Tuesday Tipplers Book Club - newbies welcome

[marlowe]

Can you do the list please?

[Red_Cat]

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

[Red_Cat]

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.

[Red_Cat]

Any more votes? Let have asap, thanks.

[Red_Cat]

Chosen book is Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice

See you all on 16 th Jan.

Have a Happy Christmas 🎄

[susan_]

Just started the book on the train this morning- I was worried about finishing it by Tuesday but 10 pages in and it's flying. See you all next week.

[Hels2015]

Hello, Is this still open to new joiners?

helen

[Hels2015]

Hello, Is this still open to newbies? I'd love to come along.

helen

[susan_]

Hi Helen, you're very welcome - look for us in the Tippler this Tuesday about 19:45/20:00...we try to sit up front in the windows, I usually have the book with me and visible on the table.

[susan_]

Oh my goodness I've just finished Interview with a Vampire and I really want to discuss the ending! V annoyed that I hadn't finished the last few pages before last night!

[Red_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

[JenniferJ]

Hello. I agree! I hadn?t finished the book either and was dashing from a yoga class so decided to skip it. Let?s do a bit at the start of the next meet up?!

What is the date of the next one? And what is the subject matter?

Going to make the next one! New Years Resolution!

Jen x

[susan_]

Hey Jen! HNY!

Next one is 13 Feb, I'm doing the list on the theme 'books I bought at charity shops in the last several years and haven't read and didn't cull last week (when I basically cleared all my bookshelves)'. Scintillating I know! I'll put the list up by the weekend and ask for votes within a few days so we have time to read.

We didn't pick a person to do next month's list (but we're totally out of the habit of doing lists in advance). I suppose if anyone feels inspired they could just turn up with a list next time.

Oh also, two colleagues have Interview with a Vampire on DVD so I'll borrow a copy and we can do movie night at mine. I'll have a look at dates and post or direct message you all.

[susan_]

Here goes, votes by 6pm on Wednesday and I'll post the winner. The first four are all from my charity-shop-book-buying habit and the last one was a Christmas present. Is there a theme?

We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

A mother's correspondence with estranged husband two years after their son shoots up his high school. 2005 Orange Prize

Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

Farm wife, on her way to meet with secret lover, finds a lake of fire in the mountains. Clash of rural and media after the discovery.

The Pearl that Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi

Kabul 2007, two sisters are trapped in their home by circumstances. One dresses as a boy to go out into the world. Her story interwoven with her great great grandmother's.

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

A baby girl is born in remote India and given away (for not being a boy). The child is adopted by a well-off American family.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Espionage, the Great War and the Second World War, a disgraced and pregnant young woman sent away, a middle aged woman drinking herself to oblivion to forget the war and her involvement as a spy.

[JenniferJ]

Thanks Susan! And Happy New Year!

I?ll PM my vote. Look forward to seeing you in Feb.

Stay warm and dry till then ❄️☔️

Jen x

[susan_]

Any last votes???

[susan_]

Okay gang - the votes are in :

Alice Network is the winner

See you all on 13 February

[susan_]

How?s everyone doing with Alice? See you tomorrow evening

[atSahar]

Hello all,

I have a few pages left to finish Alice. Are you meeting at 19:45/20 tonight? Hope you?re still open to newbies? I would love to come along.

Best,

Sahar

[Red_Cat]

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

Cat

[susan_]

Really nice to meet and chat with you Sahar :)

Kenneth is doing a list for our March meeting and Cat will bring a list for April.

We?re meeting on 13 March at the usual 19:45/20:00 at the Tippler

[kennethw]

Hi everyone, on the theme of LGBT fiction, here's the list for next month. Please PM me your choice over the next week.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - 304pp

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is Oscar Wilde's classic tale of the moral decline of its title character, Dorian Gray. When Dorian has his portrait painted by Basil Hallward and wishes that he would stay young while his picture changes, his wish comes true.

Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters - 477pp

A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin - 386pp

San Francisco, 1976. A na?ve young secretary, fresh out of Cleveland, tumbles headlong into a brave new world of laundromat Lotharios, pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, and Jockey Shorts dance contests.

Call my by your Name - Andre Aciman - 256pp

Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction.

[kennethw]

Hi, I've had 2 votes so far, if you'd like to help us choose the title for March, please PM me by Tuesday.thanks, Kenneth

[kennethw]

Hi, the votes are all in and the winner is

Call Me By Your Name.

See you all on the 13th

[Red_Cat]

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.