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Update 6 July 2010

The Group met on 30 June for the first time since the General Election and there have been many changes. Some have lost their jobs, some are new to Parliament and some have now had additions to their family!

We discussed our past choice - JK Jerome's classic "Three Men In A Boat" - it had a huge variety of views.

Quirky - Amusing in parts, know it's very much from a certain era but found the style of constant pontification a little tiring at times, himbug perhaps! - Jerome is an Edwardian Bill Bryson but I grew up liking PG Wodehouse and those old fashioned 'clubby men' stories - "Idle thoughts of An Idle Fellow" is a collection of his bitesize columns and 'Three Men On The Bummel" is when he and his mates go round Europe by train and saw the Oberammergau play - but if you don't like them in a boat, you won't like them anywhere else!"

So it certainly made people vocal about what they read.

So now onto our next choice.

"The Lady In The Tower" by Alison Weir is another classic from the biographical writer of great figures in our history. This book details the short but traumatic and history changing time surrounding the trial imprisonment and execution of Anne Boleyn. Of course we all know the ending but how Henry VIII and all the other connected characters got to that is fascinating. We hope you enjoy reading it along with us.

We will meet again on Thursday 22nd July 12.30 p.m. for lunch at Bellamys.

Hope to see you there.

Philipa Coughlan
email: pcoughlan@btinternet.com

Further update 29 June:

Hi All,

Hope you all have 30 June in your diary! The first meeting of the Parliamentary Book Club takes place in Room Q Portcullis House on Wednesday 30th at 12.30 - 1.30. Hope to see some familiar faces and also lots of new ones too!

Our book - chosen it seems months ago pre Election - was JK Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat" if you've managed to read it - but don't worry at all if you haven't. Come with any suggestions you've got for a good read for the group - and with summer recess approaching maybe more than one or two novels to store in your suitcase too!

Philipa Coughlan

Update 7 June 2010:

Hi All,

Just to let everyone know the confirmed date for the first meeting of the Book Club in this new Parliament will be on: Wednesday 30th June - 12.30 -1.30 p.m. in Room Q in Portcullis House.

The Editor of w4mp has very kindly allowed me to carry on advertising the Club and giving information about the books and events etc but as I'm now not in Parliament since the Election I want to thank Caitriona Berryman for being my 'link' in booking rooms etc.

I attach (below) the latest James Naughtie Radio 4 newsletter and information. They are interviewing Hilary Mantel next month for a recording to be presented on two shows in July. We read Mantel's mammoth but brilliantly researched "Wolf Hall" about the court of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell - well worth a listen to I should think.

We are currently reading JK Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat" which is a small quirky little read! But if you have suggestions or have managed to have time during the long campaign to read anything but manifestos let us know!!

Philipa Coughlan

From: james-naughtie@lists.bbc.co.uk <james-naughtie@lists.bbc.co.uk>
Subject: James Naughtie's Bookclub newsletter - 06/06/2010
To: james-naughtie@lists.bbc.co.uk
Date: Friday, 4 June, 2010, 15:12

Lynne Reid Banks Newsletter

Here’s a confession. I had never read The L-shaped Room before preparing for this month’s Bookclub with Lynne Reid Banks.

But I felt as if I had. I had certainly seen the film, by Bryan Forbes, which Lynne told us she hated and which took her twenty years to forgive him for (though she did, in the end). And, of course, I was aware of its significance as a sixties novel that performed a similar function to some of the plays of the angry young men a few years earlier – dealing with a subject just under the surface of polite society that was about to burst through and become part of the discourse of the age. In the case of this book, it was an unwanted pregnancy and the emergence of the independent single woman that was the theme. Sixties’ subjects indeed.

We had a lovely conversation, enlivened by the fact that when a woman has entered the ninth decade of life – and is full of verve and bonhomie – not only is it not indelicate to mention her age, but almost obligatory to do so. In any case, we had to deal with the facts of the case: she began writing the book in spare time when she was working at ITN (as one of the first womenTV reporters) in the late fifties. You can’t speak about this book without placing it exactly in its time, and making the point that the author was a young woman.

Lynne told us that in the course of the two years or so that it took her to write the book she was going through typical early-twenties troubles – though she interjected a helpful 'no – not that!' – in case anyone jumped to the wrong conclusion. In a way, she got comfort from the fact that they weren’t nearly as bad as the difficulties that assail Jane, whose story unfolds in the l-shaped room, her rented bit of a house in Fulham in south-west London, which in those days was the land of the bed-sit and the run-down flat.

Jane is kicked out by her father for getting pregnant – a fairly common occurrence at the time – and perhaps the surprising thing is that her shame would seem even more unlikely today because she wasn’t a teenager but a woman in her late twenties. That was the way things were. Lynne’s mother – an actress of generally liberal views – did ask if she was going to publish the book under her own name, and various friends wrote her letters saying 'my dear, you’ve got us all guessing…'

When she re-read the book for this recording, she said it felt as if it had been written a hundred years ago, not fifty. For example, she couldn’t have described herself at the time as a feminist. That has certainly changed. She told us this:
'To be honest, for a long time – and I’ve found evidence in my own writing – I thought men were the superior sex. What a joke! I don’t believe it now. Men are the most dangerous creatures on the planet.'

That said, Lynne didn’t come across at all as some kind of Boadicea riding into battle. We had a hilarious time, in which she confessed that she missed most of the fun of the sixties (though I pointed out that there was perhaps less of it around than is often claimed) and when she came back to live here in the seventies, after a few years on a kibbutz in Israel, she could scarcely believe the changes that had occurred. The reason that the book has survived through half a century is surely that it does seem to catch that feeling of a new era beginning: the end of a set of social attitudes that, for better or worse, had had their day.

So that’s Lynne Reid Banks on the L-shaped Room on Sunday June 6 and Thursday June 10 at the usual time, 4pm on BBC Radio 4.

And she’ll be followed, on July 4 and July 8, by last year’s Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, talking about her majestic tale from the court of Henry VIII, Wolf Hall. We’ll be recording her at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose on Saturday June 19th.

Happy reading

Jim

Visit the Book Club website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/bookclub/
and the Radio 4 Homepage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

Update 26 May 2010 (3 June: Room for meeting on 30 June confirmed as Room Q PCH)

BOOK LOVERS OF PARLIAMENT - READ ON!

The Parliamentary Book Club started nearly 4 years ago. Since then we've welcomed members from all parties, both Lords, Commons and other Departments across the Parliamentary estate. Our current read is Jerome K Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat" which has also been adapted (with comedic licence!) into a recent TV series.

We've read a huge variety of books from crime, historical biography, science fiction to some of the great classics, through poetry to short stories and once or even twice to allow something with a political theme to be our 'book of the month'! Members have also had the chance to meet established authors Baroness P D James and Ken Follett, as well as attending recordings of the BBC Radio 4 Bookclub and enjoy lunches and social events.

There's no joining fee, no equipment required - just a love of reading and the chance to broaden your bookshelves with even more book choices which perhaps you've never considered before. We try to get together once a month but obviously the recent General Election has meant we've missed a few meetings, lost some members, had changes in offices and been reading manifestos rather than fiction (or perhaps we haven't!).

The next meeting is proposed for Wednesday 30th June 12.30 -1.30p.m. in Room Q in Portcullis House.

Would you like to join? Then email me on: pcoughlan@btinternet.com and I'll add you to our list and keep you updated on books and events.

PHILIPA COUGHLAN

Update 30 March 2010

At our final meeting before the General Election we talked about the recent choice AS Byatt’s “The Children’s Book” - comments included:-
– Evocative of the time and it’s social, historical and political themes
– Hard to begin with – but definitely worth carrying on
– Extraordinary read covering many aspects of life, brilliantly researched and written
– Lots of detailed descriptions of family dynamics and underlying emotions

It was certainly a hit with many of us.

Our choice for next time – when not reading Election literature! is: JEROME K JEROME “THREE MEN IN A BOAT”

This famous humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames intended at first to be a serious travel guide – remains an undated witty read even today – and was recently featured as a fun documentary with Rory McGrath, Dara O’Brian and Griff Rhys Jones. Later J K Jerome transferred the themes to a cycling tour in Germany with “THREE MEN ON THE BRUMMEL”

The Parliamentary Book Club is not meeting now until post- General Election and depending on results either myself (or I hope!) another will carry it on in the next Parliament!

PHILIPA COUGHLAN

Email contact : pcoughlan@btinternet.com

Update 25 February 2010

Many thanks to those who came along to the meeting on 24 February.

The talk from Lesley Pinder about the work of charity BOOKAID INTERNATIONAL was very interesting and we were overwhelmed with donations of books which the charity will be using to raise funds and to distribute. If those that came – or those that didn’t and would like to check out the charity on www.bookaid.org – would also like to make a donation towards their work please let me know.

We discussed the massive novel that is “WOLF HALL “ by Hilary Mantel. You do feel - someone said - that you need to have a notebook beside you to check up on what/who is happening where and when and the theme seems to be that the ending leaves Mantel open to a sequel to fully complete the story of Thomas Cromwell. But overall as with many highly prized historically researched novels it brings depth to a part of history many of us perhaps only scratch across the surface in our past history lessons!

Shorter and much easier was the classic Jules Verne “AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS” - sometimes implausible but yet if we imagine the readers back in the 19^th century discovering these travels and experiences through the written word highly entertaining. Phileas Fogg and his companion Passepartout were opposites that somehow attracted!

This months choice is AS BYATT – “THE CHILDREN’S BOOK” a novel spanning from 1895 to aftermath of the 1^st World war follows the fortunes of 4 families and crosses fictional characters with real life figures of the time. Olive the writer of children’s stories is the main character through whom a wide fantasy of her ideas crossing with her real life dramas are found in the book.

I’ve booked Room W2 off Westminster Hall for Tuesday 23^rd March for a possible next meeting – this might be the last for some of us prior to the General Election! So if you’d rather go for lunch somewhere let me know.

Philipa Coughlan
Parliamentary Assistant
Office of Nick Palmer MP
Tel 0207 219 2553

Updated 10 February 2010

I’m hoping members of the Book Club or any others that receive this email will spread the word to other colleagues across Parliament that at our next meeting on Wednesday 24^th February 12.30 in Room Q Portcullis House we will be having a Speaker from BOOK AID.

Book Aid International increases access to books to support literacy, education and development in sub-Saharan Africa. It supports libraries in schools refugee camps, prisons universities and communities.

Lesley Pinder from the charity will be attending our next meeting, talking about the work the charity does and showing us a film about their projects – she is also cycling from London to Paris in May to raise money for the charity. Check out more information on the charity from www.bookaid.org or about Lesley’s bike ride on http://pedallingpinders.blogspot.com

It is also close to World Book Day on Thursday 4^th March so I’d like to ask all of you, MPs, Peers and other staff in the Houses of Parliament about thinking of donating to Book Aid or planning an event for Book Day.

We enjoy reading and have ease of access and a massive choice of books at our fingertips (this months chosen books are “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel and “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne !) but just imagine if life contained no such luxury as a book? Also if you are coming to our Book Club meeting – please bring books – either to share/swap or donate – cash raised will be given directly to BOOK AID that day.

PLEASE PASS THE WORD AROUND TO HELP BOOK AID AND I HOPE TO SEE AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE ON FEBRUARY 24.

Philipa Coughlan
Office of Nick Palmer MP
coughlanp@parliament.uk
ext 2553

Updated 5 February 2010

Next meeting is on Wednesday 24th February 12.30 for an hour or so in Room Q Portcullis House.

Thanks to all of you who have been in touch and to those who came along to last weeks first meeting of 2010.

We discussed Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel “American Wife” which it does seem, reflects the life of Laura Bush and certainly shows that the royalty of America remains the hugely influential political families from where US Senators Congressmen and Presidents get their background influence and ideology. It was a very well written book and although I’m not sure the George W character truly reflected his real counterpart you could easily understand how – especially with families such as the Bush and Kennedy clans – ‘family means everything in politics’.

Does that apply here in Britain I ask or do we just call it the class divide!?

Val McDermid’s latest crime offering “A Place of Execution” seemed less full of her usual gore so other fans told me but the story of a missing girl in the Peak District countryside during the time of an interwoven parallel telling of the missing children/victims of the Moors Murderers was delicately and carefully told. I liked the ‘Heartbeat’ feeling for detective work and the contrast between their journalists and newspapers compared to present day scoops of murder in pre internet/24 hour news times. Well worth a read.

And some of us had delved into Enid Blyton and her vast collection of the Famous Five and Secret Seven books. From the first pages they do take you back to childhood memories – be they good or bad and always with ‘lashings of food and ginger beer’. But I felt it ironic that McDermid’s tale of innocent children going missing or being murdered was being read uncomfortably alongside the tales of children like Julian, George dog Timmy and Co gaily being bundled from boarding schools to unknown and often dubious characters in the countryside or seaside where ghostly/criminal adventures and suspect characters lurked. Escapism for kids at least didn’t in literature perhaps reflect the reality of the world around – and maybe that was a good thing?

For this month we’ve chosen:

Hilary Mantel – ( Booker prize Winning and large hardback!) “WOLF HALL” – History novels, films , TV dramas have all delved into the Tudors – either realistically or even ‘sexed up’ versions! But Mantel who herself is a very interesting deep thinking and consummately researched writer turns from Henry and the wives as lead characters and looks at the life of Thomas Cromwell. Never seen as an attractive historical personality Mantel at least sets him in a family/human context and although I’ve only just started the book (your arms need a rest after a while!) it is gripping stuff. Here’s a Tudor with a real heart but who comes against some of the tyrants and plots that would ultimately transform English history.
Jules Verne – “Around the World in 80 Days” – You have probably watched Michael Palin’s TV series or seen Steve Coogan’s film adaptation but have you read the book? French novelist Verne was said to be the first authentic exponent of modern science fiction. Written in 1873 this well known adventure book about Englishman Phileas Fogg who takes on a bet to go around the world in no more than 80 days is a real classic. Risking his entire fortune Fogg and his French valet Jean Passepartout take on their incredible journey.

We hope it won’t take 80 days to read!

So our next meeting is on Wednesday 24th February 12.30 for an hour or so in Room Q Portcullis House

Happy reading!

Philipa Coughlan
Parliamentary Assistant
Office of Nick Palmer MP

Updated 19 January 2010

A belated Happy New Year to all.

Just a reminder that the first Book Club meeting takes place next week on Tuesday 26th January in Room U Portcullis House at 12.30

We gave ourselves a long list of possible books for the recess so not sure how much reading you all managed to do – but with this year being a challenging one I expect for many I do hope you’ll have time to cast an eye over some of our suggestions particularly those we flag up here on our own Book Club Page on www.w4mp.

I read “American Wife “ by Curtis Sittenfeld – controversially flagged up as a fictional reflection on the life of Laura Bush - it was however a good read about the themes of private and public American political life.

I’ve also started Val McDermid’s “A Place of Execution” I know many of our members are great fans of her books and this one starts off very well with a twist on the crime genre.

We suggested ANY Enid Blyton so after being humiliated to find neither of my sons had been readers of the Famous Five or Secret Seven! I found myself heading out to buy a new copy of those tales of picnics and ginger beer adventures – were you an Enid Blyton fan or were you like some of our members not ‘allowed’ to have access to those terrible stereotypical stories!?

I also note that one book we read some months ago Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” is now a feature film. The book was heart wrenching and from trailers the film looks to have also captured both the bleak and the hopeful themes of what was a very powerful book. If you’ve seen the film let me know.

Hope to see you next week.

Philipa Coughlan
Office of Nick Palmer MP
coughlanp@parliament.uk
ext 0207 219 2553



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Parliamentary Book Club Latest Information Last updated: 28 July 2010 The Parliamentary Book Club was set up in July 2006 and you can read about the books they have been reading below. At the top is the latest information from them and below that are earlier updates. LATEST INFORMATION Update 28 July 2010 Update and set for recess! We all seemed to love Alison Weir's "The Lady in The Tower" which with interesting detail outlined the lead up to Anne Boleyn's execution. What a cunning time at Court we all agreed and how difficult for women (even the wife of the King) to escape male domination and the urge for power and hierarchy. Weir writes exceptionally well about complicated histroical issues and makes the characters come fully alive through all their emotions dramas and experiences. For the summer recess we've suggested 3 books (but sure you'll find more so let us know what you read if you manage to get a break): Audrey Niffenegger - "Her Fearful Symmetry" - ghost story set around Highgate Cemetery where twin sisters find the past catching up with their lives as they move into a late aunt's flat with macabre but life changing effect. Dave Boling - "Guernica" - drama love and historical interest for a family and lovers in the Spanish region of Basque. Not only page turning because of the pace of the characters it gives a hugely interesting insight into that area of Spain and its past. Sophie Kinsella - "Twenties Girl" - chick lit queen Kinsella changes pace with a twist on her usual well known romantic novels. Lara, having a hard time, doesn't expect her mad family attending a funeral to reveal a past reincarnation which will deeply affect her future. But life in the flapper Charleston 20s has more to tell her about life today than she ever imagined - fun for you on the beach! Our next meeting is Thursday 9th September - Room O Portcullis House 12.30- 1.30 p.m. Hope to see you there and please let any new staff know about our fun group - there is life beyond political reading....! For more information contact Philipa, email: pcoughlan@btinternet.com EARLIER UPDATES Update 6 July 2010 The Group met on 30 June for the first time since the General Election and there have been many changes. Some have lost their jobs, some are new to Parliament and some have now had additions to their family! We discussed our past choice - JK Jerome's classic "Three Men In A Boat" - it had a huge variety of views. Quirky - Amusing in parts, know it's very much from a certain era but found the style of constant pontification a little tiring at times, himbug perhaps! - Jerome is an Edwardian Bill Bryson but I grew up liking PG Wodehouse and those old fashioned 'clubby men' stories - "Idle thoughts of An Idle Fellow" is a collection of his bitesize columns and 'Three Men On The Bummel" is when he and his mates go round Europe by train and saw the Oberammergau play - but if you don't like them in a boat, you won't like them anywhere else!" So it certainly made people vocal about what they read. So now onto our next choice. "The Lady In The Tower" by Alison Weir is another classic from the biographical writer of great figures in our history. This book details the short but traumatic and history changing time surrounding the trial imprisonment and execution of Anne Boleyn. Of course we all know the ending but how Henry VIII and all the other connected characters got to that is fascinating. We hope you enjoy reading it along with us. We will meet again on Thursday 22nd July 12.30 p.m. for lunch at Bellamys. Hope to see you there. Philipa Coughlan email: pcoughlan@btinternet.com Further update 29 June: Hi All, Hope you all have 30 June in your diary! The first meeting of the Parliamentary Book Club takes place in Room Q Portcullis House on Wednesday 30th at 12.30 - 1.30. Hope to see some familiar faces and also lots of new ones too! Our book - chosen it seems months ago pre Election - was JK Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat" if you've managed to read it - but don't worry at all if you haven't. Come with any suggestions you've got for a good read for the group - and with summer recess approaching maybe more than one or two novels to store in your suitcase too! Philipa Coughlan Update 7 June 2010: Hi All, Just to let everyone know the confirmed date for the first meeting of the Book Club in this new Parliament will be on: Wednesday 30th June - 12.30 -1.30 p.m. in Room Q in Portcullis House. The Editor of w4mp has very kindly allowed me to carry on advertising the Club and giving information about the books and events etc but as I'm now not in Parliament since the Election I want to thank Caitriona Berryman for being my 'link' in booking rooms etc. I attach (below) the latest James Naughtie Radio 4 newsletter and information. They are interviewing Hilary Mantel next month for a recording to be presented on two shows in July. We read Mantel's mammoth but brilliantly researched "Wolf Hall" about the court of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell - well worth a listen to I should think. We are currently reading JK Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat" which is a small quirky little read! But if you have suggestions or have managed to have time during the long campaign to read anything but manifestos let us know!! Philipa Coughlan From: james-naughtie@lists.bbc.co.uk <james-naughtie@lists.bbc.co.uk> Subject: James Naughtie's Bookclub newsletter - 06/06/2010 To: james-naughtie@lists.bbc.co.uk Date: Friday, 4 June, 2010, 15:12 Lynne Reid Banks Newsletter Here’s a confession. I had never read The L-shaped Room before preparing for this month’s Bookclub with Lynne Reid Banks. But I felt as if I had. I had certainly seen the film, by Bryan Forbes, which Lynne told us she hated and which took her twenty years to forgive him for (though she did, in the end). And, of course, I was aware of its significance as a sixties novel that performed a similar function to some of the plays of the angry young men a few years earlier – dealing with a subject just under the surface of polite society that was about to burst through and become part of the discourse of the age. In the case of this book, it was an unwanted pregnancy and the emergence of the independent single woman that was the theme. Sixties’ subjects indeed. We had a lovely conversation, enlivened by the fact that when a woman has entered the ninth decade of life – and is full of verve and bonhomie – not only is it not indelicate to mention her age, but almost obligatory to do so. In any case, we had to deal with the facts of the case: she began writing the book in spare time when she was working at ITN (as one of the first womenTV reporters) in the late fifties. You can’t speak about this book without placing it exactly in its time, and making the point that the author was a young woman. Lynne told us that in the course of the two years or so that it took her to write the book she was going through typical early-twenties troubles – though she interjected a helpful 'no – not that!' – in case anyone jumped to the wrong conclusion. In a way, she got comfort from the fact that they weren’t nearly as bad as the difficulties that assail Jane, whose story unfolds in the l-shaped room, her rented bit of a house in Fulham in south-west London, which in those days was the land of the bed-sit and the run-down flat. Jane is kicked out by her father for getting pregnant – a fairly common occurrence at the time – and perhaps the surprising thing is that her shame would seem even more unlikely today because she wasn’t a teenager but a woman in her late twenties. That was the way things were. Lynne’s mother – an actress of generally liberal views – did ask if she was going to publish the book under her own name, and various friends wrote her letters saying 'my dear, you’ve got us all guessing…' When she re-read the book for this recording, she said it felt as if it had been written a hundred years ago, not fifty. For example, she couldn’t have described herself at the time as a feminist. That has certainly changed. She told us this: 'To be honest, for a long time – and I’ve found evidence in my own writing – I thought men were the superior sex. What a joke! I don’t believe it now. Men are the most dangerous creatures on the planet.' That said, Lynne didn’t come across at all as some kind of Boadicea riding into battle. We had a hilarious time, in which she confessed that she missed most of the fun of the sixties (though I pointed out that there was perhaps less of it around than is often claimed) and when she came back to live here in the seventies, after a few years on a kibbutz in Israel, she could scarcely believe the changes that had occurred. The reason that the book has survived through half a century is surely that it does seem to catch that feeling of a new era beginning: the end of a set of social attitudes that, for better or worse, had had their day. So that’s Lynne Reid Banks on the L-shaped Room on Sunday June 6 and Thursday June 10 at the usual time, 4pm on BBC Radio 4. And she’ll be followed, on July 4 and July 8, by last year’s Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, talking about her majestic tale from the court of Henry VIII, Wolf Hall. We’ll be recording her at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose on Saturday June 19th. Happy reading Jim Visit the Book Club website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/bookclub/ and the Radio 4 Homepage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/ Update 26 May 2010 (3 June: Room for meeting on 30 June confirmed as Room Q PCH) BOOK LOVERS OF PARLIAMENT - READ ON! The Parliamentary Book Club started nearly 4 years ago. Since then we've welcomed members from all parties, both Lords, Commons and other Departments across the Parliamentary estate. Our current read is Jerome K Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat" which has also been adapted (with comedic licence!) into a recent TV series. We've read a huge variety of books from crime, historical biography, science fiction to some of the great classics, through poetry to short stories and once or even twice to allow something with a political theme to be our 'book of the month'! Members have also had the chance to meet established authors Baroness P D James and Ken Follett, as well as attending recordings of the BBC Radio 4 Bookclub and enjoy lunches and social events. There's no joining fee, no equipment required - just a love of reading and the chance to broaden your bookshelves with even more book choices which perhaps you've never considered before. We try to get together once a month but obviously the recent General Election has meant we've missed a few meetings, lost some members, had changes in offices and been reading manifestos rather than fiction (or perhaps we haven't!). The next meeting is proposed for Wednesday 30th June 12.30 -1.30p.m. in Room Q in Portcullis House. Would you like to join? Then email me on: pcoughlan@btinternet.com and I'll add you to our list and keep you updated on books and events. PHILIPA COUGHLAN Update 30 March 2010 At our final meeting before the General Election we talked about the recent choice AS Byatt’s “The Children’s Book” - comments included:- – Evocative of the time and it’s social, historical and political themes – Hard to begin with – but definitely worth carrying on – Extraordinary read covering many aspects of life, brilliantly researched and written – Lots of detailed descriptions of family dynamics and underlying emotions It was certainly a hit with many of us. Our choice for next time – when not reading Election literature! is: JEROME K JEROME “THREE MEN IN A BOAT” This famous humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames intended at first to be a serious travel guide – remains an undated witty read even today – and was recently featured as a fun documentary with Rory McGrath, Dara O’Brian and Griff Rhys Jones. Later J K Jerome transferred the themes to a cycling tour in Germany with “THREE MEN ON THE BRUMMEL” The Parliamentary Book Club is not meeting now until post- General Election and depending on results either myself (or I hope!) another will carry it on in the next Parliament! PHILIPA COUGHLAN Email contact : pcoughlan@btinternet.com Update 25 February 2010 Many thanks to those who came along to the meeting on 24 February. The talk from Lesley Pinder about the work of charity BOOKAID INTERNATIONAL was very interesting and we were overwhelmed with donations of books which the charity will be using to raise funds and to distribute. If those that came – or those that didn’t and would like to check out the charity on www.bookaid.org – would also like to make a donation towards their work please let me know. We discussed the massive novel that is “WOLF HALL “ by Hilary Mantel. You do feel - someone said - that you need to have a notebook beside you to check up on what/who is happening where and when and the theme seems to be that the ending leaves Mantel open to a sequel to fully complete the story of Thomas Cromwell. But overall as with many highly prized historically researched novels it brings depth to a part of history many of us perhaps only scratch across the surface in our past history lessons! Shorter and much easier was the classic Jules Verne “AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS” - sometimes implausible but yet if we imagine the readers back in the 19^th century discovering these travels and experiences through the written word highly entertaining. Phileas Fogg and his companion Passepartout were opposites that somehow attracted! This months choice is AS BYATT – “THE CHILDREN’S BOOK” a novel spanning from 1895 to aftermath of the 1^st World war follows the fortunes of 4 families and crosses fictional characters with real life figures of the time. Olive the writer of children’s stories is the main character through whom a wide fantasy of her ideas crossing with her real life dramas are found in the book. I’ve booked Room W2 off Westminster Hall for Tuesday 23^rd March for a possible next meeting – this might be the last for some of us prior to the General Election! So if you’d rather go for lunch somewhere let me know. Philipa Coughlan Parliamentary Assistant Office of Nick Palmer MP Tel 0207 219 2553 Updated 10 February 2010 Hi I’m hoping members of the Book Club or any others that receive this email will spread the word to other colleagues across Parliament that at our next meeting on Wednesday 24^th February 12.30 in Room Q Portcullis House we will be having a Speaker from BOOK AID. Book Aid International increases access to books to support literacy, education and development in sub-Saharan Africa. It supports libraries in schools refugee camps, prisons universities and communities. Lesley Pinder from the charity will be attending our next meeting, talking about the work the charity does and showing us a film about their projects – she is also cycling from London to Paris in May to raise money for the charity. Check out more information on the charity from www.bookaid.org or about Lesley’s bike ride on http://pedallingpinders.blogspot.com It is also close to World Book Day on Thursday 4^th March so I’d like to ask all of you, MPs, Peers and other staff in the Houses of Parliament about thinking of donating to Book Aid or planning an event for Book Day. We enjoy reading and have ease of access and a massive choice of books at our fingertips (this months chosen books are “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel and “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne !) but just imagine if life contained no such luxury as a book? Also if you are coming to our Book Club meeting – please bring books – either to share/swap or donate – cash raised will be given directly to BOOK AID that day. PLEASE PASS THE WORD AROUND TO HELP BOOK AID AND I HOPE TO SEE AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE ON FEBRUARY 24. Philipa Coughlan Office of Nick Palmer MP coughlanp@parliament.uk ext 2553 Updated 5 February 2010 Next meeting is on Wednesday 24th February 12.30 for an hour or so in Room Q Portcullis House. Thanks to all of you who have been in touch and to those who came along to last weeks first meeting of 2010. We discussed Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel “American Wife” which it does seem, reflects the life of Laura Bush and certainly shows that the royalty of America remains the hugely influential political families from where US Senators Congressmen and Presidents get their background influence and ideology. It was a very well written book and although I’m not sure the George W character truly reflected his real counterpart you could easily understand how – especially with families such as the Bush and Kennedy clans – ‘family means everything in politics’. Does that apply here in Britain I ask or do we just call it the class divide!? Val McDermid’s latest crime offering “A Place of Execution” seemed less full of her usual gore so other fans told me but the story of a missing girl in the Peak District countryside during the time of an interwoven parallel telling of the missing children/victims of the Moors Murderers was delicately and carefully told. I liked the ‘Heartbeat’ feeling for detective work and the contrast between their journalists and newspapers compared to present day scoops of murder in pre internet/24 hour news times. Well worth a read. And some of us had delved into Enid Blyton and her vast collection of the Famous Five and Secret Seven books. From the first pages they do take you back to childhood memories – be they good or bad and always with ‘lashings of food and ginger beer’. But I felt it ironic that McDermid’s tale of innocent children going missing or being murdered was being read uncomfortably alongside the tales of children like Julian, George dog Timmy and Co gaily being bundled from boarding schools to unknown and often dubious characters in the countryside or seaside where ghostly/criminal adventures and suspect characters lurked. Escapism for kids at least didn’t in literature perhaps reflect the reality of the world around – and maybe that was a good thing? For this month we’ve chosen: Hilary Mantel – ( Booker prize Winning and large hardback!) “WOLF HALL” – History novels, films , TV dramas have all delved into the Tudors – either realistically or even ‘sexed up’ versions! But Mantel who herself is a very interesting deep thinking and consummately researched writer turns from Henry and the wives as lead characters and looks at the life of Thomas Cromwell. Never seen as an attractive historical personality Mantel at least sets him in a family/human context and although I’ve only just started the book (your arms need a rest after a while!) it is gripping stuff. Here’s a Tudor with a real heart but who comes against some of the tyrants and plots that would ultimately transform English history. Jules Verne – “Around the World in 80 Days” – You have probably watched Michael Palin’s TV series or seen Steve Coogan’s film adaptation but have you read the book? French novelist Verne was said to be the first authentic exponent of modern science fiction. Written in 1873 this well known adventure book about Englishman Phileas Fogg who takes on a bet to go around the world in no more than 80 days is a real classic. Risking his entire fortune Fogg and his French valet Jean Passepartout take on their incredible journey. We hope it won’t take 80 days to read! So our next meeting is on Wednesday 24th February 12.30 for an hour or so in Room Q Portcullis House Happy reading! Philipa Coughlan Parliamentary Assistant Office of Nick Palmer MP Updated 19 January 2010 Hi A belated Happy New Year to all. Just a reminder that the first Book Club meeting takes place next week on Tuesday 26th January in Room U Portcullis House at 12.30 We gave ourselves a long list of possible books for the recess so not sure how much reading you all managed to do – but with this year being a challenging one I expect for many I do hope you’ll have time to cast an eye over some of our suggestions particularly those we flag up here on our own Book Club Page on www.w4mp. I read “American Wife “ by Curtis Sittenfeld – controversially flagged up as a fictional reflection on the life of Laura Bush - it was however a good read about the themes of private and public American political life. I’ve also started Val McDermid’s “A Place of Execution” I know many of our members are great fans of her books and this one starts off very well with a twist on the crime genre. We suggested ANY Enid Blyton so after being humiliated to find neither of my sons had been readers of the Famous Five or Secret Seven! I found myself heading out to buy a new copy of those tales of picnics and ginger beer adventures – were you an Enid Blyton fan or were you like some of our members not ‘allowed’ to have access to those terrible stereotypical stories!? I also note that one book we read some months ago Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” is now a feature film. The book was heart wrenching and from trailers the film looks to have also captured both the bleak and the hopeful themes of what was a very powerful book. If you’ve seen the film let me know. Hope to see you next week. Philipa Coughlan Office of Nick Palmer MP coughlanp@parliament.uk ext 0207 219 2553 To view all the earlier 'Latest Information' bulletins up to the end of 2009 click here	You can also See other Essential New Information items


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