Book clubs in Berkshire

’This is a female text borne of guilt and desire, stitched to a soundtrack of cartoon nursery rhymes.’ ‘This is a female text and it is a tiny miracle that it even exists, as it does in this moment, lifted to another consciousness by the ordinary wonder of type. Ordinary, too, the ricochet of thought that swoops, now, from my body to yours.’ ‘This is a female text, written in the twenty-first century. How late it is. How much has changed. How little.’ ‘This is a female text, which is also a caoineadh: a dirge and a drudge-song, an anthem of praise, a chant and a keen, a lament and an echo, a chorus and a hymn. Join in.’ This is a strange and beautiful book about women telling stories of birth and death across centuries in Ireland. It's about motherhood and grief and longing and language. It is part memoir and part translation of an old Irish story from 1773. When I finished it I felt lucky to have found something so beautiful, and I also felt completely haunted by it.

I love French’s centralisation of Dublin and her highly visual style that engrosses you in to the world of the Murder Squad series. However, I enjoyed this book the most as it presented the kinship between a group of young girls as almost magical in a way that resonated with me so much, increased by an actual supernatural element she involves that draws them closer. I would recommend to anyone even if they’re not in to detective novels, as I believe it’s accessible to people that are interested in lots of different genres.

Probably the first zombie book I've read (other than Cells by Stephen King, which I don't class as zombie genre - and also didn't rate!) despite being a huge consumer of zomb films and TV series. I'm choosing this as my book recommendation as it's the most recent read to hit my top 10 ever. Even if you aren't a horror fan, the portrayal of the global political consequences of the outbreak are fascinating. There's a ton of warfare info interwoven throughout too if you're familiar with war strategy and weapons (I'm not, but could just about follow along). On the lookout for more Max Brooks!

Beautifully written and plotted quite brilliantly. So clever. So very clever. BUT, if you get hold of the British Library Crime Classics edition, I recommend you close the book where Berkeley stops writing and ignore the denouements added by later editors.

This book is heartbreaking. Sobbed uncontrollably in the best way possible. The writing f is poetic and gorgeous <3

A popular book for a reason, this book got me into reading.

Similar to my love for shuggie Bain. This book is painful and moving.

I read this in sixth form and enjoyed it very much. It’s disturbing but also tackles real world issues which I think is very important!