Welcome to the Cuidiu Cork and East Cork Book Clubs. Each month we pick a book that we all read and then discuss at the following meeting. Everybody is welcome, so if you enjoy reading, why not join us? Please refer to the newsletter for details about venue. Happy Reading!

East Cork Book Club: Most recent reads are The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Cork Book Club: Four books wereread over the summer as we don’t meet July and August. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry, John The Revelator by Peter Murphy, Breath by Tim Winton and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Recently read books

We rated ‘Q and A’ by Vikas Swarup as 2.5 on average with scores from 1 to 3

Small Island was really enjoyed and scored a very high 4/5. There was a lot of humour in the book and the subject of racism was sensitively dealt with. We all had a giggle at Hortense and how she dealt with her less than satisfactory husband!

Suite Francais received very favourable reviews and the appendices seemed to add a lot of depth and background to the book. We found that the author wrote the book from a unique point of view without the benefit of hindsight or historical perspective. This singled the book out from the many others written on the subject of World War II. We gave the book a very high score of 4/5

Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was enjoyed by most of us although a few were disappointed with the book and thought it a little over simplified. Others though that the message was put across very forcefully without going into too much of the gorey details. We found it a very moving story and the ending was just tragic. It’s nice to read a book by an Irish author occasionally and this certainly was a good choice. We rated the book at 3.5/5.

Cloud Atlas was generally well received, although some of us found the language a bit heavy going in a few sections of the book. As usual the book gained a lot by discussion and got us thinking about other aspects of the story that hadn’t occurred to us first time arund. We rated the book a very respectable 4/5.

We gave To Kill a Mocking Bird a very thorough discussion and all enjoyed the book so much that it was rated at full marks – 5/5!

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the true story of a successful magazine editor, who is involved in a car accident and becomes a paraplegic. He draws us into his world and we discover what it is like to be unable to move or express your wishes. The book was well received and rated at 4/5.

We need to Talk about Kevin is a deeply disturbing book, but a fascinating read at the same time. The debate of ‘nature versus nurture’ came up as the story of a most unusual boy named Kevin unfolded. The story is told through letters from Kevin’s mother to his father in the wake of a high-school massacre caused by their son. We slowly learn about the relationship between Kevin and his mother, and the awful deeds perpetrated by him. It is a story that stays with you for a long time, and leaves you pondering many unanswered questions. 4/5.

Gilead was well discussed with some loving it and some hating it – always a very good starting point for a discussion! The star ratings varied from an all time low 1 to a high 5, with an average of 2.7! There were some beautiful passages and sentiments in it but it was a bit rambling and for some, not enough happening in it.

Grace Notes was well received, although the fact that it was difficult to pinpoint the exact moment in time subtracted from the overall impression. The author was acknowledged for his research into childbirth and the sensitivity with which he described relationships.A 3.5 out of 5.

Complete list of books read

Cork Book Club

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Amongst Women by John McGahern
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Chocolate by Joanne Harris
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
Embers by Sandor Marai
Emotionally Weird by Kate Aktinson
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Faceless by Martina Cole
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
Gilead by Marilyyne Robinson
Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamande Ngoze Adichie
Homestead by Rosina Lippi
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
I’m not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti
Interpeter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Katherine by Anya Seton
Larry’s Party by Carol Shields
Lost Souls by Michael Collins
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Music and Silence by Rose Tremain
My Favourite Goodbye by Sheila O’Flanagan
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Motes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gayle
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
Paradise by Toni Morrison
Q and A by Vikas Swarup
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Saint Maybe by Anne TylerSea Glass by Anita Shreeve
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Suite Francais by Irene Nemirovsky
Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
The Chimes by Charles Dickens
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Five People you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Ray The Good Women of China by Xinran
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
The Lovely Bones by Anna Sebold
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreeve
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
To Kill a Bockingbird by Harper Lee
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver
We were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
What are you like? by Anne Enright
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

East Cork Book Club

Arthur and George by Julian Barnes
A Short History of Tractors in Ukraine by Marina Lewycka 3/5
A Wild People by Hugh Leonard
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 3.5/5
Chocolat by Joanne Harris 3.5/5
Engleby by Sebastian Faulks
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Mr. Pip by Lloyd Jones
Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 2/5
Perfume by Patrick Suskin 3.5/5 /> Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Kate Kerrigan 3.5/5
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 4.5/5
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
The Five People you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 4/5
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 5/5
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel 4/5
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx 3/5
The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor 3.5/5
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 4/5

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