Eleanor Catton astonishing with the Luminaries?

 Our next novel is The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.

This month's read takes us back through time to 1866 in Victorian era New Zealand during the times of the gold rush. The 2013 Man Booker Prize winner is Catton's second novel, and an exciting one at that. You can read Kirsty Gunn's review from The Guardian here.

Our next meeting will be held on the 2nd of February 2017 at the Dudley Denny City Library.

A huge thank you to the lovely Cityside book clubbers for a wonderful 2016. Have a very safe and happy holidays, and we'll see you again in the New Year.

Until then, happy reading!

Coffee shops are the place

Return to the little Coffee Shop of Kabul is the long-awaited sequel, by Deborah Rodriguez.

Citywide book clubbers are excited to be reunited with many of the beloved characters, especially six women on opposite sides of the word forever connected through a special little coffee shop.

Sunny, its former proprietor and the new owner of the Screaming Peacock Vineyard in the Pacific Northwest. But can she handle the challenges of life on her own?

Yazmina, the young mother who now runs the cafe, until a terrifying event strikes at the heart of her family, and business . . .

Layla and Kat, two Afghan teenagers in America, both at war with the cultures that shaped them . . .

Zara, a young woman about to be forced into a marriage with a man she despises, with devastating consequences for all . . .

These five women are about to learn what Halajan, Yazmina’s rebellious mother-in-law, has known all along: that when the world as you know it disappears, you find a new way to survive . . .

The Millennium lives on...

The Girl in the Spider's Web continues the Millennium Trilogy started by Steig Larsson, bringing back the characters Salander &Blomkvist. Opening up our readers to questions and comparisons between Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz.

Mark Lawson from The Guardian has written a thought provoking article. This could provide you ideas to agree with or disagree with, or just inflame your own thoughts into a different tangent.

Until then happy reading!

Spirits of the Australian outback with Judy Nunn

Our next novel Spirits of the Ghan by Judy Nunn.

Read Judy Nunn's personal Q & A about Spirits of the Ghan.

Citywide book club will meet next at Mackay City library Thursday 6th October 6pm.

Until then happy reading

How would your invoice add up?

This month's read is an easy read which poses some uneasy questions. The writer is a young Swedish actor cum author who challenges us to question the value of happiness.

Kirkus Review had this to say about The Invoice while Arifa Akbar wrote this about the book on the Independent website.

Looking forward to hearing what our readers think of this tiny offering about a big question.

Happy reading!

"The World According to Anna" according to some critics

Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World sparked the world's imagination. According to Max Liu this book by Gaarder disappoints.  Max Liu also has the opinion that some of the potential beauty of the story may have been lost in Don Bartlett's translation.

No doubt, our conversation will be interesting at our next Cityside Book Club meeting at Mackay City Library at 6.00pm on Thursday 4 August 2016.

Carrying on about 'Carrying Albert Home'

Homer Hickam's 'somewhat true story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator' evoked mixed reactions from our readers. Some really enjoyed its lightness while others found Carrying Albert Home really frustrating. Some readers enjoyed the way important historical events and characters  of the 'between the wars years' were woven into the story while others found this premise 'absolutely ridiculous' and frustrating to such an extent they were not able to finish the book.

Some of our readers relish fiction and they enjoy biography but they do not appreciate a hybrid of the two. This led to chat about the way family history stories do become embellished with the telling over the years and maybe a family autobiography could not really be deemed non-fiction as it is told from a personal perspective which due to its very nature incorporates faulty recall. Maybe Homer's family tales were just taller than most. The author acknowledges that the book evolved from stories told by his parents who were West Virginians and 'knew how to make their tales as tall as the hills that surrounded them on all sides'. Other readers really delighted in the way historical events became focus points for stages of the journey. They thought the way the events and characters were woven into the narrative very clever.Our readers made references to Winston Groom's Forrest Gump (the movie was much better than the book apparently) and The Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.

Some of our readers really enjoyed the way the family photos were included in the book. The absence of such an important character as Albert in the line-up certainly brought his very existence into question. Did calling the garden pond 'the alligator pond' set off the family's imagination which then created 'Albert'. We talked about Albert's actual size and why was the bath really necessary and other functional aspects of caring for an alligator on the road. What sort of person was Buddy that he would send an alligator in the mail with little concern for its welfare? Further to this, how might the arrival of a potentially dead alligator as a wedding gift be interpreted by the newly married couple?

Some of our readers thought that the rooster was very much like Elsie herself as both appeared to be quite happy flitting in and out as one fancied without any concern or respect for others. Some of our book clubbers  found Elsie quite unlikeable. Some thought that she probably never loved Homer as she did not seem to be capable of considering others while others were quite convinced that she grew to love and appreciate him and this was the point of the journey. Homer Jr seems to hint that Elsie remained a challenge to his father for his entire life.

With one exception, the general consensus was that Homer Hickam's somewhat true Carrying Albert Home was a fun quirky read that drew the audience's attention to various historical events and characters that have generally dropped from society's radar as well as epitomising those family tales
that grow more fictional over the years with their telling.

Our next read is the small, but rather topical The World According to Anna by Jostein Gaarder whose previous work Sophie's World received worldwide acclaim. As usual, it'll be interesting to hear of the variety of experiences our readers have of this modern fable.

Happy Reading

'The Runaways' impresses

Sunjeev Sahota's contemporary novel about the plight of young Indians migrating to the United Kingdom really impressed our Cityside Book Clubbers and provoked wide-ranging discussion.

The subject matter while quite confronting, was handled in a sensitive, non-sensationalist manner which reflected the dogged determination of some of the main characters. There was discussion of how, for the younger generations of poorer Indians, the only hope for them and their families who remain behind, is their emigration. The depth of this desperation is hard to imagine. The conditions that they are willing to endure to get to another country, and then work in in another country, are difficult to comprehend. The group talked of how compassion for others is really the luxury of those who have more than they need to survive. There was conversation about the multiple levels of corruption that support such exploitation of downtrodden people.

One of our book clubbers has read the book twice and would gladly read it again. She continued to find new things on her second reading and is sure the density of the book would easily support multiple readings. Our readers enjoyed the pace, the structure and the language and commented that no part of the novel could be considered superfluous. They enjoyed the spare style and the way that every word counted.

The Runaways was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker. Our readers feel it was worthy of first prize.

Our book for next month, Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam, is a far lighter offering and quite a different kettle of fish.

Our next Cityside Book Club is on Thursday, 7 July at 6.00pm at Mackay City Library.

Happy reading!

A social book club

With smaller numbers, CBCers took the radical decision to re-read last month's book, as only one person had got to read it and they had loved it so much they were looking forward to reading it again.
Discussion ranged on a whole variety of books read and to be read.

The Guardian's Kamile Shamsie wrote this review while Patricial Wall wrote this for The New York Times.

Our next meeting should be very interesting.

See you at Mackay City Library at 6.00pm on Thursday 2 June.

Happy reading!

Book clubbers very quiet on 'The Sound of our Steps'

School holidays played havoc with attendance at our April Book Club meeting so discussion on Ronit Matalon's prize-winning book was somewhat limited.

Our May meeting will be jam-packed as we discuss two books.

Our selection for this month is Sunjeev Sahota's The Year of the Runaways which was nominated for the Man Booker 2015.

Kamila Shamsie reviewed this political novel about migrant workers in Sheffield in The Guardian. Mihir Bose wrote this about Sahota's novel on the Independent website.

I am certainly finding it a challenging read.

We'll meet on Thursday 5 May at 6.00pm at Mackay City Library.

'The sound of our steps' under review this evening

Just a reminder that Cityside Book Club meets at Mackay City Library tonight at 6.00pm!

We'll be discussing Ronit Matalon's largely auto-biographical prize-winning novel 'The Sound of Our Steps'. This novel has won prizes in its original Hebrew as well as in its French translation.

Looking forward to hearing about our readers' experiences of this rather challenging novel!

Ronit Matalon's 'The Sound of Our Steps'

In 2009, this novel written originally in Hebrew won the Berstein Prize for Best Original Novel which is awarded to Israeli authors under 50 years of age. When translated into French (Le bruit de nos pas) by Rosie Pinhas-Delpuech, also a writer, it won the 2013 Prix Alberto-Benveniste. We are reading the new English edition translated by Dalya Bilu. It'll be interesting to see how this largely autobiographical novel fares in the English-speaking world.

This novel is full of literary devices which I found made it difficult to read. I look forward to hearing what our Citysiders have to say about it.

Ranen Omer-Sherman reviewing for The Jewish Book Council wrote this about it. Dinah Assouline Stillman in the World Literature Today recorded this conversation with Ronit Matalon.

I found that reviews helped me to enjoy this novel better.

Happy Easter and may your Chocolate Eggs be accompanied by great books! Surely chocolate and books must bring one close to heaven!

"The Dressmaker" more than so-so

We had a smaller turn-out than usual to discuss Rosalie Ham's gothic Australian novel. Some folks had had trouble getting into the novel to start with and made several tentative attempts as they perceived it was not their preferred genre. However once they overcame this obstacle, they became thoroughly engrossed.

Many of our readers had experience of small Australian towns and thoroughly enjoyed the collection of over-the-top stereotypes. One of our readers had the notion that the story was influenced by ancient myths and Tilly was the nefarious spirit wafting over the town luring its inhabitants to their downfall. There was much discussion as to whether Tilly was contributing to, engineering or just witnessing the demise of the town's population. There was even the proposition that Tilly's role in the Macbeth production would have been one of the witches, presaging doom and destruction. Related to this was the conversation as to why Tilly returned to this town which had caused her so much pain. Some readers decided it was the only home she had known so it was the only place she could run to when she had lost her family in France; some thought she was returning to look after her mother and others thought she was returning to wreak revenge.

There was much chat about the tragedies that Tilly had endured in her life and how she managed to endure. Readers spoke of their shock with the suddenness and unfairness of Tilly's loss of Teddy. It seemed any small happiness Tilly experienced exacted a tremendous, tragic cost from those she loved. Discussion swirled around the way the locals treated Tilly even when she was obviously such a talented dress-maker who created such wonderful creations to enhance their attractiveness. Tilly used her skills generously but they could not even pay their accounts with her or acknowledge her as a local resident of their town. It was against this background that some of our readers decided  that  Tilly plotted the final demise of the town in the fine detail reminiscent of her gowns. She demanded payment up front thus ensuring the insurance money was not spent on the premiums and thus guarding against the reconstruction of the town following its fiery demise. There was speculation that the town itself was a major and malevolent character in the novel and its malignance predetermined its destruction.

Our readers enjoyed the way the author exploited and made fun of the townsfolk's foibles and the way these faults initiated their path to destruction. Readers spoke about the way most of the townsfolk were aware of and yet tacitly supported such wicked behaviour in their neighbours. There was discussion about the cruelty and depravity of the bullying, Tilly endured as a child and the way the bullying was supported by her classmates and teacher who had moulded the character of  generations of the townsfolk.

Rosalie Ham's book stimulated discussion on a massive range of topics. Our readers enjoyed her shrewd characterisation of small town stereotypes as well as her plotting of their just destruction. The Dressmaker touched on such a diversity of issues so it is difficult for this blog to do the discussion about it justice. Suffice it to say, our book club discussion was robust, fun and wide-ranging.

Our next book stays in a similar time-zone but moves us geographically to the immigrant camps of early Israel. Ronit Matalon's The Sound of our Steps is quite a different read so the ensuing discussion will no doubt be interesting.

Looking forward to sharing the experience at Cityside Book Club at 6.00pm on Thursday 7 April.

Our readers transported by "The Travels of Daniel Ascher"

Our readers generally enjoyed Deborah Levy-Bertherat's novel. Some felt it was so real that they googled "The Black Insignia' series purported to be written by Daniel Ascher, only to be disappointed to find that this novel really is fiction!

There was much discussion about how the plot slowly and subtly unravelled Daniel's real fictions. Everyone had found different clues and constructed slightly different stories. The clues were so understated that our readers began to doubt their own experience and interpretation. Many sentences included the notion of "Did you think this meant......" There was much discussion as to the variety of clues uncovered by our intrepid readers and what the story was 'really' about.

Our readers enjoyed the sprinkling of line-drawings throughout the book as they added a clarity of setting as well as intensifying that feeling of authenticity. The book's cover which makes the book look like a suitcase added another quirky element to this delightful story.

Generally our readers enjoyed this book as a light yet different read for the holiday break. It transported our readers to another time and place and I guess that's a wonderful reason to read.

The popularity of the Australian movie  The Dressmaker has influenced our next month's read. Some of our readers requested this as their next book club selection, so it'll certainly make for interesting discussion at our next meeting in March which is a week later than usual, being held on 10 March rather than the 3 March.

Rosalie Ham's novel has a wonderful Gothic feel to it so makes for another sprig of diversity in our book club reading selection. I much prefer the original cover shown above to the movie tie-in version despite it featuring the alluring Kate Winslet.

Kate Clanchy from The New York Times wrote this review in August 2015.

Looking forward to our readers' diversity of views of this Australian novel on Thursday 10 March at Mackay City Library.

Happy reading......