April Read

'Mr Rosenblum's List' by Natasha Solomon.
Helen's choice this will be our next read.

March Read

'Sea of Poppies' by Amitav Ghosh
The Belles struggled with this one and found it very difficult to follow and get into.
Comments very welcome.

January 2011 Read

'On Chesil Beach' by Ian McEwan
Jane's choice, this novel sparked off lots of differing opinions and ideas including thoughts on pre-marital sex, marital sex, infidelity and much more.

December Read

'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck

Brilliant book intentionally written to be a stage play thus the limited number of, but very strong and totally believable, characters. Also the settings were practically restricted to the barn and the bunkhouse.
Debate at the meeting provoked emotional responses including tears!
Excellent read.

October Read

'Eat, Pray, Love' by Liz Gilbert.
This was recommended by Kate and inspired a visit to the cinema to see Julia Roberts portraying the role of Liz.
Mixed opinions on the book and on Liz herself!
The October meeting was also our first 'Pot Pourri' meeting where we read and enjoyed many different titles.

Summer Read

Our Summer read is the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets). Jane will be hosting amovie evening in September when we will see the Swedish subtitled film of the first book. The Waterstone's synopsis for the first book reads : Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves. Enjoy!

July Read

Our July read is the selection of Sarah. The Waterstones synopsis reads One day Greg Mortenson set out to climb K2 - the world's second highest mountain - in honour of his younger sister, but when another member of his group fell ill, they turned around and Greg became lost in the mountains of Pakistan. He wandered into a poor village, where the chief and his people took him in. Moved by their kindness, Greg promised to return and build a school for the children. This is the remarkable story of how, against all the odds, Greg built not only one but more than sixty schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and how he dedicated his life to establishing literacy and peace, and understanding. Enjoy!