A Different Kind Of Reading Club

In the mid-1990s I was a new Mum and was delighted to find myself with a new circle of friends all in the same boat. As we got to know each other we began to talk about things other than our 'little cherubs'. We were all going to be off work for some time, possibly years, so thought it was a good chance to broaden our horizons. We had heard of these 'reading clubs' and fancying ourselves as heady intellectuals we decided this could be a good way to go.

However, we were completely unaware of any official "rules", regulations and guidelines. We thought it just meant reading books and getting together to talk about them. Hence we decided to take it turns to set a subject. Individually we would then choose our own book that addressed the subject from an angle that interested us. It gave us lots of scope to investigate things we had always wanted to find out about but never seemed to find the time.

We have had all sorts of subjects from cookery to mathematics to guerrilla warfare, from lighthouses to humour to philosophy.

Our 'lighthouse' meeting gives a flavour of the mix of approaches we take. These are the books people brought :

* a childhood book about a red lighthouse
* a sociological book which interviewed lighthouse keepers about how they came to be in that profession
* a lighthouse keeper's autobiography
* a book about how the history and development of lighthouses
* a book about the lighthouses of the Stevenson family
* a book with lots of great pictures of lighthouses that illustrated how most lighthouses do not conform to our stereotypical image.

Sometimes we re-visit a subject but look at a particular aspect in greater depth; for example "philosophy - with reference to philosophers of Ancient Greece".

We meet monthly and take it in turns, in rotation, to host the meeting. We start with a chat to catch up on each other's news. The hostess then calls us to order and explains the reasons for her choice of subject. She then talks about the book she has read

We then go round the table and in turns everyone talks about the book they have chosen on the subject

If anyone reads a novel they will not talk about the end of the book unless everyone agrees it is alright to do so - just in case somebody else would like to read the book

During the meetings we have lots of great discussions, and cross-reference between different books on the same subject and previous subjects. We are all introduced to new ideas, information and authors.

We have found the optimum number of members to be between 5 and 7 - this gives us a close group and we all are good friends.

Occasionally the membership changes but not frequently, another lady and I are 2 of the original group of founder members and the newest recruit has been with us for 3 years.

Sometimes we may empty each other's biscuit barrels but we never have to scrape the barrel for subject ideas.

When a meeting has finished, we all go home feeling we understand just a little bit more about life, the universe and everything. We feel we have broadened our horizons, and will continue to do so.