Healey wrote Elizabeth Is Missing and it may have been too hard an act to follow. Liam and Cassie have an intense love for each other as the seek to make their bodies into perfection. However, he is far too controlling and Cassie leaves. Two years later, she sees Liam and an internal switch is flipped.

I always enjoy reading a Nicholls’ book as they are usually funny and entertaining and yet contain a depth of meaning you would not quite expect. Michael’s life is unravelling after his wife’s departure and he copes by going on long walks and adopting a near hermit like lifestyle. Marnie is stuck and is avoiding her friends, preferring to stay at home reading a good book whilst wallowing in self-pity caused by her ex husband’s affair. A mutual friend tries playing cupid and what unfolds is the adventure of a 10 day long walk. I gave the book 4.5 stars.

A delight from beginning to end. The gentle humour, the pinpoint irony, the humanity of this book was beguiling. And yet McCall Smith puts his protagonists under the microscope without cruelty. This was a great book to sit with after our shared read!

Chrichton died in 2008 and some years later his wife found copious notes and an outline of this novel, together with scientific research and interview footage. Eventually she asked James Patterson to write the novel. Set on the big island of Hawaii, Mac and his team from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory have to manage an eruption from Maura Loa, the world’s largest active volcano. Added suspense comes in the form of a secret military operation that could potentially put the entire world in danger. An easy read, a page turner, definitely more Patterson style than Crichton’s, with a predictable ending.

I have read The Black Dress and Tulip Fever by Moggach and having enjoyed them, I decided to have a go at Heartbreak Hotel; it turned out to be a bit different than the others and it feels a bit more like chick lit. An ageing actor, Buffy, is gifted a rundown Welsh hotel and decides to escape the cut and thrust of London life. The hotel is in quite a mess and Buffy hits on ideas to improve it. Various guests arrive, including some of his many children and somehow everyone’s relationship issues are resolved. It is a bit cheesy but there are some funny moments which lifted it up to 3*. A good book to read when sitting around the pool.

A police procedural novel set in Montreal.  The interesting French Canadian setting, the Anglais and the Francophiles, the murder, all reel you in from the first sentence.  Still Life is the first in a series of books featuring the same detective.  A good read and its interesting to see your own culture from an outside perspective.

As a new graduate, Broad decides to go to Japan to work as a language assistant in a high school and he speaks no Japanese. He gives a great picture of school life and it’s good to know that some of the teacher stereotypes cross national and cultural boundaries. Along the way, he picks up various friends and begins to learn the language, whilst also teaching adults through the medium of a book that teaches you how to swear in English! There are inevitable errors of judgement, the sense of being very much ‘other’, bad nights out on sake and weight gain from too much fast fried food. He leaves the school and moves to Tokyo where he focuses on his work as a Youtuber who travels the country. He meets people who survived a tsunami and a nuclear power station disaster and meets his idol, actor Ken Watanabe, star of The Last Samurai, Memoirs of a Geisha, Godzilla and Letters from Iwo Jima. He looks at everyday life, resilience and culture, doing so through a laidback and extremely funny lens and at the same time with an air of deep respect for Japan and her people. I gave this 4* and would definitely recommend it.

A story about Cordelia, wife of a village vicar called Vincent. She's a very dutiful wife, doing all the things that a vicar's wife is expected to do. All the local parishioners worship Vincent, and he's a super vicar; he looks after all the old ladies, visits the sick, delivers thoughtful sermons, hosts sociable parties at the vicarage, where everyone is welcome. But we soon realise that Cordelia is not only bored, but she is also controlled by Vincent (and his awful mother), to the point that she does all the work for the social events, she has to be at his beck and call, spends much of her time keeping out of his way in an attic room, and she even writes his sermons for him. We gradually learn that he has this hold over her because of a terrible shameful secret that she's been keeping for years; she smothered her baby, and they've always covered it up as an accidental cot death. It's a slow burner and told from changing points of view; as well as Cordelia, there is her sister Mari, Mari's female partner who has just had a baby, and a strange man (Cal) who comes into their lives. Everybody has secrets. I found the book just 'ok' until it was three quarters of the way through. Then it suddenly burst into life. We were told something about Cal, and it really gripped me. From then on, I really wanted to know about all these secrets and found the rest of the book much more exciting. It was Vincent, the vicar, whose secrets were the root of almost all the turmoil; these only emerged after he had a heart attack and became suddenly vulnerable, unable to control Cordelia anymore. And yes, he did finally get what he deserved!  

I read ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ many years ago and I have of heard other titles such as, ‘Of Mice and Men,’ and ‘East of Eden,’ by John Steinbeck. Some of these books were made into great films, which became legendary. ‘Of Mice and Men,’ was set in 1930s America, providing an insight into The Great Depression. There are themes of racism, loneliness and prejudice against the mentally ill. Lennie makes an innocent but fatal choice that causes the death of the woman who was the wife of the ranch owner’s son. Everything then becomes a trial for George, whose protection cannot cover up what happened. The ending turned out to be heart-rending, however there was no other choice for George and if left to the others, Lennie would have faced a horrible death. Lennie was unaware of George’s compassion and kind love for Lennie, just as he was unaware of what was actually going on.

Beautiful book. Not just a tale of raising a baby leveret, a homage to hares. Easy read, heartwarming tale.

Also reviewed at May’s meeting.

I have read Rushdie’s novel, the wonderful Midnight’s Children but have never looked at Satanic Verses, the cause of the fatwa issued against him. This book is a memoir, a series of reflections on his life, writing and the years of waiting for his reckoning. In August 2022, Rushdie was giving a talk about the importance of keeping writers protected and safe when a man dressed totally in black ran towards him yielding a knife. Rushdie thought it was game over. The attack was extremely violent, he lost an eye, much blood and his survival had not been guaranteed. The book is his journey to both physical and mental healing. I gave it 3*.

The action begins on a delayed flight between Hobart and Sydney as passengers begin to get to know each other. An older woman, the daughter of a medium/fortune teller, walks down the aisle of the plane and tells people when and how they will die. She earns the nickname of ‘The Death Lady’ as it is not usual for fortune tellers to give bad news. After the flight, her predictions start to come true and the passengers from the plane share their thoughts on social media. As you would expect, Moriarty gives a twist to the tale.

I waited three months for this book to become available at the library. The expectation was increased by a review written by another member of the group who really liked the book. I was therefore doubly disappointed that I found it less than impressive, even if was well written. Two of the four characters were very hard to like. The Nigerian politics and culture were something about which I knew just a little, but the book assumed a level of understanding I just don't have. No doubt it will be lauded.

It’s about a girl, who believes she is an alien. She feels different from everybody else, including her own family; her parents and her sister who are ‘Earthlings. ‘Earthlings’ purpose on earth is to procreate and she thinks the whole world is a factory for humans where they create babies. When she becomes adult, in order to keep her family happy, she marries a man whom she meets on-line. Her husband has more or less similar idea of having a non- sexual relationship. Unfortunately, they cannot escape from the pressure from both families who are asking why they have no children. Then one day, they decide to escape from it all, leaving everything behind. Finally, they arrive at a house up in the mountain where they find Yuu, who is her cousin who is still living there alone. Natsuki and Yuu have a dark secret. There are three people who thinks they are aliens who are waiting for the spaceship to arrive. Natsuki have no job, no money and no food and they know they are going to die soon or later. Like The Convenience Store Woman, it tries to ask the question, ‘What is normal and what is abnormal?’ Not an easy read, but is a good read.