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 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.