UK Book Club discussion

I have never done a challenge before but it seems a good way to expand my reading and encourage me to read some that I feel I ought to read. I haven't decided on all 26 yet but here are a few.

A - The Old Girl Network Catherine Alliott...Read - 4 stars

B - Queen Lucia E.F.Benson...Read - 5 stars

C- One Kick Chelsea Cain...Read - 4 stars

D - Klubbe the Turkle and the Golden Star Coracle Philip Dodd... Read - 5 stars

E - A Place For Us Harriet Evans...Read - 2 stars

F - The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald... Read - 2 stars

G - The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance Kirsty Greenwood... 5 stars

H - The Woodlanders Thomas Hardy...Read - 3 stars

I - The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro...Read - 3 stars

J- Love & Devotion. Erica James...Read - 3 stars

K - Always the Bridesmaid Lindsey Kelk... Read - 5 stars

L - Surfing the Seconds Vincent Lowry...Read - 5 stars

M - The 100 Kass Morgan...Read - 5 stars

N - One Day David Nicholls...Read - 3 stars

O - Vivian's Couch Michael Obiora...Read - 5 stars

P - The Love Detective Alexandra Potter...Read - 5 stars

Q - The Seduction of Lady Phoebe Ella Quinn...Read - 3 stars

R - Fangirl Rainbow Rowell...Read - 5 stars

S - Moments Greg Schroeder... Read - 5 stars

T - Pomfret Towers Angela Thirkell...Read 4 - stars

U - The Seven Steps to Closure Donna Joy Usher...Read 5 - stars

V - An Absolute Scandal Penny Vincenzi...Read - 5 stars

W - Mobile Library David Whitehouse...Read - 5 stars

X - Artful Living Xander Terrell...Read - 4 stars

Y - Everything, Everything Nicola Yoon... Read - 5 stars

Z - Gossip Girl Cicely von Ziegesar...Read - 3 stars

Extra's - books read that don't count towards A-Z

The Real Thing Catherine Alliott
Not That Kind of Girl Catherine Alliott
Wish You Were Here Catherine Alliott
Backpack Emily Barr
Miss Mapp E.F. Benson
Lucia in London E.F. Benson
Mapp and Lucia E.F. Benson
Lucia's Progress E.F. Benson
Trouble for Lucia E.F. Benson
The Dressmaker's Daughter Nancy Carson
Summer at the little beach street bakery Jenny Colgan
The Christmas Surprise Jenny Colgan
The Year of Taking Chances Lucy Diamond
One Small Act of Kindness Lucy Dillon
Just One Day Gayle Forman
Just One Year Gayle Forman
Philia and Sophia Nikitha Hingad
Wanderlove Kirsten Hubbard
A Sense of Belonging Erica James
The Hidden Cottage Erica James
A Girl’s Best Friend Lindsey Kelk
Shopaholic to the Stars Sophie Kinsella
The Undomestic Goddess Sophie Kinsella
I've Got Your Number Sophie Kinsella
The Chocolate Lovers' Christmas Carole Matthews
Day 21 Kass Morgan
Homecoming Kass Morgan
Mirrored Voices: Best New Poets Edited by Paul Morabito
Mirrored Voices : Best Contemporary Poetry Edited by Paul Morabito
Eleanor & Park Rainbow Rowell
Chasing Daisy Paige Toon
You Know You Love Me Cecily von Ziegesar

Good luck with it. I've discovered some really good new authors that I never would have read if not for trying to complete a challenge. Have fun!

Hi all, would love some recommendations for my unfilled letters.

I can recommend The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran off the top of my head :)

How aboutThe Book ThiefbyMarkus Zusak

Thanks I will check them out.

Anna Quindlen books are very readable.

We Were Liars by Lockhart. Easy read suspense. Very enjoyable.

Lisa Unger if you don't mind a bit of crime.

My recommendation is that you don't do U twice! lol

Enjoy your challenge Linda. Q and Y can be difficult letters as well. I loved both The Conductor by Sarah Quigley and My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young.

If you like crime I did Weirdorecently for U which I enjoyed a lot and I have just picked up from the library A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Loversfor X

Hi Kate, I am a total ditz. I could not understand what your comment meant - until today. I finally spotted it :D

Andrew wrote: "If you like crime I did Weirdorecently for U which I enjoyed a lot and I have just picked up from the library A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Loversfor X"

I’ve read that for X as well :)

Glad you spotted it!
Have you read your Voltaire book yet? I was wondering what its like. I randomly picked up the other day so I'm curious.

No I haven't read Voltaire yet - I've put '...Read' next to the ones I have finished plus my rating. I read some extracts of Voltaire at uni and all were good. I am currently on Pomfret Towers, it is pretty good and will probably get 4 stars.

Thank everyone for your recommendations, I have chosen Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (seems to provoke passion) and a collection of poems by Sarah Quigley - as a poet I really should read more poetry.

The Old Girl Network I am a big fan of Catherine Alliott. She always tells a good story and there are always lol moments and a twist that you just didn't see coming and this one was no different.

Queen Lucia I have the BBC to thank for this as I had not heard of E.F. Benson before the series last year. This is one of the best books I have read. Loved it! Really funny (Georgie and his clothes, Daisy and her latest fads - what a scream) and Benson gets the reader into the minds of his characters so well.

One Kick Bought this based on a review in heat magazine. Another review here on Goodreads had me regretting my purchase but it was not as grim as I was lead to believe and I did enjoy the fast pace but Kick isn't quite as strong as I expected.

Love & Devotion. Erica James It was ok but a bit depressing and James' habit of jumping around gets on my wick a bit.

The 100 I cannot praise this too much. I LOVE the TV series and the book is just as good. It details life on the spaceships more than the series which makes it interesting. Have just bought book 2 and 3 and although they won't count to the A-Z I will read them first.

Pomfret Towers: A Virago Modern Classic by Angela Thirkell. She is a new author to me and I didn't know what to expect. Turned out to be an easy fun read. Written in 1938 it is about the bright young things of the time having fun at a house party. Not deep and meaningful just fun. Thirkell wrote 29 novels set in Barset - this was no.6 - I would read more.

My 'Extras' are outstripping my A-Z :) Must.Stick.To.The.Plan

Mobile Library This book is wonderful. It will break your heart, it will make you laugh all at the same time. Blood is meant to be thicker than water, but what if blood doesn't care? This book questions what makes a family. It is good story, well told with characters you will care about.

The Great Gatsby This book was a bit of a nothing. I did not like it but I did not dislike it. I did not care about the characters which is essential for me. Gatsby is a crook, Daisy is self obsessed, Daisy's husband is a bully and a cheat. I would have expected to like the narrator Nick Carraway but I didn't. He has an air of superiority yet he is complicit in the other characters bad behaviour. His own behaviour is questionable.

The Woodlanders I found this hard work. Hardy is never cheerful but I expect that, however this was more depressing and oppressive than usual. If you have never read Hardy - don't start with this one.

Klubbe the Turkle and the Golden Star Coracle I loved this wonderful story. A fantastic world with heart-warming characters. An excellent read for all ages. Delightful.Fun.Thought provoking.

Vivian's Couch I wasn't sure about this but it was excellent. It looks at some tough topics - racism, sexism, drug addiction, infidelity and identity. Plus the downside of fame and fortune. It is not an easy read; it is challenging, uncomfortable but utterly absorbing.

Moments This collection of poems is wonderful, a real celebration of the seasons, nature and life. I loved it.

This was ok. Personally I think revealing part of the secret to the reader before Martha revealed to her family made it a bit anti-climatic. It dragged a bit as well.

14 books. Over.Half.Way :) I so loved this. Lindsey Kelk at her best.

Well done on getting to half way! :)

PS - I added the Lindsey Kelk book to my TBR list. Sounds good. Have seen her books around but never read any. Thanks for the recommendation.

Hi Caroline,
Thanks and you welcome for the rec. I had a look at your challenge and you are doing excellent. I was going to nick your Lily Zante but it is only Kindle an I don't have one :(
If you want an 'I' for titles, you could try Lindsey Kelk's 'I Heart New York'.

Alexandra Potter was a new author for me and I am so glad I found her. I loved this - it was fast and exciting. Plus I now know more about India than I did.

How about Cider House Rules by John Irving for your I?

Hi Cathy
I just looked it up, I just might.

These beautiful poems touch the heart and the soul, I loved them.

Number 17 yeah. Kirsty Greenwood is another new author to me - this A-Z is so worth doing - and I loved . Good story, a little bit different. I recommend it.

I was just counting, and so far of the 17 books I have 13 are by new authors to me. Like I said this A-Z is really worth doing :)

At last I have finished - talk about a marathon! I like it at first then got infuriated but ended up liking it. I think part of the problem is that I felt disconnected from Dexter and Emma quite a lot of the time due to Nicholls' writing style - too much tell and not enough show.

I just finished and although it does not count toward this A-Z, I thought I would mention it because it is so good. The line ''Love is a rainbow; colourful is my heart'' is unforgettable.

I LOVED . So well written. Such a great story and characters. I really identified with Cather.

I read this for another A-Z but I am mentioning it here because it is one of my favourite books this year. The writing is excellent, the story is excellent. If I had to sum it up in one word, that word would be - intense.

Number 20 - getting there! I quite liked this. It's an easy read and I am going to read the next in the series.

21 - counting down now :) this was ok. I think I would have liked it better if it was just ROMANCE, I'm not keen on the x-rated bits. Some are, I'm not.

You're doing really well. Have you got books lined up for your missing letters?

Hi, You are doing even better :) No I haven't decided, but I will have to pick something soon. Shame The Seduction of Lady Phoebe was raunchy, I would have liked it better. I just started Backpack by Emily Barr for my title A-Z - so far so good :)

I didn't know you were doing a title A-Z, is that in this group? I don't think I've seen it.

I just picked up Aunt Bessie Assumes a 'cozy mystery' by Diana Xarissa. Haven't read it yet so can't really recommend it as such, but it's an idea. Only problem is I got it free for kindle which I know you don't have but it might be available at your library?
Of the U's I've read I enjoyed Cocoa and Chanel by Donna Joy Usher. Again it was a kindle freebie but she's written a few books so you might be able to find one :)

My title is in the Chick Lit Book Club, in a shared thread - I am down at no 23. I joined that group around April and only decided to do the challenge because we are allowed to use books from other challenges and were given 3 'wild cards' :)

I've looked up Aunt Bessie and Coco and Chanel but I see they are crime which isn't my thing, however, thank you because I looked up Donna Joy Usher and I found another of her books The Seven Steps to Closurewhich I think will suit me very well - it is in my Amazon basket as I write, I always wait until I spend over £10 as then it is fee delivery :)

I have The Seven Steps to Closure on my kindle but haven't got around to reading it yet as I can't make it fit into one of my challenges! Let me know what you think.