Reading Groups - Broughty Ferry Morning Reading Group

	Dundee Library & Information Services
	This is a service provided by the Leisure and Communities Department

Broughty Ferry Morning Reading Group

Venue:	Broughty Ferry Community Library Queen Street, Broughty Ferry, Dundee, DD5 2HN
Times:	First Wednesday of the month, 10.30 am to 11.30 am
Tel:	Sandra Westgate, 436919
Email:	sandra.westgate@dundeecity.gov.uk
	A reading list is formed in consultation with the group. Discussion is free flowing. We read a very wide range of books. Contact me to find out what we're reading and how to join.

Books We Have Reviewed

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Some people cannot get into this book at all, others love it to bits and in between there are those who can appreciate the play on words. The play on words make this a really funny book. It is a send up of traditional science fiction, which had never been done at the time. For example this motto: "To bodly split infinitives that no man had split before". Go on give it a try

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

Daughter of Fortune is a good read with many complex characters and interwoven stories. An accurate and vivid portrayal of life in Chile and California in the early 19th century - the Gold Rush days - and the rough and ready lives of the prospectors. It shows the seamy side of life in the back streets of San Francisco, especially the Chinatown district.

The main characters are finely drawn, particularly Miss Rose, the spinster aunt, who takes in the foundling infant Eliza and later discovers that the child is in fact her brother's illegitimate daughter. An interesting and romantic story unfolds, showing how Eliza's obsession takes her from her home in Chile to San Francisco, searching for the man who loved but deserted her.

There is adventure, romance and history in this well-written novel.
Review by Elizabeth Scott

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

I love this book because it is very funny. I was laughing aloud to myself quite a lot. It must be the third time I have read it over my lifetime and I still find it a delight.

In 1935, the Durrell family (Larry 23, Leslie 19, Margo 18, Gerry 10 and the widowed mother) moved to the Greek Island of Corfu and stayed for five years. Gerald looks back over his time there. We follow the seasons on the island, the flora and fauna, plants and animals wild and domestic in the sea.

When you read this you are right there with time, soaking up the sunshine and observing the animals in the Corfu landscape.

I thoroughly recommend it. Reviewed by Liz Young