Book groups
Each community library in East Renfrewshire runs its own book group. The groups usually meet once a month to discuss and review titles they have picked from the previous month and to decide which books to read for their next meeting.
Barrhead library reading group
Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
We have been meeting once a month, on a Thursday morning for nearly six years.
During this time we have read over 100 books- both fiction and non-fiction, and enjoyed almost all of them! As well as discussing books at our meetings we have occasional literary quizzes (purely for fun – though very competitive!) We also came second in a national competition to pick our favourite short stories.
Our collective top 5 favourite reads are:
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
- Cider with Rosie – Laurie Lee
- To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
- The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
- The Cutting Room – Louise Welsh
The last book we read was Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris.
The Clarkston Critics
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
We have been meeting once a month for over three years. The nine of us have become great friends; we enjoy discussing our reads over the odd meal out and have ventured through to Edinburgh for the International Book Festival.
We try to read as broad a range as possible - fiction, non-fiction and even teen fiction - and each have very different tastes, which always makes for a lively (but not too heated!) discussion.
Our collective favourites have included:
- Sarah Dunant’s The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan
- Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun
- Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief
The last book we read was Salmon Fishing in the In the Yemen by Paul Torday.
Eaglesham Reading Group
We were one of the very first reading groups set up by the libraries. We have been meeting once a month for the last 7 years, and over that time have read many fabulous and some not so fabulous books. We have also had many great nights out at author events hosted by the other libraries and at Eastwood Theatre.
We read a wide variety of books, and are always open to suggestions from all our members.
Some of our favourite reads have been
- Khaled Hosseini’s - A Thousand Splendid Suns & The Kite Runner
- Fannie Flagg’s – Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café
- Vikas Swarup’s - Q & A
- Harper Lee’s – To Kill a Mockingbird
- Anne Donovan’s – Buddha Da