Cramlington Book Club

Nothing like challenging oneself in the New Year and rather than giving up alcohol and only eating steamed kale the Book Club decided on reading the 900 odd page doorstop that is Vanity Fair . I ordered it at once and (using something vaguely like maths) worked out I needed to read 30 pages a day to have it read in time for the meeting. I was surprisingly undeterred by this and thought if nothing else I could use the book as a dumbbell when working off the chocolate orange.   I found I actually liked hitting my 30 a day target (much like all the other New Years' resolutioners like hitting their ten thousand steps) and it motivated me to just squeeze a few more pages in here and there so I was ahead of target. I haven’t really approached a book this way before but then it is longer than my copy of War and Peace and there are over 50 books on my bookshelf waiting to be read (now in 'to read' order due to much prating about over Christmas).        I didn’t know anything a

Well what a book! I don't quite know how to review The Night Watch without revealing too much of the story line. This isn't a plot based book as such and so to gloss over what little there is in this blog might take something away from the reader which I don't want to do. The book was lent to me from a friend (who has an excellent blog by the way:    https://beverleyhasread.wordpress.com/ ) but to be honest I didn't really fancy it from the blurb which I thought was the weakest part of the book. However I had previously read two of Waters' books ( Tipping the Velvet and the excellent Fingersmith ) and with it being strongly recommended I set to work. The book skips about in London during the second world war and is centred around 3 women and 1 man. It took my a while to get to grips with everyone and it was strange to have a man interspersed within the women's stories. However Duncan's story fitted into the overreaching arc of the book and provided an

I have always always finished a book once I had started it. Recently however I have ended up with a few books that weren't ones I had chosen, had been on my shelf for a while and felt more like a chore to read and I found myself alternating between ones I wanted to read and ones I felt I had to read just to get them off my shelf. Now this approach sometimes throws up some blinders ( On Beauty by Zadie Smith an excellent example) however it also throws up some duds (I'm not naming names, you are on my blog and can read my previous reviews). Anyway I've started to question why I always plough on with a book. The book club certainly don't, some without a moments hesitation yet I have always ploughed on in the eternal hope that all will come good and it will be worth it in the end. Those more psychologically inclined could take this as I'm an optimist. When it came to reading An Air That Kills an English detective story based in 1950's about a set of bones se

So for all of those reading this blog that don't follow @crambookclub on Twitter here is a little explanation of #PassItOn. Basically you read a book, once you have read said book you leave it in some place random (on a bus, in a pub, in a dentist's waiting room) for someone to find. BEFORE you leave the book some place random you write a little note in the front cover to explain said concept to lucky finder and then if you are on Twitter let us know which book you have hidden.  If you happen to find a #PassItOn book let us know on Twitter (@crambookclub), read it and then, wait for it this is the hard part, PASS IT ON (on a train, in a restaurant, in an opticians waiting room, wherever tickles your fancy.   You don't have to be on twitter to take part and if you're not leave a comment on this post about any #PassItOn books you have found or hidden. Feel free to start your own if one of ours doesn't make it your way.  One's hidden to date an

In addition to the #BookOfTheMonths the group have read this year I have also blogged about every book I have read inbetween times (and called them #inbetweenys. See what I did there?) I therefore thought as well as posting a big review of the 2017 book of the months I would also post a big review 2017 of my inbetweenys. I haven't included all of them in this review, only the (for various reasons) standouts. I'm going to start with a biography -  Bess of Hardwick  by Mary S Lovell. I don't read many biographys and was slightly daunted by the book at the beginning however Lovell did an excellent job and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. Of a similar theme (and also really enjoyable) was  Scotland the Autobiography edited by Rosemary Goring. A different take on a historical factual book but very readable and covered something for everyone. I don't think I could review 2017 in general without including a reference to  Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinr