主播大秀

Yup. Bookclub is back. I missed the beginning of the meeting as I hadn't even bought the book, but it turned out not to have been widely read. My penalty for being late was to choose the next book. Not a success, the last books I read were Harry Potter 7 twice, The Time Travellers Wife (already bookclubbed), the newest Dick Francis (which I didn't want to suggest because I like D F and didn't want to listen to people criticising it) and three quarters of a book about beer (Three Sheets to the Wind, kindly donated by a friend in the bar) (because I don't want people to think I spend all my time thinking about beer). So someone suggested The Testament of Gideon Mack and someone said it was good and so did someone else, so at least there will be some discussion.
And now I've read it too. It has a pretty cover, so if I'd seen it in a shop I might have bought it anyway but I got it off Dr Amazon. I love Dr Amazon. He always has time to listen and suggest something else I might like. When I'm feeling fragile and insecure and unloved I have a two hour session and fill up my wishlist. This has backfired once when for Christmas I got a heap of books from my wishlist, including some poetry. I don't do poetry, I don't understand it (except limericks). I have no idea how I was persuaded to put poetry on my wishlist; I must have been very down at the time. But buying Gideon Mack I was quite up, so I didn't need comforting, I just needed to spend 15 quid for the super saver delivery. So I bought a couple of books from my wishlist (not the depressing ones which only appeal when you are down and need reminding of all the awful things out there in case you cheer up but the 'literary' recommended books from the Sunday Papers) and a CD, and a ridiculously expensive impulse buy as an Xmas present (which I didn't need as we have bought a meat slicer and agreed not to get each other much this year) and I spent nearly 拢50. Just as well the next meeting isn't until December, I can't afford too many.
But Gideon Mack is OK. I always find it funny reading about religion, it's a foreign country to me, but home ground to lots of people. And books set in Scotland are in a foreign land too. Dick Francis' are set in England, but England was home, and is 'normal' and the way things are. Scotland is 'different' and even exotic at times, so I probably pick up on details a Scot wouldn't notice because they skip the 'normal' stuff. I give Gideon Mack 7 out of 10, I'll read it again, but if I lose the book it won't matter much.