YC Reading

  Are you a budding writer? Fancy your chances of winning £5000? Then get your creative juices flowing and enter the Bridport Prize writing competition now at: https://www.bridportprize.org.uk/content/competition-rules   Good luck!

Are you reading the latest Book Club book ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ and are intrigued to know more about Harold and Maureen? Check out the short story that Rachel Joyce published late last year entitled ‘ The Boxing Day Ball’ illustrating how they met! http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/21/exclusive-short-story-rachel-joyce-boxing-day-ball

Gareth L Powell is launching his third in the Macaque series- ‘ Macaque Attack’ next week in Bristol. We had the pleasure of meeting Gareth in November last year as part of his Reading Passport tour so we are delighted to see his book launch so soon and with rave reviews. Pop along to show your support- more details on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/326386454230929/?pnref=story . Gareth has also promised to come dressed as a monkey (after losing a twitter retweeting war)- so it is worth going along just for that alone! Good Luck Gareth!

We have three books left to read (after 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' this month) in the Book Club and we do like to offer a diverse selection!   Firstly we have 'A Farewell to Arms' by Ernest Hemingway:   A Farewell to Arms is a novel set during the Italian campaign of World War I . The book, published in 1929, is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army . It is about a love affair between the expatriate American Henry and Catherine Barkley against the backdrop of the First World War, cynical soldiers, fighting and the displacement of populations. Secondly we have ‘ The Husband’s Secret’ by Liane Moriarty:       Mother of three and wife of John-Paul, Cecilia discovers an old envelope in the attic. Written in her husband's hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death. Curious, she opens it - and time stops. John-Pa...

The subtitle of this autobiographical account of one woman’s lone trek following the Pacific Crest Trail in California and Oregon is “A Journey from Lost to Found.” A habitual scoffer at sentimentality and neatly packaged memoirs which promise to both warm and rend your heart, it nearly put me off reading this book. I’m heartily glad it didn’t. Cheryl Strayed was twenty two when her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and died, aged forty five. Her family rapidly drifted apart, her marriage ended and Strayed fell into a spiral of casual sex and heroin. A chance purchase of a hiking guide book proved inspirational – and with no experience of long-distance hiking, Strayed found herself setting out on an eleven hundred mile walk across the west coast of the USA, alone. Facing bears, landslides, rattlesnakes, empty water tanks in the Mojave Desert and bolting llamas, plus just the sheer intensity of walking miles each day across mountain ranges and through deserts, in snow, rain and...

Silja: I went into this book wanting to like it and with willingness to get to the end- while I got to the end I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it. There was so much about it that niggled at me: firstly the story was very confusing- things seemed to come from nowhere and I constantly found myself having to skip back chapters in order to understand what was going on. I also found the structure of the book dissatisfying- I felt like I worked to keep up with Matheson rather than him helping me along- I don’t like books that are a “struggle” to read. Secondly I found the content and general theme of the book to be quite a massive feat to take on and challenge- the bibliography in the back was quite pretentious and I found Matheson to be quite judgemental in the way in which he envisaged heaven/hell/the afterlife and therefore that’s how it will be for everyone. Heaven for me lacked a sense of place- he only talked about people and dogs being in heaven- but where were the other anim...

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry chronicles the sudden decision of Harold Fry to walk hundreds of miles from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed after receiving a farewell letter from his friend Queenie who is dying from cancer .   Spectator describes the book as “ A brilliant and charming novel: full of comic panache yet acute and poignant ”   I am looking forward to reading this novel- it sounds like a feel-good book that will get us through January! The next book club meeting is Tuesday 10 th February 4pm. Enjoy!

Happy New Year to all book club members and loyal blog followers!   I wish you health and happiness for 2015- and hope you do LOTS of reading!    Don't forget- there is a meeting today at Yeovil College (4pm, Quiet Study Area) where we will be discussing 'What Dreams May Come' and issuing ' The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry '. This is my penultimate meeting as the Book Club Manager before I go on maternity leave so I am hoping for a good turnout!    As always- if you need anything please do not hesitate to contact me.  Carey