ROCKFIELD READING GROUP
Convenor : Elizabeth Russell Coopey email : elizabethcoopey@gmail.com Tel : 01600 740120
Meetings are held on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 2pm at member’s homes in Monmouth. We are a very vibrant group full of interesting people and books. We have two vacancies at the moment and if you would be interested in joining our book group come along to one of our meetings.
Books we have read
'A Boy Made of Blocks' by Keith Stuart.
I chose this book for our Christmas reading as it was described as ‘the most uplifting novel of 2017’ and ‘heart warming, funny, and special,’ and indeed it lived up to this description.
It is based on the author’s experience of being the father of an autistic child, and the story gave us an insight of the difficulties facing families this problem. It was a gripping and also moving story' Rosalie Tobe
'The Old Boys' by William Trevor
The revenge of a group of septuagenarians against Jaraby, who had tormented them at school. Written with humour, it is a gentle story of their bitterness and determination to 'not to let him become President of the Old Boys Association. It was William Trevor's first novel. Maureen Goff
Over the recent winter period two of the books we have read have been intriciately connected by WWI, both in their way food for thought.'A Month in the Country’ by J L Carr
This is a story of a young soldier Tom Birkin his life having been damaged by war; commisioned by a charity to uncover centuries old mural in a small chapel in the wilds of the Yorkshire countryside. The solitude of the chapel and the revelation of beautiful paintings done long ago by an artist like himself gave him untold joy. Tom gradually joins in the gentle pace of the village life around him, enjoying conversations with the vicars beautiful wife, Michal Moon, also a fellow war survivor, who was excavating an old grave in the grounds of the chapel, was a good companion, at the same time Kathy a young girl in the village introduced Tom to her family and enjoyed many a Sunday lunch with them. All these people and his work helped him come to terms with the real world for which he was going to have to face. A book enjoyed by the group
'Private Peaceful' by Michael Morpurgo
Private Thomas Peaceful has lied about his age and left his family behind to follow his older brother, Charlie, to France to fight in the First World War. Now, Tommo has one almost unendurable night, alone, fighting sleep, to reflect on his life. As the minutes slowly tick by, his memories are full of his childhood in the English countryside. His father, mother, brothers, and first love, Molly, come vividly alive in his mind. But every moment Tommo spends thinking about his life means another moment closer to something he cannot bear to think about – a time when the war and its horrific consequences will change his life forever. The group found this book sad to the extreme.
Review of the books that we have read in 2017
Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi
Lillian is a 72 year old homeless woman who has distanced herself from the world, choosing to live a solitary life. After the theft of her few meagre possessions she goes in search of the thief and, in the process, memories of her tragic past, too painful to remember, come back to haunt her in random bursts. The book is beautifully written but requires some concentration because we are given fleeting recollections of Lillian’s life as they flit into and out of her mind without sequence; of how she was passed from person to person and her identity changed into what other people wanted her to be, until she was lost to herself. The book was not well received by the group who found the story depressing and very disjointed.
Sue Loubser
‘I Let you Go’ by Clare Mackinstosh
Our book for March was the psychological thriller by Clare Macintosh ‘I Let you go', I had chosen this book as it had been recommended to me. It is her first novel and has won various awards. The majority of the group enjoyed her storyline and especially the twist at the end. I am looking forward to reading her next novel which is published this month. Cath Gilbert
‘The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel’ by Maureen Lindley.
This book is based on the real life story of Yoshiko Kawashima a Chinese Princess, badly treated by both her Chinese and Japanese families, who eventually became a spy for the Japanese, during the 1940s. The idea seems a most interesting idea for a novel, and indeed the historical descriptions of life in China, Japan and Manchuria during that time are very enlightening, but somewhere the book got lost in depicting in great detail, the sexual exploits of this poor lady in this era of the superiority of men. The fact that no one in the group enjoyed the book led to one of the most interesting discussions, but came to the conclusion that it might have been better for these ‘Private Papers’ to have remained private. Rosalie Tobe
‘Addition by Toni Jordan’
A quirky romance about Grace, who is obsessive compulsive about counting.
Her hero is Nikola Tesla, a Serbian inventor and counter about whom she fantasises, that is until she meets Seamus. Their romance throws her life into turmoil and eventually therapy which is life changing.
It was an easy read and led to an interesting discussion on OCD and mental illness. Sue Loubser
Reviews of the latest book we read winter 2016
‘Blue Skies and Black Olives’ by , John Humphrys and Christopher Humphrys,
Meetings are held on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 2pm at member’s homes in Monmouth. We are a very vibrant group full of interesting people and books. We have two vacancies at the moment and if you would be interested in joining our book group come along to one of our meetings.
Books we have read
'A Boy Made of Blocks' by Keith Stuart.
I chose this book for our Christmas reading as it was described as ‘the most uplifting novel of 2017’ and ‘heart warming, funny, and special,’ and indeed it lived up to this description.
It is based on the author’s experience of being the father of an autistic child, and the story gave us an insight of the difficulties facing families this problem. It was a gripping and also moving story' Rosalie Tobe
'The Old Boys' by William Trevor
The revenge of a group of septuagenarians against Jaraby, who had tormented them at school. Written with humour, it is a gentle story of their bitterness and determination to 'not to let him become President of the Old Boys Association. It was William Trevor's first novel. Maureen Goff
Over the recent winter period two of the books we have read have been intriciately connected by WWI, both in their way food for thought.'A Month in the Country’ by J L Carr
This is a story of a young soldier Tom Birkin his life having been damaged by war; commisioned by a charity to uncover centuries old mural in a small chapel in the wilds of the Yorkshire countryside. The solitude of the chapel and the revelation of beautiful paintings done long ago by an artist like himself gave him untold joy. Tom gradually joins in the gentle pace of the village life around him, enjoying conversations with the vicars beautiful wife, Michal Moon, also a fellow war survivor, who was excavating an old grave in the grounds of the chapel, was a good companion, at the same time Kathy a young girl in the village introduced Tom to her family and enjoyed many a Sunday lunch with them. All these people and his work helped him come to terms with the real world for which he was going to have to face. A book enjoyed by the group
'Private Peaceful' by Michael Morpurgo
Private Thomas Peaceful has lied about his age and left his family behind to follow his older brother, Charlie, to France to fight in the First World War. Now, Tommo has one almost unendurable night, alone, fighting sleep, to reflect on his life. As the minutes slowly tick by, his memories are full of his childhood in the English countryside. His father, mother, brothers, and first love, Molly, come vividly alive in his mind. But every moment Tommo spends thinking about his life means another moment closer to something he cannot bear to think about – a time when the war and its horrific consequences will change his life forever. The group found this book sad to the extreme.
Review of the books that we have read in 2017
Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi
Lillian is a 72 year old homeless woman who has distanced herself from the world, choosing to live a solitary life. After the theft of her few meagre possessions she goes in search of the thief and, in the process, memories of her tragic past, too painful to remember, come back to haunt her in random bursts. The book is beautifully written but requires some concentration because we are given fleeting recollections of Lillian’s life as they flit into and out of her mind without sequence; of how she was passed from person to person and her identity changed into what other people wanted her to be, until she was lost to herself. The book was not well received by the group who found the story depressing and very disjointed.
Sue Loubser
‘I Let you Go’ by Clare Mackinstosh
Our book for March was the psychological thriller by Clare Macintosh ‘I Let you go', I had chosen this book as it had been recommended to me. It is her first novel and has won various awards. The majority of the group enjoyed her storyline and especially the twist at the end. I am looking forward to reading her next novel which is published this month. Cath Gilbert
‘The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel’ by Maureen Lindley.
This book is based on the real life story of Yoshiko Kawashima a Chinese Princess, badly treated by both her Chinese and Japanese families, who eventually became a spy for the Japanese, during the 1940s. The idea seems a most interesting idea for a novel, and indeed the historical descriptions of life in China, Japan and Manchuria during that time are very enlightening, but somewhere the book got lost in depicting in great detail, the sexual exploits of this poor lady in this era of the superiority of men. The fact that no one in the group enjoyed the book led to one of the most interesting discussions, but came to the conclusion that it might have been better for these ‘Private Papers’ to have remained private. Rosalie Tobe
‘Addition by Toni Jordan’
A quirky romance about Grace, who is obsessive compulsive about counting.
Her hero is Nikola Tesla, a Serbian inventor and counter about whom she fantasises, that is until she meets Seamus. Their romance throws her life into turmoil and eventually therapy which is life changing.
It was an easy read and led to an interesting discussion on OCD and mental illness. Sue Loubser
Reviews of the latest book we read winter 2016
‘Blue Skies and Black Olives’ by , John Humphrys and Christopher Humphrys,
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