GoT A Storm of Swords, Book 2, Blood and Gold #inbetweeny

So possibly the longest title ever for a book (and lets face it the title wasn't the only thing that was long about the book being quite a doorstop). I had deliberately waited to read this book until Game of Thrones resumed on tv. Yes I know I'm not up to date but I do find it easier to read alongside watching at least some of the characters who are still alive and in return I get more out of the tv series as I am reading what happened to a particular character three books ago and so straight away remember who Dondarrion is and where he fits into the story.

This is the book that contains the red wedding (not to give too much away) which was an epic episode on tv and whilst the book didn't make me gasp out loud (as I knew what was going to happen) I did get really tense and went into my fast reading mode which I do when I really want to know what happens (so much that I often have to reread as I've read it too fast and missed stuff).

It was interesting reading the differences between the book and the series, up until know they had been pretty much the same however not this time , particularly at the end (what an ending!) I have no idea how that will be incorporated into the next book.

I usually average one book per series so don't know what I will do after next series as by my reckoning I will have at least 2 possibly 3 books still to read. Although the books are doorstops I've found them all easy to read (because of the tv series?) And I really find that the list of characters at the end of the books helps. There care a lot of characters, some with only small parts so being able to refer back is essential.

It won't stay on my shelf as I haven't got room (and it belongs to my mum) but I've already asked to borrow the next one, A Feast For Crows apparently, and I will read them all, tv or no tv.

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Lock down book club - books from a different country

So we continued with the Zoom version of book club this month and it was lovely to see so many of us tackle it. The theme was books set in a different country (if you can't travel, let a book take you). I read The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet, a detective story with an element of tricksy fiction set in France. I really enjoyed it and you can read my full review here. We travelled to America a couple of times most interestingly to see whether Hilary Clinton (or Bill for that fact) would have made President if they had not got married. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld is out in hardback now. Norway was a popular spot - Norwegian Nights by Derek B Miller about a retired american marine who moves to Norway and intervenes to save a young boys life sounded interesting. So much so that at least one member of the group has gone on to buy the first in the series, American By Day. We even made it as far as Japan and Botswana (and discovered a Scottish connection for Alexander McCa

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi

I expected to be emotionally drained after reading this one and to be honest (in a weird kind of way) I didn’t mind the thought that I would be. This was backed up by the introduction describing a brilliant young man whose writing was breath taking and whose story was devastating. Emotional rollercoaster of epic proportions was surely in store. I didn’t mind the beginning of the book although I was slightly surprised when we delved so deeply into Kalanthi's past in what was only a slim book. I was willing to gloss over the large number of references to his search as a youth to finding the meaning of life and what makes us, us as after all this was written by someone forced to ponder that very question. I also found the medical training he did vaguely interesting, I appreciated the reverence he placed in relation to the cadaver he was required to cut open as part of his medical training. However when it became apparent the actual portion of the book to do with him receiving hi

Village Christmas: And Other Notes on the English Year by Laurie Lee #BookOfTheMonth #OneRuleOfBookClub

When suggested last month we snapped up this 150 page or so collection of Lee's descriptions, memoirs and musings. Consisting of Chapters of no more than a few pages, topics included the river Severn, a pub and the landscaping of a garden! Winter, including Christmas, was the opening section so more than met the one rule of book club requirement (we review a Christmas book at Christmas). Spring, Summer and Autumn sections followed and one of the group chose to stop reading after the Winter section in order to read each section in its correct season. I love this idea but would either forget and end up reading them all in Autumn or would get frustrated that I still hadn't finished such a slim book that I had started in 2018. "Children trapped in new concrete estates will be denied the freedom we knew. They'll become prisoners of television, as most children are today, and as they grow up they'll start hanging about the streets in gangs and stealing cars."

Cramlington Book Club

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