Category Archives: Reading Group

We are hoping to have a Reading Group meet up in Margaret White’s garden in June. Unfortunately at this moment Hucknall Library is still not open so it has been difficult to return books etc but they have automatically renewed all books until 1st July and I understand that they have a Click & Collect service if you log on to the Inspire website. Also I believe you can return books to any library so if you happen to be passing another one in Nottingham, give it a try.

It was World Poetry Day (21 March), established by Unesco in 1999, it aims to recognise the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind – but how do you convince people that this is something worth celebrating? Poetry is for academics and posh people, right? Wrong! So Reading Group members, why not let us share your favourite poem with you? Thanks.

Otherwise, please let me know what books you have been reading over the last month.

Some of us are devouring as many books as possible during this pandemic whilst others seem to have lost their motivation! So, many thanks to those who have passed on their comments about the books they have read and let’s hope once we can get back together as a group we will hopefully become more enthused.

Due to the Library closure we did not have a particular set book this month but the librarian had been helpful in that she had put together at least three sets of books which we could collect and which hopefully would cover our January, February, March reading needs. But then the next lockdown came along and the Library closed! So we have all been dipping into our own bookshelves and also have been swapping bags of books to tide us over.

I was given a book as a birthday gift which took me right back into my childhood – “Growing up in the 1950’s” by Paul Feeney. Memories of outside toilets, tin bath in front of the fire on a Sunday listening to “Sing Something Simple”, toasting fork, stone hot water bottle, fur coat and my dad’s old Army coat on the beds as extra blankets, frost on the inside of the bedroom window, bread and dripping, no telly; the list is endless. I wouldn’t want to go back to all that but people’s general attitudes and ethics would be welcomed back these days – no mobiles at the dinner table, you ate what you were given or starve, no striving for the latest clothes or gadgets; even the Teddy boys were not really as violent as they were portrayed compared to the knife wielding yobs today. The Teddy boys spent a lot of money on their draped coats and wouldn’t want to damage them! I wonder if today’s youth will look back with fond memories of present day activities and attitudes? Oh well, back to the books.

The December set book was Becoming by Michelle Obama which has been reviewed by Goodreads website as follows; In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her — from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it — in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations and whose story inspires us to do the same.

I personally enjoyed the first third which covered her upbringing the most but got a bit bogged down in the rest but still enjoyed the book on the whole.