Through June and July eight reading groups and book clubs from Sheffield to London, Portaferry to Cambridge, Birmingham to Duloch will be reading, reviewing and blogging about the 2012 Fiction Uncovered titles. Now in its second year, Fiction Uncovered is the annual promotion that seeks out the best of British fiction. In their own words, here’s a bit about the groups and the Fiction Uncovered title they’ll be reading:
Herstmonceaux Book Group
We’re a book group of women (now in 50s/early 60s, living in and around Herstmonceux village, and meeting regularly for about 10 years. We’re currently 10 in number but we’re always happy to have a few more people to ensure a reasonable discussion, turnout and exchange of views. We now meet in each other’s homes on a monthly basis.
We read a wide variety of genres, fiction and non-fiction. We’re happy to read unknown authors and classics. Very catholic tastes! We do try to work with our local library by getting sets of books from them. We each take it in turns to choose a book to read, usually it is the responsibility of the host for that month. We have a New Year evening meal out, when we choose our own Book of the Year of the 10-12 we have read the previous year. We also invite previous members along who can no longer make the group.
The group will be reading When Nights were Cold by Susanna Jones
Herstmonceux Book Group are organising a Book Group Bash in a Barn on 11 July where Susanna Jones will be talking about her book – more details to follow!
Birmingham Mobile Libraries Reading Group
We’ve been running for 4 years, have 12 members and only meet once a year because of the problems of running a group from a Mobile Library. We do written reviews to a really high standard which are then passed around the group and we’ve read 12 different books so far.
The group will be reading My Former Heart by Cressida Connolly
Books in the Bath
The group’s been running since 2000. We’re all librarians (or retired librarians) working for Sheffield Libraries. We called ourselves Books in the Bath as we usually meet in a pub called the Bath. Unfortunately the pub has recently changed hands so we’re not sure we’ll be lucky enough to have our own room any longer. The group has about 8 regular members and a few occasional attendees. Most of us have been with the group since it started and we are all women – our one male member found us too frivolous! We usually read two books for each meeting – sometimes a set borrowed from the library or sometimes just a theme or author.
The group will be reading reading This is Life by Dan Rhodes
Waterbeach Library Reading Group
There are about 8 of us, and we’re affiliated to the local volunteer run library in our village We’ve been running for about a year and have read an eclectic choice of books
The group will be reading Lucky Bunny by Jill Dawson
Forest Hill Book Club
There are currently eight of us in the book club and we’ve been meeting once a month for about four years. Each month we take it in turns to put together a shortlist of books that we’d like to read, and at the meeting we all vote on which book to read next. We usually meet in a pub in Forest Hill, but occasionally venture either to a local restaurant or to a member of the club’s house. We’re an all female club, ranging in age from 30-something to 40-something, singles to mums, teachers to lawyers, Kindle lovers to haters; the only thing we have in common is that we all enjoy a good read – and a drink or two while we discuss it.
The group will be reading Crushed Mexican Spiders by Tibor Fischer
Ab-Fab Professors
We are a group of friends who are in our 40’s and have known each other on and off since High School. We read 1 book every month from the library’s Book Club selection which we then discuss and mark out of 10. We have a spreadsheet to keep an eye on our past marks which we find very usefull for comparisons. Since starting the group nearly 2 years ago we have found that we are all reading more books each month and choosing from different genres recommended by other members. We all tend to bring a couple of books along to the meeting that we have read or have picked up in a charity shop to see if others want to try them. Most of us are now reading 3 or 4 books a month! We take it in turns holding the meetings in our own homes, which have also now turned into a bit of a culinary festival, all competing to produce new and very yummy recipes! We all agree that Book Club night is a much looked forward to monthly meeting, and times and dates often have to be changed to fit in with holidays and family commitments as no-one wants to miss out!
The group will be reading Two Cows and a Van Full of Smoke by Peter Benson
Duloch Wednesday Reading Group
Our reading group has been going since 2007, it has 11 members and we meet once a month at Duloch Library. We read a wide range of books from the classics like Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier or The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monserrat to newer fiction such as The Help by Kathryn Stockett. We’re all women in the group at the moment of mixed ages with different reading preferences and do often have different views on the books. We like to score each book we read out of ten and have a score chart to show off what we have read.
The group will be reading Hit and Run by Doug Johnstone
Portaferry Reading Group
With enthusiastic support from the local library, Portaferry Reading Group was born four years ago, attracting initially 9 members. The reading group has gone from strength to strength and we now have 22 members, with usually between 10 and 12 people attending each session. Most of us are women, although we have one gentleman member who is the husband of one of the founder members.
We all suggest books to read and also gather book ideas from the internet reading groups and other online fora. The library service has been very supportive both in ordering books for us, which keeps costs for individual members low, and in allowing us to use the library for our meetings, never mind the tea, coffee and great biscuits! All members are asked to give a score out of 10 for their enjoyment of the books read which allows us to have a fun comparison of which books were rated the best. Our long standing best read is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird which scored an average of 9.6. Over the past six months we have started to suggest two different books each month and members can choose whether they read both or just one.
The group will be reading The Light of Amsterdam by David Park
Get involved
Read more about the Fiction Uncovered authors and their books.
Listen to Fiction Uncovered 87.9 FM – running from 20th to 23rd June.
Discover Fiction Uncovered on the Book Barge this Summer.
Join Fiction Uncovered on Facebook.
Follow Fiction Uncovered on Twitter.
