The FMN Book Club

Calling all bookworms, established and wannabe… Welcome to the FMN book club.

I’ve always loved to read, a fact some of you have probably picked up on over the years. As a kid I always went to bed with a half a dozen books to choose from on a nightly basis, and went on to study English at university which I loved. While everyone else was in back-to-back lectures, my degree involved hours of reading at home in bed. But I’m as guilty as the next person for neglecting my bookworm tendencies nowadays in favour of late-night netflix and instagram-scrolling sessions. I’m a fast reader and can read a handful of books over a week-long holiday but then as soon as I’m back at home and in the humdrum of routine, books can be left on my bedside table for months before I start them.

So in the spirit of attempting to read more, I thought I’d rope you guys into it too… I know lots of you love reading too after getting lots of questions in the past about favourite books and recommendations. And maybe some of you have a new years resolution in place to read more this year or just want to put down the technology more often (kindle aside) in favour of the printed word.

So, the idea is, every month there will be a new book recommendation on FMN as well as quick run through and opinion on the book from the previous month. I really want this to be the starting point for a conversation in the comments where people can reply to each other, offer up their own opinions and we can all share thoughts and ideas. I tried to do a book club with a group of friends recently and loved the opportunity to actually discuss books in depth, but it fizzled out quickly because it’s ridiculously hard to all get in the same room at the same time once a month! So hopefully, by taking this online and open to everyone, you can dip in when you want to and not on other busier months. Although hopefully those of you who want to will try and stick to the month-by-month schedule on this one!

Some of my favourite books include Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, Ian McKewan’s Atonement, Chimananda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of A Yellow Sun and Jenifer Egan’s A Visit From The Goon Squad with recent reads including the Neopolitan Novels, lots of Maggie O-Farrell books and A Little Life. So expect lots of fiction, both old and new, but there might also be some books by the likes of Brene Brown and Alain de Botton in the mix too as I love some of their ideas and philosophies. This isn’t an attempt to read some of the greatest novels of all time (although there will be some of those I’ve yet to tick off in the mix), it’s just an attempt to read more. There’ll likely be some stuff we love and some stuff we’re not so keen on, some books we can’t put down and others than require a little more determination and that’s ok. I’d love to hear some of your past favourite reads in the comments before we get started too. Just in case some of us want to cram more than one in per month it could be great for ideas…

The first book we’re going to start with is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. A modern classic that I’ve never actually read and with a TV adaptation on the horizon I thought it was about time. If you’ve already read it, please have a quick refresh and join in on the discussion next month anyway if you fancy it. I have my copy ready and waiting so if you want to join, order yours on Amazon and I’ll see you in a month….

Jumper | Tibi 
Jeans | Redone 
Watch | Larsson & Jennings
Pink Tassel bracelet | Marte Frsines 
Bedside Tables | West Elm 
Bench | Holly’s House 

 

Ph. by Frances Davison