GROUP GRIPES

My attempt to enact one of my new year resolutions - to join and participate in a book group - is floundering on the rocks of circumstance (and, actually, ineptitude).

My first attempt centred around Jane Smiley's A Private Life. I really enjoyed this novel, which intertwines a beautifully observed, sterile marriage with the major events of early modern American history, taking in theology and science en route. One cannot, however, number brevity amongst its qualities, and I could not make the time to read it before my local book group met. Incidentally, the book has now joined that previously cited pantheon, Books Enjoyed By Both My Wife And I.

Nothing daunted, I noted and bought the next selected tome, Rosamund Pilcher's The Shell Seekers, only to discover subsequently that the date for the group to discuss this novel fell during my visit to New York for the Book Expo.

It has not escaped my attention that the choice of books so far has fallen exclusively into the Large Novels by Female Authors category. If I ever actually get to a meeting, become an influential member and rise to the dizzy height of selecting a work to discuss, it may well be a haiku.


David

GROUP MINDED

If you're a reading group member, or are in the process of establishing such a group, we'd be glad to help with providing Capuchin titles to you at attractive discounts. The Capuchin list embraces many styles, periods and themes, making these books eminently suitable for an enjoyable read and a stimulating discussion. You might, for example, wish to look at the portrayal of school life at the beginning of the twentieth century in Hugh Walpole's Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill, or examine 1960s London through the eyes of a female Polish immigrant in A State of Change by Penelope Gilliatt.

To arrange a special offer for your group, please e-mail info@capuchin-classics.co.uk, with a heading of 'Reading Group', telling us the size of your group and the title or titles in which you are interested.