For this untraditional book group there is no need to read a specific book. Instead, join us for a relaxed evening where the only thing you need to bring is enthusiasm for your favourite reads. Fiction, nonfiction, physical books, e books, library books, audio books- all are welcome, and there will be no judgement about our reading choices. An ideal opportunity to meet up with fellow book worms.
| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| When: | On Mondays 7:30 pm-9:00 pm Third Monday of the month |
| Venue: | The Talisman |
Our 5* recommends in August
The weather may be unpredictable but you can always depend on the Untraditional Book Group finding you something good to read. Here are August's recommendations:
The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell - a compulsive thriller. Two entangled families and a house with the darkest of secrets... Apparently, this challenged our reader throughout and the ending was a complete surprise!
Ask For Andrea - Noelle Ihli - a pulse-pounding read for fans of 'The Housemaid.' Three women have just one thing in common. They were all murdered by the same man. The only thing that could keep him from killing again? The women he murdered ...
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson - an unputdownable murder mystery that became a genre-defining phenomenon. A teenage sleuth has to deal with the fallout of a cold case she tries to solve as part of her homework assignment.
Beneath the Orange Blossom - Emma Cowell - A lost love. A devastating secret. And a summer that could change everything. A glorious escapist and emotional read set under the Grecian sun.
The Artist - Lucy Steeds - a gorgeously escapist novel which transports the reader to the heat of sun-soaked 1920s Provence. Focuses on an enigmatic painter, his secretive young niece and a young journalist who could turn their world upside down.
A Killing in November - Simon Mason - an Oxford-based, police whodunnit introducing an unlikely duo from different sides of the tracks. Full of dangerous turns, troubled pasts and unconventional detective work.
Innocent Guilt - Remi Kone - a debut crime thriller. A man is found battered to death in a park. A blood-covered woman walks into a London police station clutching a baseball bat. Victim or murderer? Can DI Leah Hutch discover the truth?
On We Go - Mike Gayle - a funny and moving story about love, loss and what it means to be a family; especially a family on holiday ...
Our 5* recommends in July
In a heatwave, reading is the only activity where you won't work up a sweat and be able to hold a cold drink at the same time! Here are our latest recommends for those hot, summer days:
The One Day You Were My Husband - Rosie Walsh - you'll never see the twists coming in this part thriller, part love story where a woman tries to discover what has happened to her husband who went missing from a Thai beach on their wedding night twelve years ago.
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - the classic animal story that has delighted generations for years. A children's book that can be read by adults or an adult's book that can be read by children? You decide!
The Star Society - Gabriella Saab - a thrilling, historical novel inspired by the life of Audrey Hepburn which follows two sisters from the shadows of the Dutch resistance to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
The Barbecue at No 9 - Jennie Godfrey - The latest book from the author of The List of Suspicious Things, this is a warm and engaging novel of family and community as the residents of Delmont Close reveal their secrets on the day of Live Aid.
Poor Girls - Claire Whitfield - described as 'a female Peaky Blinders', the criminal underbelly of 1920s London is exposed in this page-turning, 1920s adventure based on the all-female crime gang, The Forty Elephants.
Shrink Solves Murder - Philippa Perry - a cosy crime caper introducing psychotherapist Patricia Philipps who swaps her therapy room for sleuthing after one of her patients ends up dead.
Our author of the month is Nicci French (although apparently a husband and wife writing team) - ideal if you love twisty, turny psychological thrillers and authors such as Lisa Jewell.
Our 5* recommends in June
A good book is as essential to summer as sunscreen and ice cream, so here are the latest 5* recommends
Hide and Seek by Soren Sveistrup A chilling slice of Nordic Noir crime fiction. A creepy child's counting rhyme bridges two disturbing crimes three decades apart.
Before I Saw You by Emily Houghton Highly recommended by several of our members, this is a page-turning, heartwarming romance about two strangers thrown together by circumstance but who cannot see each other, only talk. Our reviewer said that this book actually made her "look forward to going to bed!"
The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen Ideal for fans of "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine," lost-letter detective William Woolf finds new meaning to his life when he discovers letters addressed simply to "My Great Love."
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page A charming romance finds Tilly learning to live again with the help of twelve posthumously selected titles from her late husband. You will need the tissues for this one.
The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay Set in the art world of 1970s London, this is a fast-paced read, full of glamour and tension, secrets and lies as one woman races against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece.
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch An emotional and quietly shocking novel about a terminally-ill father, his daughter and her mother's hidden past.
Secrets of the Bees by Jane Johnson Set in the beautiful Cornish countryside, this is an engrossing tale of family relationships, secrets and a past which isn't quite as it seems.
This Allotment by Sarah Rigby This non-fiction favourite brings together thirteen contemporary writers in celebration of the allotment - that unique space which means so much more than simply what is grown upon it.
All the Broken Places by John Boyd The sequel to the global bestselling "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas."