Traditional ‘Lucky Dip’ At Christmas
‘Lucky Dips’ At Christmas
It has become somewhat of a tradition for a ‘lucky dip’ at Christmas for the Page Turners group. Everybody wraps a book and it is pot luck what you pull out of the hat. At our January meeting, members share their surprise gift.
This year was no exception with some members delighted with their find and others less so as gifts ranged from known and loved authors to short stories (as ever varied), to one person who was lucky enough to receive 2 books and one of them even had 2 books within 1!!!
A brief synopsis:
- Maggie O’Farrell’s, “This Must Be The Place” was agreed to be read by the group for a future meeting as all had previously thoroughly enjoyed her writing.
- “The Essex Serpent” by Sarah Perrin had been read by the group many years ago and was enjoyed by a new member.
- “Cold Comfort Farm”, short stories by Stella Gibbons, whilst easy reading was recommended as a group read.
- “The Sky Beneath Us” by Fiona Valpy, again described as a simple read but not recommended for the group.
- “Ghost” by Robert Harris, whilst described as excellent by the reader, was felt not to be up to his usual very high standard of research and analysis.
- “Burmese Days” by George Orwell didn’t go down a storm as the characters were described as unlikeable and uninteresting, the setting equally so.
- “The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts” by Louis de Berniere was confusing initially and at times hilarious to read.
- “The Woman on the Ledge” by Ruth Manseni, a thriller, was a great page turner;
- “Mrs Harris Goes to Paris” AND “Mrs Harris Goes to New York” was great and the New York book built on her Paris adventures.
- “Mystery Guest” by Nita Prose was described as written by an amateur Agatha Christie and not recommended for book club.
Once again we were fortunate enough to sample Babs’s Christmas cake which was up to her usual very high standards!!