The Power - 4th December

The next book is The Power by Naomi Alderman "Excitement about Naomi Alderman’s dystopian novel “The Power” has been arcing across the Atlantic since it won the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction earlier this year in England. Now, finally, Americans can feel the jolt of this extraordinary book for themselves... “The Power” is one of those essential feminist works that terrifies and illuminates, enrages and encourages."

Other pitched books:
Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales - Kate Mosse
The Hate You Give - Angie Thomas
Before I Go to Sleep - SJ Watson
How I Paid for College - Marc Aato
Men Without Women - Haruki Murakami
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Lincoln at the Bards - George Saunders

A Gentleman in Moscow - 12th of September

On the whole Slade House was admired. It wasn't seen as a great work but as diverting, spirted and spooky. It provoked a lot of debate.

Our next book is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. "Abundant in humour, history and humanity" Sunday Telegraph

Meeting at The Rookery, Clapham at 7pm, upstairs.

Slade House - 15th of August

Lots of different opinions about Hot Milk. Some found themselves indifferent about the characters and the book unrealistic whereas others loved the style of writing and found it a gripping read. 

Our next book is Slade by David Mitchell. 

"Mitchell plays with interlocking stories and times as if fiction were a Rubik's cube." - Independent 

Other pitched books

The Song of Achilles, - M. Miller

Black Water - Louise Doughty

Where Rainbows End - Cecelia Ahern

Hot Milk - 17th July

Our last book, The Paper Conspiracy was rated meh, neither hated or loved. 

Our next book is Hot Milk, a short read as our next meeting is closer than usual.

"Hot Milk is a 2016 novel by Deborah Levy. It follows a mother and daughter who embark on a journey in search of a medical cure for the former’s paralysis in a Spanish village"

Other pitched books (all short books)

A Zoo in My Luggage - Gerald Durrell

I'm not Scared - Wiccolo Ammaniti

By Grand Central Station... - Elizabeth Smart

The Good Immigrant - Nikesh Shukla

Hot Milk - Deborah Levy

Pussy - Regena Thomashauer

Meeting at 7pm at the Rookery, upstairs room.

A Conspiracy of Paper - 27th June

Our last book, Big Little Lies, was enjoyed despite the subject of a book. Lots of character analysis and comparisons of the tv series to the book. 

Our next book is A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss

"Benjamin Weaver, a Jew and an ex-boxer, is an outsider in eighteenth-century London, tracking down debtors and felons for aristocratic clients. The son of a wealthy stock trader, he lives estranged from his family—until he is asked to investigate his father’s sudden death. Thus Weaver descends into the deceptive world of the English stock jobbers, gliding between coffee houses and gaming houses, drawing rooms and bordellos. The more Weaver uncovers, the darker the truth becomes, until he realizes that he is following too closely in his father’s footsteps—and they just might lead him to his own grave." - Goodreads

Other pitched books

This is a True Story - The Moth

The Existentialist Cafe - Bakewell

Bees - Laline Paull

The Mist - Stephen King

The Circle

When Breath Becomes Air

Essex Serpent

The North Water

Big Little Lies - 30th of May

The discussion for our last book, The Rivers of London, didn't last long, it had finished by the time I arrived! The majority liked the book however.

Our next book is Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty. 

Other pitched books
A Zoo In My Luggage - Gerald Durrell
No Belongs More Than You - Miranda July
Avenue of Mysteries - John Irving
When She Was Good - Phillip Roth
Their Finest - Lissa Evans

Meeting is at the same place as always, The Rookery by clapham common. Check our our facebook page for the most up to date information.

A Fine Balance - 5th of April

Our last book, Homegoing, was greatly enjoyed. It was filled with many rich characters that managed to suck you in in each chapter. 

Our next book is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. A bit of a longer read so get started early! 

"With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India." - Goodreads

Other pitched books:

The Circle - Dave Eggers

A Zoo In My Luggage - Gerald Durrell

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Bastard out of Carolina - Dorothy Allison

The Seige - Helen Dunmore

All My Puny Sorrows - Miriam Toews

Homegoing - 1st of March

For the last book the general consensus was that the book was well-liked and contained some beautiful writing, although it was a bit difficult to get into and the jumping around between dates, names and countries made it quite a tough proposition. 

The book chosen for our next meeting is 'Homegoing' by Yaa Gyasi.

Other pitched books:

My Brilliant Friend

The Journal of Dora Damage

Zeiton - Dave Eggis

Just Kids - Patti Smith

Aushuits and After

Do Not Say We Have Nothing - 1st of Feburary

Everyone enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express at our last meeting, even those who thought they were not Agatha Christie fans! The book created a lot of discussion about each clue and how realistic the situation was. 

For our next book we are reading Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien.

"'Do Not Say We Have Nothing,' shortlisted this year for the Man Booker Prize, is Ms. Thien’s third novel. It is a beautiful, sorrowful work. The book impresses in many senses: It stamps the memory with an afterimage; it successfully explores larger ideas about politics and art (the mind is never still while reading it); it has the satisfying, epic sweep of a 19th-century Russian novel, spanning three generations and lapping up against the shores of two continents." - The New York Times

Other pitched books:

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok

Sentimental Education - Gustave Flaubert

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

Small Great Things - Jodi Picolt

Liars and Saints - Maile Meloy