Pocket Book Club's first book for 2021 was The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. I am very pleased to say there is madeira Cake in this book. One of our best hopes for any book is for it to include some delicious food and I got to bake the madeira cake twice due … Continue reading Fear for Words
Tag: Bookclub
2020 Wins
2020 was a Cracker! Ok, sure there was a pandemic and general mayhem but on the bright side, Pocket Book Club read some mighty fine books. This is how the votes came in! A yellow or blue dot is a yes vote and a red dot is a 'I like it less' vote. We rarely … Continue reading 2020 Wins
Nature Girl meets Courtroom Drama
"Where the Crawdads Sing" is a North Carolina way of saying "Beyond the Blackstump" which would probably also be a good name for a book if it is not already taken. Everything you need to know about the main character in "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens is contained within her deer analogy. “Kya … Continue reading Nature Girl meets Courtroom Drama
Where’s the Rakija?
The Pocket Bookclub set a dangerous precedent when we emulated Eleanor Oliphant's favourite dinner of vodka and pizza. It seemed that on every other page the characters in Téa Obreht's The Tiger's Wife are drinking Rakija or Rakia. This is essentially fruit brandy from the Balkans which you cannot buy (easily) in Australia. We know … Continue reading Where’s the Rakija?
Strange & Norrell
Some books are like a feather bed. Not that they lull you to sleep. More a case of falling into them like a comfortable dream. If you love a book as much as a feather bed you should not ask your book club to read it. You may hope they will also be dreamily enthralled. … Continue reading Strange & Norrell
“I left the baby on the bus and now I’m going to fall into a delirious fever”
Pocket Bookclub is not enamoured with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or the monster in the book. This a story we retell and reimagine over and over. In fact, Frankenstein is 200 years old this year. It has captured our collective cultural imagination but the source just did not stand up for us. Let's start with who … Continue reading “I left the baby on the bus and now I’m going to fall into a delirious fever”
Hungry and lost: Terra Nullius
The Pocket Bookclub does not have many rules. It is however customary for the month's chooser of the book to bring supper. Of late these suppers have in part been inspired by the book. Some members have been quite imaginative and set a high bar. Notably, our civil war inspired supper when discussing Lincoln in … Continue reading Hungry and lost: Terra Nullius
Pocket Bookclub gets bloody and goes to hell
This month the Pocket Bookclub dove into a vat of bloody organs and the genre of crime fiction with Hades by Candice Fox. Homicide detective Frank Bennett has an intriguing new partner. Dark, beautiful, coldly efficient, Eden Archer is one of the most enigmatic colleagues Frank has ever worked with—that includes her brother Eric, who’s … Continue reading Pocket Bookclub gets bloody and goes to hell
Pocket Book Club gets Dreamy
Have you ever dreamt you find a 'new' room in your house? Or perhaps you are in a new house discovering new rooms. I have this dream all the time. Well, at least a couple of times a year. If Kirsten Tranter hasn't had a similar dream I will eat my hat. Early on in … Continue reading Pocket Book Club gets Dreamy
The votes are in: Pocket Book Club
The Pocket Book Club have voted for our favourite and less than favourite books in 2016. We had our Christmas break up at the glorious Cormorant Bay Restaurant with glorious views of Wivenhoe Pocket Dam and succulent pork. Everyone was given three yellow stickers to vote for their favourite books of the year (the stickers … Continue reading The votes are in: Pocket Book Club