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| The hardest working book group in Hove take a well earned break and take stock of 2018 |
We agreed to review the scoring process and the methodology for next year after Tristan had established that the best book was, in fact, not the best book at all.
A travesty and a sham, he yelled, whilst gesticulating wildly with a chapati in his hand.
For now though this will have to do
Our favourite books we discussed in 2018
1/ The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje - 15
2/ The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood - 12
3/ Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile (2017) by Adelle Stripe - 7
5=/ Wake In Fright (1961) by Kenneth Cook - 6
5=/ Submission (2015) by Michel Houellebecq - 6
6/ Nightmare in Berlin (1947) by Hans Fallada - 5
8=/ Under Major Domo Minor (2015) by Patrick deWitt - 3
8=/ The Lesser Bohemians (2016) by Eimear McBride - 3
9/ Waterland (1983) by Graham Swift - 2
10/ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie - 0
2. Our favourite musical selections we discussed in 2018
1=/ Thatcher’s Britain playlist - 16
1=/ Max Richter - Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works (2017) - 16
3. Dog Man Star (1994) by Suede - 11
4. Robin’s Summertime playlist - 5
5. Billy Bragg and Wilco ‘Mermaid Avenue’ (1998) - 3
6. I, Gemini (2016) by Let’s Eat Grandma - 1
7. A Certain Ratio 'I’d Like To See You Again' - 1
8. “All That Glitters…” playlist - 2
10=/ The Birthday Party - The Bad Seed EP (1983) - 0
10=/ Max Cooper - One Hundred Billion Sparks (2018) - 0
3. Our favourite film/DVDs we discussed in 2018
1/ Wake In Fright (1971) directed by Ted Kotcheff - 16
2/ Blade Runner 2049 (2017) dir by Denis Villeneuve - 10
4=/ The Arbor (2010) dir by Clio Barnard - 9
4=/ Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq (2014) dir by Guillaume Nicloux - 9
6/ Heavenly Creatures (1994) directed by Peter Jackson - 5
7/ The Levelling directed by Hope Dickson Leach (2018) - 4
8/ Shutter Island (1994) directed by Martin Scorsese - 1
Princess Cyd (2017) directed by Stephen Cone - 0
A Company of Wolves (1984) directed by Neil Jordan - 0
Howards End dir by James Ivory (1992) - 0
4. Our favourite unifying themes of 2018
1/ It’s Grim Up North (aka Thatcher’s Britain) (aka Andrea Dunbar) - 15
2/ Descent Into Hell (aka Aussie Noir) - 13
3/ Dystopian Futures - 8
4/ Rural Idylls - 6
5/ Twisted Fairytales - 4
6/ Michel Houellebecq/Max Richter - 3
9=/ A Slice of Old English Sponge - 0
9=/ Criminality and Art / All that Glitters - 0
9=/ Awakenings - 0
5. Best book you read this year
Nigel - Restoration (+ sequel Merivel) by Rose Tremain
Roland - Waterland by Graham Swift
Robin - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Nick - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Keith - Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Tristan - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
6. What defined 2018 for you
Nigel - No one event or happening (except maybe World Cup 2018) but, the ongoing self harming of Brexit aside, it’s been a really lovely year which I feel privileged to have enjoyed
Roland - Mellowing into older age
Robin - David Byrne gig, Bundesliga match, Holly's exam results, anti-trump march
Nick - Brexit
Keith - ‘I was looking for a job and then I found a job...’
Tristan - Fucking fucking Brexit shitstorm
7. Best thing about Book Group in 2018
Nigel - We’ve upped our game - some really great choices with no real stinkers and even the ones I didn’t necessarily enjoy I was glad to have read/listened/watched PLUS it’s a lovely group and Roland’s fitted right in
Roland - Savouring splendid artistic works I would never otherwise sample + Celebrating our musical differences. Some like droning indie/rock others like melodic jazz and never the twain shall meet!
Robin - Mid summer book club at Devil's Dyke
Nick - A good all round selection this year - good unifying themes
Keith - Continued excellence in our cultural exchanges. My life is richer for it.
Tristan - The "you can choose the venue" innovation. Although not many people have taken up the option.
8. How we make Book Group even better
Nigel - No need to gild the lily aka don’t fuck with perfection
Roland - Maybe some carefully curated/chosen new blood?
Robin - An extra week to read the book - no surprise there!
Keith - Bring back Hamish
Tristan - Don't include the ratings per-person per-month in the poll. That way people are not influenced by their previous ratings, and you can reveal the comparison when you announce the poll to show the difference between votes-in-the-moment and end-of-year.
9. What else..
Nigel - Keep on keeping on
Robin - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!
Keith - TBA
Tristan - Keep up the great organising and documenting
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
Nigel - Confidence Man - Confident Music for Confident People (another brilliant year with so many super duper songs and albums)
SONGS OF THE YEAR
Nigel - Confidence Man - Catch My Breath / Portugal. The Man - So Young / The Vaccines - I Can’t Quit
GIGS OF THE YEAR
Nigel - Idles at The Concorde / John Cooper Clarke at The Dome
Nick - Sons of Kemet
Tristan - Baloji
CULTURAL HAPPENINGS OF THE YEAR (best of the rest - books, TV, films, festivals etc)
Nigel - Better Call Saul (TV) / End of the Road 2018 (Festival) / World Cup 2018 (Football) / Irvine Welsh - Dead Men’s Trousers (Book)
Nick - Widows (Film)
Tristan - Screening of La Haine, with live soundtrack by Asian Dub Foundation
1/ The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje - 15
2/ The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood - 12
3/ Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile (2017) by Adelle Stripe - 7
5=/ Wake In Fright (1961) by Kenneth Cook - 6
5=/ Submission (2015) by Michel Houellebecq - 6
6/ Nightmare in Berlin (1947) by Hans Fallada - 5
8=/ Under Major Domo Minor (2015) by Patrick deWitt - 3
8=/ The Lesser Bohemians (2016) by Eimear McBride - 3
9/ Waterland (1983) by Graham Swift - 2
10/ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie - 0
2. Our favourite musical selections we discussed in 2018
1=/ Thatcher’s Britain playlist - 16
1=/ Max Richter - Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works (2017) - 16
3. Dog Man Star (1994) by Suede - 11
4. Robin’s Summertime playlist - 5
5. Billy Bragg and Wilco ‘Mermaid Avenue’ (1998) - 3
6. I, Gemini (2016) by Let’s Eat Grandma - 1
7. A Certain Ratio 'I’d Like To See You Again' - 1
8. “All That Glitters…” playlist - 2
10=/ The Birthday Party - The Bad Seed EP (1983) - 0
10=/ Max Cooper - One Hundred Billion Sparks (2018) - 0
3. Our favourite film/DVDs we discussed in 2018
1/ Wake In Fright (1971) directed by Ted Kotcheff - 16
2/ Blade Runner 2049 (2017) dir by Denis Villeneuve - 10
4=/ The Arbor (2010) dir by Clio Barnard - 9
4=/ Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq (2014) dir by Guillaume Nicloux - 9
6/ Heavenly Creatures (1994) directed by Peter Jackson - 5
7/ The Levelling directed by Hope Dickson Leach (2018) - 4
8/ Shutter Island (1994) directed by Martin Scorsese - 1
Princess Cyd (2017) directed by Stephen Cone - 0
A Company of Wolves (1984) directed by Neil Jordan - 0
Howards End dir by James Ivory (1992) - 0
4. Our favourite unifying themes of 2018
1/ It’s Grim Up North (aka Thatcher’s Britain) (aka Andrea Dunbar) - 15
2/ Descent Into Hell (aka Aussie Noir) - 13
3/ Dystopian Futures - 8
4/ Rural Idylls - 6
5/ Twisted Fairytales - 4
6/ Michel Houellebecq/Max Richter - 3
9=/ A Slice of Old English Sponge - 0
9=/ Criminality and Art / All that Glitters - 0
9=/ Awakenings - 0
5. Best book you read this year
Nigel - Restoration (+ sequel Merivel) by Rose Tremain
Roland - Waterland by Graham Swift
Robin - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Nick - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Keith - Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Tristan - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
6. What defined 2018 for you
Nigel - No one event or happening (except maybe World Cup 2018) but, the ongoing self harming of Brexit aside, it’s been a really lovely year which I feel privileged to have enjoyed
Roland - Mellowing into older age
Robin - David Byrne gig, Bundesliga match, Holly's exam results, anti-trump march
Nick - Brexit
Keith - ‘I was looking for a job and then I found a job...’
Tristan - Fucking fucking Brexit shitstorm
7. Best thing about Book Group in 2018
Nigel - We’ve upped our game - some really great choices with no real stinkers and even the ones I didn’t necessarily enjoy I was glad to have read/listened/watched PLUS it’s a lovely group and Roland’s fitted right in
Roland - Savouring splendid artistic works I would never otherwise sample + Celebrating our musical differences. Some like droning indie/rock others like melodic jazz and never the twain shall meet!
Robin - Mid summer book club at Devil's Dyke
Nick - A good all round selection this year - good unifying themes
Keith - Continued excellence in our cultural exchanges. My life is richer for it.
Tristan - The "you can choose the venue" innovation. Although not many people have taken up the option.
8. How we make Book Group even better
Nigel - No need to gild the lily aka don’t fuck with perfection
Roland - Maybe some carefully curated/chosen new blood?
Robin - An extra week to read the book - no surprise there!
Keith - Bring back Hamish
Tristan - Don't include the ratings per-person per-month in the poll. That way people are not influenced by their previous ratings, and you can reveal the comparison when you announce the poll to show the difference between votes-in-the-moment and end-of-year.
9. What else..
Nigel - Keep on keeping on
Robin - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!
Keith - TBA
Tristan - Keep up the great organising and documenting
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
Nigel - Confidence Man - Confident Music for Confident People (another brilliant year with so many super duper songs and albums)
SONGS OF THE YEAR
Nigel - Confidence Man - Catch My Breath / Portugal. The Man - So Young / The Vaccines - I Can’t Quit
GIGS OF THE YEAR
Nigel - Idles at The Concorde / John Cooper Clarke at The Dome
Nick - Sons of Kemet
Tristan - Baloji
CULTURAL HAPPENINGS OF THE YEAR (best of the rest - books, TV, films, festivals etc)
Nigel - Better Call Saul (TV) / End of the Road 2018 (Festival) / World Cup 2018 (Football) / Irvine Welsh - Dead Men’s Trousers (Book)
Nick - Widows (Film)
Tristan - Screening of La Haine, with live soundtrack by Asian Dub Foundation
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