Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - The Long Earth

This book has an amazing premise. What if simultaneous earths suddenly opened up. Worlds which you could step into and colonise. The only thing you could not take with you is metal.
I adore the Discworld but this is quite a different sort of book. Yes it is Science Fiction ,  certainly more that than Fantasy. There are a few flashes of wry humour, I loved the Meatloaf loving nun, but on the whole it is a serious book.
I found it quite hard going until about half way and I assume that it was because when establishing a new series ( I do hope so) you have to lay the foundations and introduce not only lots of worlds but aslo characters.
It is beautifully written and extremely thought provoking, with huge potential for the future, as we begin to see alternative worlds with strange creatures. However, central to it all is the human condition. How will the human race react to this opportunity or challenge?  The introduction of the AI unit Lobsang emphasises this. Will humans ruin these other Earths or will it be sweetness and light, I can't wait for the next installment.

Claire Tomalin - Charles Dickens A Life

Gosh, I waded through this tome and it is a really large book, think of a doorstep and you have just about got it right! Well, it was worth it. I did learn more about Dickens than perhaps I needed to know, the minutia of his life, but as it so informed his work particularly in the early years I think in balance it was justifiable.

What I found so interesting was that I had to keep reminding myself that he was a man of his time. Many of his observations seem so current today. On the other hand in his later years he was vile to his wife and children ( well most of them) and this is extraordinary when you consider the depth, feeling and social conscience that he portrayed in his writing.

If you really want to look behind the veneer of his writing and contect his life to his body of work then this is the book for you. I was absolutely fascinated!

It is a huge book, and thus I think, it would have to be a very dedicated reading group that read it, but it would be interesting should there be any groups who are choosing to read a selection of his writing in this two hundredth year of his birth.

Rosamund Lupton - Sister

This is a great book. It had me on the edge of my seat for the whole day that it took me to read it. I just could not put it down.
It would make an excellent reading group book, given the subject matter.
There are two sisters one lives in the US and is materially successful, the other goes to art school in London. Given the distance they are very close. Then the unthinkable happens Beatrice's younger sister Tess goes missing in London. The police give up, her fiance is desperate for her to return to the states, their mother gives up, but Beatrice does not give up, This is a story about how far would you go to find out what had happened to your sister. As Beatrice slowly unpicks her sister's life, she comes to know her better and this affacts all the relationashps in her life. It is very difficult to say more without spoilers.
I recently attended a book club where we discussed this book and a really lively discussion took place, so I really recommend it!

Andrew Miller - Pure

This is an extraordinary book. Detailed, well researched, beautifully written and I can see why it won the Costa Award.
I think it would make a very good reading group book. Mainly because it is very difficult to categorise why this novel works. Much happens, the period detail is exquisite and you really feel like you are IN pre-revolutionary Paris. The tension building is almost palpable. The subject matter, the demolishing of Les Innocents cemetery and the removal of the bodies is bizarre and gruesome in a fascinating sort of way.
However the characters are not very likable and it is difficult to
become emotionally invested in them, as a reader we are very much an observer - and yet it works. I could not put the book down. It is almost as if Andrew Miller makes us as readers voyeurs to this drama. I highly recommend it!

Emma Donoghue - The Sealed Letter

I was absolutely bowled over by The Room, which was stratospherically a best seller and nominated for innumerable awards, and well deserved it was. I therefore approached this book with a sense of trepidation and anticipation.

What a surprise this is a totally different kind of book. It is set in Victorian London and concerns an infamous divorce case that occurred in real life. This is Emma's fictional take on it.

It is absolutely brilliant. Of course, I love historical fiction but it is the relationships of the central characters that like Room dominate the book and carry it forward.

I found I just could not put it down, it was utterly fascinating and I was desperate to find out the conclusion of the trial.

There is masses here to interest a reading group, women's rights, marriage, divorce, female relationships, Victorian London, hypocrisy, and the list goes on. I can predict that this book will become the stalwart of reading group lists for many years to come.

Phil Rickman - The Secrets of Pain

Another excellent offering from Phil Rickman. These suspenseful murder mysteries are great. It is another large book but once I had hit half way I just could not put it down. Here we have a police investigation into the murder of a local landowner, and we enter again the complicated world of DI Franny Bliss. For Merrily, the Diocesan Exorcist, this is the 11th book in the series, and it is worth reading the back list, we have a highly challenging situation surrounding once of her colleagues who has recently re-enlisted in the SAS as their chaplain.

I found the aspect dealing with the SAS absolutely fascinating, and once again this is a book where I came away having felt I had learned alot. I cannot say to much more about the plot without spoilers.

Phil Rickman is a master at creating brooding suspense and his creation of the atmosphere of Hereford and the Welsh borders really gives you a sense that you can be there, with the hairs on the back of your neck rising in sympathy. I also like the story arc concerning Merrily and Lol and of course her teenage daughter Jane, who always just seems to get it wrong!

Mario Reading - The Third Antichrist

Well here it is at last, the final volume in the Third Antichrist Trilogy, and it has been worth the wait! You can read it as a standalone novel but it is so much richer if you have read the previous two novels.

This is a large book, bordering on 666 pages (!), it is fast paced and witty. Unusually for this type of book it is also erudite. I love a book in which I learn alot and am entertained!
The glossary is also helpful as it answers all the in jokes/ entendres concerning the names of significant characters!
So, this book is mainly set in Moldovia and Romania, but ties up the threads of Nostradamus in France and the Mayan Codex from Mexico. I cannot say too much without spoilers but I can share that as Adam Sabir, Calcque and the intrepid gypsies rush to the climax, chased by the Corpus ( the wicked De Bale family - did I say my maiden name was Bale?) we find out not only who is the Third Antichrist but also who is the Second Coming!

If you like fast paced, mystery or conspiracy type thriller this is the book for you! Just the thing to curl up with at this time of year.............