Exciting News

I am very pleased to welcome a new group to the blog: the Seniors and Young Adults Reading Group.

We shall be meeting on Friday afternoons, at around 6.30. At our first meeting, held on the 19th December 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' was chosen as our first reading project.

The aim is to read the first 5 chapters for our next meeting, on 16th January at 6.30.

Here is the Wiki page for the book.

And this is the trailer for the film adaptation.

Ok, so let's read the first 5, don't worry if you don't read them before the 16th. Just enjoy the story and come to the meeting anyway!

You can contact me here if you have any questions or comments you want to make.

HBO Book Adaptation

HBO adapted the first book in the No 1 series. It could be interesting to watch some and see if they complement your reading and interpretation of characters and place. 

Here is a trailer to the HBO series

This clip is called Author's Diary, there's one for each episode. Useful summary and some insights before watching the full episode.

Here is episode 2 -  The Big Bonanza

Watch the writer and actors talking about Botswana:

This is a short "making of" clip

Unfortunately I haven't found the pilot episode...yet

All credit to HBO! 

Meet the Author

Alexander McCall Smith. Photo by Tim Duncan

I thought it would be interesting to include some interviews with Alexander McCall Smith. This first one is very interesting, in it he talks about his writing habits and you can see the rooms he uses.

Click here to watch


This is a summary of his biography and here is his wikipedia entry, which includes his impressive bibliography.

Here he talks about seeing someone who gave him the idea of writing about a woman in Botswana

This is another short clip in which he talks about the main character, Mma Ramotswe

Here is a short report in which Alexander McCall Smith visits Botswana and talks about Mma Ramotswe and his portrayal of Botswana.

Here  are some excerpts from a World Book Night interview in 2013

This is a blog about all things AMS - Alexander McCall Smith that is.

I realise the selection here is rather eclectic - there's so much to choose from! 

Dumela mma

In our first meeting discussing No 1 we certainly had some difficulty getting our tongues round unfamiliar names and words. I was lucky to find these links with recordings. I think it would be great to listen to them  and get a feel for the sound of Tswana. I also suggested that watching the television adaptation of No 1 might help us with pronunciation. More on the series later

Tswana information page.

Listen  to these phrases.

These are really clear to listen to.


The following comes from the Botswana-UPenn Partnership webpage. I've included the first page as it answers some of our questions about pronunciation. 

The full document is here

Botswana-UPenn Partnership 

Basic Setswana 

Setswana (Tswana) is a Bantu language and the national and majority language of 

Botswana; although the official language of government in Botswana is English. In 

addition to Botswana, there are also Setswana speakers in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and 

Namibia, comprising about 4 million Setswana speakers worldwide. 

Tips on Pronunciation 

The basic key differences from English are: 

• “G’s” are generally pronounced as “h’s” in Setswana. (Officially known as a 

voiceless velar frictave.) 

• The final “e” in Setswana words or names is not silent as is the case in English, but is 

pronounced as a long “e”. 

• People typically roll their “r’s” in Botswana. 

Therefore, “Gaborone” is phonetically written as “Hahborrronee.” 

The following information is more detailed pronunciation keys for the curious, but don’t 

get hung up on this in the beginning. 

In Setswana, the vowels are pronounced as in the following English words: 

• 'a' as in 'car' 

• 'e' as in 'let' 

• 'i' as in 'meet' 

• 'o' as in 'go' 

• 'u' as in 'school' 

There are also a few combinations of consonants which are pronounced very 

differently from English: 

• 'g' = an 'h' sound deep in your throat, like the end of "loch" 

• 'kg' = k + an 'h' sound deep in your throat 

• 'kh' = k + some air 

• 'ph' = p + some air 

• 'th' = t + some air (NOT like English "th") 

• 'ny' = think of isolating the 'ny' in 'canyon' 

• 'tl' = think of isolating the 'tl' in 'Atlanta' 

• 'tlh' = 'tl' + some air 

• 'ts' - think of isolating the 'ts' in 'itself' 

• 'tsh' = 'ts' + some air 

• 'nts' = n + 'ts' sound 

• 'š' = sh 

Finally this is a  link to the brilliant Learning Setswana website, made by Peace Corps Botswana

Go siame

&

Ke tla go bona

sights and sounds

Well, I thought it would be interesting and useful to find out about some of the cultural, geographical and zoological references mentioned in No 1. 

Straight away, on the first page we have a reference:

"Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of Kgale Hill."

Kgale Hill 1 by Athena Lao

Kgale Hill 2 by Athena Lao

Kgale Hill - this is located in Garbone and means in Setswana The Place that Dried Up, it's also known as The Sleeping Giant. It's 1,287 metres high.

Botswana - in southern Africa, it boarders 5 countries: Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia. Mma Ramotswe also refers to its former name Bechuanaland Protectorate, as it was known before it became independent from the British Commonwealth. Here is the Wikipedia entry for Botswana.

A Motswana is either a citizen of Botswana of any ethnic background, or someone from the Tswana ethnic group of southern Africa.

Gaborone - capital of Botswana, Ladies no 1 Detective Agency is based here. This is the Wikipedia entry. 

"To the front, an acacia tree, the thorn tree which dots the wide edges of the Kalahari; the great white thorns, a warning; the olivegrey leaves by contrast, so delicate."

There are over 700 species of the acacia in Africa...

Photo by Birdman1'White-browed Sparrow-Weaver nests in an acacia tree in Okovango Delta, Botswana.'

Acacia Thorns by Angela Sevin

"In its branches, in the late afternoon, or in the cool of the early morning, one might see a Go-Away Bird, or hear it, rather."

Grey Go-away-bird (Corythaixoides concolor), Okonjima/Namibia by Hans Stieglitz

"...there were just the acacia trees, and the river-bed in the distance, and the Kalahari over there, so close."

Here is a link to the wikipedia page on the Kalahari.

The Kalahari Desert (shown in red) and the surrounding Kalahari Basin (in orange) by Jc86035

"He had owned a big herd...including the white Brahmin bulls whose grandparents he had bred himself..."

Brahmin Bull by José Reynaldo da Fonseca

Brahmin cattle are extremely heat tolerant and live longer than other breeds. 

Listen to Radio Botswana, where Mma Ramotswe was interviewed prior to setting up her agency.

Bush tea - Rooibos tea, Mma Ramotswe's regular brew for herself and clients. You might like to try this brand or this one.

Biltong - spiced, dried meat.

Sliced Beef Biltong photo by  Delia du Plessis

Maun - Happy Bapetsi, Mma Ramotswe's first client is from this, the 'tourist capital' of Botswana. Here is the Wikipedia link.

Bulawayo - Happy's Daddy went to work here, the second largest city in Zimbabwe.

Lobatse - the small town where Happy's cuckoo Daddy really lives.

Mahalapye - Mma Ramotswe's father, Obed, is from here.

 Mahalapye by pmecologic

Mochudi - Obed goes to live there as his mother's people are from there.

New Term, New Start

Well, after a prolonged Indian summer break it's finally Book Group season again. There are new faces, a new meeting day ( Wednesdays - although we're still the Saturday Readers)and of course, a new book!

It was difficult to choose a book when there were so many excellent suggestions and such a variety of interests and preferences from the readers. As our discussion / negotiation  over reading matter progressed it was clear that book length was a deciding factor. Understandably  we cannot choose anything too long. It is easy to forget that readers have lives, families, friends jobs, commitments other than just curling up with a good book.

At previous meetings we were ambitious to choose Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, a wapping 480 pages and Restless by William Boyd, slightly more reasonable at 336 pages. We want reading to be a pleasure, and not something to be treated like homework which we rush to finish the night before 'class'. 

Finally after much deliberation we've agreed to read The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. This is the first in a highly successful series of books featuring the Botswanan detective Precious Ramotswe. It weighs in at a manageable 235 pages.

Here is Alexander McCall Smith's official website

This is a direct link to an extract from No.1, from the official website

Here is the Wikipedia page on No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

Here are some reviews from goodreads.com

Book cover, designed by Hannah Firmin

Getting together, reading together

Rosina Emmet Sherwood
Girl Reading,1888
Photo credit:freeparking

Here's the  group activity from the conference that we didn't have time to do:

Find someone who… has finished War and Peace

Find someone who… can recite a piece of poetry

Find someone who… has read all the works by one author (e.g. everything by Dickens)

Find someone who… has been in a book club before

Find someone who… has read a James Bond novel

Find someone who… has bought a book but never opened it

Find someone who… has read Fifty Shades of Grey

Find someone who… hasn’t read Fifty Shades of Grey

Find someone who… can remember immediately whether they have read a book or not

Find someone who… reads different books at the same time (e.g. one book on the Metro, one book at home)

Find someone who… likes audio books

Find someone who… never sees the film before reading the book

Here's the handout:

BOOK GROUP

 FIRST MEETING IDEAS

·      Favourite Book: all members have two pieces of paper – one with their names and one with the title of their favourite book. Then all names and titles are displayed and everyone tries to guess and match up the books to the members.

·      Find a Member: give all members a list of criteria and they will have to find a name to fit into each category. For example, “Find a member who has finished War and Peace”, “Find a member who has been in a book club before” or “Find a member who can recite a poem”.

·      Have a book-free meeting, on special occasions like Valentines or Halloween.

·      Ask members to come with alternative endings – even try writing them and reading them out loud.

·      Create your own literary awards and ask members to vote for their best reads, favourite authors, etc.

   All ideas from www.thereadingclub.co.uk

GENERIC TOPICS AND QUESTIONS

     How did your feelings change as you read or listened to the              narrative?Did it make you angry, frightened, laugh, or cry?

       Which relationship was most interesting and why?

      

       Did you get off to a slow start or were you hooked straight away?

    

      What did you think of the ending? Was it what you expected?

    

     If you've read a true story, biography or autobiography, did you think it was well told? Did you find out more or less than you wanted about the subject? Have you changed your opinion of them now you've read their story?

     Who was your favourite / least favourite character? Were there any  characters you could identify with?

      Did you find some parts of the story more enjoyable than others?

        If the story was set in another time or    country, how did that        affect you? Was it    convincing?   Would you want to live in that      time or   travel to that country / place?

      Is this a book you would recommend and, if    so, why? Would you read another title by this  author?

     Did you skip the boring bits or just read the end? If you gave up on the book, can you say why?

     If it was made into a film / TV series, which actors would play the main parts?

Did it remind you of any other books you have  read? Can you think of any other   stories with similar ideas, characters or settings?

     Questions from www.readinggroups.org

       USEFUL SITES

FOR

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

https://www.goodreads.com/

  

http://www.bookclubgirl.com/

http://www.litlovers.com/  Includes guides and book club resources

http://bookclubclassics.com/Blog/best-books-for-book-clubs/  Some great book guides

http://bookpage.com  Type ‘book club’ into the blog search engine for inspiration

https://www.englishclub.com/reading/recommended/index.htm  Recommendations for English learners and teachers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003jhsk    “World Book Club invites the globe’s greatest authors to discuss their best known novels”  listen to discussions and dramatizations

http://successfulenglish.com/2013/01/good-reads-for-intermediate-english-learners/  Some recommendations for Young Adult Learners

http://readers.penguin.co.uk/  Penguin’s Book group page, including advice about setting up a group

http://readinggroups.org/  A site for reading groups including reviews and advice

http://www.bookgroup.info/041205/index.php   A site for reading groups, you can even add your group to the list!

http://www.readinggroupguides.com  Good resource for guides

http://www.thereadingclub.co.uk All about starting up a reading group

http://www.openingthebook.com/whichbook/  Great resource for choosing something to read. Take a look at the blog too

LITERATURE AVAILABLE

Start a Book Swap List – everybody provides a list of 5 or 10 books they are willing to swap to pool resources.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/britlit

A variety of short stories and poetry suitable for primary and secondary school students. Some of the work is original and some packs provide resources for stories well known for the film version, such as Billy Elliot and Bend It Like Beckham.

http://www.gutenberg.org/  Over 45,000 free books.  Good for the classics

http://www.readanybook.com/

Remember, if you're interested in setting up a book group please get in touch! I can help with practicalities and help spread the word.

When's your next meeting???