HOVE BOOK GROUP: End of year review 2021

HOVE BOOK GROUP: End of year review 2021

On Thursday 9th December 2021 Hove Book Group took its customary look back over the year that was. Hamish was the only member not in attendance. Sadly he was self isolating having tested positive for C-19. Not only did he miss a most convivial evening he was also not on hand to receive the accolades for nominating our favourite HBG read of 2021

The hardest working book group in Hove

2021 in review…

Favourite read

* 1 Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Hamish) - 15 *

2 Boy Parts by Eliza Clark (Nigel) - 6

3 Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell (Tristan) - 5

The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis (Nigel) -3

Wilding by Isabella Tree (Robin) - 3

The Zero by Jess Walter (Hamish) - 3

A Small Revolution in Germany by Philip Hensher (Keith) - 3

How to rule the world by Tibor Fischer (Keith) - 2

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (Roland) 2

Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (Nick)

Favourite music

1 Loving The Alien - Bowie playlist (Nigel) - 9 

2 Power Corruption Lies by New Order (Keith) 8

3 Keith’s Sonic Youth playlist (Keith) - 6

Promises by Floating Points (Roland) - 4

Nocturnes by Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus (Hamish) - 4

Is The Comma Important? playlist (Hamish) - 3

You are the Quarry by Morrissey (Nick) - 3

Planet Earth playlist (Robin) - 2

Cut by The Slits (Tristan) - 3

Psycho playlist (Nigel)

Favourite watch

1 Abigail’s Party dir by Mike Leigh (Tristan) - 7

1 Chinatown dir by Roman Polanski (Nick) - 7

1 If…. dir by Lindsay Anderson (Keith) - 7

Aliens dir by James Cameron (Nigel) - 5

That Obscure Object of Desire dir by Luis Buñuel (Hamish) - 3

American Psycho dir by Mary Hannon (Nigel) - 3

Brooklyn dir by John Crowley (Hamish) - 3

Blackfish dir by Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Robin) - 1

Troy dir by Wolfgang Petersen (Roland) 

Deep Fakes: Can You Trust Your Eyes? - All 4 (Keith) 

Favourite theme

1 Loving The Alien (Nigel) - 9

1 1970s Britain (Tristan) - 9

2 Cancel Culture (Nick) - 8

Psycho (Nigel) - 6

Power Corruption and Lies (Keith) - 4

Rebellious Youth (Keith) - 3

How to Save the Planet (Robin) - 1

Thumbs up to America (Hamish)

Troy (Roland)

Terrorism (Hamish)

Best book you read in 2021 (could be a Book Group choice or something else)

Throw Me to the Wolves by Patrick McGuinness (Nigel)

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark (Roland) 

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Robin + Tristan)

One, Two, Three, Four - The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown (Nick)

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Hamish)

Memorable 2021 HBG moments

Being able to meet in person (Robin)

Disembodiment of James Bond myth (Roland)

It is a reminder that talking with subjects other than the pandemic is a very healthy thing to do (Nick)

The ongoing debate about album of the year, Floating Points. Getting back in the pub. Seeing you all in the flesh (not literally thankfully!) (Hamish)

Beach gathering, or was that last year? (Tristan)

Best thing about Book Group in 2021

An oasis of easy companionship in a busy and confusing world (Nigel)

Cognitive synchronisation between Nigel and Roland (Roland)

The participants (Robin)

Getting out of the house was good - going to the beach and the beer garden (Nick)

Best set of book choices in many a year - keep it up dudes!! (Hamish)

Just being there - a refuge in this mad covid-ridden world (Keith)

Signal group chat (Tristan)

What defined 2021 for you (news item, something personal etc.)

Covid and a return to relative normality - long may it continue (Nigel)

Acceptance of the glorious mundane (Roland)

Head in the sand nature of politicians (Robin)

Getting back out there - from seeing gigs to travelling for work again. Just not always being a head on a zoom call (Nick)

Hey What!, Water Snails, Black Country, Vaccination, Bewicks Swan, Cathedrals, New Road, Dukes at Komedia, Vurger (Hamish)

New job (Keith)

Pandemic (Tristan)

How do we make Book Group even better?

A reliably quiet and comfortable venue (Nigel)

To solemnly swear never to never alter its ranks (Roland)

The endless quest for the right pub (Robin)

I say the same every year so won't repeat (Nick)

Make sure we do the Devil’s Dyke trip even if it’s chilly (Tristan)

Visit Lewes (Hamish)

What else do you want to say?

HBG will be 17 years old in January 2022 (Nigel)

Marvellous (Robin)

Well done all! (Nick)

Watch the film Hit The Road, an Iranian masterpiece. I love you all. And Happy Christmas! (Hamish)

Just a hearty thank you (Keith)

Nowt (Tristan)

Hove Book Group Christmas Meal

The hardest working book group in Hove look back on another year of culture

Another splendid evening of bonhomie, insight, incisive discourse, lovely food, wine, and ales, also saw the results of the Hove Book Group review of 2014.

To a gasp of amazement from Tristan, "The Railway Man" by Eric Lomax was voted the best book we read in 2014.  Here's the complete run down...

1. "The Railway Man" by Eric Lomax 

2. "The Lowlife" by Alexander Baron
2. "Between The Woods and the Water" by Patrick Leigh Fermor
4. "White Noise" by Don DeLillo
5. "Last exit to Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby, Jr.
6. "Quiet" by Susan Cain
7. "The Rehearsal" by Eleanor Catton
8. "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom
9. "The Violence of Organized Forgetting: Thinking Beyond America's Disimagination Machine" by Henry A. Giroux

Our occasional musical selections saw Primal Scream share the honours with the late, great Ian Dury..

1="Screamadelica" (1991) by Primal Scream
1="Reasons To Be Cheerful: The Very Best Of Ian Dury & The Blockheads" by Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1999)
3. "XO" (1998) by Elliott Smith
4. Muzsikás Feat. Marta Sebestyen "Fly Bird Fly - Very Best of”
5. "Pure Heroine" (2013) by Lorde 

The mention of Muzsikás prompting a hearty guffaw from Tristan.  

And cinematically, there was one runaway leader....

1. "London - The Modern Babylon" (2012) by Julien Temple
2="All The Presidents Men" (1976) - directed by Alan J. Pakula
2= "Scum" (1979) directed by Alan Clarke
4 "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) directed by Wes Anderson
4. "Requiem for a Dream" (2000) by Darren Aronofsky
6 "The Virgin Suicides" (1999) dir Sofia Coppola 

Nick mentioned, via email, that 2014 had not been a vintage year for HBG and this prompted much soul searching.  Is it better to read great books and have consensus in the group, or to chose more divisive books that perhaps do not linger in the memory?  We all erred towards the former and resolved to up our game in 2015, the year of our tenth anniversary.

Hove Book Group Christmas Meal

Hove's hardest working book group gather for another Christmas special 

Thursday 12th December 2013 saw Hove Book Group gather for our the annual Christmas meal.  Five of a possible seven, from the hardest working book group in Hove, enjoyed a wide ranging discussion over a splendid Italian meal at Franco's Pizza & Pasta, 4 Victoria Terrace, Hove BN3 2WB.  The meal was over by 10:30 pm and, in the spirit of goodwill to all, four of us continued with the celebration in The Neptune pub before bringing a supremely pleasing night to a close at around midnight.  

As is customary on these occasions we cast a wistful glance over the previous 12 months and in particular which of our selections we most enjoyed.  All the group members were polled before the meal, and once the contents of the three gold envelopes were revealed to gasps of surprise and appreciation, the outcome was...

Favourite book of 2013

1. "Stoner" by John Williams
2. "A Month In The Country" by J.L. Carr
3. "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Favourite music of 2013

1. "Diamond Dogs" by David Bowie
2. "Murmur" by R.E.M.

Favourite film/DVD of 2013 

1. Jaws
2. The Proposition
3. The Conversation 

Hove Book Group keeping it real at Xmas

Would that John Williams were still alive to bask in even more acclaim for his remarkable book "Stoner".  Congratulations Mr Williams, yours was the finest book we read in 2013.

Here's to another year of top flight cultural discourse throughout 2014.

Hove Book Group - 2012 End Of Year Review

On the evening of 12 December 2012 Hove Book Group celebrated another wonderful year of bonhomie and cultural discourse with a meal at Leonardo restaurant.

The hardest working book group in Hove kick back for a well deserved celebration and a review of all things 2012.

In amongst the back slapping, red wine and Peroni, was the HBG review of 2012....

This is what we read this year:

• "Room" by Emma Donoghue
• "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce
• "The Kingdom Of God Is Within You" by Leo Tolstoy
• "The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories" by Leo Tolstoy
• "Snowdrops" by AD Miller
• "Hangover Square" by Patrick Hamilton
• "Blindness" by José Saramago
• "Sum" by David Eagleman
• "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle
• "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
• "Remainder" by Tom McCarthy

We commissioned Gallup to run a rigorous poll, and once the golden envelope was opened, our special guest Ian Lavender revealed that - collectively - our most loved book of 2012 was "Blindness" by José Saramago. Congratulations to José Saramago (who sadly could not be present to receive the accolade).  The full results were:

1. Blindness
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
3. Hangover Square
4. Room
5. Sum
6. Remainder
7. Planet of the Apes
8. Ivan Ilyich
9. Snowdrops
10. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Our favourite film was:

• "The Guard"

Our favourite music was :

• Simple Minds "Early Gold", and nigeyb's imagined soundtrack to Hangover Square

Favourite book group moments included the debate about "Room" which almost resulted in a fight; Robin's scathing dismissal of Seven Samurai; Robin choosing to read and review a different book; this blog; and, most recently, Pannier-gate (see below).

We also enjoyed a more general review of 2012 that variously embraced the following landmark public and personal events:

• Pannier-gate - the mystery of who dumped their copy of "Remainder" into Robin's pannier was solved
• The Olympics - very enjoyable
• The extent to which Operation Yewtree is just a police officer throwing darts at a 1978 Look In annual
• Keith's memorable rant about the royal family
• The End Of The Road festival
• This blog
• Jimmy Savile (boo)
• The lack of a public uprising against the Government
• New schools
• The Three Peaks - and the possibility of a 24 hour walk on the Downs

And so ends another year of Hove Book Group camaraderie.  

Merry Xmas and a happy new year.

Hove Book Group Xmas Meal 2011

Hove Book Group - 13 December 2011 @Leonardo's Restaurant, Hove

On 13 December 2011 the Hove Book Group got together to celebrate Christmas, another year of enjoyable cultural discourse, and to review the year.  

We missed Don and Jason who could not make the meal.  

I made copious notes of our review of 2011 however I appear to have lost them, so the following is based on what I can remember.... 

1. What was our favourite book that we read this year?

After agreeing a scoring system - and each nominating a favourite and a runner up - the winner (by quite a long way) was... 

"The City and The City" by China Mieville 

Congratulations to China Mieville for his highly original and stimulating novel that captured our imaginations (well most of us).

Philip K Dick's "The Man In The High Castle" came second.  

We realised that, of the nine books we read in 2011, five were biography or memoir.  We resolved to try and read more fiction in 2012.

2. What was our favourite film and music?

Our favourite film was Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, that beat off stiff (ahem) competition from The Wall live DVD, David Lynch's Mullholland Drive and Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye.  

Apropos of not much, one member of the group described The Social Network as "boring".  Clearly the trauma of a trying journey from London to Hove had clouded his judgement.

Our favourite music was a selection of big tunes by Fleetwood Mac.  

3. What was the best book we each read this year?

Alas, the loss of my notes, means I cannot remember who mentioned what except that I really enjoyed "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by  Mohsin Hamid and "Apathy For The Devil" by Nick Kent.

4. What defined 2011 for us?

We talked about holidays, the recession, the Murdochs, the riots, the Euro, and the amount of dramatic news stories.  And some other stuff.  Probably.

5. What was the best thing about Book Group in 2011?

That would be the free sandwiches at The Poets Corner pub, and The Poets Corner pub itself, which is our pub of choice.  We *really* like The Poets Corner pub.  

What else?

The rest of the evening was a mix of Harveys, pizza, Peroni, bonhomie, wine, seasonal tunes and good vibrations.  

In conclusion...

The Hove Book Group has been going strong since January 2005, and 2011 (our seventh year) has been another thoroughly enjoyable 12 months.  

Lloyd's sabbatical continues.  We wondered if it will ever end.  

Don's work has meant he can't always attend and we lamented this.  

Jason has moved to the country however, we are delighted to say, is still managing to make quite a few of our gatherings.  

New boy Keith has settled in and is no longer a new boy.  Hurrah.   

Robin, Nick, Hamish, Tristan and Nigel are pretty much ever presents.  

Here's to the next 12 months.