Is there a good book club in the area?

N4_bandit · January 2010

Does anyone know of a good book club in the area?

I'm busting for a page turner........

sophie · January 2010

if there is one then i'd like to join too. if not, we should start one.

Arkady · January 2010

I think there's one at Stroud Green library.

sophie · January 2010

ta i'll check it out.. i need it to be in the evenings though. edit: found some info [here](http://www.readinggroups.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/pls/hotufi2/hc_reading_agency_search.page_pls_group_details?x=730719180601&y=0&s=4010&group_id=298&group_type=&reqpostcode=nw4&page=2&firsta=0&last=9&timestamp=15-JAN-09 03.03.33.467488000 +00:00). it is in the evening, 7-9.30. but it's on a tuesday. WHY IS EVERYTHING ON A TUESDAY?? [this website](http://www.readinggroups.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/pls/hotufi2/hc_reading_agency_search.page_pls_all_home?x=730719180601&y=0&timestamp=13-JAN-10 14.37.08.373381000 +00:00) looks pretty good to start searching on.

Donna · January 2010

i'd quite like to go to one too. It would be more fun to do one in people's houses, I think.

sophie · January 2010

i thought i'd already posted this but it isn't here. hope it wasn't deleted for being too boring or something. my original post said: that website that i said looked good is very out of date i think. looks from the [haringey libraries website](http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/latest_news/january_events_organised_by_haringey_libraries.htm) like the stroud green library reading group actually meet on a thursday. their next meeting is tomorrow (a thousand splendid suns). on that haringey page there are loads of other reading groups, evening and daytime ones, at all the different haringey libraries (muswell hill, marcus garvey, hornsey, alexandra park, highgate, wood green).

sophie · January 2010

@Donna i was actually looking for a housey one too.

Donna · January 2010

Cool, well we should do it! Anyone else up for a book club at a home? We could rotate it each month. My favourite day would be Monday.

Marquis · January 2010

Would anybody be interested in forming a (non-devotional) Quran reading group? It's the one book that I just can't seem to push myself to read by myself, and I feel it could be a very useful bit of world-knowledge.

I don't expect a significantly different reading experience from the Bible - some beauty, some atrocities, some contradictions, some mysticism, clear need for a version with good footnotes - but I think it might help to know what it's all about. Would certainly be a challenge.

andy · January 2010

we don't delete posts if they're boring...

....we simply don't have the time.

Marquis · January 2010

I don't understand - I didn't mean to bore anyone, sorry if I did. Just thought about this on my way home from work. Next time I'll write something about how bad bad pizza is, I promise.

andy · January 2010

Not you Marquis. A Qu'ran reading book club with a former monk could be many things, but unlikely to be boring. I was referring to Sophie above writing: *"i thought i'd already posted this but it isn't here. hope it wasn't deleted for being too boring or something."*

Liz · January 2010

I would be up for a book club too, and Monday's sound alright to me.

krappyrubsnif · January 2010

I followed the BBC Radio 4 Book Club for a couple of years but I gave up because they seemed to have an never ending agenda of emotional family sagas written by female novelists (Kate Atkinson, that type of stuff ad nauseam). There are only so many I can take.

I think the question to ask is - who chooses the books?

Liz · January 2010

We could take turns - might help with the variety element.

andy · January 2010

I can't imagine anyone else wants to read the stuff I read. David could have first pick of book. He would pick something like "scaling enterprise frameworks in PHP" You could all sit around and hope he doesn't ruin the end for you.

David · January 2010

I read your books, Andy.

sophie · January 2010

mondays are fine for me too. it would be lovely to go to different people's houses and every now and then we could go to a pub. the whole point of it for me would be to read things that i wouldn't usually read, so i'm definitely up for taking turns to pick books. i'd hope for a mix of old/new, fiction/non-fiction, novels/short stories/poetry(?), bestsellers/classics, and different genres including all the things that other people don't think anyone else would want to read. i have a horrible habit of being prejudiced and dismissive of books that i think will be trashy or that are advertised on the tube. i need someone to kick me up the bum for that. i'm also aware that i don't get the most from the books i read - i read loads but tend to just get the story from it where other people talk about subtexts & themes which i never even noticed. so i would like to go to a book group to learn from other people how to appreciate books. and also how to properly slag them off. because when i don't like a book i can never really explain why. @marquis, i would love to read the qu'ran one day but i think i would need to do a lot of learning-to-read practice first. i just finished the satanic verses and found it incredibly tiring and difficult. i'm sure i would have enjoyed it a lot more if i had more knowledge of religious texts of all kinds. it sounds like a really good idea but i don't know if i could give it enough of my time at the moment (such a poor excuse).

miss annie · January 2010

I'd like to join too and Mondays would be good.

Like Sophie I read a lot, and have mountains of books as a result of working in bookshops as a young'un. I quite often feel that there's more to be gleaned from some books and it would be great to hear others readers views and opinions.

I'd be interested in reading a good mixture of things too. There are lots of online guides to running a successful book club so it should be straightforward to get going.

kerry · January 2010

It would be great to have a local book club and Mondays work for me also. Should we pick a Monday in February (1? 8?) and a location to get together? Just having a discussion about how it would work might be enough for the first time, unless someone wanted to suggest an initial book as well.

Come to think of it, I never read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell but it recently appeared in the Guardian best books of the decade list (for those of us who go in for that sort of thing). It sounds like the kind of book that lends itself to a good discussion. I suppose people may have read it already tho so a newer option may be best. A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif also comes recommended by a friend.

Donna · January 2010

Awesome. I'm definitely up for it. Feb 1st or 8th works for me. I quite like the sound of this one: The Elegance of the Hedgehog <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/14/fiction3>; Or perhaps we should pick a short one? <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/books_group/article2632680.ece>; Anyone want to read any of these? Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge A Month in the Country by J. L Carr The God Boy by Ian Cross The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle (three quick reads in one) The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

Charlo · January 2010

Hi, I'd really like to join too. I've been thinking about joining or starting a book group for a while! Mondays are best for me too - 8th Feb would be my preference. It sounds like a good idea to read one of the short ones for the first meeting - any of them would be interesting - have read a couple but wouldn't mind rereading them.

taff bach · January 2010

Oh, go on then. Monday works. I just read the Kite Runner and it got to me.

krappyrubsnif · January 2010

@taff bach - judging by the expressions of interest it looks like an almost all-female book club to me. I think you might have trouble getting Bravo Two Zero or The Dangerous Book for Boys on the list.

miss annie · January 2010

Well, if a few chaps express an interest and join in it will ensure that we get a good range of books.
I certainly don't want to have to read endless books with flowing gold writing or pictures of Scottish Widow types on the cover.

Billy Bookcase · January 2010

Big fan of Mulk Raj Anand here.

sophie · January 2010

any of those sound fab. out of that list i've only read bonjour tristesse & i think it'd be best read in the summer. as long as they are all easily available in local libraries i think they should be alright. i can't do the 8th but any other monday is ok for me. if the 8th is ok for everyone else, of course i'll just join in on the next one. i read cloud atlas a few years ago and it was good but i'd definitely like to read it again. i'll read anything. i just started richard feynmann's 'six easy pieces' and will definitely need something to look forward to for after i finish. where's n4_bandit got to? it was his/her idea in the first place.. hope mondays are ok for him/her.

Marquis · January 2010

A friend's reading group chooses a year and then spends the following months reading its interesting releases. I think at the moment they're doing 1948.

kerry · January 2010

OK shall we say Mon Feb 8? Might be best to meet in a pub first time unless someone happy to host various unknown peeps in their home. We could stick to something short as suggested and perhaps to make it easier chose from just the first half of the list --

Untouchable
Awfully big adventure
Month in the country
The good boy
Barrytown trilogy

Maybe all who are interested can post their top two picks from this list and we'll see if one wins out?

kerry · January 2010

Oh sorry just saw sophie's post. i could equally do 15th feb.

Charlo · January 2010

My choices would be Untouchable and A Month in the Country. I could do 15th Feb too.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Top Posters

Is there a good book club in the area?

Comments