From Bookclub To Bookclub…

I just noticed that the last time I wrote a piece for my blog was when I had just finished the Murdoch for last month’s Bookclub… which was last month… which is a long time ago. It’s not that I don’t have the time. I finished my thesis (and got good marks for it too), so I’m now graduated and looking for a job, which means if there’s one thing I’ve got PLENTY of, it’s time. I just need to get into the habit of writing again… So, I’ll once again begin with an overview of what I’ve been reading in between Bookclubs:

• Lucy Ellmann – Varying Degrees of Hopelessness: a gift from a friend. A quick read, but very funny and recognizable, a woman’s must-read!
• John Niven – Kill Your Friends: bought on impulse because I liked the cover and the subject (the music industry of the nineties), but it was a bit disappointing. I had expected something like Almost Famous, but it turned out to be more cynical and depressing. The blurps promised that it would be a hilarious read, but I guess it was just not my kind of humour…
• Willem Elsschot – Lijmen/Het Been: as part of my plan to read more Dutch literature, I started with Elsschot, which was not a bad start at all.
• D.H. Lawrence – Women in Love: Bookclub book. Slow read, hard to get into, all thought, very modernist, and I had the feeling that I didn’t get half of what he was saying, but I still liked it. Maybe I should read it again in a few years. And we had a Bookclub picnic this time, which was fun!
• Willem Elsschot – Tjip/De Leeuwentemmer: my second Elsschot and I loved it! Plus, I bought a very nice second-hand copy. It looks like it may be a first edition, but it doesn’t have a copyright page so I can’t be sure. Still, I’m happy with my precious.

• Ben Elton – Dead Famous: a brilliant satire/whodunit inspired by the Big Brother programmes. Laughed out loud with this line: (one of the inmates is complaining because someone ate her cheese) “It’s not about the cheese, it’s so not about the cheese. It’s just that, you know, it was my cheese.”
• Hunter S. Thompson – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: another gift (which is nice, since I promised myself no more book-buying until I’ve got a job). Now I see where John Niven has found his inspiration… I liked this one better though, although I think I’m born a few generations too late to really get it.

Next Bookclub book will be The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Marie Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows. Very curious about that one! More Dutch literature recommendations are always welcome…