Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

January 10, 2012

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — Femmes @ 3:07 pm
yay
Title: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Author: Rebecca Wells Genre: Fiction Publisher: Harper Perennial Release Date: 2004-12-07 Pages: 400 Meeting: Friday 19th July 2002

When Siddalee Walker, eldest daughter of Vivi Abbott Walker (Ya-Ya extraordinaire – part Scarlett, part Katharine Hepburn, part Tallulah) is interviewed about a hit play she has directed, her mother is described as a ‘tap-dancing child abuser’. Enraged, Vivi disowns Sidda – devastating her daughter who postpones her wedding

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The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life by Ryszard Kapuscinski

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — The Techie @ 3:07 pm
shadowofsun
Title: The Shadow of the Sun Author: Ryszard Kapuscinski, Klara Glowczewska, Genre: Biography & Autobiography Publisher: Penguin UK Release Date: 2002-03-28 Pages: 336 Meeting: Friday 19th November 2004

I chose this book for two particular reasons. I liked the idea of reading a Polish author (the majority of our authors being, Irish, English or American) and the book itself was recommended to me.

The Shadow of the Sun is a hard book to categorise. It’s not quite a biography and it isn’t really a travel book, so the only way I can describe

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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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Double Fault by Lionel Shriver

Filed under: Bookclub Books,General Fiction — The Techie @ 3:07 pm
doublefault
Title: Double Fault Author: Lionel Shriver, Barrington Saddler LLC, Genre: Fiction Publisher: Harper Perennial Release Date: 2009-03-31 Pages: 352 Meeting: 5th June 2007

Every once in a while I am lucky enough to read a book that is amazing. Earlier this year I read We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, and it was one of ‘those’ books. While simultaneously loving every minute of reading it and kicking myself for not picking it for bookclub the idea to pick a Shriver book for the club to read

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Fillums by Hugh Leonard

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Irish — The DJ @ 3:07 pm
fillums
Title: Fillums Author: Hugh Leonard Genre: General Fiction, Irish Publisher: Methuen Pub Limited Release Date: 2005 Pages: 240  Meeting: Wednesday 23rd June 2004

His newspaper columns and literary output hint that Hugh Leonard, real and imaginary, is an avuncular raconteur. His stories of people and places, of secrets and rites of passage happen in small Irish towns or anonymous Dublin suburbs. ‘Fillums’ begins, handily enough, with a trailer. In it, an aging playwright worried about his literary

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The Vagina Monologues – Eve Ensler

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Biography — The Techie @ 3:07 pm
vaginamonologues
Title: The Vagina Monologues Author: Eve Ensler Genre: Biography Publisher: Villard Books Release Date: 2007 Pages: 222 Meeting: Thursday 7th August 2003

I chose this book because I had heard so much about the play from various different friends, I was disappointed that I missed it and thought; well I’ll buy the book. The feedback I’d got in relation to the play included, “it made me laugh, and it made my cry”. I also thought that Ensler had done something incredibly brave

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Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Enlightenment — The Historian @ 3:07 pm
veronika
Title: Veronika Decides to Die Author: Paulo Coelho Genre: Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2006-05-23 Pages: 240 Meeting: Tuesday 26th February 2002

Veronika decides to die – but then realises how very precious life is. Although she’s a young girl with everything to live for, Veronika is not happy and feels that the only remedy for her malaise is suicide. But she survives and wakes up in the local lunatic asylum, only to be told that her heart is damaged and she has just days to live

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The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

Filed under: Bookclub Books,Classics,Irish — The DJ @ 3:07 pm
theseathesea
Title: The Sea, the Sea Author: Iris Murdoch Genre: Classics, Irish Publisher: Penguin Release Date: 1978 Pages: 495 Meeting: September 2002

At the time of choosing ‘The Sea, The Sea’ it was the earliest written book chosen so far for the bookclub (though still in its infancy at 26 years). Written in the late 1970s, it was to be Murdoch’s most lauded – and some would say – most difficult book. I was also surprised that until now, no one had opted for an Irish-born

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The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

Filed under: Bookclub Books — The DJ @ 3:07 pm
shippingnews
Title: The Shipping News Author: Annie Proulx Genre: Classics Publisher: Simon and Schuster Release Date: 1994-06-01 Pages: 337 Meeting: Friday 8th February 2002

For my first bookclub book, I chose ‘The Shipping News’ because it was one of those books that I’d always wanted to read and never got around to. Published in 1993, I took a chance and hoped that no one else had read it (even though it was well known and had scooped up literary prizes aplenty). Luck was with me and only ‘The

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