Looking back on the 2013 Sunday Arts Section (SAS) Book Club, it is clear that we are eclectic readers who often enjoy a good laugh. From Pao, the humorous story set in Kingston's China Town, by Jamaican writer Kerry Young; to The President's Hat, a sidesplitting tale by Antoine Laurain of former French President Francois Mitterand's hat left behind in a restaurant, the SAS Book Club certainly has explored light-hearted literature.On a serious note, the SAS Book Club featured Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa's historical novel The Dream of the Celt, based on the life of Roger Casement, who was hanged by the British for treason.We explored Young Adult literature with the immensely popular novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and action-packed nonfiction in The Gangster Squad: Covert Cops, the Mob and the Battle for Los Angeles, by journalist Paul Lieberman.
We marveled at nature in the Morville Hours: The Story of a Garden by Katherine Swift; and re-connected with our T&T roots through The Amazing Absorbing Boy by Rabindranath Maharaj.
Now it's time to ring in a new year of the SAS Book Club. Next year promises to be another outstanding year for books being turned into movies.We begin our 2014 SAS Book Club with The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak , a magical tale set in Nazi Germany in 1939 which tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a poor foster girl, who learns to survive through the books she shares with her neighbours and a Jewish man the family is hiding.We will pay homage to the late, great South African statesman Nelson Mandela with our February SAS Book Club choice, Mandela's stunning autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.
There will be many other books to choose from, and we'll try to pace them according to their movie releases. On our quest to read the best books being turned into movies, we'll consider selections like The Maze Runner, a Young Adult novel by James Dashner. For some time, critics have predicted this series about a boy who wakes up in a strange place would rival The Hunger Games for popularity.Another possibility is The Monument's Men: Allied Heroes; Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel. The Monument's Men is the story of the soldiers assigned to recover famous art stolen by the Nazis.
Another teen favourite, Divergent by Veronica Roth, is the first in another series that is taking off. The futuristic dystopian story divides the city of Chicago into five factions that represent characteristics like honesty and bravery.A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness features a professor with witch-like tendencies who meets a vampire. Needless to say, they have relationship issues.Winter's Tale by Mark Helpin is a love story that develops between a dying girl and a man who unintentionally stumbles on her when he comes to rob her house. With a cast of characters in the movie that include Russell Crowe and Colin Farrell, this may be a choice that will prove hard to resist.It's going to be an exciting year for reading and book clubs. Happy New Year to all readers and SAS Book Club members. See you next year. Don't forget to be ready to ring in the New Year with The Book Thief.