Last night we had our last book club ever to be hosted at L and R's place.
They rent two old flats on the River. The owners recently sold the property for a multi-million dollar sum - the poor rickety building will be knocked down and the land will be redeveloped. L has already found a new place to call home while R will have to find new digs in 2011.
 |
| R lived in the bottom flat, while L lived in the top flat |
We were all sad. It was a nice green and character-laced oasis in a sea of schmick building developments.
Whenever R or L hosted a book club evening, we always admired the priceless views of the City; lights sparkling in the river. It was just a lovely location.
Vale to one of my favourite spots in Brisbane. It will be missed.
Anyway, on to books.
L catalogued the books we have read over the past six years. It is always great to look back at what we loved reading and what we hated. The discussions are always animated and downright hilarious.
For your interest, here are the book titles we read in 2010 :
January - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
February - The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
March - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
April - The Women in Black by Madeline St John
May - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
June - Indignation by Philip Roth
July - The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
August - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
September - Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
October - The Invisible Man by H.G Wells
November - Like Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
December - Squirrel seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
And I am pleased to announce the winner of the Ferrero Rocher by BKH Christmas Centrepiece is Leah from Sugar Snapped.
Congratulations Leah!!
That is a bit sad..... Such a fabulous list. Might have to read a few....
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame about that lovely old building ... sign of the times, really.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the winner of the Ferrero Rocher pyramid of chocolate!
A terrible shame, it all comes down to money, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'll have to go back ad read Leah's comment - I just couldn't come up with anything remotely interesting! Congrats to Leah!
Wow great list. Did you like Jasper Jones I have just finished it...
ReplyDeleteAnd we can't even blame Joh Bjelke...! Congratulations to Leah. My book club's read a few of those books too Anita...we even managed to talk about some of them in between wine tastings...and I've just finished reading Sara Gruen's latest, Ape House...was fab.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Leah - I'm only mildly jealous! :) I wouldn't be so sad to learn of the old building going if they were to replace it with something significant and interesting. So many new buildings are nothing more than monstrosities built for money hungry developers.
ReplyDeleteGood on your for reading those books and thanks for the list! I am looking for some new reads. Any your fav's?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great sounding list Anita. Did you have a favourite/least favourite?
ReplyDeleteShame about your friends home. Wouldn't it be nice if it could be done up rather than developed.
Amanda xx
I'm a member of a book club too and although I don't devour books like some of our members, I do enjoy being challenged to read things I otherwise would never have heard of! I enjoyed The Book Thief and The Slap is sitting under The White Tiger on my bedside table ready to tackle next.
ReplyDeleteBrisbane is losing so many wonderful old character buildings. It looks like one I visited in the '80's that was the home to many a great party. Good luck to R and L for their new digs.
Jennifer XX
Hooray! So excited that I won - I never win anything! Have to say, I absolutely hated "The Slap" - I finished it because once I start a book I feel compelled, but I grimaced the whole way through. Did that polarise your book club? Shame about the apartments, hopefully your friend finds a place to live quickly!
ReplyDeleteI was having dinner with the wife just now when she told me:
ReplyDelete"I see someone called Leah won the fun and vj's competition."
I said "Oh, I thought I was a chance of winning that"
She just shook her head and said
"Idiot"
Congratulations Leah!
See you tomorrow Brismod.
Congrats to Leah! Loving Mr Rooneys comment... ;-)
ReplyDeleteJane, Jasper Jones was a fabulous read. The main characters were, for me, incredibly engaging. It was my favourite of the year.
ReplyDeleteKerry, I enjoyed Water for Elephants so I will check out her latest.
Amanda, my least favourite was Wolf Hall but to be fair I never finished it.
Jennifer, I really liked the Book Thief, but I didn't think I would when I first picked it up. It made me cry like a baby.
Leah, The Slap was something else. Very confronting but not what you call a happy read! I'm glad I read it though. His other book Dead Europe was better I thought.
Mr Rooney better luck next time!!
How very sad for them to be moving on ... still sometimes a new a beginning is a good thing. Wow, what a lot of books you have read - I dream of days where I have time to read again. Michelle
ReplyDeleteMrs Rooney jr is a wise woman ha! Congrats to the lovely winner! Xx katherine
ReplyDeleteYeah, yeah.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kath, ;p
Brismod, of the few authors on your list, that I have read; there is a connect between H.G Wells and Aldous Huxley.
In Jeff Waynes 1978 concept albumn of H. G. Wells 'War of the Worlds', one of the stand out tracks is 'A Brave new world"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4Ar6evQQ_w
Phil Lynott goes off!