Booklist for January through May

In an astonishing display of organizational zeal, our last meeting included a breathtaking whirlwind of a selection process that saw the WSR vote all its picks a full-half  year in advance; the old-timers tell us that nothing like this sort of forward planning has been known to happen in the 10 years plus the group has been in existence.

And to think they that say todays’ readers are just a load of slackers, jaded and bored from the world being handed to them on a platter. Not likely!

Before we got down to the wrangling over the booklist, Patricia led us in a challenging discussion of November’s book, Anne Enright’s The Gathering, the Booker Prize winner from 2007. It’s a fascinating work that expertly takes the reader through a careful unpacking of secret family history.

Now, our picks for next year:

• January: “Gods Behaving Badly”, by Murray Philips

• February: “The Cloning of Joanna May” by Fay Weldon

• March “Late Nights on Air” by Elizabeth Hay

• April “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn

• May ” Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen

A reminder that meetings are on the third Thursday of the month at 7.00 PM in the meeting room of Collected Works books, Wellington at Holland.