Activity Group:

Book Worms

Activity

For people who love reading and discussing interesting books.

Where and when

Baptist Church, Second Tuesday 2.30pm

Contact details

Louise Elsome 07740 572956


News

Bookworms – January 2025

We began 2025 by reading ‘Quartet in Autumn’ by Barbara Pym, an author who had six novels published from 1950 to 1961, then resumed with this title in 1977. The Quartet consists of four colleagues, Edwin, Norman, Letty and Marcia, all aged around 60, who work in the same office in 1970s London. They don’t … Read more


Bookworms – December 2024

Our final book of 2024 was ‘Strange Sally Diamond’ by Liz Nugent, winner of Crime Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2023. Despite the accolade, we all agreed that it wasn’t typical of the crime genre, but more of a psychological thriller covering the dark themes of coercive control, autism and … Read more


Bookworms – November 2024

The book selected for November, ‘Prophet Song’ by Paul Lynch, won The Booker Prize in 2023 which is not always a recommendation, as we’ve previously discovered. However, it is a thought-provoking novel which sparked one of our lengthiest discussions, covering a wide variety of topical issues. It is a dystopian novel set in contemporary Dublin at … Read more


Bookworms – October 2024

In general, the group tends to read contemporary novels, but occasionally we dip into the past and with our October choice, ‘Mapp and Lucia’ by E F Benson, we visited the fictional town of Tilling, closely modelled on the Sussex town of Rye, in 1930.The two eponymous characters are brought together when Lucia hires Mapp’s house, … Read more


Bookworms – September 2024

In September, the group read ‘Sing, Wild Bird, Sing’ by Jacqueline O’Mahony which is set in 1849 on the west coast of Ireland. The country is ravaged by the Potato Famine and the main character, Honora O’Donoghue, has to march miles in freezing conditions, along with her fellow villagers, in the hope their landlords will give them … Read more


Bookworms – August 2024

Our August book choice, ‘The Dry’ by Jane Harper, transported us to the small country town of Kiewarra in Australia during a two year drought. Tensions are already high in the community due to the unrelenting heat and dust and the impact this is having on people’s livelihoods, when three members of the Hadler family are found brutally murdered. … Read more


Bookworms – July 2024

The group stepped back in time for our double bill in July – ‘The Harpole Report’ and ‘A Month in the Country’ – both books by J. L. Carr, an author with a local connection. Originally from Yorkshire, he later became a Headteacher in Kettering, retiring in 1968 to spend the rest of his life in Northamptonshire where he continued to … Read more


Bookworms – June 2024

The group continues to enjoy a wide range of genres from different settings and times in history, often leading to discussions beyond the confines of the novel. ‘The Fair Botanists’ by Sara Sheridan was our choice for June, and it transported us to Edinburgh in 1882, just as the city’s Botanic Garden was preparing to move to its … Read more


Bookworms – May 2024

Our May book choice, ‘The Queen of Dirt Island’ by Donal Ryan, is set in rural Ireland in the early 1980s when people’s opportunities to live and work beyond their immediate community were few and far between.It’s in Nenagh, County Tipperary, where three, and later four, generations of the Aylward women live. Despite suffering tragic losses and being at … Read more


Bookworms April 2024

Despite a lower than normal turnout, our April book choice, ‘Horse’ by Geraldine Brooks, provoked a long and lively discussion due to the many themes woven into the story, many of which are real historical events.The book is mainly set in two time zones, 1850s Kentucky and Washington DC in 2019, and the author links both eras seamlessly by … Read more