It’s nearly Christmas and the YCAA Book Club has been having some festive fun with a book-themed Secret Santa! Liz tells us more…
December had arrived and we all placed our beautifully wrapped Secret Santa books in the centre of the table. Always exciting, as we never know what we have picked until Christmas morning… unless ….
Our two books to read this month were by authors who had been to the Yeovil Literary Festival and left their audiences intrigued enough to buy their books.
‘The Vintage Shop’ by Libby Page
We all mulled over this one, as Liz was intrigued by the revealing relationships all brought together by a yellow dress. Chip thought it was not for him, as did Carol as there was no crime to stir things up. Theresa enjoyed it but we all decided that this was a gentle ‘girly’ read. This book is good for finding a corner, settling down for a relaxing read that will leave a warm feeling by the end.
‘The Hike’ by Lucy Clarke
Bob was attracted by the title as ‘he likes hiking’, he said, and he found this to be an excellent read. The plot moved along well, but he did think finding the cave a little ‘fortuitous’ for the story. Well written and the character of Eric surprised at the end.
Sandra loved it except for the chapter on Lief as she thought that should be at the end, as did Liz. Overall it was really enjoyed.
Chip enjoyed it too. He thought the relationship between the four girl characters was very well written with a good ending. A discussion about finding the body of a character that had been missing quite a while, puzzled us and definitely triggered a good conversation.
Faye liked the grouping and how the friendships shone but overall, and she is half-Norwegian, it didn’t grab her.
Liz loved the setting and the strong characterisations with the flaws and strengths of established friendships. The plot kept her engaged and there was certainly a surprise at the end. A good read and well written.
Carol was waiting for someone to get ‘knocked off’ and thought the characters were really good. This book certainly generated a good amount of the who, how and why which illustrates what a good read it was.
Love Libraries!
We also had a talk about our fantastic library. Theresa said the overall message is we should all use them or else they will go.
Books read and enjoyed were…
Carol highly recommended ‘The Interview’ by C.M. Ewens, for anyone who loved a good thriller. Also, she liked ‘Found in a Bookshop’ by Stephanie Butland. Problems were solved when customers collected their books from the bookshop after ordering online during the pandemic.
She had also read ‘The Impossible Creatures’ by Katherine Rundell, which is causing a lot of comments making it a ‘best seller’ at the moment. Carol also enjoyed ‘Fallen Skies’ by Philippa Gregory.
Bob is waiting for something ‘good’ to come along, but he doesn’t know what is in his Secret Santa yet!
Chip enjoyed and recommended ‘Carriage 451’ (on Kindle) written by Barry Joyce and set in the Russian Revolution.
Liz read Vaseem Khan’s latest novel in the Persis Wadia series. This was a twisting, intriguing tale with the usual mix of interesting characters set in India in the 1950s.
Theresa particularly recommends ‘The Memory Keeper of Kyiv’ by Erin Litteken with two time-lines. This sounds interesting!
Faye and Carol both highlighted two novels by Posy Lovell. ‘The Kew Garden Girls’ and ‘The Sewing Factory Girls’. Set in WWI the social effects of women working in changed circumstances is absorbing and these books are well written.
Next Month
Our next group read will be ‘The Lost Bookshop’ by Evie Woods.
Our individual Secret Santa books. All will be revealed on 9th January 2024 at 12 noon in the Westlands Entertainment Venue.
You are welcome to join in. See you there!