BYC Book Club

The Book of Form and Emptiness, by Ruth Ozeki

Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022

After the tragic death of his father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house and sound variously pleasant, angry or sad. Then his mother develops a hoarding problem, and the voices grow more clamorous. So Benny seeks refuge in the silence of a large public library. There he meets a mesmerising street artist with a smug pet ferret; a homeless philosopher-poet; and his very own Book, who narrates Benny’s life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

Blending unforgettable characters with jazz, climate change and our attachment to material possessions, this is classic Ruth Ozeki – bold, humane and heartbreaking.

‘This is the most fantastic book. Opening my eyes to so much about life. Filled me with energy to get out and make life focused’

‘What a story. Human, magical, sad, uplifting. It has it all. Great plot about grief, possessions, family, community and love.’

‘I haven’t got enough words to say how much I loved this book it is a beautiful novel exquisitely written looking at mental illness and grief through many sympathetic lenses. One of which being Zen philosophy and it certainly made me want to learn more about this topic.’

We will discuss it in the Main Lounge on Thursday, 6th of July at 8pm at the Club Main Bar.

Past reads:

2023

• May – Snow by John Banville (Book Club score 7.75/10)
• April – Erebus by Michael Palin
• March – Dracula by Bram Stoker
• February – The Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor
• January – The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page

2022

• December – The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• November – Milkman by Anna Burns (Book Club score  9.8 – of those who finished the book!)
• October – Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl  (Book Club score 7.75/10)
• September – A Woman Made of Snow by Elisabeth Gifford
• August – Wintering by Katherine May (Book Club score 5.25/10)
• July – The Therapist by BA Paris (Book Club score 5.9/10)
• June – Away with the Penguins by (Book Club score 8.1/10)
• May – The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons (Book Club score 5.2/10)
• April – Endurance by Aldred Lansing (Book Club score 8/10)
• March – The Glass Cell, by Patricia Highsmith (Book Club score 7/10)
• February – Lily’s Promise, by Lily Ebert and Dov Forman (Book Club score 6.9/10)
• January – The Body, Bill Bryson

2021

• December – The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith
• November –  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
• October – The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, by Haruki Marakumi
• September – The Waisted Vigil, Nadeem Askam
• August –  The Guest List, Lucy Foley
• July – Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell
• June – The Lost Man, Jane Harper
• May – The Last Migration, Charlotte McConaghy
• April – A Letter to a Lucky Man, Thomas Jobling
• March – Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
• February – The Salt Path, Raynor Winn

How the book club works

• Note: the Book Club is only open to members and guests of members (who must be signed in).
• The monthly catch up meeting is the first Thursday of every month at 8pm, meeting at the Club in the Main Bar.
• At the meeting we discuss the previous month’s book. The discussion is guided by a cheerful ’emcee’ and that chat is lively and varied discussing the book’s plot, setting, writing style, issues raised (eg, homelessness in The Salt Path) – and the author. Nobody is put on the spot for their opinion and it is absolutely fine to just listen.
• When we remember, we give the book a score.
• A new book is drawn, blind picking  from the suggestions put forward by members of the book club.
• Members purchase the books at their own expense and of course, if they don’t like the look of a book they are quite welcome to drop out for that month, but most people are in the club to try different genres.
• If you’d like to join in simply sign up here: https://bit.ly/BYC-BookClub and you will be added to the club’s Whatsapp group where you can join the chat, and will then get the link for the Zoom meeting.