Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

January 10, 2012

Selected Stories by Katherine Mansfield

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — The DJ @ 3:07 pm
katherinemansfield
Title: Katherine Mansfield's Selected Stories Author: Katherine Mansfield Genre: Fiction Publisher: W. W. Norton Release Date: 2006 Pages: 430 Meeting: Friday 22nd April 2005

When one of my favourite writers, Virginia Woolf said: “I was jealous of her writing. The only writing I have ever been jealous of”, I couldn’t help my curiosity about Katherine Mansfield. She has long occupied a place on my ‘to read’ list and her weighty reputation rests on her short stories. She never wrote a novel

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The Rum Diary by Hunter S Thompson

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — The Techie @ 3:07 pm
rumdiary
Title: The Rum Diary Author: Hunter S. Thompson Genre: Fiction Publisher: Simon and Schuster Release Date: 2011-10-04 Pages: 224 Meeting: 16th November 2006

For the first time in the history of Bibliofemme a bookclub choice was rejected by the Femmes – not this book I hasten to add. Not my proudest moment but in my defence I have a baby now!

The book I chose which shall remain nameless as I do not wish to upset anyone was met with a resounding groan. A panic purchase by me and recommended by the

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Memoir by John McGahern

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Irish,Biography — The Historian @ 3:07 pm
memoir
Title: Memoir Author: John McGahern Genre: Biography, Irish Release Date: 2006 Pages: 272 Meeting: 14th December 2006

Sometimes bookclub books are chosen carefully; sometimes they occur by default. Memoir is one of the serendipitous accidents. A last minute trip to the bookshop before the last bookclub resulted me being unable to get seven copies of my book of choice. At the last minute, I saw a stack of Memoir and, as it’s been on my Must Read list since

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On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — Femmes @ 3:07 pm
onbeauty
Title: On Beauty Author: Zadie Smith Genre: Fiction Publisher: Penguin Group USA Release Date: 2006 Pages: 445 Meeting: 17th April 2007

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An Open Swimmer by Tim Winton

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — Femmes @ 3:07 pm
openswimmer
Title: An Open Swimmer Author: Tim Winton Genre: General Fiction Publisher: Pan Macmillan Release Date: 2003 Pages: 192 Meeting: Friday 20th May 2005

Tim Winton’s first novel is a classic character study, where not much happens.

To begin with we are presented with Jerra Nilsam, a young man who is desperately searching for some sort of meaning in his life. The novel is based along the Western Australian coastline and revolves around conversations, camping, reflection, fishing, letters, relationships

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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — The Connoisseur @ 3:07 pm
perfume
Title: Perfume Author: Patrick Süskind Genre: Fiction Publisher: Vintage Books Release Date: 2001 Pages: 255 Meeting: 12th March 2007

Synopsis Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer: this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is abandoned on the filthy streets of Paris as a child, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human’s. Soon, he is creating the most sublime fragrances in all the city. Yet, there is one

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The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — The Connoisseur @ 3:07 pm
fountainoverflows
Title: The Fountain Overflows Author: Rebecca West Genre: Fiction Publisher: New York Review of Books Release Date: 1956 Pages: 408

The author re-imagines her own childhood in this witty, often troubling autobiographical novel that follows the lives of members of the Aubrey family from the perspective of Rose, one of four siblings. Original.

Meeting: 13th October 2007

After a lot of research including scouring the recommendations in the Sunday papers and reviewing the ‘top’ lists in the Guardian

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The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — The Connoisseur @ 3:07 pm
icarusgirl
Title: The Icarus Girl Author: Helen Oyeyemi Genre: Fiction Publisher: Anchor Release Date: 2006 Pages: 337

Jessamy "Jess" Harrison, a racially-mixed child, is growing up feeling that she is caught between two different worlds, until she is sent to visit relatives in Nigeria, where she comes face to face with a mysterious new friend.

Meeting: 6th May 2006

 Without much time to look for this month’s bookclub book, I was relying on the Irish Times Saturday

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Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Irish — The Techie @ 3:07 pm
tatty
Title: Tatty Author: Christine Dwyer Hickey Genre: Fiction, Irish Publisher: Vintage Books Release Date: 2006 Pages: 205 Meeting: Friday 26th March 2004

When I read the press release for Tatty I was intrigued. I had heard of Dwyer-Hickey before but had never read anything by her, so the following lines written by Colum McCann really grabbed me:

‘A bare, lyrical story of a Dublin childhood that will rank among the very best of Irish books this year. It’s not easy to make writing seem this simple. Like all good stories, it never judges itself, and so it remains open, charming, dignified, even when the subject matter drifts towards the harrowing. A really fine book, evocative of a not-so-distant past.’

Of course the fact that she’s Irish and female was just an added bonus.

This is a very hard review to write as it is difficult to put in words exactly

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Adverbs by Daniel Handler

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — Femmes @ 3:07 pm
daniel
Title: Adverbs Author: Daniel Handler Genre: Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2009-10-06 Pages: 288

Meeting: 22nd August 2007

I didn’t realise it was my turn to pick the book this month until the Connoisseur sent out a reminder email the week of bookclub. So in a panic I asked a girl in work for a recommendation, knowing that she is a complete ‘bookhead’.

Her first suggestion she described as a book that

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