I'm back at home after another stimulating book club where we discussed how memories are formed and retained, and the importance of family. We were all shocked by Lemn Sissay's story of abandonment and intrigued about what happened next. I came home and watched the TED talk mentioned at the end of the book to see if I could find out more. It encapsulates the key elements of the book in just 15 minutes but gives only a slight hint about the author's life beyond the first 18 years. Probably the TV documentary, Imagine, will shed more light on the subject and hopefully it will be repeated so I'll be able to watch it.
If anyone wants to read some other books about adoption and or losing family then I can recommend Jeanette Winterson's 'Why by happy when you could be normal?', the film 'Philomena' starring Judi Dench, or 'Educated' by Tara Westover.
For our next book we decided to read a short story collection by A.L. Kennedy entitled 'We are attempting to Survive Our Time'. As it's short stories there is no pressure to read the whole book. We'll meet in the new year on Monday 10th January at the usual time of 7.30pm to discuss some of the stories.
If you are reading 'Inappropriate Staring' and want to know what a chough is, you can find out here.
Have a great Christmas everyone and see you in the new year!
Click here to find the dates for the book club and here if you want to read some of my recent blog posts about cycling and hiking in Switzerland. Finally, during class I mentioned how useful the Skell website is when finding out about words (what they mean and how to use them). You can read more about it by clicking on this blog post.
Would you like to maintain and improve your advanced English skills by taking part in the book club? Send a message via the contact form on the home page if you would like to join us.
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