YC Reading

( Possible spoilers and triggers ahead) Emma Donoghue's innovative novel, "Room" is introduced with a quotation from the Greek myth of Perseus and Danae. Danae was a young woman imprisoned in a brass tomb deep below the ground, impregnated by Zeus then cast out to sea shut in a wooden box with her baby. The quote focuses on the purity and innocence of youth, amid horrors that the mother cannot escape nor ignore - indeed is compelled to bear, witness and ultimately survive. That, ultimately, is what Room is about - told from the perspective of five year old Jack, whose entire life has been lived in one sealed room with his mother. Cleverly written and structured, the novel slowly unfolds its secrets at a compelling pace and depth, as both Jack, and the reader, come to realize the truth and urgency of the situation. From the first paragraph, you're hooked.  Unsettling discord appears from the mention of" going to sleep in Wardrobe", and the reader...

We read fiction for many reasons. We may read to escape, or to immerse ourselves in an imaginary world. We can explore and experience emotions, situations and places through the mindset and words of another. We may be challenged to think, or to consider things differently. And we read to learn. The pursuit of knowledge through reading is fundamental to its importance and centrality in our society. It’s yet another reason why literacy has been so vital, and the role of libraries in advocating and encouraging literacy remains a key aspect of our ethos.  A fiction book which seeks to fulfill all of these needs simultaneously aims high. You could say that this multifaceted identity is what allows us to call these aspiring books, “literary fiction.” Despite the contentious label, any book which manages to deliver on all these points is quite rightly praised. And “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” is one of these books.  Billed as a family drama of the cloyingly emotional...

Our October Book was "The Miniaturist" by Jessie Burton .  A much hyped novel, which has uniformly received glowing reviews from leading critics and popular authors, we were all hoping for great things. The group met yesterday and were instantly in agreement that this novel did not deliver, and that it was a book that some felt obliged to finish and others just couldn't stand to continue it. Some great conversation followed, and what follows is a summary of what we covered. I've paraphrased as best as possible, just to give a flavor of this discussion, which got very lively and passionate in places. Here's why: Sijla : Silja summarized the issue very pithily with this comment - (slight spoiler alert!)   " If I don’t care about a dead dog, something’s not right!" As an experienced writer, Silja felt that this book read like someone’s first novel   produced for a creative writing exercise, or by a recent graduate, and felt very amateur and...