Our Dundas Book Clubs have been very busy reading and reviewing their book club picks over the last month.

Read what they thought about, ‘The Woman in the Window’, ‘Any Ordinary Day’ and ‘The Alice Network’. All of which have been hugely popular reads with a lot of our clubs.

Enjoy!

Jody

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

A great first book from the author, A.J. Finn.  The short, sharp chapters and fast-paced action, had us turning pages quickly.  It kept us guessing at each turn.  Did she imagine it?  Or did she really see it?  And if she did see it, then what really happened?  And who did it?  We loved our heroine, Anna, despite all her flaws.  The author having portrayed what felt like a pretty accurate representation of what life might be life for someone dealing with agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.  Recommend this if you also enjoyed The Girl on the Train or Gone Girl.

7.5/10 Read by Cultcha Club

Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales

The cover of this book has the words ‘wise’, ‘compelling’, ‘sensitive’ and ‘thought provoking’ on it. We found all of this in the book.

While the topic of facing and dealing with tragedy sounds depressing and heavy, we all came away with new insights and tools to helps us and others during times of distress. Words the we felt we could add were ‘kindness’, ‘unity’, ‘positivity’, ‘gratitude’, ‘memories’ and ‘thankfulness’. Having read and discussed this book, we came away knowing that we could be more present and acknowledge someone’s grief. We learnt that ‘accompanying’ someone, looking for positives and asking for help are all important strategies and that love and grief are intrinsically joined.

We are very happy to recommend this book.

Read by MJ Readers

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

We found this novel readable and quite enjoyable but felt that there were a number of weaknesses. It felt as if it was written using a standard detective genre with a specific US market in mind and failed to expand enough on the broader historical perspectives.

The novel lacked deep research and left us largely dissatisfied with the result. Despite being set in France, there was no French perspective and little differentiation between English, French, German and US cultures and attitudes. There were little exquisite writing moments and the characterisations and ending felt weak and rushed.

What this novel did do was to inspire us to more fully research the historical characters and reflect on the roles of women in war, their different treatment in WW1 compared to WW11 and the way PTSD is now treated. It also made us reflect on how much has gone unreported from war and how many women made so many significant, unrecognised  contributions.

Read by the Dundas Readers