I've been finished for several days. I'm anxious to hear what you all have to say. It was tough for me and then became a little easier. I'm sure that everyone will have a lot to say!

Cheers,
rebecca

I echo Rebecca's sentiments... It was a bit of a chore at the beginning, but I was a bit upset about finishing it.... Looking forward to Wednesday. see you there...

Beccy

I need to get a move on for Wednesday.

Do we need to set up an event?

You don't mind if I join?

Have no plans for wednesday night and might as well enjoy some tea and talk about some "proper" books (I tend to sink my teeth into very fat computer manuals most of the time...).

Should I bring some books along that I think might interest people or be considered for a future read? Or are we supposed to choose a book that no one has read?

I was meaning to come last time, but felt a little ill on that evening and ended up going to bed early

Hi everyone, I'm only half way through the book just now. Have been really struggling with it and it hasn't helped having a lot of visitors staying with me!! Will still come along tonight I think for a blether.

Don't think I'm going to make it along tonight, as I have some sort of cold/ lurgy/ plague thing (no temperature, thought, so not swine flu). I'm planning an evening involving the sofa, blankets and hot drinks.

Most tiresome, as I did actually read the book. I quite liked it by the end - I spent the first half thinking 'Oh come oooonnnnn, get on with something actually happening!' Which I suppose is going to be a symptom of setting a book of several hundred pages in just one day.

It picked up a lot at the end, though. And in fairness, even the bits where NOTHING happened for pages were exquisitely written - I felt like he'd carefully crafted every word of every sentence. Some of it was still a bit irrelevant, though - I kept getting the sense that he had an interesting collection of factoids that he wanted to work into the book somehow, resulting in parts of the book feeling like they should be a newspaper column rather than a novel. Overall, I'd give it 7/10, mostly for the writing style.

There - making a contribution without spoiling the ending for everyone! Have fun tonight, and let me know the next book and meeting date.

kodokan

__________________
'Chance favours only the prepared mind.'

Apologies for not coming along last night. I hibernated all day (& night). I think I was just absolutely knackered after having so many visitors, and I needed to do my french homework too!!

I still haven't quite finished the book but am determined that I will. I've now passed half way and it's getting easier to read and more interesting as I go on.

Please let me know what the next book is and when we are meeting.

Anne

I had a great time attending the latest book club evening, the first of its kind for me (and a big change from the Paintball/Airsoft/Sports Car/etc clubs I participate in during my free time)!

Thank you amaraya (if I was correctly able to put a face to your EF name) for lending me your copy of the Saturday. If you want your book returned before our next meeting on the 13th of January, just send me a PM and I'll pop by in Lausanne.

Speaking of which, I went through 50 pages yesterday and have to say that I'm finding it quite captivating so far. The author has touched a fair number of subjects with considerable detail and it's not as slow paced as I thought it might be, guess it'll go into full swing after I've gone through another 50 pages tonight!

I passed my order for the next book and received confirmation that it got shipped from the depot this morning, but seems to be a bit larger at +500 pages tho'... Hope I chose the right one, i.e. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Finally, thank you all for not kicking me out from the lounge the moment you saw me coming

Although I get to talk English all the time at work (the corporate language amongst us), the discussions I have in the office with the lads tend to be all about work work work... gets a bit tiring after a while. So it was a superbly refreshing change to be able to listen and contribute in English over a wider variety of subjects with you ladies.

I'll happily join the next one in January hoping to contribute my thoughts on TTTW!

Yay shinigami! it was so nice to meet you and hang onto the book as long as you need- i'd be curious on how you feel while reading after all of our comments- hope we didn't ruin it for you!

and, i think you get extra points for staying even without reading the book!
look forward to seeing you next month- and just a quick question- where is the nearest paintball???? i had no idea that there was paintball here and now i'm dying to go- used to do it a bit in ny and it's sooo much fun!

__________________
'there isn't enough of anything as long as we live.
but at intervals a sweetness appears and, given a chance prevails'

Don't worry, nothing got spoiled for me

As I believe essellemm33 (once again, hope I managed to place the right EF name to the correct face) had not quite finished reading her book, the discussion on hand avoided revealing the end. I'm pretty sure there's still plenty on hand to keep me entertained and/or shocked as I go through the novel.

If you're looking for Paintball, there's http://www.yatouland.com/ over in Meyrin, Geneva. They have Lasergame as well. This site used to have an indoor arena for Paintball... Currently it seems they've got a forest environment for games. I've only attended the indoor session.

And over the border from Carouge in France is http://www.paintball-paradis.com with a more interesting terrain with buildings etc...

I tend to do Airsoft games these days, the weapons look cooler and you don't get paint all over yourself

Hi everyone,

My sincerest apologies for my absence on Wednesday. I was tucked into bed for days with some sort of nasty, nasty flu and fever (not swine...but maybe some other farm animal?). Anyhoodle, wish that I could have been there. Sounds like a few didn't finish the book? So was another chosen for the next date, or will we all stick with Saturday over the holidays?

If someone could drop a line to catch me up, it would be super, super great!

Many thanks,
Rebecca

I thought I was the only one who missed it! I couldn't come as I had to take care of my little one who had the flu. No fever so does that mean it's not swine flu?

I'm still struggling with it, but I am determined to finish it!!

So what's the next book? Is it the Time Traveller's Wife? If so, !!

Everyone,

Thanks to all who attended Wednesday. Two of us hadn't finished the book, so we can catch up with the others next time around and finish talking about it

I'll not go into detail about what was said about Saturday, as we had a few people missing who, I'm sure, would like to share their opinions next meeting. So we'll leave it until then.

The next book:

The Time Traveller's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

Next meeting:

13th January 2010

Same venue:

Hotel De La Nouvelle Couronne, Morges

Time:

8pm

Seems like a few people were ill or had children who were ill, so I hope they're all recovered now. Hate to echo the masses but there is definitely something going around!

SO glad we started up this book club, great to be meeting lots of different people but with a common interest.

Great to have Mister Finnish IT Man along on Weds - next time, you will have read the book we're talking about so hopefully more interesting.

Again, anyone welcome to the next meetup - look forward to seeing you all there!

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrated it!

Stephanie

Yup, that's me, Mister Finnish IT Man, haha

Anyway, I'm about two thirds of a way through the book now and I'm enjoying it for sure! My experience regarding literature is not as profound as I'd like it to be, so ever the better for me to catch up on more reading.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone here read or write poetry as well? Would there be any interest in reciting and talking about a poem or two in future meetings?

I'm by no means an expert, but I do like to write the occasional poem now and then and my English teacher used to tell me that they were all right

Hi,

I live in Lausanne, not far away from Morges at all. And i would love to join this group too. How shall we do this? It seems that quite a lot of people showed interests already...

If I can be any help to organise this group, please let me know

Cheers

Blue

Hey Shinigami! i love poetry and i write a bit as well... maybe we can chose a book of poems one month- or make an offshoot club specifically for poem reading, discussion, etc. i was hoping to find some kind of an open mic kind of place that has poetry, etc but so far i haven't- so i think that's a great idea!

An offshoot poetry club might be a better choice as it might not be to everyones liking to replace a "book" club with poems half the time...

Hey - cool, I am in, I have been translating poetry for years and miss the scene..The jams, shows, I miss my people. I think I will always pick poetry over prose, so if we can do that, that would be cool.

I am not done yet with McEwan, argh, last 20 pages. I thoroughly enjoyed it so far eventhough it took a bit of adjustment to the pace. The moral dilemmas and characters are interesting to ponder about. Some stuff is a little hard to buy at times, I wish he dug a little more in the relatioship between Rosalind and Henry, I wish the Theo was not such a goody goody teenager, haha, and Henry a bit less narcisistic, sometimes the whole family set up is a little corny..I still think we are not supposed to like Baxter too much, makes Henry even more of a hero. The setting was exotic enough for me, though I think others will probably appreciate the familiarity.

It was nice to see everyone at the last BC meeting, looking forward to the next one. It is good not to merely consume literature but give it a thought.

Stephanie, do you mind calling the bartender a day before the bext meeting to remind him we are coming? He is so old school, we put him in distress by showing up unannounced and he had to shuffle the couches...

Hello everyone,

I would love to join the group too...

But I am now quite confused.. When and where are we meeting for the first time. Will it be possible that essellemm33, you confirm the time and location by this weekend?

I guess that since you initiated this great idea, maybe we should let you to put a confirmation note on the forum so that we can be sure when and where to meet for the first time. As everyone is talking here , i cant really be sure about the date and time anymore :P

Thank you everyone!

Cheers