Book club choices for December

Christmas is nearly here! But the book club waits for no man, or woman.

Take a browse of these 6 choices for Decembers choice. You can vote over on Facebook HERE, tweet me your choice or simply put your choice in the comment section of this blog. Closing date is this Saturday. You'll then have the month to chew through it.
On Sunday at 4pm we'll discuss November's choice The Cuckoo's Calling over of Facebook.

The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller

Michael
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PS Here's the awesome trailer for the next Hobbit film.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

When The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton won the Man Booker Prize it obviously garnered a lot of attention and it's unfortunate that it was mainly due to the fact it's so large and that Eleanor is the prize's youngest winner. What should be highlighted instead of these is the plot, the characters and the setting. It's a deeply rich book filled with luminous characters (see what I did there) and a wildly complex plot involving gold, guns, politics, prostitution and death.

The setting is 1860's New Zealand, a wilderness slowly populated by travellers wishing to make their fortune on the recent gold rush. The town of Hokitika has recently been erected and is slowly growing and with it comes a culture of greed and power struggles. We start our journey with Walter Moody, fresh off the boat 'Godspeed', as he accidentally becomes embroiled in a secret gathering of 12 men. These men have all been connected to the disappearance of wealthy young entrepreneur Emery Staines, the death of a drunk hermit Crosbie Wells and the incarceration and reformation of former prostitute Anna Wetherall.

One by one, these 12 men tell their story to Moody of where they have been over the past few weeks, leading up to the secret rendezvous at the Crown Hotel, where they have met Moody. The tales vary wildly, with most stories involving at least one other member of the twelve. Men in the group range from a Chinaman, a Maori, a banker, a chemist and a chaplain amongst others. With so many characters each telling their own stories, intertwining with several others, it could have become a bit too muddled but Catton has fleshed them out so much that they become real. Along with these 12 (13 including Moody) characters, we also get to hear each persons view of several other key cast members including Anna Wetherall, the violent Francis Carver and the deceased Crosbie Wells.

The first chapter is a whopping 360 pages long but it absolutely required every page due to the detail of each statement of the participants. Chapter 2 is also over 100 pages and concerns two weeks after the meeting at The Crown Hotel, with each man now in the knowledge of each others secrets. With these secretes slowly seeping out, and each person with something to lose, it becomes a tense, beautifully rich mystery.

The story has all been laid out using astrology, and according to Catton, the stars in the sky in 1866, and the astrological science behind it, is all heavily researched and correct. You need to know nothing of this as it doesn't enter the plot at all and is used merely as a structural tool, but after reading it I saw that each character had been plotted on a character chart at the front of the book. It's a very interesting way to structure the book as if you are up to date with the astrological field in 1866 New Zealand, you may have seen a few plot twists coming. I, however, only know up to 1864.

I would never have picked this up if 1) It wasn't nominated for the Booker Prize and 2) If we hadn't had it as our book club choice. I am so grateful that I did as it's one of the best books I've read this year. Don't let the length put you off as 832 pages went past quite quickly. It took me about 6 weeks to get through.

On the Comfometer it has received an 8.5. I'm looking forward to reading more of Catton's work.

Michael
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8 literary inspired tattoos

I do not have a tattoo but have always considered it. The one thing stopping me is 'What do I get?' I've started to think of book inspired tattoos and took to Google and Pinterest with an open mind for inspiration. The range of ideas and creativity is astounding.

Harry Potter

Lord of The Rings

Where The Wild Things Are

The Catcher In The Rye

Pater Pan

Pride and Prejudice

Matilda

Amazing! Do you have a book inspired tattoo? Would you ever consider getting one? What would it be?!?

Michael

Novembers book club choice is The Cuckoo's Calling

Say's it all in the title really. The Robert Galbraith AKA JK Rowling thriller is this months choice. Pick up The Cuckoo's Calling and get reading, you have til 1st December to get through it. I am a massive Harry Potter fan and, even though her first non-Potter book The Casual Vacancy was not exactly praised, this tome has been held quite high. Before the news broke of her pseudonym it was getting great reviews and even afterwards too, and it's been a while since I've read a crime thriller. It's often cited as being a bit of a soft genre, too saturated, not literate enough, but I don't go in for that. If there is a story to tell, then tell it. I'm a big Kathy Reichs and Michael Connelly fan and hope The Cuckoo's Calling is in the same vein.

I'll report back with my book review once finished. Last months book The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton is a deep, complex murder mystery set in the mid 1800's in New Zealand. I'm actually still reading it as it's quite a large book, but those that finished it have said, on Facebook, that it was very good. A few tried it but couldn't get past 100 pages.

Michael

Book club choice for November

Have a look at the books up for vote this month. Pick your favourite and vote on Facebook, Twitter or comment below this blog. Feel free to add yourself to the Facebook group.

The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (AKA J K Rowling)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Octobers book of the month was the Booker winning The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. If you're reading that then you have til Sunday 3rd November. The vote for this months choice closes THIS FRIDAY Nov 1st.

Michael

What have I been up to lately?

My last few blogs have mostly been reviews so I think it's about time I had an update on what has been going on with the shop and I.

Fargo Village has finally started. It has been on the drawing board for quite some time now and it's a relief to see a digger actually on site. It has begun. I was getting a little worried it might be quite some time before the doors are open, but now, since the start of October, it's a go!

OK, so it may still be a while yet, but hopefully if the winter is kind and I cross all fingers and toes I could open mid next year. That's probably the best case scenario. It is such a large project with several spaces being developed for all the new businesses occupying the village. My building is one of the first to be worked on. The question that needs to be discussed a little further is does Fargo Village, and my shop in particular (along with those in the same complex) open when our part is complete, or do we wait until all other areas are complete? I am firmly in the 'I WANT MY SHOP OPEN NOW!' camp. Whilst the building is complete, and the area around safe and fenced off, why wouldn't I want to start getting people in the shop? Those I've spoken to have the same feelings too. The people at Fargo, both tenants and project managers are very keen to do it right, and are open to many ideas so I can't see it being too much of a problem (famous last words?!).
Last night was the second FarGo Village tenants meeting held at The Tin in Coventry's canal basin. It was nice to speak a little more to the other tenants and get some info about setting up as a Social Enterprise. I've never owned a business before so it's all new to me and the options are quite confusing sometimes so to have a little more detail was appreciated. Ian Harrabin, the man who's idea FarGo was, graced us with his presence and told us a little about the entire Far Gosford Street, Gosford Street area and I was stunned hearing the history of the area. I had absolutely no idea the importance, globally too, of Coventry. I am planning on investigating further so that I have more details to pass on to you and the shop customers, and maybe have some history events going on in the shop. I'll be wondering a little more around the area that is for sure.

At the meeting, Hannah from Urban Coffee Co, one of FarGo's tenants, gave us a little talk on her business and how they have grown and adapted. They only set up in 2009 in Birmingham but have already 3 stores open with FarGo being the forth. Even though I will also be selling coffee and cake, I will be along to Urban Coffee to learn more about coffee beans and to take part in their events too! It's all a happy family at FarGo! Hannah brought along Steffan from Droplet. Droplet is a mobile app that lets you pay without using cash or card. It's like a wallet. FarGo is being talked about using this type of payment (along with Cash and card too) as another way to be forward thinking. Droplet is new and is being used in Birmingham and areas of London. I for one am championing the design and inventive new ways that the Village hope's to take.

As well as Fargo I will be attending a few local craft fairs. Both are at Stockingford Sports and Social. The first is on October 27th and the second on 8th December. I'll have books and hopefully some homemade Christmas decorations and cards for sale, all book themed, mainly thanks to my wife Heidi.

It has been quite difficult to get the website getting hits as bookshops are overtaken by Amazon, not to mention other online bookshops. I started adding my stock to the website about a year ago now, and that was my day-job, with about 50-100 added daily. I added every single book I had which I see in hindsight wasn't a great way. A lot of generic books, some worn quite badly, have been added. I have looked recently at just adding those that I think are something of a find. I have a mass of sci fi and fantasy books that are not your everyday find, plus I still have about 80% of my stock to even look through. From now til Christmas I'll be streamlining the site a little with quality rather than quantity. Please take the time to have a look at the shop website. If there is a book you want, or a certain author then I will do my best to find it for you.

Finally it was the Man Booker Prize last night. I love the prize as it showcases books I would not have heard of before and gets people talking about books. In the book club I run (join for free here!) we picked The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton as our book of the month to read and it just so happened to have won last night! I am able to get The Luminaries at a special price of £16 with free postage so if you fancy it, please let me know.

Michael

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett is the 19th novel in the Discworld series. I am a massive Discworld and Pratchett fan and have read the Discworld novels in publication order (apart from Jingo, which was the 21st published) so this was my 20th Discworld novel and it was based on The City Watch, my favourite group of characters from the series. I'd even go as far as to say it was one of my favourites so far.

The City Watch is the Police Force of the main city on Discworld, Ankh-Morpork. Commander Vimes, Captain Carrot, Nobby, Colon, Detritus and Angua round out the main characters from previous City Watch Books, with a new recruit in the dwarf Cheery Littlebottom. Each one of these characters lives and breathes on the page, and they have done since his first book and Littlebottom is no different.

The City Watch

If you have never read a Discworld book before then try to imagine Monty Python in a fantasy land with wizards, trolls, humans with a tongue firmly in a cheek. Several times I laughed out loud (I always do with Pratchett).

The story of Feet of Clay revolves around a double murder. It's implicated that a Golem has killed the duo, but how can a Golem, who has no 'life', it's simply a machine, have any murderous tendancies? At the same time the marvellous Patrician (One of Discworlds rare sensible beings) has been poisoned. It's up to Vimes and The City Watch to find the culprit and bring them to justice.

In each Discworld book several figures pop up from time to time and new ones appear. I loved the introduction of a new character called Wee Mad Arthur, a 6 inch hard-as-nails Ratkiller gnome, with the face off of him vs a bull a hoot.

The Discworld - Great A'Tuin

It really was a joy to read, more so than normal. I've given it a huge 8.5 on the comfometer.

I urge you to read a Discworld novel. Publication date is not a great way to start tobe honest but I'm half way through now so I'm not stopping! The books are all in series eg The City Watch books, The Witches books, Wizards books etc, but they are all set on the Discworld, with characters appearing in other series. Have a look at the Terry Pratchett site for more.

One of my favourite Discworld books.

Michael
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