Just got back froms hols & can't find the discussion thread on this book - how did everyone find it?

Hi Gemma,

Only finished it on Sunday night ...

Have to say, I found it a bit slow and ... well, I don't know what else really. In its defence, house move meant I was picking it up here and there to try and finish it, but it didn't grip me.

M.

I would have to agree, struggled my way through it n didn't feel it was a worthwhile read really, but I had wanted to read it for a while having heard good reviews elsewhere!

I did feel sympathetic towards Stuart esp when the abuse came to light but couldn't get my head round why he killed himself in the end when he seemed to be getting his life back 2gether.  Not sure how I felt about the writing style, I found myself occasionally forgetting it wasn't fiction & I blame the style for this, it was very story like instead of factual but I get the impression that was the point!

Not a bad read but I probably wouldn't recommend it, I've just started a new book called March which has me gripped right from the start but not sure it would book club material, although it has featured in the R n J book club on TV...

So what are we reading next month, I quite fancy something easy going, funny...any suggestions?

Doesn't seem to have gone down too well with everyone else either  judging by the lack of responses....

I didn't read it because I felt that I couldn't read another book of that type after the last two months of similar type books!  I felt I needed to read something 'lighter' until next month's choice!!  :)  I too have been away for a week, so I feel a bit out of touch.....what are we reading for the 'June' choice?

I didn't read it either because I seem to have started several books recently and not finished them yet so I'm working my way through them first. Anyone have any suggestions for June?

The Time Travelers Wife was quite good. I think the authors name made me look twice too! (Somebody) Niffenberger
Karen

I read mine but obviously missed this thread!

I liked Stuart Shorter - despite being the sort of guy most of us would walk past in the street - but this was a clear illustration as to how some people don't ever have a life that is on-track so don't stand a hope of getting them 'back-on'track'.  He was a funny and intelligent guy who simply didn't stand a chance from tbe beginning - a hard concept to grasp at times.  It made me challenge some of my pre-conceptions and move back some barriers.

I found the book to be honestly written; the dedication of the author was interesting and I admired they way he stuck with it through thick and thin, even re-writing parts to suit Stuart.  Working with young people who have similar backgrounds to Stuart and who have experienced some of the difficulties he faced, this book makes me even more glad that I have the opportunity to work with other Stuart's at a much younger age when you perhaps can make a small difference.

I too liked the book and thought it was written with understanding.

Excellent choice of book but I've read it....

Ah now, I seem to be in the minority as I found the Time Traveller's Wife deathly ... everyone else seems to think it's fabulous, but I just didn't 'get it' LOL.

M.

Trashy I know (before you all start ) but how about something light & easy going ... new Jilly Cooper one perhaps or Marian Keyes?

Not snobby about a bit of trash at all, but don't really see the point for a 'book club' as can't imagine us getting much of a discussion out of a bit of chicklit. :D

M.

I still haven't finished it, i couldn't get into it, i found it really slow and uninteresting, but as i paid £8 for it i will persevere.

Which one did you find slow, Louise - Stuart or TT Wife? (Both, for me!)

M.

Hi Lily mc it was stuart a life backwards, i haven't read the other one, but doesn't sound as though i am missing anything.

Good point, but I'm gonna read at least the new Jilly book in my spare time (Riders was the first real book I ever read after Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe!!!).....

Anyone got any suggestions?  This is what I'm reading at the minute...March by Geraldine Brooks...

From the author of the acclaimed "Year Of Wonders", a historical novel and love story set during a time of catastrophe on the front lines of the American Civil War. Set during the American Civil War, "March" tells the story of John March, known to us as the father away from his family of girls in "Little Women", Louisa May Alcott's classic American novel. In Brooks' telling, March emerges as an abolitionist and idealistic chaplain on the front lines of a war that tests his faith in himself and in the Union cause when he learns that his side, too, is capable of barbarism and racism. As he recovers from a near-fatal illness in a Washington hospital, he must reassemble the shards of his shattered mind and body, and find a way to reconnect with a wife and daughters who have no idea of the ordeals he has been through.

I'm determined to read Fast Food Nation this month, see if it scares me into getting my act together and losing some weight LOL.

M.

Here's another suggestion: The Farm by Richard Benson...

When Richard Benson was growing up he felt like the village idiot with O'levels' glowing. School reports aren't much help when you're trying to help a sow give birth, or drive a power harrow in a straight line without getting half the hedgerow stuck in the tines. He left Yorkshire to work as a journalist in London, but returned when his dad called with the news that they were going to have to sell the family farm, and, in so doing, leave the home and livelihood that the Bensons had worked for generations. This is not only a moving personal account, but also one that reflects a profound change in rural life.