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The TV Book Club: Summer Reads 2010

The TV Book Club has recently revealed the books that will be featured on their Summer Reads series.

The eight books are:


The Help – Kathryn Stockett

The Man Who Disappeared – Claire Morrall

The Legacy – Katherine Webb

The Bed I Made – Lucie Whitehouse

Stone’s Fall – Iain Pears

Ellis Island – Kate Kerrigan

The Devil’s Acre – Matthew Plampin

The Weight of Silence – Heather Gudenkauf

Which ones will I read?

I have read two of the books already:

The Help – Kathryn Stockett stars4h

Stone’s Fall – Iain Pears  stars51

Both featured on my Best Reads of 2009 list, which is a very promising start to this season’s TV Book Club.

The other two books that immediately jump out at me are:

The Weight of Silence – Heather Gudenkauf

The Man Who Disappeared – Claire Morrall

Both sound like my sort of thing, so I’ll probably read them at some point. I don’t think I’ll read the entire list this time – I’ll be concentrating on the Booker long list instead!

The series begins on Sunday 27th June on More 4, when they will be discussing The Help.

What do you think of the selection?

Have you read any of the other books? 

57 replies on “The TV Book Club: Summer Reads 2010”

I looked at the list again and I really like the look of “The Weight of Silence” and “The Man Who Disappeared”. And of course The Help, but that has been on my wishlist for a while.

I’m delighted to see that The Help will make it out to a wider audience and not just to those who are caught up in the hype generated by book blogs and literary prizes. I loved the book and want more people to experience it.

So far The Help is the only one I have read; a few of the others have caught my eye but I have no immediate plans to read any (I’ll wait for the reviews!)

Claire, I’m really pleased that The Help made the list. Hopefully it will now get to the top of the best seller lists in the UK.

I’m also looking forward to discussing Stone’s Fall with a few people – it will be nice to not be the only person raving about it 🙂

Hmmm, just looked up Ellis Island and it seems to have a similar story line to Brooklyn by Colm Toiben. Not sure if I want to read it now so close to reading the other one.

Vivienne, I have read a lot about immigration to New York and so it doesn’t really excite me any more. I’d have to see some amazing reviews before I picked up Ellis Island. The Matthew Pimpton almost appeals, but those guns are putting me off at the moment…

Amy, Thank you for the very kind offer, but I have already reserved a copy from my library. They have loads of copies so it is quite easy to get hold of. I hope that I enjoy it as much as you did.

Thwarted again in my attempt to pass of my too large collection on others 😉 Glad you found a copy, can’t wait to see your thoughts!

I loved The Help, enjoyed Lucie Whitehouse’s first book and enjoyed what I read of Stone’s Fall before the library wanted it back so this selection looks encouraging.
I have had the Heather Gudenkauf on request from the library for a while – I suspect that its selection will mean that when I finally do get it I will have to read it straight away!
Belated Happy Birthday by the way – we are having to holiday from home this year and it is amazing what you can do when the weather is as nice as it has been.

Liz, I think the length of Stone’s Fall may cause many people to have the same problem. I hope that you decide to read the last half – the ending is fantastic!

I haven’t heard of Lucie Whitehouse before. I’ll be interested to see what others think of her book.

Have a great holiday from home – I do think they are underrated – it is amazing what you can do if you spend the money you would have spent on travel/accommodation on having fun!

I’ve read the same two you have, and would agree with your opinion! It pleases me that these two books will get a wider audience. I’ve been on a personal mission to get The Help in every breathing human’s hands!

The Help and the last 4 books on the list appealed to ,e but I thought the others look ‘meh’ I played along with the last series and about 50% were quite good but the others we just ok.

Jessica, I agree with your assessment of the last selection – some were very average. I suspect that there will be the same mix in this lot, but I haven’t identified which is which yet!

Thanks for the list! I’ve only read The Help but read a review of the Gudenkauf book just today, suggesting it was ok if it happens to fall into your hands, but not one to go out and find at all costs. 🙂

I’ll probably come across all of them at Waterstone’s sometime this summer (when visiting the UK).

Jackie, don’t just take my word for it. I did like it, but it wasn’t as good as I had hoped, that’s all. I found the narrative a little simplistic and not as polished but it is a good read all the same.

I have already read The Help and The Weight of Silence and I plan to read The Legacy, Stones Fall, Ellis Island and The Bed I Made (if I have time between my mountain of other must-read-now books).

I loved The Help – looking forward to seeing you review of that one.

That’s an interesting list.

I’m hoping to read “The Help” with my face-to-face book group sometime soon. I will definitely read “Stone’s Fall”. Claire Morrall is a possibility also.

What with competing priorities of the Booker longlist, Edinbburgh Book Festival reads and now a summer book group, I have no idea when though!

LizzySiddal, I got the Edinburgh Book Festival timetable through the post a few weeks ago and am very tempted to come – there are some fantastic days this year. I’m especially interested in the first day on books about motherhood.

I hope that you enjoy The Help and Stone’s Fall as much as I did. Good luck balancing all your book choices 🙂

Jess, I’d only heard of 3/8 before. It is nice that they have a good range of well known/lesser known books. I hope you have a nice weekend too!

Michele, The Help still isn’t very well known in the UK so there are still a lot of people that haven’t read it here. I hope that you enjoy it and can then help spread the word about how good it is 🙂

Study Window, That is a shame – I hadn’t heard anything about it before your comment. I can cope with a poor ending if the rest is OK. I still plan to give the book a try – if I can find a copy in time for the show.

I agree that The Help was an excellent read and I hope it can reach a much wider audience now. I enjoyed The Weight of Silence, reviewed it a while back. It’s a good read, probably a bit like Jodi Picoult.

I’ve read two of Claire Morrall’s other books, The Language of Others (with an Aspie like protagonist) and Astonishing Splashes of Colour and really like her style of writing. She does seem to focus on folk on the periphery, those who don’t fit into what most consider to be normal – I like that quirkiness!

So I’ve reserved the Morrall at my library along with the Lucie Whitehouse as I liked The House at Midnight. I think I’ve also reserved Legacy but can’t remember – must go off and check my reservations. I will have to read them as soon as I get them as they are very much in demand!

Teresa, I love the fact that you’ve compared The Weight of Silence to a Jodi Picoult – I loved My Sisters Keeper.

I didn’t realise that The Language of Others had an Aspie protagonist – I’m going to have to get hold of a copy now. I may have to go on a Claire Morrall reading spree 🙂

It sounds as though you are planning to read more of the books than me. I look forward to finding out what you think of them and seeing which you persuade me are worth reading!

How absolutely fantastic to see The Legacy here. I remember when the book was posted on the site Youwriteon, and Katherine was still hunting around for a deal – no one more deserving of all the success it brings her.

The Man Who Disappeared looks intriguing, and love the cover too. I am not fond of that cover of The Help, although it probably would make a good cover for a DVD after the movie comes out.

Ellis Island looks good to me – I just checked out the author’s website and it turns out she lives in a town very close to where my Mom is from in Ireland – small world!

The Help is on my shelf waiting to be read too!

Thanks for featuring this list!

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