| Status: | Active, full but can join waiting list |
| Coordinator: | |
| When: | Monthly on Monday mornings 10:00 First Monday of the month |
| Venue: | Shrublands Community Centre, |
The Literature and Poetry group are listed as two separate groups but work very closely together as all our members belong to both groups!
Books are chosen for the year in July, employing a democratic method , which has over the years produced a satisfying programme of stimulating books covering a variety of genres. The person who originally suggested the book often starts the discussion. At the end members usually score the book out of 10.
Unfortunately we are full at the moment but please look out for a notice on the Members page if we get any vacancies.
2026 Reading List
| Date | Book | Score | Comment |
| January | Sons and Lovers - D H Lawrence | 9 | |
| February | Our Uninvited Guests - Julie Summers | 6+ | Take over, during WW11 of Stately Homes. Some chapters are very interesting, such as maternity hospital, schools,.banking. Others had too much detail. Excellent research. |
| March | Burmese Days - George Orwell | 9.5 | Orwell's 1st book but it was not available in the UK until after others. Well written and a good story. Orwell had lived in Burma |
| April | All Human Wisdom - Pierre Lemaitre | 7 | Although based on historical fact, some parts seemed unbelievable. Need editing |
| May | The Mitford Girls - Mary Lovell | 7.75 | A massive work with a lot of research. Really showed divide between aristocrats and general population. Also most British people did not know what was really happening under Hitler in the run up to WW2 |
| June | The Lost Wife - Susanna Moore | ||
| July | Conclave - Robert Harris | ||
| August | Mermaid Singing - Rosella Postorino | ||
| September | Precipice - Robert Harris | ||
| October | Broken Threads - Mishal Husain | ||
| November | The Women and Hitler's Tqble - Rosella Postornio | ||
| December | The Way I found Her - Rose Tremain |
Best reads from 2025
The Man who pays the Rent by Judi Dench
A homage to Shakespeare seen through decades of performing his plays and includes many backstage insights in Judi's career
Johnson's Life of London by Boris Johnson
For centuries, London has been amongst the greatest cities of the world. But a city is nothing without its people. This new history of London, told through a relay-race of great Londoners, shows that the ingenuity, diversity, creativity and enterprise of London are second to none.
The Great Swindle - Pierre Lemaitre
Very good translation from French. Set at the end of WW1. Two swindles about war graves and memorials- one was based on fact
Best reads from 2024
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
In a small East Anglian town, Florence Green decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop. Hardborough becomes a battleground. Florence has tried to change the way things have always been done, and as a result, she has to take on not only the people who have made themselves important, but natural and even supernatural forces too. Her fate will strike a chord with anyone who knows that life has treated them with less than justice.
Our Verdict - Top mark since we started scoring
Small Things like These by Claire Reagan
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.
Our Verdict - Led to lots of discussion on 'The Church'. Beautifully written
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner a 64-year-old art historian living life on her own terms. She has come to salvage paintings from the wreckage of war and relive memories of her youth when her heart was stolen by an Italian maid in a particular room with a view. Ulysses’ chance encounter with Evelyn will transform his life – and all those who love him back home in London – forever.
Our Verdict - Overall we loved the characters and descriptions but the inconsistent history of Florence led two people to score the book quite low
Best reads from 2023
The Churchill Factor by Boris Johnson
An essential read for anyone wanting to understand Winston Churchill. Johnson's painstaking research results in a colourful picture of one of Great Britain's great icons. Voted Book of the Year 2023 by the group
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Towles gives us what all great road novels give us: the panoramic sweep of the prairies and hills, adventures that seem to spring from the landscape itself, the rhythm of the road. The novel is told through multiple perspectives and each is as engaging and fully realised as the next. Our verdict - a long book but with a wonderful description of the characters, scoring 8.5
Hemingway's Adventures by Michael Palin
One hundred years after the birth of Ernest Hemingway, Michael Palin follows in his footsteps across Europe, Asia and Africa. From the forests of North Michigan to the bars of Cuba, Palin unravels some of the myths of Ernest Hemingway's life. Our verdict - 8.5 out of 10