Upcoming November meeting...

Just a reminder that the next meeting is on the 23rd November (7pm, Nottingham Contemporary). It's the chance you've been waiting for to pretend you're busy Christmas shopping, but are actually lounging around and yacking. We're eloquently dissecting Love on the Dole, by Walter Greenwood. If you're struggling with the dialogue in it, just imagine everything being spoken by Vera Duckworth, and you won't go far wrong.

Nick will not be joining us this month, as he's apparently cavorting with some pop star. I'll leave it to him to explain and deny any wrongdoing. I may invent some fictional scandal about him before then. But hopefully some of our new (and returning) members will join us. Maybe even Sue, taking a break from novel-writing month.

We'll also need to work out which of our 'longlist' we want to tackle in January, so we can pester relatives to buy the right book for Christmas. I know, I know, it all sounds like hard work. But it isn't. It's 'hard work' in the way that playing professional football for ninety hours a year is 'hard work'. But slightly less well paid...

October meeting

Anyone who misses those old episodes of Gladiators, should have joined us at the Nottingham Contemporary. We had everything but those giant cotton buds. I don't think a book has been so contentious, since that strange book where Whoopi Goldberg was God. Good stuff. I'm sure we went home having vented, and were nicer to family, kittens, and passers-by.

Next month is Love On The Dole, which appears to be impossible to get in a bookshop, so may require some Amazon-ing. If indeed that is a verb. You may note from last month's comments that Sue is contemplating a return. Get there early for ringside seats...

September meeting

Another successful meeting! We rock. We welcomed a new member, and a returning prodigal son. We covered all the bases. We now have a professional librarian in our midst, so if you need a refresher on the Dewey Decimal system, I believe we can now assist.

Day of the Triffids was a success. We found it was still fresh and lovely despite being old; like finding a pack of Bird's Eye Crispy Pancakes at the back of the freezer. And it fitted well with last month's book choice - same era, similar issues. Hands up who thought we just threw the choices together any old how? Okay, everyone put their hands back down...

We also oohed and aahed at Pam's latest electronic reading device - a Kindle. We rely on Pam to keep us somewhere near the cutting edge. If it was down to me, we'd be reading scrolls of papyrus and cooking meat in a cave.

Don't forget that details of Jude's birthday bash are on the comments section of the September reminder. I believe the dress code is smart casual, and a slightly creepy magician may be making balloon animals.

Next month (26th October) we are reading Beryl Bainbridge's Every Man For Himself. It's the story of some of the travellers on the Titanic. Yes, they all get wet. But there's more to it than that, I promise.

Reminder for Sept 2010 meeting

Just a reminder for the eternally busy, absent-minded, or otherwise-engaged; we're meeting on the 28th September to discuss John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids. I'm writing this from Australia (uh-oh; pretentiousness alert...), where almost everything bites, poisons, wounds or tramples. So a story of a stinging, dangerous plant is strangely relevant.

We start at 7pm. I'd like to say promptly; but that creates a sense of discipline we sadly lack...

August meeting

Well done for staggering in for the August meeting, when you could have been sitting on a sun-lounger by the pool, sipping a Pina Colada. Do people even drink Pina Coladas any more, or did that terrible 80s pop song just kill the fun for everyone?

What an intellectual bunch we are. So many different views about what was meant in Lord of the Flies, where it was set, what time period it referred to, the nature of mob rule, how we define ourselves, Nazi war trials. And that was without us getting drunk. Seems it was a good book club choice, as it generated one of Mrs Merton's famed 'eated debaaates'. Excellent. We also learned about organic food places, restaurants where you apparently have to do everything yourself (up to and including kicking yourself out of the place for being unruly), and the correct way to pronounce Diane Arbus (apparently it's Deeann, if you're looking to impress someone).

When I first wrote this post, I mis-typed and put Lord of the Files. An excoriating satire on 1950s bureaucratic administration, in which a group of crash-landed schoolboys turn to anarchy and violence when the ring binders run out. It ends when they're rescued by a passing ship delivering to Ryman's. They were lucky.

We also chose a whole bunch of new books. I've put them in the cunningly-titled 'Coming Up Next' section. Can you see what I've done there?

July 2010 meeting

The book choice this month was A S Byatt's The Children's Book.

Fair to say it got an, er, mixed reception. Not many of us racing to the library to check out Ms Byatt's lifetime of writing. We thought the heavily-researched material came at the expense of storyline and pace. In fact, most of us struggled to even finish it. Still, you live and learn...

Once again we proved that outwardly-pleasant people hide some dark secrets. Cutting the heads off teddy bears, that sort of thing. Although, thankfully, there was no practical demonstration in the middle of an art gallery.  And we welcomed yet another new member! We're taking over the place.

Next month (7pm, 24 August 2010) is Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. Another classic that we felt we ought to have read, and almost certainly a bit more digestible.

We also need some ideas for future books, so bring along a list and we'll have a heated debate.