2020- December Middle England - Jonathan Coe

It is a story about a family and their friends dated from 2011 through to 2018. It came across to me as vignettes of life not attached consecutively to each other and therefore not making a flowing story.  it was 'disjointed' , and tthough it was enjoyable reading, after one or two chapters it was easy to put down and there was no compunction to pick it up again, except in the hope that something might happen. 

As we have all lived through this period and it is fresh in our minds, the thought was expressed that it might later be useful to a Martian who was wanting to know what all the fuss was about during this period.  

It was the third book of a trilogy, which meant that we had not been introduced to some of the characters beforehand, and were expected to know their history.

A couple of readers said that they didn't like any of the characters. 

The writing was quite good though. 

My notes: Interactions within a family group and friends in the 2010-18 time period. It almost seems like little excerpts in life that he tries to link up. I read a bit, then think I'm bored, and come back later and read a bit more. Quite involved in trying to get to know the characters and see where the story is leading.

MS wrote about it: "Have finished the book for the second time and still can't make up my mind what I think about it.

Reading it was quite interesting but basically it was all modern history and I just feel there was not

much imagination in it. I wouldn't read it again but I will give it 6/7."

That was it. the mark was 6. 

Lots more discussion in our Zoom meeting about different topics instead of the book.  It got short shrift. 

2020-November The Lido by Libby (Elizabeth) Page

 This a love story. A love story about Rosemary and George, Rosemary and Kate, Rosemary and Kate and the Lido, and Kate and Jay.  Rosemary has been swimming at the Lido for 80 years, and when it is threatened with closure and sale to a big corporation that wants to make it into a tennis court and gym complex for residents of the big new apartments that they are going to build, Kate and Rosemary team up to try and stop it and pull in many of the local Brixton people, who you learn about through the book. Eventually Kate's editor pulls a cat out of the bag and helps to win a reprieve. 

This from Bartholemews Large Map of London dated 1994. Note the Lido in Brockwell Park. 

Comments from OL:

As for The Lido – GOLD STAR for the 87yr old heroine (note, I became one up on her last week)

As for the rest, I’m afraid the word was Tosh. How could any one believe that an advertisement on the bottom of a pool seen only from the sky would outbid a developer ? Predictable and fairly  readable up to that point.

Must admit that I am buying the paperback for my daughter-in-law who is a lido enthusiast.

In general the mark was 6 because it was an easy, feelgood read. 

2020-October - Wilding by Isabella Tree

Notes on this book.

Marks  7,7,7,7,8,8 = 7.

How the author and her husband took an ancestral property and stopped farming it, and let it return to the wild state. The book is very interesting, but overlong. Some parts of it are given in such great detail that you have to read it in sections. About how the history of the earth was not all forest cover, about Microrhizomes underground, about the effects of different types of earthworms. She makes a strong case for rewilding to restore trace elements iin the soil and food. At the end you feel that she is a real campaigner for rewilding Britain. I don't know that I would reread it, but I will certainly remember it, and i would pass it on.

Very well researched, We learnt a lot, glad we read it, but wouldn't have picked it up by ourselves.  There is so much that we ( and this means the world) don't know about  soil and fungus and the good and bad effects.  And who decides what is an alien species? 

It was well written, even if it did go into long detailed explanations of things. A comment that  they enjoyed the early bits but not the lists.

Chris had heard of it years ago and fancied going to visit. He suggests that after the current situation has passed that we all go on a road trip there, and then also to where the Crawdads sing! Otherwise A &C are keen to go, and when they do they will report back. 

Campaign for more organic farming? Getting Venison from the shop is a positive contribution, slight discussion here of grain versus grass fed cattle.  When we come out of the EU CAP, Britain will have to invent our own subsidy system.  we diverted to compare coastal erosion to chemicals on farm land. 

What I got out of it was that it was an experiment, keen on measuring the effects of what they did. It could not properly be called wilding as it was controlled wilding, like around the perimeters. 

 We think that they were ambivalent about the tourist industry effects, but they wanted to do it. Uncontrolled dogs on the land was mentioned. 

O didn't expect to enjoy it but she did. It was more interesting than expected, and not written in a sentimental way. The bureaucracy was quite interesting.  There is an argument in favour of this type of land management. 

[MArgaret] Hi All. Finished WILDING by Isabelle Tree and returned it to the library last week.

Mixed feelings really, did not like the begining with all the long and unreadable words although I suppose the history of agriculture was relevant.

The farm in Sussex was a huge risk to dispose of all his machinery and begin again, however he received help from many areas including Government financial help. The introduction of Longhorn cattle deer, pigs and reintroduction of others like beaver did work, along with allowing hedges to grow wild  with brambles, elder to give cover to seedling trees like the oak.Also it took several years to encourage more wildlife and while I enjoyed Chapter 16 and all the new species and would like to see more of nature allowed to prosper, but how many farmers could afford to drop everything and wait up to 10 years to see if the public would pay to view their achievements or would the government be expected to foot the bill. An interesting thought that the vitamin reductions in fruit and vegetables according to the author is too large if this is true. 

2020 - September - Where the Crawdads Sing

In August we read 'The Tattoist of Auschwitz'  and had a Zoom meeting. Nobody wrote up our thoughts. 

In September, because of the Coronavirus lockdown, the library didn't supply books, so we elected to read 'Where the Crawdads Sing' and again had a Zoom meeting. 

MS liked it, thought that it was exellent, liked the characters, liked the story, thought that it was believable. LS also liked the story and the descriptions and has even recommended it to another book club. 

CW thought that every cliche in the book was in this book, used very nicely. The friendly helpful Negro, the Atticus Finch lawyer, the bad boy and the good boy, lone girl makes good, all there. Very good, and worked well. As he said, the Author got away with it. 

Good descriptions of marsh life, I think he meant the wildlife.  Swamp Justice is what he called it, and was shocked that she got away with it.

AW said that the book spent a lot of time explaining why it wasn't possible, and then Kya did it. 

Chase was not a nice man. 

RP thought that kya looked at the situation like it was the animal world, remarking how the praying mantis ate her male partner. 

OL  thought that it ended like 'Transcriptions'. She enjoyed reading it, but criticisms came later.  As Maggie said, you had to suspend disbelief  while reading it.  I compared it to a Horatio Alger novel. 

Some of us though that it might have been Tate that murdered Chase. 

The people were real individuals. 

Kya was a victim of other peoples cowardice her whole life.

Grits, it wa siggested, were like Quinoa. Actually they are  a porrige made of fried cornmeal, commonly eaten for breakfast. 

Her  diet was discussed - Where did she get vitamins, she was lucky not to lose all her teeth at an early age, except that she didn't have sugar!

We had some discussion about whether this sort of thing could have happened in Britain, and wondered whether there were children in the wreckage of the East End of London post-war when there was very poor housing.

Marks: basically 9 with a couple of lower ones. 

2020- July - Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty

This month, instead of meeting in the evening at someones house, we met in a local park at 4 in the afternoon. I am told that it was an inspired suggestion. Two of us couldn't make it. 

We did remember to discuss the book, and when somebody sends me some notes on it I will post them. 

2020-June Liar by Steve Cavanagh

It has not been possible to get the paper books due to the Coronavirus lockdown so how we will get on at the next meeting remains to be seen.

I downloaded the sample kindle book. It was enough to make me want to get the rest.
Two men who grew up together in New York, one became a recovering lawyer whose wife has disappeared, the other a missing persons tracer who is very wealthy calls upon his childhood lawyer friend, at the same time as the lawyer is served with a sub-poena for a case he never saw. The rich mans daughter has disappeared and he has a letter about it.  Looks like a good read.

Not often we get a good thriller for the reading group. NY raised Lawyer Eddie Flynn called on by a boyhood friend to defend him on the charge of killing his daughter. It is a long and convoluted court case with fast car chases, and people who arn't what you first thought they were. Lennies wife had a sister who was a druggie and the case against her killing her daughter years ago comes up as a side issue and then gets to be part of the case. I'll read more of his. -9 Wonderful how this Irish author and lawyer can write of American Law.

2020 -May - The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

It is a first novel by this author

Very much the Hitchcock genre: person sees a murder through a window, isn’t believed because of drinking and psychological problems and after a spell of not believing it herself, has to prove it. I did hope it was going to veer from this but it didn’t. Even the eventual murderer came apparent fairly early on. I also felt the last dramatic scenes were written very much with an upcoming film in mind - especially the climbing onto the roof and the hand on the ankle. 

Her being a child psychologist didn’t add much for me, but I did like the back story of her family, and also GrannyLizzie. (But when her password is changed, who do you suspect but the youth. Especially with constant refrain of, such a nice boy). 

It was a page turner, but not particularly original. Anna was over-soppy. The police sloppy. David stroppy. (They should have asked him to produce the earring. What was his motivation to keep quiet ?)

This meeting was held on Zoom video conferencing software with 6 of us 'present'. It went well. 

We forgot to rate the book, but most people enjoyed it I think.