chesilbeach Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 (edited) I know it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but Amanda Ross who was the producer who was the brains behind the Richard & Judy Book Club, is bringing a new series called "TV Book Club" to More 4 starting on Sunday 17th January. (ETA: Original date was wrong (thanks, Janet!) and is now correctly marked as Sunday) Whilst I didn't enjoy or even want to read all the selections on Richard & Judy, and it did get a bit sycophantic, with no-one ever seeming to have a bad word to say about any of the books, it did reinvigorate some people to start/return to reading, and some books that might otherwise have slipped under the radar became bestsellers. I liked the fact that they tried to find a wide variety of books, so there was something for most people to try, and that after the initial success, they tried to find unknown or debut authors. I will certainly be watching, even if I don't agree with all the book choices and reviewers! Anyway, here's the blurb for the show: The acclaimed TV Book Club kicks off its own new series with a look at South Bank Award-winner Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger. The series, funded by Specsavers, which champions both established and emerging authors, welcomes a new line-up of presenters: Jo Brand, Gok Wan, Laila Rouass, Dave Spikey and Nathaniel Parker. In each episode the presenters rate and review one title, inviting viewers to celebrate and immerse themselves in some of Britain's best writing. As well as book reviews, each episode features a major celebrity interview, starting with Chris Evans in this episode, as well as profiles on Book Club alumni, who include Kate Mosse, Victoria Hislop and Celia Ahern, many of whom have gone on to achieve major literary success. Will anyone else be tuning in? Edited January 11, 2010 by chesilbeach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie2008 Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Yeah I'll be watching. Thanks for the info I have bought a few of the recommendations by Richard and Judy before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 I'll most likely not as I don't actually watch much TV (and when I do it's mostly American crime dramas - LOL!), but I'm glad they're doing this as R&Js book club did, as you say, kick start a lot of people reading and gave a new lease of life to many book groups (and even inspired many people to start their own new ones!). I've read a few of the books R&J did in the past, although not because they had chosen them - mostly I had either already read them or planned to before they chose them, or I "found" them, read them and later discovered they had been R&J choices at some point without me realising it. It'd be interesting to see if any of the celeb members of the group actually say anything bad about any of the books rather than just gushing about how great they all are though... And I notice Gok Wan is one of the panel - I rather like him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Nathaniel Parker! I don't suppose I'll watch it (I didn't watch R&J) but I'll be interested to see what books they choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwoman Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Ooooh I never watched the R&J ones but I do like the sound of this, even if I don't like the book itwill just be interesting to watch something about books!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Be worth a look i suppose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 I'll probably check it out but don't really watch a lot of TV. Plus I haven't always been a fan of R & J's book choices.....Memory Keepers Daughter was the last one and I think I gave it a 4/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 9, 2010 Author Share Posted January 9, 2010 These are the books they'll be reviewing in the programme: Book 1: The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters Book 2: Blacklands - Belinda Bauer Book 3: Sacred Hearts - Sarah Dunant Book 4: Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby Book 5: Cutting For Stone - Abraham Verghese Book 6: The Rapture - Liz Jenson Book 7: Brixton Beach - Roma Tearne Book 8: The Way Home - George Pelecanos Book 9: Wedlock - Wendy Moore Book 10: The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Interesting. I wouldn't mind giving it a go, thought some of the presenters appeal more than others. I like Jo Brand but am not really a fan of Gok's. What time is it on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I may have a look, could be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightOwl Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I'll make a note of that and will probably watch. Anything to do with books is worth a look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Princess Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I've just added this to the planner to be recorded - if i didn't have this i would miss everything! So i'll give it a go, not really sure about celebs reviewing books though because most of the time i think they only like to speak about themselves so i can't imagine them seriously discussing books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 What time is it on? Sunday (not Saturday as stated in the original post) 17 January at 7:30pm on More4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Thanks for spotting that Janet! I've updated the first post as well with a comment in there, just so hopefully everyone gets the right day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Thanks Janet. I think I might sky plus this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Thanks for spotting that Janet! I've updated the first post as well with a comment in there, just so hopefully everyone gets the right day Thanks Ches. I thought I'd done that too, but I obviously forgot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 It's a programme about books isn't it? .. count me in!! One of the books I'm about to read is Sarah Waters 'Little Stranger' so I'll be interested to hear about that. I loved 'The Big Read' and though that was about classics .... a programme about newer books should still be really interesting. Fingers crossed that it won't be too 'Alan Titchmarsh/Richard and Judy'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 It was a bit of a mixed bag, but it has promise, I think. I liked the interview with Chris Evans, and was interesting to hear him talk about how the writing was almost effortless once he found his voice. The Cecilia Ahern segment seemed a bit pointless - a bit like blowing their own trumpets to remind us just how important the R&J Bookclub had been. Loved the Mark Watson video - entertaining and informative (I'm sure I'll be using one of those words on another thread shortly ) Slightly disappointed by the review of Sarah Waters book - thought the video of her talking about the book was too long in comparison to how much the panel talked about it, and would have preferred to have had a longer discussion on the book itself. I also think it needed someone to lead the discussion instead of each person just putting in their opinion randomly. Having said that, thought Nathaniel Parker was the best of the reviewers, Jo Brand and Dave Spikey were pretty good (but both possibly a bit reticent as if they didn't want to hog the limelight), Gok Wan was just annoying and Laila Rouass was virtually non-existent. But the main issue was that it wasn't long enough. If it was down to me, I'd have dropped the Cecilia Ahern segment, reduced the length of the Sarah Waters video and had one of the presenters lead the discussion on the book review, but on the whole, it wasn't too bad and I'll stick with it to see how it progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Oh I forgot this was today. Is it worth watching on 4OD or should I just see what I think next week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fi. Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I thought it was a bit hit-and-miss to be honest. I wouldn't have bothered having Gok or Laila Rouass there at all, like CB I thought the Cecelia Ahern bit was a complete was a complete waste of time and must have only been included as filler The interview with Chris Evans was great, I learnt some new words and confirmed that Nathaniel Parker is indeed as lovely as I thought he might be I don't think I'll go out of my way to watch it again but that may well change depending on future guests/books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jue xxx Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Yesterday's episode is being repeated on Ch4 at 12:05pm (20 minutes' time!) in case you missed it on More 4 yesterday like I did! Have Sky-plussed the series now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexicola Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 I wasn't overly impressed. As Fi said, there was a lot of filler and the actual review of the book was just like an after-thought in the last ten minutes of the programme. I'll probably still give it another go next week though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 It was a bit too Richard and Judy for me .. I was baffled by the guests, especially Laila and Gok .. Laila hardly had anything to say!! I did like the author interviews but would have liked the panel to have discussed 'The Little Stranger' for longer, they said it was the book they were going to review and then left it until the last five mins of the programme. I'm not a big Chris Evans fan so thought his interview went on for too long but I guess when it's someone I like then that'll be a good thing (didn't they say it would be Alan Davies next week?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 I don't think i'll bother with it again, i wasn't impressed at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Have just got around to watching it. Am now at the adverts and I have to say the first half was 'The Chris Evans Show'. Hopefully the second half will get better. I thought it would be more free speech, as opposed to everything sounding like it was being read from an autocue (it probably was). I love Dave Spikey though, so I shall persevere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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