The group enjoys a wide range of genres with titles chosen by members of the group.

This group is currently full but Reading Group 4 still has space for new members.

Our next meeting is on 29th June to discuss “The Blue Afternoon” by William Boyd.

Our May meeting to discuss Denise Mina’s “Garnet Hill”, a crime story much enjoyed… a page turner, set in Glasgow. As one member commented “she deals with social issues and her characters tend to be underprivileged feisty folk.” The meeting was especially enjoyable as we were hosted by Sue on Kerrera in great style.

We met in March to discuss “Precipice” by Robert Harris. Most of us found the story about the lead up to the first world war fascinating, particularly because it included some of the actual content of the letters Herbert Asquith sent to his ‘girl friend’, Venetia Stanley.

The December book was “Queen Camilla” by Sue Townsend.

In October we read ‘The Glass Maker’ by Tracy Chevalier. It was, on the whole, enjoyed. The historical content was appreciated by some, though a novel that relies a lot on researched history can be criticised, maybe, for reduced creativity. In November we shall be reading ‘Raising Hare’ by Chloe Dalton.

Our September book was Penguin Lessons by Tom Mitchell. but hopefully it will have positive reviews from the group.
We appear to be in a phase of animal stories as Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton is coming up in November.

In August we met to discuss Horse by Geraldine Brooks. It was a book that everyone enjoyed and I can thoroughly recommend it whether or not you are into horses.

We met in June to discuss Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan

Our Reading Group was treated to a visit to Kerrera at the invitation of Sue, one of our members. We met in the Waypoint restaurant (on the day they’re closed) and discussed Lost for Words by Derec Longden - we're reflecting on the realities of ageing!

Our book for April was “Prophet Song” by Paul Lynch. A dystopian novel, with a disturbing parallel to events in various countries around the world. Democracy is fragile and its distruction can seem impossible but if the early warning signs are ignored, not impossible at all. We mostly found it a compelling read, though terrifying.

The book for March was “The Red Dust Road” by Jackie Kay.
In February, we read “One Italian Summer” by Rebecca Serle.
At our January meeting we discussed "Call for the Dead" by John Le Carré

Our book for December was written for children and is a lovely story to read aloud to children OR adults. It is “The Christmas Card” by Paul Theroux.
Our November book was The Sun Over the Mountains by Suzie Fletcher.
In October we read Balshazzar’s Daughter by Barbara Nadel.
Reading Group One met in Sept to discuss Alice Munro’s book of short stories, Dear Life.

At the August meeting we discussed The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. Two members had positive things to say about the story and found the writer had considerable insights into his characters’ feelings. The rest of the group had found it a difficult read and had little to say in its favour! There was some discussion about the absence of punctuation in a section of the book and we mostly came down on the side of “punctuation is there to aid understanding”.

The July book was The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyers.
The June book was The Past is Myself by Christabel Bielenburg.
At the May meeting we discussed Who Built Scotland with contributions by a number of Scottish writers.

Book Group 1 met to discuss The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson. It had mixed reviews from the group, some quite negative and some quite positive (a skilful blend of religion, the supernatural and mental illness.)

Contact Jennifer for more information.