Book Around the Corner

Time flies as we all know it and our Book Club year is almost over. In July, we’ll read Rendezvous in Venice by Philippe Beaussant and The Bookstore by Penelope Fitzgerald. We had to think about next year! So we met and decided upon our reading list for our Book Club from August 2016 to July 2017. I’m happy with our choices as they mix literary fiction, non-fiction and crime. We have picked books from different countries, even if there are five French books. We also have a good mix of periods, with books from the 19thC to nowadays. We’ll read books by writers we already know and like and some by writers new to us.

*drum roll* Here’s the list:

• August: The Firemaker by Peter May. (1999) Crime fiction set in China. I’ve never read Peter May, I expect something entertaining with a good sense of place.

• September: The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling (1888) A classic. Short and perfect for September when the children go back to school and we, parents are overbooked to have the new school year organised. I have this bilingual edition, English on the left page, French translation on the right page.

• October: I Am a Cat by Natsume Sôseki. (1905) Japan at the beginning of the 20thC through the eyes of a cat. A classic I’ve been meaning to read for a while.

• November: Les grands cimetières sous la lune by Georges Bernanos is not available in English. The title means “the big cemeteries under the moon”. It is Bernanos’s take on the Spanish Civil War and it was published in 1938.  1936-2016, I’m glad to read it this year.

• December: The Dark Room by R.K. Narayan. (1938) I have the English edition but I couldn’t resist showing you the cover of the French edition. I’ve read Swammi and Friends and liked it very much. I’m looking forward to visiting Narayan’s world again.

• January: All Men Are Mortal by Simone de Beauvoir. (1946) What happens when someone’s immortal?

• February: The Romance of a Mummy by Théophile Gautier. (1858). A classic I’ve never read and I’m curious about it.

• March: The End of Eddy by Edouard Louis. It will be published in English in February 2017. I’ve heard a lot about Edouard Louis, I’m intrigued and I hope I won’t find him as disappointing as Houellebecq.

• April: “Oh…” by Philippe Djian (2012) It’s not available in English but you can watch the film version. It’s Elle, directed by Paul Verhoeven. Djian is a sure thing, most of the time and I remember that the critics were good when “Oh…” was published.

• May: Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann. (2015) I’ve read This Side of Brightness and loved it.

• June: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. (2005) I know it’s a beautiful text but I have to say I dread to read it for the emotional side of it.

• July: Les putes voilées n’iront jamais au paradis by Chardortt Djavann. (2016). The author is French but was born in Iran. The title of her novel means The whores with a hijab will never end in paradise. Her book tells the story of two young girls in Iran and it is about the condition of women in this country.

• Bonus: Homeland and Other Stories by Barbara Kingsolver (1989) Just because it almost made the list and there’s always time to read short stories.

What do you think about our new list? Have you read any of the books we picked? You’re welcome to read any of these books along with us.