July Meetup

Thanks to everyone for your patience and support for our June meetup where we had to meet in a different area of Curlers due to a booking error from our hosts. Hopefully that has now been corrected for July and afterwards.

That said, it didn’t stymie the discussion with plenty of interesting and contrasting views of each book (which always makes for the best book club sessions imo) which were both, overall, very well received with The Salt Path scoring 72 and Orbital 66.

For July we have a recent memoir set in the world of high tech at Facebook and a fiction book from 1930’s China looking at the experience of Chinese immigrants in London.

And, by way of reminder, we appreciate attendees making a contribution of £1.50 at the meeting to help cover meetup charges.

Happy Reading.

Mr Ma and Son by Lao She (nominated by Rebecca)

Newly arrived from China, Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei run an antiques shop nestled by St Paul's Cathedral, where they try to make a living amid the smog and bustle of 1920s London. As they struggle with money, misunderstandings and the ways of the English - from the overbearing patronage of missionary Reverend Ely to their well-meaning landlady Mrs Weddeburn and her carefree daughter - can understanding, even love, blossom?

Both a moving story of the Chinese immigrant experience and a bitingly funny satire on the English, Mr Ma and Son delicately portrays the dreams and disappointments of those seeking a new life in a distant land.

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (nominated by Rani)

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a young diplomat from New Zealand, pitched for her dream job. She saw Facebook’s potential and knew it could change the world for the better. But, when she got there and rose to its top ranks, things turned out a little different.

From wild schemes cooked up on private jets to risking prison abroad, Careless People exposes both the personal and political fallout when boundless power and a rotten culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative, Wynn-Williams rubs shoulders with Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and world leaders, revealing what really goes on among the global elite – and the consequences this has for all of us.
Candid and entertaining, this is an intimate memoir set amid powerful forces.

As all our lives are upended by technology and those who control it, Careless People will change how you see the world.

Other books nominated were:

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
The House with the Green Shutters by George Douglas Brown
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith
Just a Little Run Around the World by Rosie Swale Pope