H is for Hawk

Continuing on our nature theme over the summer, H is for Hawk was September's chosen title.

The group mainly enjoyed the book, and certainly found it more readable than The Bees.

H is for Hawk is about a woman grieving over the death of her father and her reaction to this loss is to rear a goshawk. The book is as much about grief as it is about this beautiful bird. Some found that references to T H White's study The Goshawk was the most interesting part of the story, whereas others felt it was a distraction. One much debated point in our group was how on earth did Helen Macdonald have the time or finances in place to withdraw from life and spend time training Mabel. The clip that follows doesn't answer that question directly, but does give us further insight into the author's state of mind (and some very cute goshawk images):

Other titles we discussed included:
The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop. Having previously recommended Victoria Hislop, this book is best avoided! 
The group also looked at the University's reading group's booklist and found plenty of overlap.

For the November book, no signs of nature except the human type. Apparently The Dinner is a controversial book, can't wait to find out what that's all about!

Next time:
The Dinner by Herman Koch
Thursday 12th November 2015

The Bees

The Bees. A book with a great premise, the tale of a sanitation bee called Flora, loosely based on the Indian caste system (it's this element that drew me to the book in the first place). A worthy book, we were all glad we read it, except for one of the group who admitted defeat. The author's in-depth research earned our admiration but The Bees could not be described as a page turner. Many points were verified by one of the group who had taken a bee keeping course, although she was able to confirm there were some elements of artistic licence. It may have been the same person who wondered if the work had been sponsored by the Bee Society - I for one feel a bit worried now about eating honey in case I traumatise a bee colony...

Of course, with the imminent release of Go Set a Watchman, we had to talk about Harper Lee. Whilst some in the group were going to preserve their memories and avoid the sequel of To Kill a Mockingbird, others were looking forward to the much anticipated offering by Lee. It will be good to hear from others in the group who weren't able to attend what their stance will be on the topic.

It was mentioned that Sarah Moss was featured in the Times Top 10 historical novels. The other reading group on campus will be reading Bodies of Light shortly, and we look forward to hearing what they made of the book.

Other titles we discussed included:
Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
The authors Kate Mosse, Victoria Hislop and the nature writer Robert Macfarlane
The Perfect Son by Barbara Claypole White
The Photographer's Wife by Nick Alexander
Discussed Iranian literature and Bitter Lake (on the iPlayer).　

Next time:
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Tuesday 8th September 2015