News
BPS Bookclub Review : Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr ( January 2023)
The entire structure of the book has been likened to a jigsaw puzzle. Some readers went along for the ride, confident that the puzzle would be solved in due course. Some actively enjoyed looking for clues and connections. For others it triggered way too much anxiety and irritation about what the heck was going on.
BPS Bookclub, March 2023 : The Spy and the Traitor
It is a readable, page turning route into history, with great insights into the Cold War and as such really recommended for anyone seeking to engage a bit more with history lessons! It was also a good book club choice with so many details to ponder.
BPS Review: The Book of Form and Emptiness, Ruth Ozeki ( October 2022)
A couple of weeks after the book is closed and I’m sure many of you are still thinking about it (well, those of you who haven’t burned it to cut down on your gas bills anyway).
(PS. just in case you’re wondering, 17% gave it a terrible score, 35% okay, and 48% good or great)
Review of Sorrow And Bliss, Meg Mason ( June 2022)
All in all a more complex story than first perceived, which I guess is often the reality of mental illness.
BPS Review of Assembly, Natasha Brown ( reviewed Sept 2022)
What is also worthy of discussion is how this small tale, full of micro aggressions and tiny everyday detail, can also reflect an entire history of post colonialism, racial integration or assimilation, and post generational trauma.
BPS Book Club ; review of The Promise, Damon Galgut ( May 2022)
Galgut has found a compelling way of dealing with complex situations – and the weight of politics and history – in a subtle, engaging way. The scalpel-sharp precision of his writing ensures that readers are drawn in and stay the course.
BPS BookClub : Review of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote ( March 2022)
Well. What a book for discussion. What an author. Full of controversy and ‘grey areas’ of morality and opinion.
BPS review, The Road Home by Rose Tremain ( April 2022)
It’s an engrossing read, a sense of ‘what’s going to happen to Lev, and Lydia?’ which kept us reading in a ‘block out the everyday’ pleasurable way. Tremain has an ability to write a scene with visual immediacy and depth, and sketch interesting detail into her characters.
February 2022 Book Club Review : Admiring Silence, Abdulrazak Gurnah
As with the discussion, the details and potential for debate are rich in this book. If you haven’t read it yet, it is probably worth the struggle. It made us think about many elements of life outside of one’s homeland, about the complicated relationship of a land and its colonial rulers when overcome by new local power, about the ties of family and the notion of home.
Small Pleasures, Clare Chambers ( Jan 2022)
The ‘small pleasures’ are the ones which we have to rely on, as everything else in life can be unexpected and fragile. That is the recurring message, and we all enjoyed the many small details throughout the book.
