In lieu of our usual seasonal meal and visit to a pub, what with Covid 19 making meals and pubs all but impossible for those from different households, we decided to brave the chilly, damp evening of Thursday 10th December 2020 and stroll about sustained by exercise, conversation, occasional stop offs, and various beverages.
Sadly two members did not make the one and only tolerable photo to mark the occasion (sorry Nick and Keith) but here is evidence that this really did happen.
Here’s hoping 2021 is a bit more normal and we can enjoy our more traditional end of year celebration
Part of what we do every year is a poll to vote on each other’s choices. Here are the results….
Favourite read
1. Nineteen Eighty Four (1949) by George Orwell (Robin) - 15
2. Cal (1983) by Bernard MacLaverty (Nick) - 11
3. The Plague (1947) by Albert Camus (Keith) - 4
4. A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) by John Kennedy Toole (Tristan) - 3
5= Rings of Saturn (1995) by WG Sebald (Nigel) - 2
5= The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) by Muriel Spark (Nick) - 2
5= Light Years (1975) by James Salter (Roland) - 2
6= The Haunting of Hill House (1959) by Shirley Jackson (Robin) - 1
6= Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (2017) by Reni Eddo-Lodge (Tristan) - 1
7= Notes From The Underground (1864) by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Roland) - 0
2. Favourite music
1. Astral Weeks (1968) by Van Morrison (Nick) - 7
2. Rastaman Vibration (1976) by Bob Marley and the Wailers (Robin) - 6
2. Achtung Baby (1991) by U2 (Nick) - 6
3. Made in the Manor (2016) by Kano - 5
4. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines (2011) by The Vaccines (Keith) - 4
5= Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go (12 inch version) (1981) by Soft Cell (Roland) - 3
5= Big Easy Spotify playlist (Tristan) - 3
5= Robin’s Ghost Playlist (Robin) - 3
6. Ambient 4: On Land(1982) by Brian Eno (Nigel) - 2
7. Gain The Axe EP (2019) by Bleep Bloop (Roland) - 0
3. Favourite watch
1. The Sting (1973) dir by George Roy Hill (Nick) - 10
2. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) dir by Benh Zeitlin (Tristan) - 6
3= There Will Be Blood (2007) directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Robin) - 5
3= Good Vibrations (2013) directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Nick) - 5
3= The Goob (2014) dir by Guy Myhill (Nigel) - 5
4. Marriage Story (2019) directed by Noah Baumbach (Roland) - 3
5= Contagion (2011) dir by Steven Soderbergh (Keith) - 2
5= Unabomber: In His Own Words - Netflix (Roland) - 2
6= The Devil’s Backbone (2001) dir by Guillermo del Toro (Robin) - 0
6= Gone Too Far (2013) Dir by Destiny Ekaragha (Tristan) - 0
4. Favourite theme
1. Contagion (Keith) - 12
2. Northern Ireland (Nick) - 9
3= The Kingdom of the East Angles (Nigel) - 5
3= Young, British and Black (Tristan) - 5
4. Prime (Nick) - 4
5. Tainted Love (Roland) - 3
6. Ghostly Goings On (Robin) - 1
7= The Big Easy? (Tristan) - 0
7= Marginal (Roland) - 0
5. Best book you read in 2020 (could be a Book Group choice or something else)?
Gabriel Krauze 'Who They Was'
A Little Life
Chernobyl
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Wilding by Isabella tree
1984
6. Memorable 2020 HBG moments
Beach encounters
Meeting on beach, Return of prodigal son Hamish
Not a lot of meeting - I enjoyed our outside meetings and our quizzes.
The varied and unusual venues - the beach, Nick's front room, Keith's garden, even Zoom worked ok.
The beach drinks meeting
Meeting in a real pub!
Summer Special and my first dip in the sea for years. Sorry it could not be at a time we could all make.
7. Best thing about Book Group in 2020
Keeping going despite C-19
Nigel without whom it would not exist
Hamish's return
The good humoured and intelligent way that HBG simply brushed aside everything 2020 threw at it!
Carrying on despite Covid
Through thick and thin it maintains
See above.
8. What defined 2020 for you (news item, something personal etc.)?
C-19
Covid, home living 24/7
This is a trick question. The first lockdown was pretty blissful in some ways - bird song, peace. Started making bread and beer again.
Utter incompetence of the British and American governments. Be funny if it wasn't so deadly.
Coronafuckingvirus
Not the f&£)king C word ! The end of trump
Tbc - see how the world looks on 31 December. In the meantime, I have never been so invested in a US election. Goodbye orange man.
9. How do we make Book Group even better?
Keep making interesting and provocative choices
All summer meetings on beach
Meeting up again.
Another weekend away. Focussed endorsing - just outstanding stuff, not absolutely everything. Nick's dog attending more often. #MHBGGA
Impossible
Perfection as always
I would settle for the usual old s**t in the Westbourne. Remember those days?
10. What else do you want to say?
I love you
Nowt
2021 we will be back to normal - but how much will our lives have changed?
Far from our finest year of books in my view (but I suppose I didn't choose any!😄). Despite your decidedly average choices, it's been an absolute pleasure to be back though.
How do you stop your glasses steaming up with a face mask on?
Thanks you guys. At least there is something to rely on in these grim times.
See you next year