex Miller!
I hope you read one of his books, I just discovered him last year when I decided to read a few more Australian authors, and found a very old copy of 'Conditions of Faith' my sister had lent me years ago. I really loved it, because he took me on a journey from Australia all around Europe and England. He is also one of those male authors that can tell a story from a female perspective and make it believable.
Here is a list of his books:-
Watching the Climbers on the Mountain
Tivington Nott
Ancestor Game
Sitters
Conditions of Faith
Journey to the Stone Country
Prochowniks Dream
Lanscape of Farewell
Lovesong
I have a few copies of some of these at Erina to borrow.
Enjoy! - Ruth

Monday, May 31, 2010

Some questions....

Here are some questions to think about.  You can answer them here, or maybe think about it for our meeting.

  • This book was originally written for adults, but has achieved its success as a Young Adult novel.  Apparently it has been published and marketed in the U.S. as a book for teens.  Do you think that this is appropriate reading for teenagers?
  • There is some unusual use of language in the book.  I have read some reviews on the internet where the reviewers found the use of language distracting and annoying.  Do you agree/disagree?
  • Finally, did you like this book?  Why?  (or why not?)
Reminder: the next meeting will be held on Thursday 3rd June at Woy Woy, from 6.30pm.  Email me if you need my exact address.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Book Club Get-together

Let's get our diaries out and organise our next get together (for 5 mins discussion of the book and a couple hours of eating, sipping and general gossiping!!)

I was thinking of the first week of June.  Can you all nominate which date suits:

Mon 31/5 OR
Thurs 3/6 OR
Fri 4/6

and preferred location:

My place in Woy Woy, with food provided by K.B. Thai
A restaurant/cafe at Erina Fair
A restaurant/cafe at Tuggerah

I don't mind whichever, but I know that we take in the entire expanse of the coast and beyond in where we live!!  Majority rules, so make sure you get your votes in!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Death as the narrator

So, what did everyone think of "Death" as a narrator?  Did it confuse/annoy you?  Or did you like it?  Why?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Book Thief - Anyone need a copy?

Hi all. 

I encourage everyone to try "The Book Thief" (if you haven't read it already!).  It is such a wonderful book, very different and very moving.

I have a box of 8 copies on its way to me, so if you'd like one send me an email or leave a comment here.  I may even have some available for our get-together on Friday.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

How about a catch-up....

....to talk about all things Guernsey?


I'm proposing pizza, thai or just coffee and cake at Erina one evening in the first week of May. Will that suit? If so, which evening?

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

What did you think of the format?

Erina Library's bookclub did the Guernsey etc etc (lazy) recently and one person said to me "oh, it was all letters and I couldn't handle it, just gave up" but another liked it and said it neatly avoided overly descriptive, long-winded depictions of people and places as the format restricted it.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Possibly my favourite book of 2009

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of my favourite books. I borrowed it from the library and loved it so much that I went and bought a copy for myself while I still had a library copy on loan. Hope you enjoy it!


Sunday, March 28, 2010

April

Seems like we can keep going so I'm going to call for people to take a month, or we can do it over 2-month intervals. I'll do April and you can have:


a) Crime/Mysteries

OR

b) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Library copies may be tied up with other bookclubs)

Vote before April!

And volunteer for upcoming months!!

Nic

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Testing testing testing 1...2...3...

Hi folks,


So the Bookclub has kind of slumped, but 2 people have asked me about it in the last couple of weeks, so I'm using this post as a testing ground:

1) Who's out there?
2) Want to keep going?

Please reply in the comments, even if you have previously been following along but not commenting. I know the blog has maybe been a bit intimidating for people, we are open to comments, suggestions, criticisms and options, leave 'em below!

Yours-in-reading,

The Book Byte Gnome

Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Next Gen Zombie - A Paradox?

To be fair I've also got a question about the remaking of the Zombie character. In the past 5 or so years we've seen zombies go from shambling mounds of brain eaters who rove in packs to fast, vicious and even a bit intelligent.

Is this a cop out to make them more interesting because modern writers can't make the George Romero style zombie interesting, or, like "good vampires", perhaps a literary tool to make the character more appealing for a new generation?

Friday, January 8, 2010

The "Good" Vampire - a paradox?