READING GROUP
The Exeter Forum Book Club started about six years ago and has been running very successfully ever since. There are 12 members and each member selects a book of their choice and acts as host/hostess in his/her own home for a month chosen by them. The choice of books reflects the diversity of members and their different interests. Often members encounter books that they would not normally have considered reading, yet they are found to be enjoyable. The host/hostess usually begins the meeting by giving some background information on the author and the book. There then follows a lively (and often noisy!) discussion of the book, with opinions expressed and sometimes personal experiences related. There are agreements and disagreements which all add interest to the discussion. The meeting concludes with refreshments. More than 40 books have been read to date, and within the pages of some of the more recent choices members have travelled the world. For example, they have been to New York to the home of a recluse during the 1920's. They have been to the American deep south with 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker and to bleak Stornoway with 'The Black House' by Peter May. In Vienna they walked the corridors of the homes of the fabulously wealthy and travelled to Japan in search of netsuki in 'The Hare with the Amber Eyes' by Edmund de Waal. They have been to France, to Denmark in 'Mercy' by Jussi Adler-Olsen, to the Czech Republic in 'The Glass House' by Simon Mawer and to war torn Sarajevo in 'The Violinist of Sarajevo' by Steven Galloway. They have experienced the court of Henry VIII and followed the life of his Chancellor, Thomas Cromwell in 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel. They have also experienced the bewildering and confusing world of a teenager with Asperger's syndrome in 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon, and visited ancient Masada in the Judean desert and struggled to survive against all odds with the 'Dovekeepers' by Alice Hoffman. Through the books many different places have been experienced and many interesting characters have been encountered. Some books have been easy to read, some more difficult, but there is no doubt that reading a book and then discussing it together at the Forum Book Club is a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. With grateful thanks to Valerie Macaulay on whose newsletter article the foregoing is based. 
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Update - March 2016
The year has started with a French theme: our January choice was Clochemerle, by Gabriel Chevallier, a humorous story of intrigue in a French village; our February choice, Five Quarters of the Orange, deals with a traumatic wartime childhood in France, and its consequences when, as an adult, Framboise decides to open a small restaurant in the village where she grew up, using the recipes found in the notebook inherited from her mother. While both books were enjoyable and provoked a good deal of conversation, it was generally agreed that Five Quarters of the Orange had resulted in an unusually long discussion, and that the descriptions of the delicious-sounding recipes added to the pleasure of the book.
Many thanks to Sheila Westcott on whose newsletter article this piece is based
The year has started with a French theme: our January choice was Clochemerle, by Gabriel Chevallier, a humorous story of intrigue in a French village; our February choice, Five Quarters of the Orange, deals with a traumatic wartime childhood in France, and its consequences when, as an adult, Framboise decides to open a small restaurant in the village where she grew up, using the recipes found in the notebook inherited from her mother. While both books were enjoyable and provoked a good deal of conversation, it was generally agreed that Five Quarters of the Orange had resulted in an unusually long discussion, and that the descriptions of the delicious-sounding recipes added to the pleasure of the book.
Many thanks to Sheila Westcott on whose newsletter article this piece is based
Update - June 2016
The book for March, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, tells the story of a Baptist missionary who, accompanied by his wife and four daughters, travels to the Congo in 1959. The story is told in a series of monologues – unusual, but it worked very well. Our April choice was Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh; a well-known novel which has also been the subject of a TV series and a film. In May, we read Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. It concerns an elderly woman, descending into dementia, who is convinced her friend Elizabeth is missing, and who attempts to find her. There were many amusing moments but also many descriptions of the distress caused by this condition.
Future titles are The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene; The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier, and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
Many thanks to Sheila Westcott on whose newsletter article this piece is based
Update - December 2016
We have once again almost reached the end of the Book Club year. December's choice, and our last book for 2016, is "Completion' by Tim Webster.
The book choices have been very interesting and diverse, provoking much discussion within the group.
Attendance has been very good at each meeting. It has been enlightening to hear each member's opinions on various topics and issues raised within the books. We have read book on religion, comedy, the problems of age-related illness, survival against all odds, fantasy, thrillers, prejudice in the southern states of America, farming in the Lake District and two classics.
We have lost and gained members this year through illness and other circumstances. Currently, we have a place for one new member.
Our book choice for the next three months : -
January 2017 Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
February The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
March The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Many thanks to Valerie Macaulay on whose newsletter article the foregoing is based.
We have once again almost reached the end of the Book Club year. December's choice, and our last book for 2016, is "Completion' by Tim Webster.
The book choices have been very interesting and diverse, provoking much discussion within the group.
Attendance has been very good at each meeting. It has been enlightening to hear each member's opinions on various topics and issues raised within the books. We have read book on religion, comedy, the problems of age-related illness, survival against all odds, fantasy, thrillers, prejudice in the southern states of America, farming in the Lake District and two classics.
We have lost and gained members this year through illness and other circumstances. Currently, we have a place for one new member.
Our book choice for the next three months : -
January 2017 Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
February The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
March The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Many thanks to Valerie Macaulay on whose newsletter article the foregoing is based.
Update - Spring 2017
We have enjoyed another three months of interesting reading and stimulating discussion. Discussion covers not just the books themselves but also other related ideas and experiences.
Our book choices for the next three months are:
April The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey
May Penguins Stopped Play, by Harry Thompson
June Birds Without Wings, by Louis de Bernieres
We have enjoyed another three months of interesting reading and stimulating discussion. Discussion covers not just the books themselves but also other related ideas and experiences.
Our book choices for the next three months are:
April The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey
May Penguins Stopped Play, by Harry Thompson
June Birds Without Wings, by Louis de Bernieres
