New Monthly Book Club

I would be interested in joining the online book club and give it a go. I like to read historical period fiction about early workhouse years and families struggling to survive. Look forward to hearing from you.

JackyB , I think it's a good idea, although I would add, I read "Little Fires" quite a while ago now, so the finer detail isn't as fresh as it would be coming straight from having read it recently. I would add, if you do enjoy the book, I did, and have Amazon Prime, the tv series is a good adaptation.

I'd like to be counted in as well, please. I'm not good at suggesting books for others but would love to try what others suggest. I mainly read Historical fiction, not bodice Rippers, but still quite light like Barbara Erskine and Phillipa Gregory, I need to broaden my horizons again.
I like the idea of an early reading list and then a book discussed each month.

Please count me in JackyB - I like the discipline that a 'set book' brings!
What sort of time frame?
One month read, one month comment?
Read and comment in the same month?
Maybe Early's proposal of a six or twelve month forward look?

Maybe we can start again in January. I was given Little Fires Everywhere for Christmas. My DS1 and wife chose it for me. They are very serious about that sort of thing so I'm expecting a meaty read rather than a fluffy one. A suggestion for January?

That’s a shame. Hope all is well.

Yes, I’ve just pmed her and it didn’t work. I think that she decided that GN wasn’t for her.
If you happen to see this Early, I hope that all’s well

Oh that's a shame

Terribull I don’t think that Early is on here anymore

I read The Vanishing Half back in the early summer and I would definitely say it's one of my standout reads from my list of this year's books.

I hope the idea of a book club takes off, good idea of yours Early. I'll no doubt be back with more detailed comments about the book, that's the trouble when it's not so fresh in the mind, I read it before I knew that it would be a subject for discussion.

Did anyone else read the book?

Has anyone finished The Vanishing Half? I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped. I found that I was wanting more depth in the characters- it just seemed to flip in between characters without really exploring them. I was left wanting more. For some reason I couldn’t picture the twins, and although the story spanned many years it had no sense of time. What were they wearing? What did they look like? Where were the cultural references? I did enjoy reading it, but just didn’t feel that connection. It’s such a good plot, but I wanted to know much more about Reese and Adele. Each time I came to read the book I had forgotten what happened and had to flick back a few pages. Almost a great book but for me it didn’t quiet make it.

Thanks for the push FannyC.

That's the plan ixion. A book of month starting on 1 November for The Vanishing Half and 1 December for Should We Fall Behind.

And don't forget, everyone is welcome to send me a pm with up to three book suggestions that might make for a good discussion in 2022. See my opening post.

Will the discussion thread open on the first of the month and stay open for the duration of the month, so we can contribute over a period of time?

Hello. I’m just giving this thread a friendly push onto the Active List to give it a little bit more publicity ?

I think they might have done, JackyB. Before my time and it may have been books GN wanted to promote on behalf of publishing houses who advertised on the site. This is us organising ourselves and choosing books we would like to read. I've just chosen a couple that were discussed on a TV book chat show to get us going.

Great ixion and SueDonim. Yes lots to discuss. If you can be thinking of some points to make and questions to pose while the book is still fresh in your mind and jot them down ready for 1 November that would be really helpful.

You're welcome, FannyCornforth. This has the makings of something really good.

I'll join in. Didn't GNHQ used to organise this?

Hi Early I’ve only just seen this thread, and not actually read it properly yet (do you see a theme here? )
This is a brilliant idea, thank you very much for doing this

I’ve recently read The Vanishing Half. There’s a lot to discuss in it.

Book on its way!

Great Norsat and Lizzie72.

This is starting to gather interest and shaping up nicely.

I'm of your mind too Norsat, that it would be good to broaden what we discuss. It's clear from other books threads that there are plenty of avid readers here so fingers crossed for a good discussion. As for a name ... yes, get back to me if something good comes to mind.

Meantime, do please pm me your three suggestions to add to the list of what we might read in 2022.

Have ordered The Vanishing Half - look forward to reading and discussing it

Thank you Early, I have ordered the Vanishing Half and will read it before 1st November.

This is a good idea and will bring me to GN more frequently. I have stopped posting on most threads, partly due to ill health and partly due to the changed tone of the site (less traffic, less interesting posts, slow movement on some threads).

I look forward to participating in the monthly book club.
I suggest we ask for suggestions for a good name for the club!
I don’t have any name-related suggestions yet, but will come back if I think of anything clever/funny.

Thanks again ?

Great, Urmstongran. A thought provoking book. Do pm me some suggestions about what we might read next year if this gets off the ground.

Great, Urmstongran. A thought provoking book. Do pm me some suggestions about what we might read next year if this gets off the ground.