Book Club - 09.07.14

This weeks book club took place in our usual cosy spot at Matthews Yard and we were talking about 'The hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared'.  Well I say talking about it, we didn't actually do much talking about the book! I must admit this is the first time that I have not finished a book club book in time *hangs head in shame* however I will attempt to finish it.  For some reason I just couldn't get into it and with a lot of other things going on in my life this month it took a bit of a backseat.  Will definitely get through the next one though as I'll be on holiday reading till my eyes fall out!

So, the book. Most people had not quite finished it, but Jen had read it before, Charlotte literally had 9 pages left and Neil did finish it so we could discuss it, its not really the sort of book that you can give away the ending either so it didn't get spoilt for the rest of us who hadn't quite made it.  The book is kind of split into two as it takes you back and forth from the current day in Alan's life to the past where he had many adventures in his earlier years.  The early years connected him to pretty much any political event in history you could think of over the last 100 years and he met all sorts of interesting characters including presidents and dictators from across the globe.  It is quite farcical and pretty ludicrous the places he ends up and even in the current day after escaping from the old peoples home ends up entwined with some criminal gangsters (or so they'd like to think) and a lady who has an elephant as a pet.  All of which go on the run after he has stolen millions of dollars in cash and assisted accidentally in killing a few people.  It sounds like such a great read but for some reason I just didn't get into it, it didn't seem funny, I was almost rolling my eyes at points but I'm not sure why as it is not written to be serious it is supposed to be laughably bizarre.

Anyway most people enjoyed the book and it is a film that is being released soon so got to be worth a book club outing to see what they've made of it - perhaps I will enjoy it more as a film! The rest of the evening I'm afraid we ended up talking girly stuff about weddings, family, pregnancy and other stuff you don't wanna know, sorry Neil you are now an honouree girl that was your initiation, please come back next month - we definitely need some more guys in the club...

The next book we kind of sneakily decided last month is: 'Shopping, Seduction & Mr Selfridge' by Lindy Woodhead, really looking forward to this one! Grab a copy and get reading :)

'In 1909, the largest department store in London's West End, designed and built from scratch, opened in Oxford Street in a glorious burst of publicity. The mastermind behind the façade was American retail genius Harry Gordon Selfridge: maverick businessman, risk-taker, dandy and one of the greatest showmen the retail world has ever known.

His talents were to create the seduction of shopping, and as his success and fame grew, so did his glittering lifestyle: mansions, yachts, gambling, racehorses - and mistresses. From the glamour of Edwardian England, through the turmoil of the Great War and the heady excesses of the 1920s and beyond, Selfridges Department Store was 'a theatre with the curtain going up at 9 o'clock each morning'.

Next Book Club!

Date: 13th August 
Time: 7.30pm
Location: Matthews Yard