Red_Cat

Hi All,

Sadly I will not be able join you tomorrow as I inadvertently double booked myself with something I?d forgotten to put in my diary. It?s a shame as was really looking forward to discussing the book. I will pm my vote for next month?s book to Susan.

Hope you have a good evening and a lovely Christmas 🎄🎄🎄

See you next year.

Looking forward to it 📚

Me too

Yes 2nd October sounds good

Hi, yes look forward to meeting up again, I can do any week in the next few weeks.

Cat x

Sorry I just can?t get there tonight

Sorry me neither, am stuck at work, mot having much luck this month x

O no! Really sorry (:

Ok yes let's do 10th instead if that's ok with everyone

I may also not be able to get there till quite late as may have to work late, I'm wondering if we should postpone to another week as the football (England!)will be on tonight and they have the matches on i tippleralso so not sure how cpractical book club will be!

It?s a bit of a long shot as far away but if you?re still looking for your tortoise one has been found walking round New Cross, it?s been handed in to John Hankinson Vets.

Thanks Susan

What date did we decide on for our next meeting? I don?t seem to have put it in my diary.

Hi All,

Looking forward to tomorrow's meeting.

Here are the book choices for us to vote on tomorrow for next month, based on the theme of 'Secrets.'

The Miniaturist - Jesse Burton

In winter 1686 18 year old Petronella arrives in Amsterdam, the new bride of the wealthy, charismatic merchant Johannes Brandt - a man she barely knows. Greeted only by his frosty ascetic sister Marin, things gets progressively stranger as Nella's husband avoids consummating their marriage and presents her instead with an extravagant wedding gift - a miniature replica of their own cloistered, controlled home. Nella applies to a miniaturist to furnish it, but when parcels start arriving of miniature items that mimic and foretell events unfolding in the house, secrets spill out and betrayals bring danger.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

Living in the Blackwood family home with only her sister Constance and her Uncle Julian for company, Merricat just wants to preserve their delicate way of life. But ever since Constance was acquitted of murdering the rest of the family, the world isn't leaving the Blackwoods alone. When cousin Charles arrives, armed with overtures and a desperate need to get into the safe, Merricat must do everything in her power to protect the remaining family. An entrancing and unsettling tale in which the tension between the Blackwoods and the townsfolk builds towards a shocking and unavoidable ending.

Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng

The story of a Chinese American family living in 1970's small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfil the dreams they were unable to pursue - to become both a doctor and to be the popular centre of attention. When Lydia's body is found in the local lake the Lee family are forced to confront long-kept secrets slowly pulling them apart. James sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage, Marilyn, devastated and vengeful is determined to find the responsible party , no matter what the cost. The novel is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon

Christopher is an intelligent youth who lives in the functional hinterland of autism - every day is an investigation for him because of all the aspects of human life that he does not quite get. When the dog next door is killed with a garden fork, Christopher becomes quietly persistent in his desire to find out what has happened and tugs away at the world around him until a lot of secrets unravel messily.

Hi Sahar, yes definitely open to newcomers, look forward to seeing you tonight.

Cat

You need to convene an emergency book club!

Yes wasn't sure about talking about the ending so not to spoil it for you, I had forgotten and still don't recall the ending from the film

Chosen book is Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice

See you all on 16 th Jan.

Have a Happy Christmas 🎄

Any more votes? Let have asap, thanks.

Hi All,

At last,here are your choices for the undead!

Please pm me your first and second choice asap.

If anyone would like to join the bookclub in the new year our next meeting is on 16th January, please feel free to message me your choices.

I will announce the winner on Friday.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him - after all, he is the last remaining member of the family. A stunningly original novel deftly constructed over eight chapters, featuring every second year of Bod's life, from babyhood to adolescence. Will Bod survive to be a man?

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.

What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?

Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life?s bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.

World War Z by Max Brooks

It began with rumours from China about another pandemic. Then the cases started to multiply and what had looked like the stirrings of a criminal underclass, even the beginnings of a revolution, soon revealed itself to be much, much worse. Faced with a future of mindless, man-eating horror, humanity was forced to accept the logic of world government and face events that tested our sanity and our sense of reality. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and key players in the 10-year fight-back against the horde, World War Z brings the very finest traditions of American journalism to bear on what is surely the most incredible story in the history of civilisation.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger

When Elspeth Noblin dies she leaves her beautiful flat overlooking Highgate Cemetery to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina Poole, on the condition that their mother is never allowed to cross the threshold. But until the solicitor's letter falls through the door of their suburban American home, either Julia nor Valentina knew their aunt existed. The twins hope that in London their own, separate, lives can finally begin but they have no idea that they've been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt's mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them and works in the cemetery itself.

As the twins unravel the secrets of their aunt, who doesn't seem quite ready to leave her flat, even after death, Niffenegger weaves together a delicious and deadly ghost story about love, loss and identity.

Interview With A Vampire by Ann Rice

In a darkened room a young man sits telling the macabre and eerie story of his life - the story of a vampire, gifted with eternal life, cursed with an exquisite craving for human blood. Anne Rice's compulsively readable novel is arguably the most celebrated work of vampire fiction since Bram Stoker's Dracula was published in 1897. As the Washington Post said on its first publication, it is a 'thrilling, strikingly original work of the imagination . . . sometimes horrible, sometimes beautiful, always unforgettable'.

Affinity by Sarah Waters

Set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870's , AFFINITY is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale. Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates - the imprisoned spiritualist - Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.

Yes sorry for delay will post it in the next couple of days, think I will have to change the subject slightly as couldn't make a whole list of worthwhile books on the undead

Well Rivers of London seemed to be enjoyed by all.

We decided due to December being busy our next meeting will be on 16th January. I will do a booklist and post at the weekend for voting. Theme is going to 'the undead'💀

That's was quick!

I'll be there about 8.15

Can we do 17th or is that too soon? I don't think no can do 24th

thanks, I think you missed off the name of the Alice Walker book, which one is it?