Devon Book Club discussion

Hi to Ali and Lindsay and welcome to the group. I couldn't send you a personal message as your settings dont allow it so am posting this instead. Thanks for joining the group and hope you will enjoy it and visit often. Any suggestions for what you would like to see on the site would be welcomed, as would a few words to introduce yourself and anything about the books you enjoy.

look forward to getting to know you

best wishes

Ian

and to Sonia, who is joining us from Tavistock. Welcome Sonia - hope you enjoy the group and visit as much as you can you share your thoughts. I see you have Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy Regeneration as a favourite. I read earlier this year and loved all three. Very poignant with the centenary of WW1, which is what prompted me to read it.

Our newest member is local author , Joanne Graham from mid Devon. Joanne published Lacey's House last year and is launching her second book, To the Edge of Shadows, at Waterstones, Newton Abbott on Saturday 1st November at 3.30. All are welcome. Any other local authors want to tell us about their work?

Welcome to Emily and David, who have joined today. We'd love to hear about what you enjoy reading.

That brings us to 27 in the first week. A great start but let's spread the word and try to encourage others.

Ian wrote: "Welcome to Emily and David, who have joined today. We'd love to hear about what you enjoy reading.

That brings us to 27 in the first week. A great start but let's spread the word and try to enco..."

.... and to Dan, Beatrice and Julie who have joined today. Looking forward to hearing from you all

Hello from a misty Teignmouth! I heard about the group today whilst hastily renewing books at the library. My first non fiction book is to be published in Feb 2015. I love books, reading, history & genealogy not necessarily in that order!

Pleased to welcome Teignmouth! Congratulations on getting your book published. Feel free to tell us about it. Also pleased that the library is passing on the news about the group. They are being really helpful and I'm hoping to hear more from reading groups around the county, all of which I've written to. Are you connected to one in Teignmouth by any chance?

Ian wrote: "Pleased to welcome Teignmouth! Congratulations on getting your book published. Feel free to tell us about it. Also pleased that the library is passing on the news about the group. They are being re..."

Yes, I belong to one of the Teignmouth Library reading groups (Bookseekers) and it was the librarian who runs that group who mentioned it to me yesterday.

Tracing your European Ancestors will be published by Pen and Sword next February. I will be doing a talk (or two) at the Library in Teignmouth and have just had the first enquiry to talk about the book. It is listed on Amazon and the cover has been approved and is good to go! You can see the cover at www.european-ancestors.info as I can not load a picuture to this thread.

Tracing your European Ancestors will be published by Pen and Sword next February. I will be doing a talk (or two) at the Library in Teignmouth..."

That sounds like an interesting read, Julie, and it's a great cover. Hope the launch goes well.

Kathy wrote: "Tracing your European Ancestors will be published by Pen and Sword next February. I will be doing a talk (or two) at the Library in Teignmouth..."

That sounds like an interesting read, Julie, and ..."

Thanks Kathy. I like the cover, it has several family pictures on it including one of my Mum who passed away earlier this year.

Julie wrote: "Ian wrote: "Pleased to welcome Teignmouth! Congratulations on getting your book published. Feel free to tell us about it. Also pleased that the library is passing on the news about the group. They ..."

Agree about the cover. Very poignant for you Julie.

Hello I am Mahi originally from Bangladesh now living in North Devon. I have grown up with reading a lot of books and we have some great author in Bangladesh and some great novels that I would love to share with all here. Currently I am reading Thousand Splendid Sun by (author Khalid Hussein)a great book enjoying a lot.I will recommend Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore collection of range of great bangaly poems.

Mahi wrote: "Hello I am Mahi originally from Bangladesh now living in North Devon. I have grown up with reading a lot of books and we have some great author in Bangladesh and some great novels that I would lo..."

Hi Mahi - you are really welcome. It will be great to have people from a wide range of cultures in the Book Club. I loved A Thousand Splendid Suns, although the violence against women was very disturbing. I also read The Home and the Worldby Tagore - mesmerising prose, just wonderful. Great author choices!

Julie wrote: "Ian wrote: "Pleased to welcome Teignmouth! Congratulations on getting your book published. Feel free to tell us about it. Also pleased that the library is passing on the news about the group. They ..."
Really like the cover. You can see immediately what it is about. The lettering is very clear.

And a warm welcome to Simon, who has joined today. Delighted to have you with us Simon.

Welcome to Alison, who has just joined us. Good to have you with us - a few words about yourself and what you love (or hate) to read would be great.

Welcome to Tricia, who is joining us from Cullompton. Great to have you with us Tricia. Look forward to hearing about your interests and your reading group.

Also a warm welcome to Louise, Steve, Denise, Linda and Lauren - who've all joined this weekend

It's lovely to see so many people with an interest in Devon. Hello to all of you.

Welcome to all the new members! :)

Welcome to Jon, who I "met" on the Devon Hour Twitter feed this evening and who I am delighted has joined us. Hope you'll visit often Jon and enjoy the bookchat

Hello and thank you for the warm welcome.

I am new to both this group and to Goodreads, so please bear with me as I get to grips with both. As Ian says, we 'met' virtually at the weekly Devon Hour event on twitter, where I was attending for the first time under my @Recycled_Words account. First time, and already an invite to join a new group; that's got to count as a good evening spent tapping away at the laptop, hasn't it?

I have recently started writing short stories at www.recycledwords.co.uk so I am looking forward to visiting the Author's Corner to see what good advice and suggestions I can pick up.

In terms of reading, I promise that I have read more than the 21 books currently showing against my Goodreads profile. At the moment, having read the three books in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, I have just started one of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's standalone books: The Watcher in the Shadows. It's early days as of now, but I am cautiously optimistic.

I look forward to participating in the group as often as I can. Thank you for the invite.

Hi Jon and good to hear more about your work and interests. I read Shadow of the Wind by Zafon and enjoyed that. Look forward to getting to know you and to hearing more about your work through the authors corner. Had a quick look at the website, looks interesting - will have a proper look when I get more time.

Lynne wrote: "hi Jon, just enjoyed your 'recycled' intro on your link especially the image of words like grains of sand which can be heated and transformed into a beautiful stained glass panel. That will stay wi..."

Thank you Ian and Lynne, particularly for the nice words about the intro.

You are right, words can be powerful. And it's really nice that we have access to so many books so that we can get to enjoy the different ways in which authors manage to craft their stories out of individual words.

Jon wrote: "Hello and thank you for the warm welcome.

I am new to both this group and to Goodreads, so please bear with me as I get to grips with both. As Ian says, we 'met' virtually at the weekly Devon Hou..."
Hi Jon. Thank you for the link to your site. I've just really enjoyed reading 'On a hill overlooking the sea' - beautiful. Thank you. Welcome to the group. Looking forward to hearing more about your writing.

Welcome to Holly, our latest member, who has joined us after I spent an evening on Twitter promoting the group midweek. Holly's range of reading interests on her profile is broad-ranging, so I am sure that there will be plenty to talk about. Look forward to getting to know you Holly.

Also welcome to Dren, originally from Serbia, who has just joined us. Be great to hear a little about yourself Dren - and be great if you could suggest any Serbian writers (so long as they have been translated into English - for me at least - there may be other Serbian speakersd in the group of course).

Welcome once again - it is great to be building such a diverse membership.

A warm welcome to Julian, who has just joined us from South Brent, after picking up on one of my tweets earlier today. Julian's interests are in Poetry, Writing, Social Media, Simplicity, Minimalism, Mindfulness, Zen Buddhism - amongst other skills.We are delighted to have you with us Julian

And also welcome to Sarah, our latest member. Sarah is new to Goodreads. We are delighted to have you with us Sarah - be great to hear about your reading loves (or hates), where you are from etc. Once again, a warm welcome to you.

Hi everyone. Lovely to have you all with us.

a warm welcome to Michael, who I met on Twitter last night through @DartmoorHour. Michael writes medievil murder mysteries and Dartmoor, where he lives, has been an inspiration for his work.

A sudden flurry of new members - welcoem to Penny, Ellen and Sue. Look forward to getting to know you and to hearing about your reading loves (and hates if you wish).

Great to have you with us

Hi to all the new members. Great to have you in the group!

Hi, Penny, Ellen, Sue and Michael. Welcome.

A warm welcome to Sharon, who lives in Appledore and found us via Appedore Book Festival, who posted a link on Facebook.

Sharon, who posted earier about her work, messaged me to say that she is open to most types of text rich literature and loves the Man Booker Prize and reads at least 5 of the long list which normally end up in the short list.

Recently she read and loved The Goldfinch. she says she hates her kindle but loves paperbacks and charity shop bookshelves.

What do others think about Kindles/tablets? I like mine - especially for big books but I still love the texture and experience of a hard copy book.

Hi Sharon.
Most of my reading is via print copies from the public library. I use my Kindle when off on holiday or when I want to read a book that is only available as an ebook.
When I holidayed in Iceland I was struck by the Icelanders reverential attitude to books. As their language hasn't changed significantly for more than 1,000 years they can all read the old Sagas and family book collections are passed down through the generations as treasured possessions.
When one of them spotted me reading my Kindle it was treated to a dismissive shrug and the words, 'I suppose it's OK if you just want to read something, but it's not a book.'

B J wrote: "Hi Sharon.
Most of my reading is via print copies from the public library. I use my Kindle when off on holiday or when I want to read a book that is only available as an ebook.
When I holidayed in ..."

Interesting - I see no reason for them to compete. I like reading big books on Kindle. I also like highlighting and sharing text; the x-ray option on newer books and using the dictionary function.

I wonder why people find the experience so different - isn't the written word the same, whatever the medium it is delivered through?

The words may be the same, but the experience is different. There is something ephemeral about an ebook. The technology will move on and ebooks we've bought will no longer be accessible.
A printed copy has a physical presence. It is real as opposed to virtual.
An Icelander can hold a book and know that generations of his/her family have held that same book. Over time I suspect that the physical presence of a handed-down book takes on its own character in a way that disposable electronics can never match.

it comes down to it being a personal experience. I agree with that paper books have a quality that e-books don't; a bit like the difference between vinyl and digital music. but my children never knew vinyl and I think their passion for music has been as strong - if anything wider as they can so easily download a wider range of music. having said that I still remember the imperfections on an LP that gave it a different character. So it it is with a paper book. it was special buying my daughter a 1st edition when she gained her Masters, and also handing on books from generation to generation. but books go out of print and you can still get the on Project Gutenberg, people with sight difficulties can better read the words on an e device, people who can't get to a library have access to the e library etc. It is great that we have the choice.

I was given a Kindle Fire about 2 years ago and was not sure if I would like it, I wouldn't be without it now, it compliments my regular books perfectly, I live a long way from my family and have to travel by public transport so having lots of books to choose from is absolutely wonderful.

Lynne wrote: "Both formats are fine by me. My nexus tablet goes everywhere with me and has a kindle app with several books along with scrabble, games, skype and email. Am happy with books too, although a librari..."

B J wrote: "The words may be the same, but the experience is different. There is something ephemeral about an ebook. The technology will move on and ebooks we've bought will no longer be accessible.
A printed ..."

I have to say the bit about books harbouring Germs sounds a bit OCD to me. Lets face it absolutely anything we touch can do that.

Yes, and just think of all the viruses we can pick over the internet!

Ley wrote: "I was given a Kindle Fire about 2 years ago and was not sure if I would like it, I wouldn't be without it now, it compliments my regular books perfectly, I live a long way from my family and have t..."

I don't have any form of e-reader (so cannot give a particularly unbiased opinion), but I have a funny feeling that I would be similar to Ley on this: initially sceptical but I would soon find that it had its place and its uses. I don't think that I could give up on the printed book completely though. New, second-hand, hardback or paperback: they all have a place on the bookshelves and that is something that you cannot get with an e-reader.

Much prefer a 'proper' book to a kindle.

I have a kindle which is really useful when travelling, but I do like the experience of reading a print book, and I love to see them racked up along the shelves too: colourful old friends. But I have one major benefit of having a kindle: I find I can read it on the train. I haven't been able to read on a train since I was a child because it made me travel sick. I don't know if anyone else has noticed the same thing?

Kathy wrote: "I have a kindle which is really useful when travelling, but I do like the experience of reading a print book, and I love to see them racked up along the shelves too: colourful old friends. But I ha..."
That's interesting. Have always been travel sick, so always stare out of the window and try not to look down. Have never tried a kindle on a journey, therefore, so will perhaps give it a go.

Oh, I'm going to have to try my kindle on the train now - I find I can't read books or magazines ordinarily. I never thought I would get on with a kindle, and only purchased it in the first place for holiday use - however, I now find I read most of my books on it (mainly because I can read for longer once in bed and my hubby wants the lights off!!)

Carol wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I have a kindle which is really useful when travelling, but I do like the experience of reading a print book, and I love to see them racked up along the shelves too: colourful old fri..."

Carol wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I have a kindle which is really useful when travelling, but I do like the experience of reading a print book, and I love to see them racked up along the shelves too: colourful old fri..."

Carol, I used to feel sick if I tried to read on a bus or a train, but taught myself to do it by trying a few minutes at a time until I got to where I can read on a whole journey.

Ley wrote: "Carol wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I have a kindle which is really useful when travelling, but I do like the experience of reading a print book, and I love to see them racked up along the shelves too: col..."

Not sure I'm brave enough to risk it! Even find it difficult to walk on a moving train.

A warm welcome to Katy, Jenny, Christine and Lea. Great to have you with us. That brings our membership to 70 now - and such a great diversity of people. It is fascinating to hear from everyone and we hope that the four of you will drop in regularly and contribute freely.

Also, at the bottom of the page you will find a poll, related to the first Devon Book Club Chsllenges for 2015 - please add your vote.

Welcome once again

ian