Jonathan Livingston Seagull [September Book Club]

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard BachI’m sorry that this book club post is so late… I guess I just was so underwhelmed by the book so I wasn’t hugely motivated to write the post. I tend to pick books to review on here that I think I’ll enjoy, so usually my posts are positive just because of that reason. I don’t really pick or accept books for review which don’t appeal to me in some way, so usually, even if it wasn’t amazing, I’m usually looking forward to writing my review.
In this into I’ve kind of given away my general feeling on this book already, but oh well!
[Synopsis]

This is a story for people who follow their hearts and make their own rules…people who get special pleasure out of doing something well, even if only for themselves…people who know there’s more to this living than meets the eye: they’ll be right there with Jonathan, flying higher and faster than ever they dreamed.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is no ordinary bird. He believes it is every gull’s right to fly, to reach the ultimate freedom of challenge and discovery, finding his greatest reward in teaching younger gulls the joy of flight and the power of dreams.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

[Our Book Club Review]
Well. To me I felt this was one of the most overly-pretentious, self-important, boring book I have ever read. I know people say it’s full of ‘life-lessons’ but it was so preachy and dull and just didn’t draw me in at all.
I had no problems with the overall premise; that Jonathan was a seagull who doesn’t follow the pack and instead flies free in his quest for perfection, even when all his peers sneer at him… that’s all great. I just found it really boring to read. The symbolism of the story wasn’t at all subtle and I didn’t really enjoy it. My feelings were echoed by everyone in the group, which I was surprised about as there are so many positive reviews and people who worship this book, so I thought at least one of the 6 of us who were there would have felt it ‘spoke’ to them too. But I’m afraid there wasn’t. The pictures also seemed a little pointless, though at least meant there were a few pages without any text on.
It’s great to be optimistic and want to better yourself, of course, but we all felt it could have been conveyed in a more interesting way. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people who feel we’ve missed the point of this book, and to be honest we probably have. It’s probably the kind of book where, if you read it at a certain significant point in your life, then it really speaks to you, but sadly within our book club it didn’t. This reminded me of our experience with another reading group choice- The Alchemist– where the hype around a book just didn’t transfer to our enjoyment of the book.
Someone from our group did, however, give one positive- at least it only took 45 mins to read.
[Rating: 2/5]


 
Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott[Next Month’s Choice: Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott]

One Dark Secret. One act of revenge.
When Emma Joseph met her husband David, he was a man shattered by grief. His first wife had been killed outright when her car veered off the road. Just as tragically, their six-year-old daughter mysteriously vanished from the scene of the accident.
Now, six years later, Emma believes the painful years are behind them. She and David have built a new life together and have a beautiful baby son, Ollie.
Then a stranger walks into their lives, and their world tilts on its axis.
Emma’s life no longer feels secure. Does she know what really happened all those years ago? And why does she feel so frightened for herself and for her baby?
When a desperate Emma reaches out to her old friend DCI Tom Douglas for help, she puts all their lives in jeopardy. Before long, a web of deceit is revealed that shocks both Emma and Tom to the core.
They say you should never trust a stranger. Maybe they’re right.

Stranger Child (DCI Tom Douglas, #4)

This looks like my kind of book! It wasn’t my choice this month but I have heard a lot about this book and, although it’s number 4 in the DCI Tim Douglas series, hopefully we won’t need to have read the others to enjoy it!
Have you read either of these books? If so, what did you think?

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