The Evening Reading Group’s chosen book for this month was Salvation Creek by Susan Duncan.  This book tells an inspiring and amusing sea change story.

  Devestated after the unexpected deaths of her beloved husband and brother, Susan Duncan, a successful career woman, finally reaches a point when she feels she can no longer continue.  She decides to leave her former life behind and start a new one in a tiny waterside community cut off from the rest of the world.

Although only one member of the group was able to finish the book in its entirety, the overall opinion was that the book was inspirational and relatable.  It portrayed the lifestyle at Pittwater well and had a good sense of the community into which the author now found herself living.  The group wondered if the book would have been different if the author had children.  They gave the book a rating of 7.5 out of 10.

Popular Australian author, Kate Grenville, has produced a marvellous, well written book according to the First Wednesday Book Club. 

The story about Lieutenant Daniel Rooke and his friendship with twelve year old Tagaran, a young aboriginal who teaches him about her language, was enjoyed by the majority of the group – with only one dissenter.  There was a lively discussion on whether the author should have reduced Tagaran’s age from 14 to 12 and some thought the author had been a little coy about the relationship between the two characters – but it was generally considered to be well written.  Their was some controversy within the group over the ending, but all agreed it was a worthwhile read.

Title: The Godfather

Author: Mario Puzo

                                  Ali’s pick

The Last Thursday Reading Group has talked about ‘Mao’s last dancer‘ by Cunxin Li. Although with some difficulties of understanding the particular period of China, most of members enjoyed their reading immensely.

Mao’s last dancer has bee  published few years ago and getting popular again due to the film that launched not long times ago. It’s a biography of Cunxin Li, a son from a peasent family and a ballet dancer during Mao’s period in China. He struggled to work hard to achieve high. During his visit to US he defacted and couldn’t return to China until after the cultural revolution.

Some members said it is an extraordinary story of courage and sheer resilience. They simply couldn’t put the book down until the last page.

Author: Alain de Botton

Title: A week at the airport: a Heathrow diary

Despite all the developments in aviation and the convenience of being able to travel from one side of the world to the other, the usual traveller is probably not often inspired by airports. The buildings are usually very artificial, and the custom areas severe. Alain de Botton is not a usual traveller. He is a writer and a philosopher.  I’m often amused by those who can come up with big ideas when considering some very ordinary things. De Botton is certainly one of these people.

Starting with the first chapter; ‘Approach’, where De Botton devises the premise for the book after being given the opportunity by an airport owner to stay at the new Heathrow airport hotel for a week. De Botton, sets out his chapters as a traveller would move through an airport – from Departure to Airside to Arrival. He writes what he sees, what he thinks and philosophises on what it all means.  

Exploring ‘everyday’ experiences such as the fear of flying, dealing with security, receiving special treatment in Concorde Room – with ‘Leather chairs, marble bathrooms, a spa, a restaurant, a concierge, a manicurist and a hairdresser’, de Botton also covers the rare scenes that a traveller doesn’t usually see, such as preparing meals for eighty thousand or processing twelve thousand pieces of luggage.  And after the author provides his insight, the idea of airport no longer makes one feel irrelevant, temporary or harsh. After all, these stories – fear of death, sadness of departure, a need for self assuredness, frustration at being monitored and joy of reunion on arrival… all these airport experiences are essentially human experiences. The book has some interesting photographs to go with the stories; however one criticism is the size of the text which did make my eyes soar.

Overall though it is a thin, easy read… perfect for the airport.