Monica Ali - Brick Lane
Too long but interesting insight into the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets. Provoked a good discussion.
Rated good - 8/10.
Jake Arnott - Johnny Come Home
It's always entertaining when reading Arnott's books trying to uncover the true identity of his characters, and as I raced through this one I found it hard to shake off the idea that an overweight Bacofoil clad ex rock and roller was the 'inspiration' for the Johnny Chrome character. I found it lightweight in comparison to the Long Firm trilogy, though perhaps that simply confirms my own taste for gangster stories over pop music. Rated good - 6/10
Paul Auster - Moon Palace
Fascinating but not to everyone’s taste. Some thought there was too much coincidence but interesting themes and characters.
Rated good - 7/10. Education Bradford Book Group
Christine Aziz - The Olive Readers
Excellent beginning, interesting premise but deteriorated into sci-fi and unbelievable ending.
Rated fair - 4/10.
Beryl Bainbridge - Every Man For Himself
Tedious – found it very difficult to engage with the main character. Have you seen Titanic? If so I don’t think you will enjoy this book. Action is too slow and life aboard boring.
Poor read - 1/10. Menston Library reading group member
Joan Barfoot - Getting Over Edgar
A good read. An interesting study of how people react to death and the breakdown of relationships. I loved the development and rehabilitation of David.
Good read - 7/10. Burley Library Reading Group member
A.S. Byatt - The Matisse Stories
These stories are full of colour and light. The author has taken a paint box and a sensitive brush to draw them. Each story comes to life under her brush like a glittering, elegant patchwork cloth. These stories are both classy and enjoyable.
Excellent read - 10/10. Burley Library Reading Group Member
Melvyn Burgess - Junk
This book is readable even though written as a warning to teenagers or parents who want to understand drugs. I liked the changes of narrator but the character development was quite poor.
Excellent read - 6/10. Keighley Library reading group member
Jonathan Coe - The House of Sleep
I found this a good read. I got to know the characters and felt for their incarceration and unhappiness. Although I could anticipate what was going to happen I was still rather surprised by the twist at the end.
Good read - 8/10. Burley Library Reading group member
I thought it was boring, difficult to get into and frustrating! Awful read - 2/10. A different Burley Library member!
Paulo Coelho - The Devil and Miss Prym
This was a very thought provoking book rather than a good read. There was not a plot as such and the characters were only thinly drawn. The main theme was how a human being would respond to evil – a frightening thought.
Rated good - 8/10. Menston Library Reading group member
Joolz Denby - Billie Morgan
I wouldn’t have bought this book personally. At first I thought her plethora of descriptive adjectives seemed laboured and forced and I lost interest. However, her use of the ‘Diary Form’ was interesting --- deliberate spontaneity. She paced the journal well and became more flowing in style and easy to read. Get past the Goddess of the ‘cult’ bits and focus on the journal, the experience of living in Bradford as a reflective person, the experience is raw, human and merciful.
Good read - 8/10. Shipley Library reading group member
Michael Dibdin - Cosi Fan Tutti
Written in a humorous style based on the opera and the opening encourages the idea of watching it on a stage. There are several sub plots and the story skips from one to another. A great number of characters, some rather unpleasant which creates some confusion.
Good read - 7/10. Menston Library Reading group member
Margaret Drabble - The Peppered Moth
Too ponderous chewing over of the character of Bessie Bawtry. Nothing happens! Got to page 59 and thought how slow life was in the past, how it dragged and thought so does this book!
Poor read - 4/10. East Morton reading group member
Susan Elderkin - Sunset over Chocolate Mountain
At first difficult because of its labyrinthine structure but although I struggled to maintain interest I could not abandon it. Why? Because I fell in love with Theo Moon, because he loved fairy stories and freedom – his habits and determination to make a garden in the harsh desert environment and to build a haven of security for his small daughter. After reading the back cover I was naturally driven to discover the ‘terrible’ secret and how everything changed.
Excellent read - 9/10. Burley Library reading group member
Michael Frayn - Spies
A really good read, brought back memories of the past. Excellently portrayed through the eyes of boys by the author.
Excellent read - 9/10. Anonymous reading group member.
Michael Frayn has captured childhood in his grip and taken his reader on a journey which I will never forget. I like the style, pace and plot. It begins with an ending and ends with the ending which unties all the mysteries. I dreamed of it, thought of it and reread it again this delightful aromatic sense of bosoms, privet and Lamorna.
Excellent read - 10/10. Burley Library reading group member
Jo-Anne Goodwin - Danny Boy
Initially shocked by the language but then drawn into the story. It is a morality tale updated. Not an anti drugs book but about redemption. Good to read as a pair with Melvyn Burgess’ Junk.
Excellent read - 8/10. Keighley Library Reading group member
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
I think it is a brilliant book. It grabbed me from the first line. The victim of this murder mystery is a dog – strange enough. The hero – detective and narrator is Christopher Boone, a 15 year old boy who knows about maths but nothing at all about people. At times the book is very, very funny but also in parts unbearably sad but the author dodges sentimentality completely. The author gives his reader an insight into the autistic mind and is brilliant in his understanding. From the beginning I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
Excellent read - 10/10. Burley Library Reading group member
Kent Haruf - Plainsong
This was a very gentle story told in a sparing, simple and direct style which gave a vivid idea of life in a harsh landscape. The characters were described in such a way that the reader begins to care about what happens to them.
Heart warming - a good read - 8/10. Menston Library reading group
Lian Hearn - Across the Nightingale Floor
A good fantasy book, even if you don’t like fantasy!
Good read - 8/10. Shipley Library reading group member
Zoe Heller - Notes on a Scandal
Half way through chapter 4 I paused to wonder did I want to read more! It wasn’t pacey, I was still unsurprised. The plot was a repeat of many but these characters never came to life for me. The dialogue was predictive and shallow, the story wavered backwards and forwards until I was giddy with confusion. Maybe I am no judge. Otherwise why was this novel short listed for the Man Booker Prize?
Good read (because of the discussion) - 6/10 Burley Library Reading group member
As gripping as it said; also disturbing.
Excellent read - 9/10. Central Library reading group member
Susan Hill - Air and Angels
It was an easy read. I liked the short chapters and felt the writer was trying to re-capture the missed years of the main character. I found it quite an unusual book.
Good read - 7/10. Burley Library reading group member
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
Good characters, well written and gripping from the start. Difficult to put down, had to remind ourselves this was fiction, kept us all on the edge of our seats. We found it hard hitting, entertaining, joyful and harrowing. It is about two boys brought up in Kabul from opposite ends of the class and religious divide.
Excellent read - 9/10. Education Bradford book group
Frances Itani - Deafening
Thought provoking, a good insight into being deaf. A bit too long but took us into a world we did not know.
Good read - 7/10 Keighley Library reading group
Jackie Kay - Trumpet
Very challenging, not holiday reading! Provided a good ‘meaty’ discussion.
Good read - 7/10. Anonymous
Matthew Kneale - English Passengers
An exciting book, told from the point of view of various characters, taking in the 19th century Australian convict settlement and racism.
Excellent read - 9/10. Anonymous
Marina Lewycka - A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian
An interesting novel, with a fast-paced narrative, about family relationships and tensions. It explores how events and experiences shape the people we become, and how our feelings towards people can change as we come to understand what drives them. It deals with serious issues in a human and humorous way.
7/10 - Jane, Tramshedders Reading Group, Saltaire
Yann Martel - Life of Pi
Took a bit of getting into but an excellent read. Full of sadness, religion, humour and animals. Glad I have read it!
Excellent read - 9/10. Burley library reading group member
Rohinton Mistry - Such A long Journey
I found this book boring. The author wanted to include every detail of life in a block of flats. Needed to be more selective to make impact.
Poor read - 4/10. Menston Library reading group member
Julie Myerson - Laura Blundy
Very vivid story and writing, especially the description of the amputation. The novel jumps into different times so could be rather confusing? Was Laura Blundy a ghost? Was Billy her lover and son? These questions not answered.
Good read - 7/10. Burley Library reading group member
Horrendous - how can any author be so depraved as to write a book like this?
Awful read - 0/10. Menston Library reading group member
Nathaniel Philbrick - In the Heart of the Sea
Enjoyable, well written documentary style book. Found the stuff about cannibalism unbearable. Interesting and well researched book about the 19th century Nantucket whaling industry with a focus on one horrific boat that had an adventurous journey.
Good read - 7/10. Central library reading group member
Caryl Phillips - A Distant Shore
An excellent study of the loneliness and despair of a refugee and retired woman, excellent character development. Makes a profound social statement.
Excellent read - 9/10. Central library reading group member
Jodi Picoult - My Sister’s Keeper
A good read, page turner, all about the dilemma of a 13 year old girl who was born to provide ‘spare parts’ for her chronically ill older sister. Interesting issues, thought provoking.
Good read - 8/10. East Morton reading group member
Michael Redhill - Martin Sloane
A very good intriguing, multi-layered book, which kept you guessing until the end. Very well written and structured so that it unfolds like a detective story but isn’t. An excellent book to discuss with others.
Excellent read - 9/10. Anonymous
Ruth Rendell - Harm Done
Too long, long passages of irrelevant description of mob hysteria and the behaviour of people on housing estates exposing, to my mind, her attitudes and bias prejudice!
Poor read - 6/10. Ilkley reading group member
James Runcie - The Colour of Heaven
Difficult to get into but then inspiring. A historical novel about colour, painting, travel and discovery.
Good read - 7/10. Anonymous
Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones
A very strange but compelling book, it gets a little ‘folksy’ at times. A warm- hearted family torn apart by a dreadful murder. A detective story told from an entirely different angle i.e. a dead girl trying to give her family clues (from heaven) about her murder. This is an excellent read full of interesting characters. All the events are tidied up at the end, not like real life of course but satisfying in a book.
Excellent read - 9/10. Anonymous
Anita Shreve - Sea Glass
Basic romance story with some interest created by mill workers’ strike but not enough character development. Only read it during the day – not diverting enough to get you to sleep at night! Lazily written book without historical or character development.
Poor read - 3/10. Anonymous
Thought provoking – very easy to read. Liked the arrangement of chapters linked to different class experiences in the Depression.
Good read - 7/10. Menston Library reading group member
Amy Tan - The Bonesetter’s Daughter
A book to lose yourself in and become completely absorbed in, with both a modern relevance but yet about a different culture. Passages of great spirituality and emotion written with restraint and no self-pity.
Excellent read - 9/10. Burley library reading group member
Barbara Trapido - Frankie and Stankie
Very entertaining and amusing but giving a broader historical picture of South Africa. Will bring back memories of your own school days and why you did silly things!
Excellent read - 8/10. Burley Library reading group member
Jonathan Tulloch - Give us this Day
An eye-opener for anyone who, like me, has always thought preaching was a one-day-a-week job. I won’t be going to seminary. ‘The Bonny Lad’ by the same author is even better.
Excellent read - 9/10. East Morton reading group member
Sarah Waters - Affinity
I think it is just a good read. It is tempting to consider the vulnerability of the main character and speculate that this is the reason for her susceptibility to spirituality – but perhaps that is reading too much into it. The author weaves a tale where it is hard to separate fact and fiction from nonsense. Suspend belief or rationality and enjoy it!
Good read - 8/10. Shipley library reading group member
Niall Williams - Four Letters of Love
I got into it very quickly and liked the descriptive language and short chapters. The theme was rather gloomy – lacking in humour or happiness. Enjoyed the descriptions of Ireland.
Good read - 7/10. Idle Library reading group member
Rachel Zadok - Gem Squash Tokoloshe
A page turner, excellent characters. A child’s perspective on her mother’s descent into mental illness, well described.
Good read - 9/10. East Morton reading group member
