PAT: "ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT" BY JEANETTE WINTERSON
This book was made into a television series by BBC television. It was published in 1985. It is semi-autobiographical. Jeanette was born in 1959 in the north of England. She was adopted by an evangelistic couple and educated at home. Her mother was obsessed with religion and Jeanette was already preaching all the time at the age of eight. She didn't fit in and felt very lonely until she met another girl called Melanie. She felt sexual love but knew it was wrong. She told her mother who arranged an exorcism. When Jeanette was in hospital her mother sent her an orange instead of visiting her, hence the name of the book. At the age of sixteen Jeanette left home after identifying herself as a lesbian. Her mother did not want her anymore.
BETH: "THE BOOK THIEF" BY MARKUS ZUSAK
Beth didn't think the movie was as good as the book.
JUDY d T "LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS" by M.L.STEDMAN
After returning from WWI, Tom Sherbourne marries and takes up a position as a lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia. His wife loses many babies and when a boat washes offshore with a dead man and a crying baby, they decide to keep the baby. This brings devastating consequences. Judy thought it was badly written, too wordy and the first part was slow. The ending was terrific and she thinks it will make an excellent movie which will possibly be released in 2016 or 2017.
PAMELA: "GUNS OF NAVARONE" BY ALISTAIR MACLEAN
1,200 British soldiers are stranded on an island off the Turkish coast. They need to get the men back or they will die. The Germans have control of the island of Navarone. The British army choose a team of men to destroy the guns so the stranded soldiers can be saved by the Navy. The man chosen to lead is a well renowned mountaineer. Some of the other men included a strong Greek( a former Colonel), an American saboteur, an explosive expert and another mountain climber. The book was made into a film but Pamela did not think it would be as good as the book.
CONNIE: "THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY" BY ROBERT JAMES WALLER
Connie loved the book. She said the movie was excellent. A lot of the words were exactly the same. The story is set in Iowa and takes place over four days. An Italian woman, married to an American soldier she met in Italy, comes back to live in Madison County in Iowa. It's not the life she expected and she feels she has missed out in life. She is left on her own for four days while her husband and two children (12 + 14) go to the fair. A fellow comes to town to photograph the bridges for the National Geographic. She absolutely falls in love with him. There is nothing sleazy. It's delicately done. She is tempted to go with him.
JOAN: "OUT OF AFRICA" BY ISAK DINESEN
Joan set the scene with the beautiful music from the film Out of Africa.
Karen Blixen is the narrator. She relates her experience of her life when she moves to British East Africa in 1913 to marry Baron Blixen. They buy farmland and grow coffee but the altitude is too high for coffee. Her husband is away a lot and after separating they divorce in 1925. Her husband was a womaniser and he gave her syphillis. He was also a bad businessman. Karen takes over the running of the farm. Dennis Finch-Hatton becomes her lover. Joan said her engagement with the animals and the landscape was beautiful. She eventually was forced to move back to Denmark.
The movie starred Meryl Streep as Karen and Robert Redford as Dennis. The book is predominantly the love affair of a strong woman. The beauty is in the writing and the beautiful descriptions of the landscapes and animals. Joan thought the best part of the film was when Karen gets shouted a drink in an all male club in Nairobi. She liked both the book and the film but she found the book marginally better.
JUDY: "LOST CHILD OF PHILOMENA" BY LEE MARTIN SIXSMITH
The story is set in Ireland. The story is about an Irish woman who has kept her secret of giving up her child many years ago. She decides to search for her son. She had to give up her baby as she was not married. The nuns were very cruel. At age three her son was virtually sold to an American couple. The film is very different and quite inaccurate. Up to this point the story is the same. She confronts the nuns in Ireland. She goes to America to find her son but he has died. She also finds out he was gay. In the book Philomena never actually went to America. She knew he was dead already as most of the research was done on the internet. Her son was very clever and politically active. He joined the Republican party. He was a homosexual who died of Aids in 1995 aged 43. 75% of the book is about the son's life whereas the film is more about Philomena's life. Philomena's role is played by Judy Dench.
LAURA: "TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY" BY JOHN le CARRE
The book is a cold war thriller involving Russian double agents. The main character, George Smiley has to identify a Russian double agent and kill him. Laura thought there were too many characters and she could not keep track of them. She watched the movie as well and said it was pretty true to the story. It was an okay thriller. There wasn't a surprise ending but there should have been. She thought on it's own it would have been difficult to follow. Laura also didn't like the fact that the book was set in Hong Kong but the film was moved to Turkey. She said neither the book nor the film were great.
ANNE: "WILD" BY CHERYL STRAYED
Anne really enjoyed the book. It was well written with warmth and humour. At 26 Cheryl decided to hike the Pacific Crest trail, 1100 miles in the wilderness of Mexico to Canada. Her purpose was to become the person she used to be when she was 22 before the death of her mother, the heroin use, the failure of her marriage due to the number of men she slept with during that time and the unfinished degree and student debt. Anne found the book really moving. Cheryl was in pain all the time but she had lots of adventures and there was a great camaraderie with the people she met on her journey. anne did not see the movie to compare.
TAM: "THE LONGEST RIDE" BY NICHOLAS SPARKS
This is a romance written by the author of Notebook. A 91 year old man is involved in a car crash. His mind is fading and he has a vision of his long dead wife. She has been dead for fifteen years. She recounts the story of their life together. Meanwhile another love story is developing when a young girl Sophie meets Luke, a rodeo driver and falls in love. The parties collide but not until the end. The young couple find Ira on the roadside. He lives for another four or five days. The ending is amazing. Tam would like to see the movie.
MELANIE: "ROOM" BY EMMA DONOGHUE
Melanie only read 53 pages. She didn't feel like being depressed. She found it annoying. The mother and five year old child are held captive in one room by Nick (woman's partner). It is narrated by the child and Melanie didn't like language of the child. She found it unbelievable and the ending predictable. She didn't see the movie. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award but Melanie did not want to see it.
LESLEY: "STILL ALICE" BY LISA GENOVA
Lesley thoroughly enjoyed the book. She said it didn't make you sad. The story is narrated by Alice. She is fifty, hugely intelligent and comes from a high powered family. She gets hit with Alzheimer's and said she wished she had got cancer. She said you could fight cancer but you can't see Alzheimer's. It's very poignant. She writes lists to help herself to remember. Her husband is crumbling. Lesley also liked the film which she saw first. The only difference in the movie is that you see more of the other characters, whereas the book is more about Alice. Both are worthwhile.
DIANNE: "BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP" BY S.J.WATSON
This is the author's first book and it is a thriller, from page one until the last page. You have to read it right to the end. A woman wakes up in bed thinking she has just had a one night stand. She doesn't recognize the man beside her. He says he is her husband named Ben. This happens everyday. She finds out she has forgotten everything. She starts to see a doctor who tells her to beware of Ben. Dianne won't say anymore so as not to reveal the ending. It is a book you cannot put down. She hasn't seen the movie. It stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth.
JO: "WALK IN THE WOODS" BY BILL BRYSON
Jo said it was interesting. It was a good book but a bit annoying. It is about a man and his mate who walk the Appalachian trail carrying huge backpacks. She said it was up one mountain and down the other, up another mountain and down the other side. It made her tired reading it. She didn't see the movie.
BEV: "MONUMENTS MEN" BY ROBERT EDSEL
Bev didn't finish it due to time constraints. She saw the movie and liked it. The book put the movie into perspective. It's based on a true story about a group of American and British art lovers who wanted to form a unit in World War II to rescue important artwork. There were twelve men, aged forty plus years who stole a jeep that was left behind by the Germans. She liked the descriptions of the artworks.
PAULINE: "TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN" BY BETTY SMITH
The book was written in 1943 and the movie was made in 1945. Pauline didn't see the film but she enjoyed reading the book, although she prefers Ruth Park's books. It is the story of the Nolan family who live in the slums of Brooklyn from 1902 to 1911. The protagonist is Francis, aged eleven and it follows her life until she goes to college at seventeen. They live in terrible poverty. She has great admiration for her father but he is often drunk. She would like an improved relationship with her mother who is distant. The family have an Irish background as the grandparents emigrated from Ireland to America many years before. It represents immigrant's hope to rise above poverty. There is a very strong resemblance to Harp in the South by Ruth Park.
ROSEMARIE: "CHILD 44" BY TOM ROB SMITH
This is a murder/thriller extraordinary. It is set in 1950's Stalinist Russia. It is a true story of someone who killed 52 children. The writing is excellent. Leo is the main character. The story is vile, violent, bleak and brutal but it is also a great insight into life in Russia at the time. There is a twist. Rosemarie also saw the movie. She said it was a dreadful movie, disjointed and the main twist wasn't in the movie. It bombed at the box office.
ED: "THE DRESSMAKER" BY ROSALIE HAM
Ed loved both the book and the movie. It's the author's first published novel.
WENDY: "BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS" BY TRUMAN CAPOTE
Wendy saw the film and read the book. The main character, a young girl from a bad background remakes herself as a girl about town. She is inwardly lonely, naive and scared. It ends with a romance. The movie is light, cute and funny. Wendy thought Audrey Hepburn was the wrong person for the role. She felt the character in the book was a beautiful character, more vunerable and raw than portrayed in the movie. The ending was also different in the movie. Wendy said the book was much better.
PRUE: "WOOL" BY HUGH HOWEY
This is the author's first book. It's a dystopian novel. It was also a serial which has been turned into a movie but not released yet. There are people living in an underground silo with no lift. There are many different levels. They can't go out as their world has been ruined. There are 140 levels with a spiral staircase. People are not told the truth and things are hidden from them. One lady becomes a sheriff and she discovers there are many other silos where people live. Prue couldn't put the book down. She found it fascinating.
CLAURENE: "ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL" BY JESSE ANDREWS
The narrator is Greg, a 17 year old boy. He has only one friend, Earl, a negro boy who comes from a dysfunctional family. A girl they know, Rachel is dying with leukemia. Greg has known her since he was a child. Greg and Earl are making a movie and show it to Rachel in hospital. The language is pretty rough and Claurene said she wouldn't recommend the book. It's a weird book she said. Reviews were mixed even from teenagers. Claurene hasn't seen the movie.
JULIA: "GONE GIRL" BY GILLIAN FLYNN
Julia read the book first and then she saw the movie. She felt the movie was better than the book as it was easier to follow.
DIANN: "MY SISTER'S KEEPER" BY JODI PICOULT
Diann could not attend today but instead sent an email. She read the book My Sister's Keeper and then saw the movie. She said the movie was very similar to the book.
