The Joy of Book Groups

 

Photo by Radek Grzybowski on Unsplash

I'm in a book group. 

It was set up by a new member of staff at work, and I've been in it since May. 

So far, we've read the wonderful A Gentlemen in Moscow by Amor Towles - the tale of Count Alexander Rostov, who is sentenced to house arrest in the Hotel Metropol. A rich fruitcake of a book, filled with secret passages, a one eyed cat called Field Marshal Kutuzov, oodles of literalty references and every chapter begining with the letter A! I'm still reading it, currently at pg. 114, of 462 pages. 

Next to be read was The Curious Charms of Arthur C Pepper by Phaedra Patrick - Arthur has just reached the first anniversary of the death of his wife when he discovers a bracelet, with many charms, that reveal this life that his wife had before they met. This one was more of a fondant fancy of a book, sweet and heart warming but not as special. The review in five words - which may become a regular feature - was 'Not as depressing as Harold Fry.

And now we are on to July's book choice, which is one that I recommended, one that I've spoken about here before, and that is - A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World by C.A.Fletcher. It's a dystopian book so not terrribly cheerful, but it's hard-hitting, it's memorable, and God spoke to me though it in a way that I wasn't expecting. I can't wait to see what other members of the group will think. 

I was hoping that the other members would vote for two of my other choices. One was Wilding by Isabella Tree. Not only because I've heard great things about this book, but mainly because my wife and I are going to stay in a treehouse at the Knepp estate as part of my 50th birthday celebrations, but it only got three votes. 

My other choice was - Cloud Cukoo Land  by Anthony Doerr, which was another book that I discovered in Slovakia, and one that's perfect for book groups - A love letter to books and reading - says one of the reviews, so that has to be a perfect choice, right? Nope, only three people voted for that one too. It was also a book on my TBR list, along with a book about Whales called Leviathan, which I spotted in Waterstones, and was so intrigued by the cover and the blurb at the back, but only one other person voted for, so it looks like that one won't be picked. 

But that is one of the joys of book groups isn't it? Reading books that you'd never even heard of; that weren't even on your radar. Like this one - Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. A book about a cafe where you can time travel, but, you can't leave the cafe, you must sit in a particuler seat and you have to be back before you coffee gets cold - what a hook! 

I used to be in a book group back in 2005, when I first lived in Sheffield. We read so many wonderful books. Small Island by Andrea Levy, Private Peaceful by Micheal Morpurgo, and Saturday by Ian McEwan to name just a few. 

All of these books being passports to other lands, opening the door to worlds that I never even knew esixted. That is the ultimate joy of book groups. 

I'd love to hear of your faviourite book, or memories of a book group you've been in. Let me know in the comments or on the Facebook page! 

Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional. He's currently honing his craft at flash fiction, and you can find him on Twitter here.