Bookgroup of the Month
Every month we feature a different bookgroup. We'd like to hear from other bookgroups. Please email us at info@bookgroup.info and tell us
about your bookgroup. Please fill in the questionnaire. If we choose it we'll send you a book voucher for £10.
The St Margarets Book Club, Twickenham
Who are you?
We are a group of friends from St Margarets which is sandwiched between Richmond and Twickenham. All of us work in a variety of jobs from teaching to psychology, IT to film extra work, office admin to tour operating.
How did you get started?
Four of us met for lunch and decided to start a Book Club so we each invited one friend and we've been together ever since. We have been approached by women wanting to join but we feel that any shift in the dynamics of our group would spoilt the fantastic rapport we have built up over the years.
How long have you been going?
10 years! It was our 10th anniversary this year so we celebrated by taking a beautiful house in Dorset and spent some time doing the Hardy trail, walking, shopping in Dorchester and enjoying a few delicious meals out with a few cheeky glasses of wine.
Where and how often do you meet?
We meet about once a month and take it in turns to host the evening. It's not too arduous as it only means providing chilled wine and nibbles and the host does get the final say on the next book to be read.
What sort of books do you read?
A variety of new titles and classics. We tend to favour fiction but have read a few non fiction titles too as we all believe that part of the reason to belong to a Book Club is to experience books that otherwise one would never contemplate reading. At the moment we are reading a book from each decade to celebrate our 10th anniversary. So far The Good Companions by J B Priestly has been my favourite but Frenchman's Creeque by Daphne du Maurier was a huge disappointment.
Which books have provoked the best discussion?
We often have very differing views and it can get quite heated! Justine by Lawrence Durrell was loathed by 7 of the group but adored by the other 3. 9 of us struggled with Peter Carey's The True History of the Kelly Gang but 1 of our number thought it was fabulous. The great thing is that you can never predict entirely who will like which book.
What was your worst read?
Personally I loathed the Wasp Factory by Iain Banks but probably the least popular with our Book Group was either The Shack by William P Young or a self published title by a friend of one of our group which was dreadful but I couldn't possibly name it!
Anything else?
Reading books from each decade starting at 1900 and then 1910 etc has been extraordinarily interesting as one can see developments in style and approach. We have just arrived at the 1950s and the book we are reading is Hawaii by James Michener. Not sure it's my cup of tea but isn't that what Book Clubs are all about!
