I know it's the third Friday in the month but let me tell you about the second Friday evening each month. You'll find me at the Library Reading Group and this one is unique amongst book groups and the reason I love it so much.
Nothing cliquey or exclusive about it at all, everyone welcome and that's a treat. I know of so many that are quite the opposite and they are not for me.
Here's the 1830's town library which probably had less trouble with a leaking roof than the new one.
Progress? But no complaints.Inside, this new building is spacious,comfortable and warm.
We worked hard as a town to get it and we love it and use it now we have it.With twelve libraries in Devon under threat of closure we never take it for granted.It's the hub of much community activity in the town.
We are a mixed group of readers from young mums to grandmothers, young dads to grandads and all stages in between. We all pitch up with a few books that we have read, some borrowed from the library, some of our own.We sit round a big table and report back accordingly.
We only have an hour all told so we've all learnt to be succint and to the point.This time I took along The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch, Room For a Single Lady by Clare Boylan, The Miniature Man by r.muir and was persuasive enough about all these for my copies to now to be out on loan (I thought the library was supposed to do the lending). Then I introduced a pile of Amelie Nothomb and despite entreaties all round, these I couldn't loan, I keep going back to them.But everyone has gone scurrying off to find some.
But as always there was a coincidence and having never heard of John McGahern myself until recently
(I know where have I been...Devon is the answer) someone else reviewed his autobiography Memoir and had loved it.Someone else was reading W.G.Sebald and I'm about to start on him too.There is a constant cross current of ideas and suggestions as you pick out and note the ones you want to pursue.
Then my favourite bit, like the waitress with the sweet trolley, the librarian wheels in her trolley of book surprises and we all pounce and choose a book or two.
It will often take several months for a book to have done the rounds but each month it will be talked about from a different reader's different perspective.Each time you see it anew, in a way that you may not have done had we all talked about the same book at the same time.
All this is done in an hour, no messing about, just fantastic, concentrated and very enthusiastic book talk.
Recent Comments