The YCAA Book Group met after their summer break and had many books to talk about, as August is when we generally read whatever we have on our ‘to be read’ pile, or we devote time to re-reading a classic.

We missed reading ‘River King’ by Cat Jarman in July due to Covid interrupting everything, so we will be discussing this when we next meet. We also had an introduction to Indian history as we read ‘A Rising Man’ by Abir Mukherjee. The first in a series written by Abir with characters Capt. Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surrender-not Bannerjee. I am sure our readers will want to continue reading more.

Our conversation was littered with highly recommended titles that were read or listened to over the summer break. I will list them all and you may discover something that appeals to you.

  • ‘Wahala’ by Nikki May.
  • ‘Oh William!’ By Elizabeth Stout. (Shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize.)
  • ‘Slow Readers’ by Allen Ahlberg.
  • ‘This is not a Pity Memoir’ by Abi Morgan (podcast).
  • ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ and ‘The Lincoln Highway’, both by Amor Towles.
  • ‘The Other Side of the Bridge’ by Mary Lawson.
  • ‘Take Nothing with You’ by Patrick Gale.
  • ‘A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting’ by Sophie Irwin.
  • ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ by Bernadine Evaristo. (Co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize.)
  • ‘The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder’ by Victoria Dowd.
  • ‘The Giver of Stars’ by Jojo Moyes.
  • ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’ by Kate Atkinson.
  • ‘When God was a Rabbit’ by Sarah Winman.
  • ‘When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit’ by Judith Kerr.
  • ‘Cider with Rosie’ by Laurie Lee.
  • Anything by Rory Clements!  He has written five books which were all recommended.

As you can see, we had a lively chat about books, and the variety of our reading shows how we can lose ourselves in a good book, then recommend it to friends.

Next Month

For next month, we have chosen two books and a book which is also a podcast.

  • Elif Shafak is a brilliant and very popular author so we will be reading ‘The Architect’s Apprentice’.
  • ‘River Kings’ by Cat Jarman.

A podcast which is also a book has been highly recommended, so that will be explored as well. ‘This is Not a Pity Memoir’ by Ali Morgan completes our group reading.

There will be many more titles that creep into our conversation when we meet on Tuesday 11th October at 12 noon in the Westlands Lounge. Perhaps you would like to join in by reading something from this selection too?