| Status: | Active, full but can join waiting list |
| Group contact: |
Pat Cluness
|
| Group email: | Book Club group |
| When: | Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm 1st Monday 'usually'! |
Venue:
Contacts home - webmail Group Contact for address if needed.
To Join Waiting List
Please contact Pat Cluness at Book Club webmail to go onto a waiting list. With 3-4 people waiting the Interest Groups Coordinator will be asked to form another group - will require 1 or 2 waiting members to become the Group Contact(s).
What we do
Each month a book is chosen for all group members to read. At the meeting opinions on the book are reviewed (often very diverse views) and summarised in the 'previous reads' below.
Group News and Reviews
Next read and 2025 reviews below. Reviews back to 2016 available on the right hand buttons.
Next Meeting: 2pm Monday 20 October 2025 - venue as usual.
Next read: The Dance Tree by Koran Millwood-Hargrove.
This is an historical novel and comes highly recommended (B.B.C.’s Between The Covers). Looking forward to a good read.
Previous Reviews
Previous Reads
September 2025: Take My Hand by Dolan Perkins-Valdez
The group has just met and we discussed this latest book. This true story mainly about two young sisters, covered the events where women and children were given birth control in the southern states of U.S.A. around 1973. The treated people were often too young, illiterate or coerced into being given oral medication, injections or surgery without their informed consent. A dreadful crime against human rights. A very sad tale.
The group did “enjoy” the read. It was not a gripping account though and the whole group felt the same. We have often found that true stories, biographies etc. contain facts and figures and lists which while crucial for understanding, often detract from the grit and humanity that the author is trying to convey. Would recommend that other groups may find the book of great interest.
August 2025: Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson
Thoroughly enjoyed this mystery set in a hospital. Everyone loved discussing the characters and working out the outcome. Some worrying issues such as a doctor managing to function on heroin substitutes. Also a useless counsellor able to practice while using sessions to sleep.
July 2025: The Echo Chamber by John Boyne
The author also wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas about Nazi genocide.
This novel could not be more different. A chat show host who seemingly has NO IDEA about not offending people. He had a wife and family who were SO INDULGED. His first son was called Nelson after Nelson Mandela and his youngest Achilles and he felt that these names proved how open minded and liberal he was. His daughter was strangely called Elizabeth as her mother named her.
The story was very witty and funny and enjoyed by the whole group. It contained satire and social commentary. Thoroughly recommended for reading.
June 2025: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (Not the comedian).
It was a very difficult read - I found myself reading and not absorbing anything. Could not identify genre. Was it historical, was it satire, was it a reflection on society, was it comedy, was it a comment on dystopia?????? Totally unable to identify.
The rest of the group agreed apart from one who said there were small parts that were interesting. I looked for a review on Google to try to understand it, but all I got was reviews saying how good it was. This book was recommended by the Richard and Judy book club, but was also a world wide bestseller. Amazing!!
April 2025: The Island of the Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
This novel describes the bitter divide between north and south Cyprus. A love story between a Greek Cypriot man and Turkish Cypriot woman.
A strange book but very much enjoyed by most members of the group. It used characters and a fig tree to tell the story, which is unusual but seemed to work.
March 2025: The Long Song by Andrea Levy
We all enjoyed this book which covered slavery at the very end when the slaves were being set free.
Everyone had problems and issues; the slaves, the overseers and the landowners. Words used were mulatto (one white, one black parent) and quadroon (one quarter black). Everyone wanted to be light skinned. A very sad story but enlightening.
February 2025: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McOurdy
I had not realised until the end that Jeanette was/is an actual celebrity/star in Hollywood. She started as a child star.
A sad (some humour in the writing), tale telling stories of:
- Hollywood with all of the world of celebrity was a strong influence.
- Abuse and Control / Alcoholism / Schizophrenia.
- A life of stardom and public acclaim, Alcohol abuse, Mental illness including bulimia.
- Religion. Mormon but not typically
Not all of these applied to Jeanette.
The group as a whole was not keen on this book. Uncomfortable was a word used a lot. The descriptions used regarding anorexia and bulimia were explicit. The physical abuse from one brother was absolutely unacceptable.
January 2025: Educated by Tara Westover - full house for this meeting.
This was a saga about family life living within a Mormon society. Very depressing for myself as I was searching desperately at first to find out what years this was set within and was astonished to realise how modern day it was. There was access for the larger society to have computers and other technology.
Everyone enjoyed the story. Flowery language was often used but did not spoil the overall enjoyment.
The father had total control of his family and was entrenched in old Mormon practices. These included no real education (including Mormon schools), no access to traditional medical facilities, no mixing with people of other religions. The grandparents seemed to be much more modern. The wife totally bowed to her husband’s will and became, despite her beliefs, a midwife to the local community. She also practiced healing with herbs, plants, spices etc. The story was said to be true and if so, considering the number of dreadful accidents that occurred and the physical abuse that was carried out, that were treated with without any resort to medical services, the herbs and flowers appeared to treat and heal almost anything.
The author escaped because she demanded an education. She qualified with amazing results. One of her brothers managed this also, although, considering he was an eminent scientist, he would not allow his children to receive any vaccinations. So depressing. Other siblings seemed to live reasonable lives apart from one brother who turned into an absolute sadist. The father was considered eventually to have bipolar mental illness.
Many, many talking points.