justanotherbookclub

Just Another Book Club- 2019 (part I)

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

As you know, I’m running the book club slightly differently. I’m now reviewing and discussing the books we read for this book club on my Instagram HERE and Facebook HERE, usually on the first Monday of the month (following the month a book was allocated to).

As before, there is absolutely no pressure to read all six books and you don’t have to read them during the months I suggest. That’s just there for guidance and also because some books might not be published on paperback until a certain date. And as always, one of the six books will be a non-fiction book. I hope you’ll join me in reading these books. I love to hear what you think about them.

So, the 6 books we’ll be reading for the first half of 2019 will be:

January: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

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February: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

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March: The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

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April: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

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May: Christodora by Tim Murphy

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June: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

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This chosen list of books is final. If you don’t fancy reading a particular book one month, just give it a miss that month.

I’ll post a new list of books for the second half of 2019 in early/mid-June time.

For a list of the books we read during the second half of 2018, click HERE

For a list of the books we read during the first half of 2018, click HERE

For a list of the books we read during the second half of 2017, click HERE

Don’t forget you can leave a review of any of the past books that we have read at any point.

For my Goodreads page, click HERE

Just Another Book Club- June Book

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Please leave your comments below or within the appropriate post on my Facebook page. Please feel free to peruse other people’s comments and respond to them.

***Please be aware this is a book club discussion, so there is the possibility that my review or the comments left by others will contain spoilers***

Stay With Me

by

Ayombami Adebayo

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Synopsis

Set in 1980s Nigeria during times of political unrest, Stay With Me tells the story of Yejide and her husband Akin and their hope for a child. When a new wife for Akin is introduced at the insistence of his family, it is not view favourably by Yejide.

My Quick Review

Stay With Me covers many difficult subjects including child mortality, extra-marital sex, sexism, grief, infertility and politics. As you can imagine, this makes the book quite difficult to read on a occasion. However, the book is written with a lot of humanity and at times with humour.

The book features many strong female characters, including our protagonist Yejide. What consistently shocked me about the book was the horrific sexism deployed by the mother-in-law towards Yejide. This book is an excellent portrayal of Nigerian family culture and I learned so much from it.

I felt like the title of the book was referring more to Yejide’s children than her husband. When I first started to read the book, I thought it would be referring to their marriage, but it came clearer further into the book that it was the children that she so desperately wanted to stay with her.

This book is well-written and shows a lot of potential for author Ayobami Adebayo. It is a book about the bond of mothers with their children, about female strength, family and love.

Questions to Consider

1. Discuss the early stages of Yejide and Akin’s courtship, from both of their perspectives. What is Yejide’s initial reaction to Akin’s romantic propositions? Consider Yejide’s childhood and past that is revealed over the course of the novel. What does she seek in a romantic relationship? How does Akin provide security for her? How does Akin convince Yejide that he is trustworthy?

2. Consider the family unit as a social force in Stay with Me. How do the opinions of Akin’s family members influence his decisions? Describe the relationship between Akin and his parents. How does Akin both obey and defy the wishes of his family? How does Yejide navigate her role as a daughter-in-law?

3. In the beginning of Stay with Me, the reader is introduced to the central conflict of Yejide and Akin’s life: their infertility as a couple. How is Yejide and Akin’s childlessness seen as a reflection on the family unit? What is the burden of expectation placed on Yejide? How is she treated by Akin’s family as a result of her infertility? By the community? How do attitudes toward Yejide change once she is pregnant?

4. Discuss the road leading to Yejide’s first pregnancy. How do the social pressures to become a mother weigh on Yejide? Once Yejide learns that she is no longer Akin’s only wife, how does the urgency of her mission become more pronounced? Consider the barriers to her pregnancy, and what she learns about herself from the field remedies and the medical establishment. How does the psychological trauma that accompanies her journey weigh on her throughout the novel?

5. The tension between modern attitudes and traditional thought informs much of Stay with Me. How does Yejide and Akin’s early agreement of monogamy conflict with the prevailing social attitude? How does this create tension over the course of the novel? How does Yejide defy the wishes of her husband’s family? How does the eventual shift of parental responsibilities to Akin upend the expectations of motherhood and parenting?

6. Consider the identity of “mother,” and how understanding of that role shifts for Yejide over the course of the novel. How does the story of her mother’s death influence her worldview and her perspective on family? Discuss the relationship Yejide had with her father’s other wives. Which woman in her life, if any, provides her with an understanding of what a loving mother-child relationship looks like? Once she becomes a mother, how does her self-image change?

7. Describe Yejide’s relationship with Iya Bolu. How does Iya Bolu’s attitude toward Yejide shift over the years? When does Yejide seem to earn the most respect from Iya Bolu? When does she earn her sympathy?

8. Consider the political background of Stay with Me. How does the instability of the government undermine the health and happiness of Yejide and her family? How does the political upheaval reflect the emotional turmoil of Yejide and Akin?

9. The reveal of Akin’s medical condition is an important development in the plot. Given this revelation, would you consider Funmi’s death to be purposeful? How did you interpret his reaction to her accusation? How does Akin contend with threats to his masculinity throughout the novel?

10. Discuss the significance of the hair salon in Yejide’s life. How does it encourage her independence? How does it act as a place of gathering within their community?

11. Compare the bedtime story that Yejide tells her children with the tale that Akin shares with Rotimi as she grows. What do these stories reveal about the worldviews of both parents? What lessons are they sharing? How is it a cautionary tale between parent and child? How does it reflect Yejide’s own childhood experiences?

12. Discuss the process of mourning as depicted in Stay with Me. How does the community react to Yejide’s mourning for the loss of her first child versus her second? Discuss the general attitude towards Yejide’s depression from her family and those around her.

13. What is Akin’s relationship with his brother? How do they compete with each other? How do they jockey for the coveted spot of favored son throughout the novel? After their brawl, how does their relationship change? Do you think Dotun possessed real romantic feelings for Yejide?

14. Discuss Yejide’s reunion with Rotimi. Were you surprised by this reveal? How did you interpret Timi’s insistence on calling Yejide “Moomi”?

15. Stay with Me is a novel that challenges readers’ expectations with its surprising reveals, its secrets, and its deception. What plot development did you find to be most surprising? How does Adebayo play with the idea of expectation versus reality throughout the novel?

My order (by how much I enjoyed them), of the 6 books we read in the first half of 2018. Click on the titles for the book club reviews:

6. Sweet Pea by C J Skuse

5. Hold Back the Stars by Katie Khan

3. Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo (joint 3rd place)

3. This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

2. Slade House by David Mitchell

1. Animal by Sara Pascoe

As you know, I’m dong things slightly differently with Just Another Book Club. I will now only be opening the book club discussion at the end of every 6 months, but I will be leaving a space on my Facebook page and Instagram on a monthly basis for people to discuss earlier if they so wish.

For a list of the books we are reading for the second half of 2018, click HERE

You can view my Goodreads page here

Just Another Book Club- 2018 (part II)

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

So, for the second half of this year, I’m going to run this book club slightly differently. I’m still providing a list of six books and the months you could read them in. However, I won’t be putting up my review on a monthly basis. Instead at the end of the six months, I’ll put up one post discussing all six books. People can then leave comments as to what they thought of all the books that they read from the list. As before, there is absolutely no pressure to read all six books and you don’t have to read them during the months I suggest. That’s just there for guidance and also because some books might not be published on paperback until a certain date. And as always, one of the six books will be a non-fiction book. I hope you’ll still join me in reading these books. I love to hear what you think about them. I just needed to take a bit of pressure of myself to have books read by a certain date. Oh and also, if you want to discuss any of the books with me before six months time then I’ll be leaving a space to discuss the books on a monthly basis on both my Facebook page HERE and on my Instagram account HERE

So, on with our six books to read for this second half of the year:

  • July: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

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  • August: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

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  • September: How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

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  • October: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

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  • November: The Immortalist: if you knew the date of your death, how would you live? by Chloe Benjamin

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  • December: Only Child by Rhiannon Navin

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This chosen list of books is final. If you don’t fancy reading a particular book one month, just give it a miss that month.

So, my aim is to post my review of all these books around the beginning of January next year. It’ll be here before you know it! In the meanwhile, don’t be afraid to communicate with me as mentioned above if you ever want to discuss these books any earlier. I’ll also post a new list of books for the first half of 2019 in mid-December this year.

For a list of the books we read during the first half of this year, click HERE

For a list of the books we read during the last half of 2017, click HERE

Don’t forget you can leave a review of any of the past books that we have read at any point.

 

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Just Another Book Club- May Book

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Please leave your comments below or within the appropriate post on my Facebook page. Please feel free to peruse other people’s comments and respond to them.

***Please be aware this is a book club discussion, so there is the possibility that my review or the comments left by others will contain spoilers***

This Is How It Always Is

by

Laurie Frankel

9781472241580

Synopsis

This book tells the story of Rosie and Penn and their family of 5 boys. One day their youngest, Claude comes downstairs in a dress and wants to take a handbag to kindergarten. He also wants to grow his hair long and play with dolls. While other boys want to be fire officers or astronauts when they grow up, Claude says he wants to be a girl. This book looks at the complexities of parenthood and how it always is a leap into the unknown.

My Quick Review

This Is How It Always Is is a well written book and one that is easy to read. The two aspects of the book that I appreciated the most was how it looked at parenthood. No matter what issue your child has, no matter how big or small it is, the reader if they are a parent can relate to how we try and parent. The book looks into how parenting is incredibly unpredictable and how none of us as parents know what the future holds for our child. While this is somewhat terrifying, it was also a comfort to read this book and know that as parents we are all going through this unpredictability together. The other aspect of the book that I loved, is how this book raises important questions about gender identity. It’s a book that is incredibly well-informed (whilst the book is entirely fictional, the author’s daughter was once a boy) and as Rose and Penn have conflicting opinions on how to approach their situation, this illustrates the antagonising feelings surrounding transgender children.

The main negative side of the book is that I felt the whole trip to Thailand somewhat contrived. I felt it was a unbelievable coincidence that the mother was offered work in Thailand, was able to take her transgender child and that the main person she worked with also happened to be transgender. I felt the enlightenment that both Rosie and Poppy gained from this trip could have been achieved through other more believable circumstances. The other slightly negative side of the book was the use of fairytales to explain the situation. As I’ve mentioned before I’m not a fan of most fantasy, so I was never going to be a big fan of this part of the book. However, as a reader I also found it a tad patronising having things explained to me in the form of a fairytale.

In conclusion, this is a fascinating book that approaches a very difficult subject. It wasn’t the ground breaking, tear inducing novel that I expected, but it is definitely worth a read.

I loved these two quotes from the book:

How did you teach your small human that it’s what’s inside that counts when the truth was everyone was pretty preoccupied with what you put on over the outside too?

You never know. You only guess. This is how it always is. You have to make these huge decisions on behalf of your kid, this tiny human whose fate and future is entirely in your hands, who trusts you to know what’s good and right and then to be able to make that happen. You never have enough information. You don’t get to see the future. And if you screw up, and with your incomplete, contradictory information you make the wrong call,  well, nothing less than your child’s entire future and happiness is at stake. It’s impossible. It’s heartbreaking. It’s maddening. But there’s no alternative. 

Questions to Consider

  1. How authentic do you think the author’s portrayal of a family and family life is? Do you find her depiction of the children and their sibling dynamics true to life?
  2. How are traditional gender roles explored through the characters of Rosie and Penn? Are they portrayed as conforming to, or defying traditional roles?
  3. Explore the use of fairy tales in the novel and the effects of this narrative device.
  4. When Claude first begins to wear dresses and identifies as female, what contrasts are drawn between how other children react to his transformation and how adults react?
  5. When Rosie and Penn discuss what course Poppy should take before puberty, Rosie says: “When a little girl wants to wear jeans and play soccer, her parents are thrilled, but when a little boy wants to wear a dress and play dolls, his parents send him to therapy and enrol him in a study.” Are young boys more constrained by gender stereotypes than young girls?
  6. “Didn’t you know then, the doctors said later? Weren’t you listening?” Discuss how the role of a parent, and the dilemma of what parenting means, is explored in the novel.
  7. Secrets are a central theme in the novel. Do you think that Rosie and Penn made the right decision in keeping Poppy’s past a secret when they moved to Seattle?
  8. Poppy’s transgender identity mean that Rosie and Penn prioritise her needs within the family, and they decide to uproot their life and move across the country. What other family situations can result in parents having to prioritise the needs of one child over their others?
  9. After Jane Doe’s trauma, Rosie thinks, “Head colds should be tolerated.Children should be celebrated.” What is the difference between tolerance and acceptance? Acceptance and celebration?
  10. Towards the end of the novel we travel to Thailand. Why do you think the author chose to take the characters here and what aspects of the Thai culture were explored?
  11. “You think your generation invented kids who are different?” How does the novel make you question your own attitudes to gender identity, difference and the acceptance of others?

(Questions provided by the publisher)

June’s book is Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo. I’ll be starting the conversation for this on Monday 2nd July.

A list of all the books we read for the first half of 2018 can be found here

***I’ll be publishing a new list of books for the second half of the year next Monday 11th June. There will be a slight amendment as to how the Just Another Book Club will run from now on too***

I’ve finally sorted out my Goodreads page, so as a few people have asked, you can view it here

Just Another Book Club- April Book

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Please leave your comments below or within the appropriate post on my Facebook page. Please feel free to peruse other people’s comments and respond to them.

***Please be aware this is a book club discussion, so there is the possibility that my review or the comments left by others will contain spoilers***

Animal

by

Sara Pascoe

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Synopsis

Award-winning comedian Sara Pascoe takes us on an entertaining tour of the female body. She investigates why women do the things they do and what it is that biologically drives them. Sara weaves in biographical stories from her own life through out the book to illustrate female behaviour.

My Quick Review

There are some books that I find funny, but don’t actually make me laugh. Then there are books that are funny and make me laugh out loud so much that I cannot be trusted to read them in public. Animal is of the latter definition. I first heard of this book when Sara was a guest on Adam Buxton’s podcast (if you haven’t listened to these podcasts- do. Adam has the the funniest and most interesting guests on). She passionately talked about the book and I thought it sounded fascinating. I wasn’t wrong. Whilst I knew some of the information about the female body, there was plenty that I was not aware of. Even if you are someone that is an expert on the female body and our behaviour, it would still be a captivating and entertaining read.

Sara’s writing is very engaging and her own personal stories whilst always very funny, have a lot of emotion attached them. I found her stories regarding her grandmothers particularly emotive. Then there was Sara’s story of when she first had her period, which is quite frankly one the funniest stories that I have ever read.

On a more serious note, Sara’s book covers lots of sensitive subjects and whilst at times she approaches them with humour, she is also very contemplative about them. She raises important issues such as consent, sex education and abortion. The chapters on consent were quite hard to read and I found at times upsetting. Nevertheless, Sara makes valid and important points and they absolutely need to be discussed. Much like some stand-up comedy, Sara has a way of luring you into her discussion on a subject with humour and then once she’s got your attention she goes on to empathise her opinions with sincerity. Most of which, I vehemently agreed with.

The only vague criticism I would have of the book, is Sara’s occasional assumptions that the reader of the book is much younger than I am. I think she thought only teenagers or people in their 20s would choose to read the book. However, I feel this book is definitely for people of all ages (and decidedly for both men and women). Who doesn’t appreciate a well-written, hilarious, profound and captivating book?

 

 

May’s book is This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. I’ll be starting the conversation for this on Monday 4th June.

A list of all the books we’ll be reading for the first half of 2018 can be found here

I’ve finally sorted out my Goodreads page, so as a few people have asked, you can view it here

Just Another Book Club- March Book

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Please leave your comments below or within the appropriate post on my Facebook page. Please feel free to peruse other people’s comments and respond to them.

***Please be aware this is a book club discussion, so there is the possibility that my review or the comments left by others will contain spoilers***

Slade House

by

David Mitchell

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Synopsis

Slade House is set between 1979 and 2015. There are five sections of the book and each section is set in a different time period. The location of each section always remains the same. As you may have already guessed, it is always set at the spooky Slade House. The book details the mysterious circumstances that a variety of characters are drawn towards Slade House.

My Review

I should probably be honest with you and provide a disclaimer that, I am a huge David Mitchell fan. From reading Cloud Atlas to number9dream to the Bone Clocks. I’ve adored everything of his that I’ve read. Slade House is no exception.

Slade House some how manages to be hilarious, thrilling, haunting, historical and clever all at the same time. The first section (The Right Sort) surrounding young Nathan and his mum is particularly witty and had me laughing out loud. A fine example of Mitchell’s humour in this book would be the line: “he was handsome in a sort of gay model Hitler Youth way”. I’m going to remember that line, so that I can refer to someone as that one day (I might be mindful of my audience though).

This book mainly leaves me reeling. Reeling that someone can be so talented and so clever and have such a vivid imagination to write such a book. As I’ve mentioned before, I generally don’t like fantasy books, but for me Mitchell is the right side of fantasy for me.  It’s the backbone of this story, but it doesn’t dominate so much that it is the whole entire book.

Each section has it’s merits, but I particularly enjoyed the first section and the You Dark Horse You section with journalist Sally Timms. That section left me astonished and had me rereading it as soon as I’d finished it.

Most of the time you liked the main character in most of the sections and had a lot of sympathy for them (even before they learn their fate). Detective Gordon Edmonds from the The Shining Armour section, is probably the least likeable character, but you still somehow feel sorry for him. Inevitably, it’s the characters that continue through each section, siblings Norah and Jonah Grayer, that you despise the most and root for their demise throughout the book.

In conclusion, if you’re a fan of David Mitchell (and in particular The Bone Clocks), you will not be disappointed. It is a short read, that will keep you gripped and interested until  it’s harrowing conclusion. Think Stranger Things mixed with a little bit of Black Mirror.

Questions to Consider

1. Slade House is broken up into five parts and is narrated by five different characters, all in the first person. Which of their voices were you most drawn to and why?

2. Despite their differences, the narrators are all “engifted” and therefore targets of the Grayer twins. What do you think “engifted” means? What might qualify someone as “engifted”?

3. Did you notice any recurring patterns in the storytelling across all five parts?

4. With each new “guest” you learn more and more about Slade House and the Grayer twins. What about their abilities and story was most unsettling to you?

5. On page 146, Freya Timms thinks “Grief is an amputation, but hope is incurable hemophilia: you bleed and bleed and bleed.” Do you agree? In what way is this true for characters in the novel?

6. On page 175, Fred Pink counters Freya’s argument for why immortality wouldn’t be kept a secret. What does Fred’s explanation say about human nature? Do you agree?

7. Throughout his life, many people dismiss Fred and his beliefs and research. What might his experiences say about the way society treats those who are labeled as mentally ill?

8. Norah and Jonah’s history is extraordinary, but also marked by loss. Did you ever find them sympathetic? When and why?

9. You don’t learn much about what Norah and Jonah do in–between each nine–year cycle, but we do know that they have a great degree of freedom and many resources at their disposal. Would you be tempted by their nomadic but gifted existence?

10. Were you surprised by Norah’s actions at the end of the novel?

11. What’s the most frightening book you’ve ever read, and what is the most spine–chilling movie you’ve seen? Are there differences between literary fear and cinematic fear?

April’s book is Animal by Sara Pascoe. I’ll be starting the conversation for this on Tuesday 1st May.

A list of all the books we’ll be reading for the first half of 2018 can be found here

I’ve finally sorted out my Goodreads page, so as a few people have asked, you can view it here

Just Another Book Club- February Book

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Please leave your comments below or within the appropriate post on my Facebook page. Please feel free to peruse other people’s comments and respond to them.

***Please be aware this is a book club discussion, so there is the possibility that my review or the comments left by others will contain spoilers***

Hold Back the Stars

by

Katie Khan

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Synopsis

Imagine that you only have 90 minutes of life left and you’re spending that time with the love of your life. Oh and minor detail, you’re floating in space in space suits. Hold Back the Stars is a love story set in an utopian future and sees two lovers deliberating over the ultimate sacrifice.

My Review

This book is an excellent debut from author Katie Khan. The story line is incredibly original and I enjoyed that it was set in the future. I thought it was refreshing that Khan wrote the future as utopian rather than dystopian, but like all societies through history it was not perfect.

I found the technical talk specifically in the first third of the book made me lose my interest at times. It sometimes got a bit too heavy or continued for too long for me personally. So, I would at times find my mind wandering and not realise what I’d just read. However, the book picks up after the initial section and I found myself gripped for the rest of the book.

I thought the non-linear timeline where the book alternated from Carys and Max in space to scenes in the past, but on earth worked really well. It was an excellent way to see how their relationship grew.

Reading about the loss of Carys and Max’s baby was very difficult, but I thought it was sensitively written about. Their reflection on their baby was very moving. I loved this quote about the afterlife:

“The afterlife is what we leave in others”

I also enjoyed their analysis of what utopia truly is, whilst they were floating in space:

“In Greek, Utopia means ‘no place’….a perfect place isn’t a political state or a philosophical movement. It’s this, it’s us”

Hold Back the Stars is a very visual book and it makes sense that the author herself works in the film industry. I found myself imagining the book being turned into a film as I read it and my research tells me that it is indeed going to be film (produced by the same people that produce Stranger Things and Arrival and directed by the director of Riverdale).

Whilst, at first I was slightly confused about how the author was continuing the story in the final section, it eventually made sense. The end scene was incredibly moving and possibly one of the most beautiful and stunning endings for a book that I have ever read.

Often, I don’t like to see the film version of a book that I’ve read, but because of the spectacular visions that you imagine whilst reading this book, I cannot wait to see the film.

This is a very promising debut and I would be very interested to read another novel by the same author.

Questions to Consider

1. In Hold Back the Stars, the author uses dual time lines to tell the story of Max and Carys’s journey to space. In what ways does this enhance the story? Which time line did you feel more connected to?

2. Carys and Max had radically different upbringings from each other. How do their philosophies differ on utopian ideals?

3. In Europia, the individual is prized above all else, yet there is a particular irony in a utopian society valuing individualism. In what ways does Carys see that, and how is Max blinded to it?

4. According to the Couples Rule, romantic couples are not allowed to form until an individual reaches thirty-five. How could this rule benefit our own society? How might it hurt it? How would the rule affect your own life?

5. Max says, “We show our true colors facing the end” (p. 75). Do you agree? Why or why not?

6. As part of a Founding Family, what kind of pressures was Max feeling during his relationship with Carys? Do you think he was justified in feeling the way he did in the beginning?

7. How does the author use details to highlight themes or plot points in each time line? For example, the origin of the crumpled daisy in Carys’s ear does not become evident until after the two time lines converge.

8. Max’s parents essentially excommunicate him after he reveals his relationship with Carys. Can you think of parallel examples in our own society of this kind of familial rejection?

9. Which “ending” seems the most realistic to you? What kind of choice would you have made in the same scenario?

10. How did Carys and Max each cope without the other? What did their coping mechanisms communicate about their personalities?

11. Hold Back the Stars confronts the idea of choice—or lack thereof—and the question of whether true freedom can exist in a utopian society. In what ways were Carys and Max free? How did their concept of freedom change throughout the story?

12. Neither Carys nor Max can live without the other in their respective “endings.” Do you think it’s possible that, for some people, time cannot heal certain wounds?

13. How do you interpret the last chapter of Hold Back the Stars in light of the alternating perspectives of Carys and Max?

14. What were the best examples of strong relationships in Hold Back the Stars? What made them strong? How did Europia foster—or hinder—forming relationships?

15. What do you think it means to do something for the “greater good”? Can a utopian society exist without its citizens striving for a common “greater” cause?

March’s book is Slade House by David Mitchell. I’ll be starting the conversation for this on Tuesday 3rd April.

A list of all the books we’ll be reading for the first half of 2018 can be found here

I’ve finally sorted out my Goodreads page, so as a few people have asked, you can view it here

Just Another Book Club- January Book

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Please leave your comments below or within the appropriate post on my Facebook page. Please feel free to peruse other people’s comments and respond to them.

***Please be aware this is a book club discussion, so there is the possibility that my review or the comments left by others will contain spoilers***

Sweet Pea

by CJ Skuse

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Synopsis

Incredibly bored and ambitious Rhiannon likes to make daily lists. Don’t we all, except her list are “kill lists”. She writes a list every day of everyone she would personally like to kill and at times she is able to tick off that list. A childhood trauma, left Rhiannon a minor celebrity and it is through this tragedy that we learn how Rhiannon has become the person she is today; a foul-mouthed, deadly and dark young woman.

My Review 

What a lovely way to start our book reading year. I thought I’d throw us into the deep end with this shocking and graphic thriller. As the first chapter opens with the protagonist castrating a man and leaving him to drown, I knew I was on to a beautiful, enchanting start to our reading year.

So firstly, I found this book very easy to read. Yep, even with the shocking content of the book, I still carried on turning the pages and reading with ease (does this say more about me or the author?). It was the epitome of a “page-turner” though.

Red magazine described the book as Bridget Jones meets American Psycho. I think this is a perfect description of the book. While I don’t think I need to elaborate on why it’s similar to American Psycho, the diary-style chapters and the humorous references to weight and self-image certainly gave it an air of Bridget.

However, this is where the book falls down for me. With the author’s use of language, I felt she was trying too hard to be funny and shocking. Let’s be honest, I’m not one to be phased by profanity or crudeness. I wasn’t shocked by her use of these things. It just didn’t entertain me. I was a tad arms-crossed-you-think-that’s-shocking-you-should-hear-me-out-with-the-Mums-from-school-on-a-Friday-night about it. You can relax, we don’t go around castrating men or anything (not that I recall anyway). I think the point I’m trying to make is that, it reminded me of a teenager trying to act tough to impress people. I didn’t buy it.

I can’t decide if it was lack of direction or actually a clever ploy by the author, that my opinion of the protagonist was slightly conflicted. Generally, I couldn’t stand her and at times I thought the author wanted us to actually like her in a twisted way. My conflicted feeling about Rhiannon only came into play when I thought about her traumatic past that goes some way to explain why she does the things she does. It enabled me to feel a sliver of sympathy for her, but not for long as not one of the murders she committed was actually justified. In fact, I think her past actually just provided an understanding of her actions rather than feeling actual sympathy. I do feel the author partly wanted us readers to cheer Rhiannon on from the side line as she castrated a man (albeit an absolute wank stain of a man, who deserved a sharp kick in the balls and to be reported to the police), but there is absolutely no way I found myself warming to Rhiannon at any point.

What I do know is that she clearly wasn’t a well person. Now, I understand that a psychopath (and I’m not using that word flippantly), can function quite normally in the world, with many people not having a clue what they’re really like, BUT I’m still not convinced by the way the author portrayed the contradictions within her personality. The whole “just baked a lovey cake, now I’m just going to grab my knife and slice someone up that gets on me nerves” act was unconvincing. Maybe it’s truthful (I’m bold enough to assume I’m personally not a psychopath, so what do I know about how a psychopath thinks). I just wasn’t convinced with the way the author sold Rhiannon’s personality to us.

ALSO, I’m clearly not convinced by a lot of aspects of this book (man, I really am a cynical misery sometimes), but I wasn’t persuaded by the relationship between Rhiannon and Craig. They were so utterly incompatible, I just didn’t see why they got together in the first place. I understand, that the author wanted to show Rhiannon in an unhappy relationship, but I literally couldn’t fathom what they would have seen in each other at the beginning of the relationship. I think she could’ve been a bit cleverer about this relationship.

Now, you can completely judge me on the next point I’m going to make (if you haven’t already), but thank God she killed AJ off. He was such an irritating character, she did us all a favour there.

The ending was very satisfying for me. I would have been very upset if justice hadn’t prevailed. I also figured that the baby may have gone to AJ’s Aunt (as the next closest relative) to look after, which is actually quite nice after all the grimness of the book.

In conclusion, this is a cynical and bleak book. The attempts to make it witty and the protagonist likeable failed for me. However, I couldn’t stop reading it and it kept me gripped until the end. I prefer a book with more substance, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

February’s book is Hold Back the Stars by Kate Khan. I’ll be starting the conversation for this on Monday 5th March.

A list of all the books we’ll be reading for the first half of 2018 can be found here

I’ve finally sorted out my Goodreads page, so as a few people have asked, you can view it here

Just Another Book Club- December Book

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Please leave your comments below or within the appropriate post on my Facebook page. Please feel free to peruse other people’s comments and respond to them.

***Please be aware this is a book club discussion, so there is the possibility that my review or the comments left by others will contain spoilers***

At the end of this post, I’ve listed the 6 books we read in 2017 in my order of preference. I’ve also listed my 3 favourite books that I’ve read this year that weren’t part of the book club.

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises

by Fredrik Backman

9781444775853

Synopsis

7 year old Elsa is left letters from her grandmother, apologising to all the people in her life she has wronged. This sends Elsa on quite the adventure as Elsa’s grandmother was not your average grandmother. It’s a part-fantasy/part-reality book, where you are are often transported to the imaginative world that Elsa’s grandmother created for her through epic story telling.

My Quick Review

I always say these are going to be quick reviews by me, but they never seems to be. I’m going to try my best this time. So, the first chapter of this book is quite simply one of the most beautiful beginnings to a book that I have ever read. As someone who was very close to her grandmother, it moved me immeasurably, as I imagine it would a lot of people. The author does an excellent job of illustrating the valuable closeness that exists between Elsa and her grandmother and it’s incredibly heart warming.

I like how the author intertwined philosophy throughout the book especially through the stories that the grandmother told Elsa.

As I mentioned above, Elsa’s grandmother is not your usual grandmother. A doctor who saved numerous lives during the war, a woman who never wanted to settle down with one man, a smoker, a terrible driver, a poker player not to mention an excellent story teller. She is by far the best character in it (followed by Britt-Marie), so it is with great shame that she dies so early on in the book. However, I understand why this was necessary and her character still manages to dominate the rest of the book. I loved that the grandmother was Elsa’s hero, but she is not her hero for the obvious acts of heroism in the war (in fact she’s quite cross with her grandmother with regards to that), she is her hero for much smaller reasons that are important to a 7 year old child. One of my favourite scenes with the grandmother is when they were in the headmaster’s office and Elsa’s grandmother ends up throwing a globe at the headmaster’s computer. This was a reaction to the headmaster suggesting that Elsa should take part of the blame for a boy hitting her as she had provoked him and that he had problems controlling himself. “I WAS PROVOKED” Elsa’s grandmother screams at the headmaster as she throws the globe “I COULDN’T CONTROL MYSELF”. Do you see what I mean? She is my hero too.

Moving on to my second favourite character, Britt-Marie. I wonder if she is possibly one of the most tragic characters I’ve read in a book. So desperately lonely and in need of human contact, she purposely loses her husband’s items just so he’ll say her name when he asks her where things have gone. And of her own admittance, she has become a busy-body in her life just so her presence has some effect on people even if it is a negative effect. Otherwise, she would feel like she didn’t exist and would feel an overpowering numbness. It’s so sad and it made me think about people who I know act like Britt-Marie. It made me have sympathy towards them and made me think that in the future I would act differently towards them. A book that makes you look at things differently, is a good book indeed.

However.

Here comes my big but (I said BUT not butt thank you).

A third of the way through the book, my interest started to wane. I’m generally not a fan of fantasy. I’ve tried to get into Neil Gaiman and authors similar to him, but I always struggle. I have little patience for it and the last fantasy book I enjoyed was Alice in Wonderland when I was 9 years old. So, I found myself losing my concentration every time we visited the fantasy world of Elsa and her grandmother. Whilst, I appreciated how lovely it was that her grandmother had created this fantasy world for her and whilst I also appreciated how this fantasy helped Elsa make sense of the world and also helped her deal with issues, it just wasn’t for me. It was the weakest parts of the book and I also think it didn’t quite work in combination with the harsh realities of Elsa’s real world.

Nevertheless, I got back into the book again for the final third of the book.

In general, this book is worth the read. It is beautiful, profound and entertaining and I am not afraid to admit that it made me cry at the end (for those that have read the book I’m referring to the scenes with the Wurse).

Here are a few of my favourite quotes (oh I really didn’t do a good job of doing a quick review, did I?):

“Having a grandmother is like having an army. This is a grandchild’s ultimate privilege: knowing that someone is on your side, always, whatever the details. Even when you are wrong. Especially then, in fact”

“The Noween hates children, because children refuse to accept the Noween’s lie that time is linear. Children know that time is just an emotion, so ‘now’ is a meaningless word to them”

“Because you can be upset while you’re eating chocolate Santas. But it’s much, much, more more difficult”

“We want to be loved. Failing that, admired; failing that, feared; failing that, hated and despised. At all costs we want to stir up some sort of feeling in others. Our soul abhors a vacuum. At all costs it longs for contact”

“And Maud bakes biscuits, because when the darkness is too heavy to bear and too many things have been broken in too many ways to be fixed again, Maud doesn’t know what weapon to use if one can’t use dreams. So that’s what she does. One day at a time. One dream at a time. And one could say it’s right and one could say it’s wrong. And probably both would be right. Because life is both complicated and simple. Which is why there are biscuits”

“Because if a sufficient number of people are different, no one has to be normal”

Questions to consider

1. My Grandmother Send Her Regards and Apologises begins with the pronouncement, “Every seven-year-old deserves a superhero.” (page 1) Do you agree? Why is it so important that children have heroes? Who were your heroes when you were a child?

2. Names play a significant part in Elsa’s grandmother’s stories. How do the various kingdom and heroine names from the Land-of-Almost-Awake (Miamas, Miploris, Mimovas, Wolfheart, the Chosen One, the sea-angel, etc.) inform your understanding of Granny’s stories? Did you agree with how their real world counterparts were portrayed in the stories?

3. Elsa’s mother grew up in a nontraditional family environment. Do you think this influenced her parenting style with Elsa? In what ways?

4. Were you surprised by the ways in which each of the apartment tenants were connected to the others? Which relationship surprised you the most? Why?

5. Granny is a polarizing figure in My Grandmother Send Hers Regards and Apologises. Describe the way each of the characters reacts to her. Do you think their opinions of her are justified? Why or why not? What did you think of Granny? Do you know anyone like her?

6. Discuss the role that books, especially the Harry Potter novels, play in Elsa’s life. Why do you think Elsa relates to the Harry Potter books more than other novels? When you were growing up, were there books you particularly loved? Which ones and why?

7. What did you think of Britt-Marie when you first encountered her? Did she remind you of anyone in your life? Where do you think Britt-Marie goes at the end of the novel?

8. Elsa believes that her “teachers are wrong. [She] has no problems concentrating. She just concentrates on the right things.” (page 47) What kinds of things does Elsa concentrate on? How does this create problems for her? Do you think that Elsa is a good student? Why or why not?

9. Which of the characters in My Grandmother Send Her Regards and Apologises surprised you the most? Why?

10. Discuss Britt-Marie’s marriage to Kent. Did you think they were well suited for each other? Do you think the marriage changed Britt-Marie? How can being in a bad relationship affect someone’s personality?

11. Fairy tales can provide a way to teach children some fundamental truths about the world. How do Granny’s fairy tales help Elsa understand the world around her? What lessons does Elsa take away from the tales her Granny tells her about life in the land of Miamas?

12. When her grandmother dies, Elsa is of course sad, but she also experiences a wide range of other emotions, including anger. Can you name some of the others? Consider how the loss of a loved one can lead us to have feelings that are much more complicated than sadness.

13. In this book, as in his previous novel A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman paints a vivid portrait of the relationship between an older person nearing the end of his or her life, and a young child. What can people at the opposite ends of life learn from one another? How are the very old and the very young alike? How are they different? When you were very young, was there an elderly person who played a significant role in your life? What did you learn from them?

(Questions issued by the publisher)

January’s book is Sweatpea by C.J. Skuse. I’ll be starting the conversation for this on Monday 5th February.

A list of the new books we’ll be reading for the first half of 2018 can be found here

My order (by how much I enjoyed them) the 6 books we read in 2017 (click on title for book club discussion):

6. Hotel Alpha by Mark Watson

5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

4. My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Blackman

3. Irresistible by Adam Alter

2. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

1.Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

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My 3 favourite books that I read this year (but weren’t part of the book club):

3. My Name is Leon by Kit De Waal

2. Half the Sky: how to change the world by Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

1.The Sellout by Paul Beatty

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My absolute favourite book this year was Homegoing.

See you in February!

 

 

Just Another Book Club- 2018 (part I)

Posted on by Hayley Beasley Dye

Books-IFOA-2016-Tanja-Tiziana

Hooray, a new list of books for you to read! I set this online book club up last year as a way to reconnect people with a love of books and reading. I am as guilty as the next person of picking my phone up far more often than a book. So after enjoying running this online book club during the latter part of 2017, I’ve decided to continue it on into 2018 and I’d absolutely love for you to join me again. So for those of you that are new to my book club or need a reminder of how it works. Here’s a few pointers:

  1. I will provide a list of 6 books, one for each month for the first half of 2018.
  2. I’ll always provide at least one non-fiction book within a list.
  3. At the beginning of the following month, I’ll publish a quick post with my thoughts on the book.
  4. Your lovely selves can then provide your thoughts/opinions within the comments section (or within my Facebook blog page) and a discussion can evolve from there.
  5. Obviously, there’s no obligation. You can read all six, only three or just the one. Whatever suits you best or how much you want to join in.
  6. You can join in the discussion whenever you want, but the closer to the time I published my book review post the better, as you’re more likely to get a response from other readers. I’ll always respond though, so you really are welcome to leave your comment whenever you have finished a book. There are no time constraints.
  7. If this is continues to be a success, I’ll list 6 more books in June for the latter part of 2018.
  8. Drinking wine/gin/tea/coffee isn’t obligatory whilst joining in with the discussion about these books, but it might help.
  9. Any questions, let me know.

Okay, so now for the 6 books for the first half of this year.

  • January: Sweet Pea by C.J. Skuse

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  • February: Hold Back the Stars by Katie Khan

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  • March: Slade House by David Mitchell

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  • April: Animal by Sara Pascoe (our non-fiction book selection)

9780571325245

  • May: This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel

9781472241580

  • June: Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

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The chosen list of books is final. If you don’t fancy reading a particular book one month, just give it a miss that month. Hopefully, I’ll continue this again for the second half of the year too.

Lastly, I just want to thank the lovely Angela at You Are Awesome blog for providing me with the inspiration to set this up and also for her solid, continued support. Check out her blog post here about book clubs and her blog in general. She’s literally- the best.

So, join me! Together we can put our phones down and pick up a book. Do me a favour first though and please spread the word. It will be fantastic to get people from across the globe coming together to discuss a mutual love- books.

For a list of the books we discussed in 2017, click here.

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My dream home library (dog included).