Forget love….I’d rather fall in chocolate.

We met on Wednesday July 28th at 6.0pm at The Punch Bowl in Warwick – thanks again to Angie and all the staff for making us so welcome.  We had read by Muriel Barbery.  This novel, originally written in French is part philosophy and part novel.  It took France by storm when it was published as being very different from run of the mill novels.

 The group was very split, some enjoying the book and others finding it hard going.  Most people who perservered with the book found the second half  more enjoyable than the first part.  The arrival of a new character, Monsieur Ozu, a wealthy Japanese businessman lifts the book from a group of essays on life, philosophy and the use of language to a real story.

 The book is told from the point of view of  Madame Michel(Renee), a concierge in an exclusive building of apartments.  Renee lives a life of subterfuge, pretending to be the person the tenants expect from a typical concierge, dour and not terribly bright.  In some ways she is almost invisible, she does her job and watches her tenants, but secretly she is in fact a woman of excellent taste, cultured and well-read.  Her only friend, Manuela, knows and understands her.

 The story is also told from the point of view of Paloma, the twelve-year-old daughter of wealthy parents, tenants in Renee’s building.  Paloma is convinced that life as an adult will be so unsatisfactory and dull that she has decided to kill herself on her thirteenth birthday by setting fire to her flat.  Her sister, Colombe, is a grade A student, studying philosophy, Paloma does not think much of her true intellect.

 The two voices are very distinct, and the musings entertaining.  It is slightly remeniscent of Sophie’s World.  Paloma is studying Japanese at school, so is very keen to get to know Monsieur Ozu.  Between them they realise that there is more to Madame Michel than meets the eye, and M Ozu, not being French, is able to flout convention without causing offense.  He gets to know her as a person and from here, the story really takes off with some funny moments, particularly an incident with a musical toilet.

 Two of the group read the book in the original French, and the rest of us were sure that much must be lost in transaltion.  We do not have concierges in the same way as the French, and much of the pholosophy of language is about structure and grammar with subtleties of meaning which just are not translatable.

 We thought that some of the philosophy was just to show how clever the author is rather than the character, and the choice of a Japanese businessman was partly to make him as exotic and un-French as possible. Teresa felt that he should have been considerably less scrutable!

 Would we recommend this book to a friend?  Frances, Inge and Denise probably would, the other members of the group were not so sure.

 Our next book is ‘The Lacuna’ by Barbara Kingsolver and we will meet at the Punch Bowl again on Wednesday 1st September at 6.0pm

We were lucky enough to host the only book-signing by Jeremy Duns on his fleeting visit to England for the Harrogate Crime Festival. Jeremy was here to launch his new book and he attracted a lot of interest in the shop. We managed to get a few extra copies of his two thrillers signed and these are available in very limited quantities at both Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books. It was great to meet Jeremy and talk to him about the joys of being an author and living in Sweden home of course of two other thriller writers Stieg Larsson and Henrik Mankel. Jeremy’s Swedish wife chatted happily about the various film and TV adaptations of these two authors, and we learned that the BBC has acquired the TV rights to Jeremy’s trilogy. So, watch this space!

Jeremy Duns writes: ‘It was a pleasure and a delight to visit Warwick Books to launch my latest novel, Free Country, the second part of my Cold War spy trilogy. Keith and his team looked after me and I chatted to several very interesting and, I hope, interested customers, about my inspirations and ideas for the novels, all the while soaking up the atmosphere of a real bookshop – I also took the opportunity to buy several books for research! So thank you, Warwick Books, for their hospitality and for making the event a success. I hope to return one day soon!’

Eight pupils from years 4, 5 and 6 gathered excitedly at Warwick Books on June 22^nd for the launch of their historical fantasy ‘Time Trap’, together with co-author and editor, established local children’s writer Meg Harper, their parents and teacher and representatives of the King Henry V111 Endowed Trust, who generously provided the funding to employ Meg to work with the pupils and to publish enough copies for all the pupils and for the school.

The pupils started working with Meg in January and have each been through the full author experience from coming up with the initial idea, developing the plot and characters, doing basic research and then getting down to the drafting, re-drafting and editing process – with the added complication of working collaboratively with 8 other people!

The resulting book is a credit to them and is highly suitable for readers of their own age group, set in the Warwick of Victorian times and the present day. The copies we ordered for the launch sold out within the day but more can be obtained from Warwick Books at a cost of £3.50 per copy.

Other schools interested in similar projects with Meg should contact her via her web-site www.megharper.co.uk or phone her on 01926 403424

Well, this is a first! A book that we all enjoyed so much that we’re going to read the second in the trilogy as our next book group book, partly because we want to know what happens and partly because cynical Meg wonders whether the rest of the trilogy will be as good! So often a trilogy or series is accepted for publication on the basis of the first book and brief synopses of the subsequent books – which then have to be written relatively quickly. Result? Diminished  quality – think of your own examples!

So what is so good about ‘The Hunger Games’?

Essentially, it’s very gripping and the concept is both clever and disturbing. The Hunger Games are a game-show that is compulsory viewing for the citizens of Panem, the remnant of the USA after devastating troubles. Each district of Panem has to send two teenage contestants to the games in which the aim is simple – to be the last one left alive – it is kill or be killed. The heroine, Katniss, volunteers to take the place of her little sister who, very unluckily, is selected. Some of us felt that it was a disadvantage that it was obvious in a first person, present tense narrative that she has to survive. The tension is in how she does and the plot ducks and weaves to the very last page. There is a romantic love triangle built in and some very moving moments alongside gruesome killings and the very chilling interference of The Gamemakers. It’s a very thought-provoking read about the game show gone very dark indeed, used as a means of controlling and intimidating the populace. That it also entertains is perhaps most disturbing of all.

Slight quibbles included that it was difficult to warm to Katniss as she comes over as quite a tough customer at times. Despite all she does to avoid murdering anyone and her love for her little sister, she still seems somewhat unapproachable. Some of us also felt quite cheated by the ending. There are big ideas here and we can quite see why a trilogy form has been chosen – but we wanted a little more closure at the end of book 1 and not that awful feeling that the reason we are stopping here is to get us to buy the next book! We have done and we want to read it – but are still mildly grumpy about the ending of book 1.

Scores were all 10s apart from Meg’s measly 9.5 (she withheld a half-mark out of her dissatisfaction with the ending.)

We’ll meet again at 4.15 on Tuesday 7^th September and will read ‘The Hunger Games – Catching Fire’ by Suzanne Collins. When the film comes out, remember you read about it first here!