May 2011 Book of the Month: As Meat Loves Salt

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sun May 1st, 2011, 2:34 pm

Discuss As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann here.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Sun May 1st, 2011, 4:03 pm

I've ordered it from a local bookshop, and hopefully it will be in next week.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun May 1st, 2011, 5:01 pm

I completely forgot about this and I've already got two interlibrarys loans I'm committed to, plus some other arrivals in May. Dang it

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Sun May 1st, 2011, 10:17 pm

Looking forward to seeing what others think of this book. We read it for my book group a couple of months ago and had a very lively discussion with some divergent reactions.

For anyone who's read it already, have you seen the cover of the new UK reissue? It's perplexingly inappropriate:

A picture of a headless woman. Why?

The previous editions had a picture of (part of) a man's face or torso and face.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sun May 1st, 2011, 10:28 pm

[quote=""sweetpotatoboy""]For anyone who's read it already, have you seen the cover of the new UK reissue? It's perplexingly inappropriate:

A picture of a headless woman. Why?

The previous editions had a picture of (part of) a man's face or torso and face.[/quote]

I'm gonna guess the same reason that a recent Civil war novel had a woman on it. Women read more of the genre and perhaps the picture capture's their interest and they are more likely to read it or pick it up and read the summary?

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Mon May 2nd, 2011, 9:20 am

I think you could be right, Divia. My copy is the older edition. I will be starting it next.

Ludmilla · Post by **Ludmilla** » Mon May 2nd, 2011, 12:55 pm

I'm half way in. This may be a slow reading week for me. Have lots of work to do, but hope to finish this by next weekend.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Tue May 3rd, 2011, 1:11 am

[quote=""Ludmilla""]I'm half way in. This may be a slow reading week for me. Have lots of work to do, but hope to finish this by next weekend.[/quote]

I'm curious what you think Ludmilla, it is a very slow start for me!

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Tue May 3rd, 2011, 6:22 am

Well, the main character was, very briefly, married. The cover is totally misleading, however. I liked the cover with the man on it, and I'm a woman. In fact, I knew nothing about this novel but was attracted to the cover while browsing in a bookstore, picked it up and read the blurb on the back cover and a bit of the opening page, and decided to buy it.

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Tue May 3rd, 2011, 8:40 am

[quote=""Brenna""]I'm curious what you think Ludmilla, it is a very slow start for me![/quote]

I read this about three months ago and found the first quarter or so of the book a bit slow plot-wise. Or rather, quite a lot happens, but it didn't quite engage me. After that, it really picked up for me when the external plot slows down and the focus on the main characters intensifies. It is one of my favourite books now read in the past couple of years.