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 McCall-Smith).

The format of everyone reading a different book on a similar theme seemed to work. Everyone got a chance to talk about their book and I think we all discovered something we hadn't heard of before. With our usual venue still not open and people's ability to get out and about still limited we are going to continue with the Zoom meeting next month and chose a theme of 'love story'. We have dismissed Mills and Boon as possible contenders but I think this is going to prove harder than it initially looks. A quick peruse of my TBR pile shows a distinct lack of out and out love stories.

Until next month peeps, take care and read well.

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Cramlington Book Club

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