Around Quarter Past started in September 2010, who would have thought we’d be still going two years later.
We have read 27 books in that time!
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
- We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
- Trespass by Rose Tremain
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- Persuasion by Jane Austen
- You’re Next by Gregg Hurwitz
- The Confession of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn
- Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
- On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry
- My Fat Brother by Jim Keeble
- The Radleys by Matt Haig
- When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
- Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich
- Watermelon by Marian Keyes
- The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
- Book Swap – The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright, The day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey, The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Touching Earth by Rani Manicka
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
- Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
- The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
So any ideas to mark the occasion of our second birthday? All ideas welcome. I’m happy to host if its not something we can do in our usual meeting place.
Around Quarter Past 
Thanks Laura.
I think we should all confirm how many of these books we actually read/finished.
Everyone should have read 20 by now with 50 Shades and the Professor due soon.
MY TOTAL IS : I’ve read 16 (never started My Fat Brother, never finished Sex on the Moon, read the wiki of Persuasion, abandoned When God was a Rabbit, but I mean to pick it back up, gave up on Skippy Dies,
However, I had already read A Thousand Splendid Suns, Watermelon, God of Small Things and We Need to Talk about Kevin.
As for the 2nd anniversary celebrations- my Cathal has his second birthday soon too so he’s the same age as bookclub 🙂 Not sure about the celebrations, I have no imagination.
Sinead
Great blog Laura, and lovely idea about the 2nd birthday celebration. I swear I thought it only started up 1 year ago, how time flies! You’ve been a great instigator and encourager to those (ie me) who lapsed “membership” to come back 🙂 Maybe dinner and a table quiz somewhere if we can find one, it would keep in sync ish with book club, if you know what I mean……or else something random/different like bowling, or a movie in the Cellar film club. I probably shouldn’t have a say though as I haven’t been a very active member ! I have The Housekeeper And The Professor reserved for collection from the library tomorrow, so full steam ahead for me ! 🙂
Susan x
So my grand total is 22. The only one I didn’t finish was Persuasion, and I still hope to pick it back up. I had read A thousand splendid suns and We need to talk about Kevin before but reread for book club.Of the book swap ones I had my own choice – White woman on a green bicycle, and The marriage bureau for rich people already. The forgotten waltz is still sitting on my locker waiting to be read (sorry Siobhan).
Previously, Watermelon was my least favourite, it is now Fifty shades of grey which I’m hating but almost finished it thankfully.
Susan the bookclub was the brainchild of Sinéad, and she also thought of our rather super name!
I have We need to talk about Kevin to watch and we could get together to do that but I don’t think it brings the word ‘celebration’ to mind. Dinner might be a runner Susan, just do book club over dinner maybe but I don’t think we’d fit in a table quiz too on a school night.
I think tea and cake in the amber springs is a good idea. don’t mind at all going to your house Laura just think it might be less hastle. for you