The clocks have gone back, there’s a crunchy frost early in the morning and I’ve just had to turn the heating up. It can only mean one thing…we are at the end of October.
This also means it’s the end of the A Bookish Baker Book Club’s first book club pick. This month we read The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan.
This is the debut novel of Ruth Hogan (she has since gone on the write and have published The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes). It came highly recommended by Richard & Judy and has just short of a full five stars on the amazon website.
But what did the A Bookish Baker Book Club think of it?
On the whole I think the majority of us enjoyed it and there was some perceptive thoughts about the novel.
For me, I thought it a great debut and I enjoyed the slow unravelling of the plot. It did take me a while to read, though, as I found the short stories dispersed within the novel and based around the ‘lost things’ pulled me out of the story. So I’d take it as a natural break and put the book down.
For @jenniferkershner of The Cottage Nest this wasn’t an issue as she was ‘hooked on this book from approximately one and a half pages in.’ @milli_crea agreed as she ‘truly enjoyed reading it’.
Simone (@sim.quinn) thought it was a beautiful story - one of those books that’s just lovely to read. She added: ‘full of serendipitous encounters this book is best enjoyed with ‘the lovely cup of tea.’’ (The ‘lovely cup of tea’ makes a regular appearance within the novel.)
What is great about the Book Club - any book club - is that you might read a book you wouldn’t normally consider. This happened with Rachael of @wellies_and_windfalls who admitted that she wouldn’t have chosen it based on the cover but is so far enjoying it: ‘Sometimes you want the elegant petit fours and then sometimes you just need a big slab of lemon meringue pie.’
And Erika (@nordic_fiesta) was surprised that she enjoyed it as she too wouldn’t have picked it up in the shop. ’But I actually liked it. I liked the way it unfolds as you read and how you, bit by bit, realise how it's all pieced together.’ However, there were elements Erika didn’t enjoy: ‘The language, unfortunately, I thought pretentious and somewhat exaggerated, like the author wanted to throw in as many adjectives as possible in the story.’
Ghenet of @ghenetactually in contrast said, ‘I do love her writing style.’ And Sam (@samosbiston) felt it was ‘such a clever interwoven story and her descriptions were delicious’.
Sam of @a.slow.home thought the novel was a bit ‘hit and miss’. She enjoyed the story of the ‘chap and his lost things’ but was turned off by the supernatural elements.
And Louise of @peaklouise really enjoyed the writing, the descriptions, the beautifully composed sentences and the plot where the two narratives came together. But thought the story itself was lacking in plausibility.
So I think you can agree that we pretty much enjoyed it. Some of us didn’t enjoy certain elements but these same bits were thoroughly enjoyed by others.
You can see more views in this instagram post.
If you’d like to join the A Bookish Baker Book Club we’d love to have you. All you need is an Instagram account and to follow the club. And that’s it, you’re a member!
We share recommendations of cosy fireside reads. We have a Book Club Pick once a month but we also share anything else we’ve enjoyed too. You can share what you’ve enjoyed by taking a picture of the book and posting it on your instagram feed or in your Instagram Stories. Tag @abookishbakerbookclub and use the hashtag #abookishbakerbookclub.
During November we’ll be chatting about The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase (also known as The Wilding Sisters in some countries.) Do come and join us.
