Past and present reads
Here is a list of what books we have read as a group, where we discussed them, and the average marks out of ten they got from us!
Order by: most recent | most popular
Flashman by George Macdonald Fraser
The first in the series following the Tom Brown's Schooldays bully after he begins a military career as a secret agent in Afghanistan.
Chosen by Huw
The Land of Green Plums by Herta Muller
Study of totalitarianism in Romania at the height of Ceausescu's reign of terror. A group of impoverished students migrate to the city in search of better prospects.
Chosen by Clair
Venue Gordon's Wine Bar, Charing Cross
Rating 5.0
Legend of a Suicide by David Vam
Roy's life is overshadowed by his father shooting himself on board his boat. Despite the blurb, this Alaskan debut about a father/son relationship was more of a collection of stories — and oddly memorable for the longest contradicting the events of the others, whilst resembling 1989 Hollywood 'caper' Weekend at Bernies. Great descriptions of Alaskan wilderness, though.
Chosen by Paul
Venue Salisbury Hotel, Turnpike Lane
Rating 5.5
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
Thumbs aloft all round for Isherwood's 1964 book — recently turned into a markedly different film — that covers 24 hours in the head of a gay college professor, struggling to adjust to life without his partner. The kind of book that seems better after a discussion - and the kind of book the word 'wry' was coined to describe.
Chosen by Kara
Venue Catriona's, Bounds Green
Rating 7.0
Born Yesterday by Gordon Burn
Can you take news stories from 2007 — Madeleine McCann, Terror Glasgow airport attacks, foot and mouth, Brown becoming PM — and weave them into a novel? Apparently not — the late Gordon Burn's experimental novel went down like a lead balloon!
Chosen by Paul
Venue Kara's, Holloway
Rating 3.0
Norwegian Wood by Harumi Murakami
Hearing Norwegian Wood on the radio sets off Toru Watanabe reminiscing about his days as a student in 1960s Tokyo. The Murakami virgins amongst us had heard wonderful things about the author but felt a little let down by this coming-of-age novel. Our conversation certainly didn't come up short, though.
Chosen by Helen
Venue The Old Dairy, Crouch End
Rating 6.0
We're in Trouble by Christopher Coake
This Nevada author's first — and so far only — book is a collection of short stories about staring danger in the face. Our discussion wasn't much longer than some of these tales, but we enjoyed them nonetheless. Cross Country, Solos and the title suite were particularly powerful with a strong sense of place.
Chosen by Dawn
Venue Salisbury Hotel, Turnpike Lane
Rating 7.5
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Orange Prize 2007 winner that records the effects of the 1967-70 Nigerian-Biafran War through different eyes, from high ranking political figures to a houseboy. The book did divide slightly along gender lines, but we mostly found it powerful, illuminating and clever — even the grumpy old men amongst us took something away from the novel.
Chosen by Clare
Venue The Bree Louise, Euston
Rating 7.5
Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton
A tale of unrequieted love set amongst the grimly publands of 'darkest Earl's Court' as WW2 looms. We agreed it was impossible not to feel for lonely schizophrenic George Harvey Bone as he tried to win over nasty Netta. No masterpiece, but a great minor work whose pages almost reek of gin. We were tickled that this satisfied 'wisdom from bum' criterion on Allreaders.com.
Chosen by Clair
Venue Clare's, Holloway
Rating 7.0
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Perennial book group choice about a shepherd boy who literally follows his dreams. Coelho's publishers say he has "the power to inspire nations and change lives" but our lives were better satisfied by the Salisbury’s delicious 'pizza chips' than this unsubstantial self-help drivel. Easy to read, though.
Chosen by Esther
Venue Salisbury Hotel, Turnpike Lane
Rating 3.5
On the Holloway Road by Andrew Blackman
Transplanting the American roadtrip to noughties' Britain mixed us up too. Can you have a road trip in the UK? Arguing that finding oneself should focus on self and not location, we hotly debated whether Britain's landscapes were bland and samey or stunning and inspiring... Views were altered as the author joined us and shared his inside knowledge on the Holloway Road.
Chosen by Dawn
Venue The Bailey, Holloway
Rating 6.5
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
A man imprisoned for accidentally burning down poet Emily Dickinson's house tries to track down a real literary arsonist who emerges on his release. "It could have been so much better" we cried in unison during our Clissold Park picnic, between moving our blanket to avoid a ferral child and impromptu babysitting.
Chosen by Kara
Venue Clissold Park, Stoke Newington
Rating 3.5
God's Own County by Ross Raisin
An unlikely friendship turns into something more unnerving on a sheep farm in the bleak Yorkshire Moors. We pretty much universally loved Raisin's debut, which had echoes of The Wasp Factory, A Clockwork Orange and Engleby, yet still felt fresh. We were intrigued by how the disturbing central character somehow retained our sympathy.
Chosen by Catriona
Venue Kara's, Holloway
Rating 8.0
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Joad family uproot from the Dustbowl to California in search of the promised land during the Great Depression. Whilst this might be Great American Novel on paper, Steinbeck's repetitive slo-mo structure stopped many of us reaching the (rather rum) end. We thought the story and its characters would lend themselves to a splendid Muppet movie, though.
Chosen by Huw
Venue The Gate, Alexandra Palace
Rating 5.0
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Tragedy ensues when a successful suburban couple decide to relocate from 1950s Connecticut to France in an attempt to reconnect with their bohemian sides. Despite its post-war setting, this felt very fresh and very relevant — especially to this group of late-twenty-and-early-thirty-somethings. Our highest scoring book ever, in one of our best venues ever!
Chosen by Paul
Venue The Whisky Rooms, Farringdon
Rating 9.0
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
Thanks to a plodding first half, Conrad's ironic tale about a pointless anarchist attack on the Greenwich Observatory was probably our most unfinished book ever. Still, we managed a meaty discussion over its entertainingly odd characters and parallels with our own equally daft 'War on Terror' times.
Chosen by Helen
Venue Salisbury Hotel, Turnpike Lane
Rating 5.5
The Outsider by Albert Camus
We discussed this 20th century existentialist classic above noisy chatter in a Kings Cross bar. Despite its slim size (James Bradley please take note) we had plenty to discus about this favourite of Cure fans everywhere. Of course, we didn't quite resolve whether the alienated Mersault was an anti-hero or just a big drip.
Chosen by Clare
Venue The Fellow, Kings Cross
Rating 8.0
I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal
We struggled to find much to say about this Prague-set novel about a little man who gets swept up in history. Despite a tempting premise — waiter becomes a millionaire and loses it again as the Nazis invade and Communism rises — it was more like reading a dirty old man's diary. Perhaps it was the translation.
Chosen by Clair
Venue The Old Dairy, Crouch End
Rating 4.5
The Resurrectionist by James Bradley
On arriving in Georgian London to study anatomy, Gabriel is drawn to the city's leading body snatcher. Not universally disliked, but group consensus was that this modern Gothic chiller was atmospheric but clunky. Dissenters wondered whether Bradley's editor included the last section by mistake, and struggled to recall which of the cast of 80+ characters was which.
Chosen by Daniel
Venue The Junction, Highbury & Islington
Rating 5.5
Notes From an Exhibition by Patrick Gale
A family piece together the life of their mother, a renowned and troubled abstract artist who dies after painting obsessively in her Penzance studio. Of all the themes in this book, from bipolar disorder to adolescent Cornwall life, it was Gale's depiction of Quakerism that seemed to interest us most.
Chosen by Esther
Venue The Gate, Alexandra Palace
Rating 6.5
Dirt Music by Tim Winton
Western Australia-set page turner about a bored,washed up 40 year old who begins an affair with a poacher she spots from her beachside house. Winton brings his fictional fishing town of White Point to life thanks to some evocative descriptions and a motley crew of locals but we were let down a tad by the Mills & Boon ending.
Chosen by Kara
Venue Kara's, Holloway
Rating 6.0
England, England by Julian Barnes
Megalomaniac entrepreneur creates a superior theme-park version of England on the Isle of Wight. As with The Book of Dave, this satire about Englishness didn't really live up to its nice idea. We were bothered every character was obnoxious, we were bothered it didn't have much new to say, and we were bothered that Barnes' 11th novel really should have been better than this. Tut.
Chosen by Dawn
Venue The Woodbine, Highbury
Rating 5.0
Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov
Thumbs up all round (almost) for this bizarre, satirical post Soviet thriller. Victor is a journalist who shares his flat with a depressed Penguin rescued from an under-funded zoo in Kiev. When the subjects of the obituaries he prepares start to die regularly, it is clear sinister forces are at large. We liked the spooky depiction of Ukraine and there was much book group love for Misha the Penguin.
Chosen by Helen
Venue Paul's, Southgate
Rating 8.0
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Spoof detective story kindly picked to help the North London Reading Group stave off the winter blues. Set in a parallel 1985 where the Crimean War continues to rage and featuring literary allusions, dodos, a Welsh Republic and time travelling policemen.
Chosen by Catriona
Venue The Bull, Angel
Rating 6.5
Tunnel Visions by Christopher Ross
Ruminations by an ex-corporate lawyer after he takes a McJob at Oxford Circus tube station. Despite asking to be filed under 'Western philosophy', this was a slightly snobbish but enjoyable series of observations about our daily commutes to work. Book Group 'no non-fiction' rule overriden in the spirit of Christmas.
Chosen by Huw
Venue The Gate, Alexandra Palace
Rating 6.5
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Our second post apocalyptic book in a row, discussed in an apt cellar bar shelter. The Road follows an unnamed father and son walking alone through a devastated America. Widely enjoyed — in fact our book of the year — though some of us felt a tad cheated by the lack of revelation at the end and plausibility of pushing a supermarket trolley miles through woodland.
Chosen by Clare
Venue The Cittie of Yorke, Holborn
Rating 8.5
The Book of Dave by Will Self
A demented London cabbie writes a book to his estranged son - which spawns a new religion when found centuries later in a mostly submerged London. Dave had its supporters but the general feeling was nice picture on the front, great synposis on the back, shame about the bit in the middle. Some of us wanted to bury it for good.
Chosen by Paul
Venue Clare's, Holloway
Rating 4.0
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Iain Banks' blackly humourous debut. Narrated by 16 year old Frank, practicer of bizarre rituals in a remote Scottish village. The mysteries of Frank's past start to unfold when his brother escapes from a psychiatric hospital. Banks has gone on to do better but we felt his first novel still packed a punch.
Chosen by Clair
Venue Paul's, Southgate
Rating 6.5
Londonistani by Gautam Malkani
Gautam Malkani's debut was the subject of the NLRG's first discussion and was well received. Whilst some of us were initially put off by the lingo, we found it to be an enlightening glimpse into teenage Anglo Asian life, innit.
Chosen by Dawn
Venue Sara's, Highbury
Rating 7.0
