UK Book Club discussion

My dusty shelf books!

1. Dinner for Two by Mike Gayle
2. Abduction by Robin Cook
3. It's Different for Girls by Jo Brand
4. The Sea by John Banville - finished 11/2/20
5. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - dear God! 200 pages of rubbish!
6. Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
7. Wolves At The Door by Tabitha King - defeated! Couldn’t finish it! But now trying again! Defeated! Book given away!
8. The Night Life of the Gods by Thorne Smith - finished 02/03/2020
9. The Devil's Footprints by John Burnside - finished 27/08/20
10. The Dorset Squirrels by Michael Tod - defeated, couldn’t finish it!

Ohh! nice list Lynne.
I've got The Sea on my shelf too. I may be tempted to read mine if you let me know when you start yours!

Kate wrote: "Ohh! nice list Lynne.
I've got The Sea on my shelf too. I may be tempted to read mine if you let me know when you start yours!"

I think this will be my read starting 1st February as I have a couple to finish first! Be good to read it with a book mate, thank you!

Great I'll save it for the beginning of Feb then. :)

I haven't read any. I hope you enjoy.

I’m going in with Wolves at the door starting today!

Nicola wrote: "Is Tabitha Stephen King's wife? Have you read other of her books? Enjoy anyway!"

Yes she is! I have another book by her on my shelves.

Hi Lynne, are you likely to be reading The Sea soon?
I'm currently between books and not sure whether to crack on with my award winner for the Feb genre challenge or wait and start The Sea...

Kate wrote: "Hi Lynne, are you likely to be reading The Sea soon?
I'm currently between books and not sure whether to crack on with my award winner for the Feb genre challenge or wait and start The Sea..."

Yes I can start The Sea. I finished the book I was reading in January so ready when you are!

Perfect! I'll start it tonight then. Let's see how we get on.

Just realised The Sea won the Man Booker Prize in 2005 so it can be my award winner!

Kate wrote: "Just realised The Sea won the Man Booker Prize in 2005 so it can be my award winner!"

Two birds with one stone then!

Are you enjoying it? I’m getting used to the quirky sentences now! And really liking the writing of it.

I had to read the first 12 pages twice before I got the measure of the timelines but I'm getting into it now. I love the descriptions like the family on the beach - you can just see a family acting like that!

Yes you can see it all happening. It’s very visual in your mind.

Not sure what your reading rate is like but Goodreads says I'm at 37% I'm on page 98 of a hardback copy. Tricky to determine where we both are without chapters!

I've reached the half way mark and finished part 1. Its not the sort of book I normally read but I'm doing ok. How are you getting on?

Funnily enough, 'The Sea' only just scraped not being on my dusty bookshelf challenge, but its been hanging around on my to read list for a looong time. I could always join you both this month, as it would also count as an award winning book for the genre challenge...

Just finished it. As I normally find with prize winners it wasn't a fun read! Clever but not particularly enjoyable! Looking forward to hearing how you've got on Lynne.

Kate wrote: "I've reached the half way mark and finished part 1. Its not the sort of book I normally read but I'm doing ok. How are you getting on?"

I finished it this morning at 5am! I loved it! I’m not Man Booker fan normally but this was great! I felt you were actually there watching it all go on, like a play.

Liz wrote: "Funnily enough, 'The Sea' only just scraped not being on my dusty bookshelf challenge, but its been hanging around on my to read list for a looong time. I could always join you both this month, as ..."

Do read it! I loved it!

Kate wrote: "Just finished it. As I normally find with prize winners it wasn't a fun read! Clever but not particularly enjoyable! Looking forward to hearing how you've got on Lynne."

You’re right prize winning books tend to be a bit high brow and you’re left wondering what people see in them. This one deserved the prize!

I'm enjoying The Sea, so far - very atmospheric you're right. It's reminding me of my own childhood - windy days on the beach in Cornwall (sand in the sandwiches and between your toes!)

Liz wrote: "I'm enjoying The Sea, so far - very atmospheric you're right. It's reminding me of my own childhood - windy days on the beach in Cornwall (sand in the sandwiches and between your toes!)..."

Our holidays were spent in Chapel St Leonard’s in a caravan. It was like being there again as you had to go over the dunes to get to the sea.

Managed to get to the end of chapter two of Wolves at the Door which is a little bit further than I’ve got in the past! Think this is one for my Couldn’t Finish shelf ☹️

All of my knitting groups have thrown in the towel for the duration of the dreaded lurgy so guess I’ll just have to read more! Will be glad to be able to sit in the summerhouse! Bit chilly here in Brixham today.
Going to attack the The Dorset Squirrels I think. Bit of a door stop one.

Well my ambition to master the dusty bookshelf isn’t going well due to lots of things! Mostly a bathroom with no fittings! It was started before the lockdown and then came to a halt due to a tiler not coming. Managed to find one to do the job, but then the Lino fitters won’t come out! There’s no problem with the actual plumber (a neighbour) and we are apart in the house as said bathroom is on the ground floor of 3 storey house and a back entrance. I have been reading from the bookshelves upstairs rather than entering the ground floor library which has the new bathroom fittings in!
Having said all that I did find some real dusty books in my bedroom which I am reading! Namely a very old copy of Doctor in the swim by Richard Gordon!

At least you have many other books to console you, Lynne. ;)

Well news on the bathroom front, 10 weeks or more down the line! The lino fitters are coming on Monday! Yay! I might have a Fully fitted, usable bathroom by the end of the week! Then I can start tidying up and getting to my by now, very dusty book shelves!

Update on The Dorset Squirrels, didn’t get far at all as yet! Not quite grabbing me so it’s back on my ‘couldn’t finish’ shelve! I so wanted to like this book as my house is called Squirrel’s End!

Progress! How wonderful to have your bathroom back. Our toilet seat broke during lockdown (luckily only a very small issue in the big scheme of things). Its replacement arrived today and I am so excited! Small things are making me very happy at the moment!

Update on the bathroom! The Lino had been measured wrong so didn’t fit ! Had to wait another week before it was finally in! I have a working loo and sink! But can’t use them with all the tools in there.
Hoping by the middle of next week the I may have a bath!

Just finished Following The Drum: The Lives of Army Wives and Daughters Past and Present yesterday, which apparently I started in 2013! So guess it can be classed as a dusty one!

Finally finished The Devil's Footprints by John Burnside last night and I have not read a 216 page book so slowly!
I still have no idea what the book was actually about! It was a dreadful read!

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "Finally finished The Devil's Footprints by John Burnside last night and I have not read a 216 page book so slowly!
I still have no idea what the book was actually ab..."

Oh dear, hopefully the next one will be better! At least it doesn't have to take up any more valuable space on your shelves - either real or virtual ;)

Just read Wicker by Kevin Guilfoile which I bought on my Hay on Wye trip years ago (Older members may recall!).
Wow! Wasn’t expecting what was written in between the pages at all! Couldn’t put it down!
Well worth a read!

Now to dust off another one!

Trying to listen to Mrs. Dalloway from her audio collection - now I know why I have let it gather dust for so long! It’s very boring!

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "Trying to listen to Mrs. Dalloway from her audio collection - now I know why I have let it gather dust for so long! It’s very boring!"

Virginia Woolf isn't my favorite, but I found this different.... She's not someone I jump to try.. lol

Got to the end of Mrs Dallaway but dear god it’s awful. 200 pages of sheer rubbish!

Well another year has gone by and still have dusty books left to read! And once again they are getting dustier than ever due to a room in the house (middle floor) being remodelled! This is going so be a craft room by the end of this weekend. Will be couple of weeks before all the painting, carpets & furniture are in though!
Then we start on a room upstairs which will be back as a spare bedroom. Hey ho! It will be worth it and I shall enjoy my new room , which is bright & overlooks my front terrace.

Just finished a book I got on my trip to Hay on Wye well over 10yrs (14 or 15) ago as I’ve been in Brixham 10 years this year! So guess it’s classed as dusty!

All about the Brontë family & their life reminding me of 2 great holidays I had in a cottage at Oxenhope, just a mile from Howarth.

Books definitely bring memories flooding back!

They certainly do! I hope the building work goes smoothly and you're able to enjoy your new room soon :)

Liz wrote: "They certainly do! I hope the building work goes smoothly and you're able to enjoy your new room soon :)"

Yes it’s all done now & I have a lovely craft room for teaching & it keep my Etsy shop products I sell. It’s wonderful and bright.