Why you should join a book group?

I've been a member of a bookclub for as long as I can remember.


They are a massive part of my life, so I really hope to keep the Ponders End Bookclub going from strength to strength and growing.

We'd love it if you could join us if you love reading new books and meeting new people and having a relaxing fun time. There are many reasons to join a bookclub. For instance "The Huffington Post" came up with Five reasons to join a bookclub



1. You meet interesting people
2. You read things you wouldn't normally read
3. Some books need to be discussed
4. You eat great food
5. It's fun to chat I agree with all these reasons and many more.


If these reasons sound like our book club is something you would enjoy being part of then please come and join us. It is free to join apart from your time (and the cost of reading the chosen book - and where possible I get hold of a library book or second hand book so it shouldn't break the bank to join us).

And don't forget that book club also means wine o'clock!

Until December 2016 we are reading the following books

Thursday 20 October - "Everland" by Rebecca Hunt
Thursday 17 November - "Our Kind of Traitor" by John Le Carre
Thursday 15 December - "Weirdo" by Cathi Unsworth

We meet at 7.45pm at the Ponders End Working Mens Club on South Street, Ponders End.

Look forward to you joining us soon....

Book club choices - March to August 2016 (including the selected CityRead London 2016 choice)

 

Our latest reading choices
 

Listed below are the books (and meeting dates) that we will be reading and discussing between March and July 2016:

 
Thursday 15 March - "The Man Who Couldn't Stop" by David Adam
Thursday 21 April - "Lost Girl" by Adam Nevill
Thursday 19 May - "Galina Petrovna's three-legged dog story" by Andrea Bennett

Thursday 16 June - "Ten Days" by Gillian Slovo (CITYREAD LONDON 2016)

Thursday 21 July - "If I Close My Eyes Now" by Edney Silvestre

Thursday 18 August - "A Man Called Ove" by Frederik Bachman

We will be transported to a diverse range of places and settings such as Brazil and London. We'll be reading books ranging from comedy to thriller to non-fiction to books in translation and books by first time authors (Bennett and Bachman). An eclectic selection just like our brilliant little group!

More about CityRead London 2016 - "Ten Days"

Our choices include the latest CityRead London 2016 selection - "Ten Days" by Gillian Slovo which we have chosen to read in June.

CityRead London is a month long annual festival in April 2016 of reading when everyone across London is invited to read and discuss the same book. The chosen title this year is Ten Days by Gillian Slovo, a new novel which was published on 3 March 2016 by Canongate. We will be discussing the book on Thursday 16 June 2016 at 7.30pm.

Gillian Slovo is an Orange Prize shortlisted author. Her latest book is a political thriller set in London which is told from three perspectives - a newly appointed Police Chief, the Home Secretary and Cathy Mason, a resident on an estate due to be demolished. The themes are portest and rebellion and what happens when politics, policing and reality collide in London.

CityRead London comprises a month long programme of events across all London boroughs including in Enfield.

Keep up to date with CityRead events happening in April via https://www.facebook.com/#!/cityreadlondon/?fref=ts and http://www.cityread.london/

Join us?

If you are inspired to come and join us you are more than welcome. Please get in touch .

Happy reading!

 

 

 

 

Make time for books this New Year 2016 - Ponders End Book Club choices - January to March 2016

A very bookish New Year 2016 to you all.

Why don't you make one of your New Years Resolutions to join a local book group?

Indeed this resolution no 6 on Sadie L Trombetta's (@lady_strombetta) list of 11 Reading New Years Resolutions for 2016.)

Or why not sign up to a reading challenge such as the New Year Resolution Reading Challenge or the 2016 Reading Challenge. I have just signed up to the Good Reads Reading Challenge to read 30 books in 2016 which will include all of the Ponders End Book Club reads and also some other books in the 2016 Reading Challenge.

Anyway, the Ponders End Book Club has some great reading choices coming up over the next few months.

Our programme of future reads looks like this up until March 2016:

Thursday 21 January - "An Untamed State" by Roxane Gay
Thursday 18 February - "Lucky You" by Carl Hiaasen
Thursday 17 March - "The Man Who Couldn't Stop" by David Adam

We meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7.45pm at the Ponders End Working Mens Social Club in South Street, Edmonton, EN3 4LB - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/ponders+end+working+mens+social+club/@51.64572,-0.043516,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x4e90db307e249852?hl=en

So why not turn your love for reading into a social activity and make 2016 a year of good company, drink, food and some serious and not so serious book talk. I really hope you can join us in 2016!

PS...Don't forget to support your local library more in 2016 and borrow books from Enfield Libraries (and no I am not paid to say that - I just love libraries!)

 

 

Books chosen for Summer to Winter 2015

The group has collectively chosen the next set of books to read and discuss at our lovely local bookgroup.

We will be reading:

Thursday 23 July
"H is for Hawk" by Helen MacDonald

Thursday 20 August
"Wonder" by R J Palacio

Thursday 17 September
"The Children's Act" by Ian McEwan

Thursday 15 October
"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn

Thursday 19 November
"The Green Road" by Anne Enright

Thursday 17 December
"The Children's Book" by A S Byatt

   

 

How we choose what we read?  

We try to be as democratic as possible when choosing the next set of books we might like to read and everyone has a chance to suggest books. A full list of our previous choices and what we thought of them (whether good, bad or indifferent) is provided on our page previous bookclub reads.
Obviously these are only our views and we often disagree which makes for an interesting discussion as no view is wrong. It is fascinating to hear a different perspective in these cases.

New members welcome
We'd love for you to join us in discussing these books and would welcome new members. Please contact edozzy@hotmail.co.uk if you want to join us at one of our next meetings.

Book of the Month - The Forgiven - February 2015

The Book 

This is the story of David Henniger, a Harley Street doctor and his wife Jo, who have travelled to Morocco to attend a Gatsbyesque style party hosted by a gay couple, Richard and Dally. On the way to the party, David, who is drunk, runs over a young Moroccan man who is possibly attempting a hijacking but is to all intents selling fossils. The exuberant party is overshadowed by these events and David is forced to face up to his actions by travelling to the desert with the grieving father, in this awkward tale about a clash of cultures and examining the issues of fairness, justice and pleasure.

Will this book prove compelling or clichéd, tense and gripping or a slow burner?

The Author

Lawrence Osborne is a British journalist and writer who is now based in Bangkok. His other books include 'Bangkok Days' and 'The Wet and the Dry' and wrote his first novel in 1989 but then made a career from travel writing. He has been described as an 'itinerant' and says he has a strong nomadic tendency and is attracted by writing about the mix and clash of Eastern and Western cultures.

More Information 

Read more about Lawrence Osborne's other work on his website - http://www.lawrenceosborne.net/

Book of the Month - The Mistletoe Bride - January 2015

The Book

A collection of short stories inspired by haunting English and French folk tales and also rooted in mythology and the landscapes of Sussex, Brittany and Languedoc. The collection is book ended by two differing versions of the myth of 'The Mistletoe Bride' - see more about the legend of the mistletoe bough.

Will this prove to a timeless treasure and a suitably spooky storybook for the winter season?

The Author 

Kate Mosse was born in Chichester and educated at Oxford University. She initially worked in publishing before becoming a full time writer in 1992 and to set up the Women's Prize for Fiction (previously the Orange Prize). She has since written a trilogy of timeslip novels set in the Languedoc region of France (inspired by a home she bought in the area in Carcassonne).

Mosse has also written non-fiction and a play, Syrinx (published in the "The Mistletoe Bride" collection) and is an executive director the Chichester Festival Theatre. She was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2013.

Her books have sold millions of copies in over 40 countries worldwide.

More Information

Kate Mosse's website is http://www.katemosse.co.uk and you can follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/katemosse

Book of the Month - A Pleasure and A Calling - December 2014

The Book 

This is billed as a darkly comic social satire which centres around the life of Mr Heming.

To all intents and purposes, Mr Heming is a mild mannered, polite, discreet estate agent. But underneath the surface he has a dark side and keeps the keys to all the properties he has ever dealt with.

Will the novel keep true to its premise and keep us on the edge of our seats in suspense as we delve deeper his world in small town England?

The Author

Phil Hogan was born in Yorkshire and now lives in Hertfordshire. He is married with four children and has been a journalist and columnist on The Observer for over 20 years. He is also the author of three previous novels and a book of collected columns about family life. 

More Information 

Phil Hogan tweets at: https://twitter.com/philhogan555. Read an interview with the author at: http://simonduringer.com/portfolio/phil-hogan/