January 2015 We decided to postpone our normal Play-reading in January and instead it was suggested that everyone bring along a favourite poem, or two! Easier said than done for some of our group – how does one choose a...
Stoner by John Williams
October 2014 Stoner was a great hit. The novel tells the story of William Stoner, a farm boy whose parents made huge sacrifices to send him to college to study agriculture, but he fell in love with literature and became...
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
August 2014 Though I expected to like the book much more than I did, the book's puzzles gave rise to an especially interesting discussion. Sputnik Sweetheart tells an unusual tale and, as Roger's very thorough introduction explained, the author leaves...
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig
May 2014 Another great discussion at Book Group, with 17 people it was the largest turn out we have had. Here is a list of the marks and very brief comments. For some people the comments are more positive than...
Miss Garnet’s Angel by Salley Vickers
April 2014 Miss Garnet's is a retired teacher who decides on a whim to spend six months in Venice and soon the city is bringing out a warmer side of herself she didn't really know existed. Shy and ascetic by...
The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge
March 2014 The Birthday Boys was a fascinating read. We all agreed that the author succeeded very well getting into the heads of Scott and the men who accompanied him to the South Pole. Mike gave us an excellent introduction...
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
January 2014 The Waves by Virginia Woolf strongly divided opinion; there were a record number of passes, but if you don't count the passes, average points were high. And as I was updating the points I noticed that the number...
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
November 2013 The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet was certainly a polarising novel. We all found it slow starting, though most enjoyed it very much once the story got going about a third of the way through. But for...
The Accidental by Ali Smith
April 2013 Unusually, The Accidental by Ali Smith was almost universally disliked. Over the last year many of us were beginning to think that, because we knew we were reading for the Circle, we were being more open-minded and less...
The World Book Night 2013
The World Book Night 23 April 2013 20 Books The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde Casino Royale by Ian Fleming...