Book Group

We are a group of people who enjoy reading books and meet regularly in the Garden Lounge at The Stocket throughout the year. 

Our aim is to provide an open and friendly environment within which members can discuss the designated ‘book of the time’.  

We select a book by recommendation and everyone reads it prior to the meeting. Then, over refreshments, we discuss the book and have an open, friendly and stimulating discussion about the author and his/her work.

This arrangement  gives us the opportunity over the year to read books in different styles and genres, and by different authors.

Here are the proposed dates for the 2024 meetings of the Book Group:

17th January

21st February

13th March

24th April

29th May

26th June

4th September

2nd October

27th November

Any changes to these dates will be posted on this website.

Since the last magazine we have met twice. Our Christmas night out was held at Milton on the corner and it was a lovely setting with great food and better company! Pity the book we discussed was not so uplifting! 

The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker is a somewhat bleak book set in rural Netherlands, and while the writing was excellent, the subject matter, the fractious and at times abusive nature of the relationship of a farmer and his ageing father, was challenging and divided opinion. 

More recently, we met back in the Garden Lounge and discussed The Axeman’s Jazz by Ray Celestin. It is based on a series on real-life unsolved murders in early 20th century New Orleans. The author spins an entertaining tale involving immigrant groups in the city, the mob, police corruption, voodoo, and of course the jazz scene, including a role for Louis Armstrong. Whilst a decent tale, most enjoyed by those who had been to New Orleans, it lacked depth of character and tried to pack too much in. It is the first part of a four book series about the mob in four cities in the USA and was enjoyed sufficiently for some of us to plan to read more.