The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

Christie's choice - We met at The Chocolate Factory near London Bridge. The scores were as follows: AS - 7.5, SB - 6, RB - 9, CE - 7, ZH - 7.5

The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff

Jordan returns from California to Utah to visit his mother in jail. As a teenager he was expelled from his family and religious community, a secretive Mormon offshoot sect. Now his father has been found shot dead in front of his computer, and one of his many wives - Jordan's mother - is accused of the crime. Over a century earlier, Ann Eliza Young, the nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, Prophet and Leader of the Mormon Church, tells the sensational story of how her own parents were drawn into plural marriage, and how she herself battled for her freedom and escaped her powerful husband, to lead a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. Bold, shocking and gripping, "The 19th Wife" expertly weaves together these two narratives: a page turning literary mystery and an enthralling epic of love and faith.

Anjan's choice (A Richard & Judy book club book no less!)
We met on 30th June 2009 at The Feathers pub in St James park. Making a rare one-off return to the book club were ex members Cristina and Liam! Scores were: AS - 5, CE - 7.5, RB - 7, ZH - 6, SB -

Sepulchre - Kate Mosse

1891. Seventeen-year-old Leonie Vernier and her brother abandon Paris for the sanctuary of their aunt's isolated country house near Carcassonne, the Domaine de la Cade. But in the nearby woods, Leonie stumbles across a ruined sepulchre - and a timeless mystery whose traces are written in blood. 2007. Meredith Martin arrives at the Domaine de la Cade as part of her research for a biography she's writing. But Meredith is also seeking the key to her own complex legacy and soon becomes immersed in the story of a tragic love, a missing girl, a unique deck of tarot cards, an unquiet soul and the strange events of one cataclysmic night more than a century ago...

Han's choice - We met on 6th May 2009 in Arang 2 for Korean food (lovely apart from the wildlife inhabiting Ruth's plate!)

Scores: CE - 5, AS - 1, ZH - 6, RB - 6, SB - 5

The Believers - Zoe Heller

When Audrey makes a devastating discovery about her husband, New York radical lawyer Joel Litvinoff, she is forced to re-examine everything she thought she knew about their forty-year marriage. Joel's children will soon have to come to terms with this unsettling secret themselves, but for the meantime, they are trying to cope with their own dilemmas. Rosa, a disillusioned revolutionary, is grappling with a new-found attachment to Orthodox Judaism. Karla, an unhappily married social worker, is falling in love with an unlikely suitor at the hospital where she works. Adopted brother Lenny is back on drugs again. In the course of battling their own demons and each other, every member of the family is called upon to decide what - if anything - they still believe in.

Ruth's choice - We met on 29th January at the Imperial China restaurant in chinatown. Scores: CE - 4, SB - 4, ZH - , AS - , RB -

The Closed Circle - Jonathan Coe

Set against the backdrop of the Millenium celebrations and Britain's increasingly compromised role in America's war against terrorism', The Closed Circle lifts the lid on an era in which politics and presentation, ideology and the media have become virtually indistinguishable. Darkly comic, hugely engaging, and compulsively readable, it is the much-anticipated follow-up to Jonathan Coe's bestselling novel The Rotters' Club, and reintroduces us to the characters first encountered in that book. But whereas The Rotters' Club was a novel of innocence, The Closed Circle is its opposite: a novel of experience.

Silke's choice. We met at Han's flat on 25th November and had a delicious chinese meal prepared by Han.

Engleby - Sebastian Faulks

Mike Engleby says things that others dare not even think. In the 1970s, he is a university student, having survived a 'traditional' school. A man devoid of scruple or self-pity, Engleby provides an account of English education. Yet, beneath the disturbing surface of his observations lies an unfolding mystery of gripping power.

Christie's choice. We met on 6th August in Le Pain Quotidian near Waterloo.
Scores: CE 8, SB 6, RB 8, AS 9.5, ZH 10.

Remainder - Tom McCarthy

Traumatised by an accident which 'involved something falling from the sky' and leaves him eight and a half million pounds richer but hopelessly estranged from the world around him, the hero spends his time and money obsessively reconstructing and re-enacting vaguely remembered scenes and situations from his past.

Anjan's choice - we met at Fish! in Borough Market.

The King's Last Song - Geoff Ryman

A great king brings peace to a warring nation. Centuries later, his writings will bring hope to those facing the tragic legacy of modern Cambodia's bloody history. When archaeologists discover a book written on gold leaves at Angkor Wat, everyone wants a piece of the action. But the King, the Army and the UN are all outflanked when the precious artefact is kidnapped, along with Professor Luc Andrade, who was accompanying it to the capital for restoration. Luckily for Luc his love and respect for Cambodia have won him many friends, including ex-Khmer Rouge cadre Map and the young moto-boy William. Both equally determined to rescue the man they consider their mentor and recover the golden book, they form an unlikely bond. But, William is unaware of just how closely Map's bloody past affects him. The book contains the words and wisdom of King Jayavarman VII, the Buddhist ruler who united a war-torn Cambodia in the twelfth century and together with his enlightened wife created a kingdom that was a haven of peace and learning. His extraordinary story is skilfully interwoven with the tales of Luc, Map and William to create an unforgettable and dazzling evocation of the spirit of Cambodia and her peoples in all their beauty and tragedy.

Han's book choice. We met on 26th April 2008 in Reigate and went for lunch at Chez Gerard. Honorary book group members for the day were Kevin, Dave & Emily!

Blindness - Jose Saramago

A city is hit by an epidemic of sudden blindness. The authorities segregate the newly blind people from all who have come into contact with them. It is not long before the criminal element take over, the compound is set on fire and the blind escape -- only to find a deserted, looted city ...


Ana's choice.
We met on 29th January at Benugo in the BFI on the South Bank. The book inspired a good discussion and was particularly polarising.

Scores: CE - 9, AN - 9, AS - 5, RB - 4, ZH - 3, SB - 8

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Half of a Yellow Sun is set in Nigeria during the 1960s, at a time of the vicious Nigeria- Biafra war in which more than a million people died and thousands were massacred in cold blood.
Three characters are swept up in the rapidly unfolding political events. Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, is employed as a houseboy for a university lecturer.
Olanna, a young, middle-class woman, has come to live with the professor, abandoning her privileged life in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charismatic idealism of her new lover.
Richard is a tall, shy Englishman, in thrall to Olanna's twin sister Kainene, who refuses to belong to anyone.
They are propelled into events that will pull them apart and bring them together in the most unexpected ways. As Nigerian troops advance and they run for their lives, their ideals – and their loyalties to each other – are severely tested.
This novel is about Africa, about moral responsibility, the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class and race, and about how love can complicate all these things.

We met on 16th October in The Oratory in South Kensington (Good choice Ruth!) Scores were as follows:

CE: 8, ZH: 8, AN: 7, AS: 5, RB: 7.5