The Book Group is a well-established group of interested readers willing to try a range of different authors and genres, which meets in Paisley Central Library each month. The Library service is keen to encourage Book Groups and, to that end, provides sets of up to 10 books, so that readers don’t have to purchase their own copies. The books are usually available at the Library – just ask for the current “Book Group 2” book.

PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO MEETING IN MAY.
June – our book will be Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo.

For any queries about the Book Group, please use the contact link above.

Recently Read

April: Booker-nominated When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro.  As ever, we had an interesting discussion covering a variety of opinions.  Coincidentally our next two books are, in turn, another Booker winner and another Booker-nominated novel!

March: there were a few seasonal apologies for this month’s meeting, but, including a couple of written contributions, we had an extensive discussion on The Promise by Damon Galgut. It was a thought-provoking book, taking a family story, set in South Africa, across 4 time-periods and centred around 4 funerals.

February: It was lovely to catch up again in person after the Christmas break. But, at least it gave the group a reasonable amount of time to read the complex, fascinating and very long Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan. The main theme we all identified was the fascinating (and terrifying) interaction between the range of characters, from the smuggled-in human slaves, to the highest echelons of business, politics and society. A hugely ambitious novel and well worth reading.

December: We had a terrific discussion about The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller at our final meeting of 2025. We all learned a lot about ancient Greece and the siege of Troy from the novel, and I hope everyone who was watching, got Achilles as the answer to one of the questions on a recent “University Challenge”!

November: We had a good chat about The Girl With No Name this month, with all members appreciating both the depth of research about life in London during the Blitz, and the page-turning story conjured up by the author, Diney Costeloe.

October: The Prince of Spies by Alex Gerlis was high in tension. A very well-researched book, with various interesting backdrops and I’m sure we all learned something that we didn’t already know.

September: The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell was deemed an intriguing mystery, with a wide range of characters. It wasn’t a particularly challenging read but was a good page-turner.

August: The Bourne Evolution by Brian Freeman was a readable page-turner, whether we knew Jason Bourne of old or not. In particular, the theme of the increasing power of the tech companies seemed very close to the bone.

July: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This is a much-lauded book set in 1950’s America, where hugely under-rated scientist, Elizabeth Zott, finds an unexpected new career on a TV cookery show.]

June: Mortmain Hall by Martin Edwards, the follow-up to Gallows Court” Another complex mystery for Flint and Savernake to untangle, with a clever plot device around 3 people who ‘got away’ with murder.

May: Gallows Court by Martin Edwards, an intriguing tale which introduced the unusual pairing of crime journalist, Jacob Flint with the mysterious heiress with a penchant for murder, Rachel Savernake.

April: Black Water by Louise Doughty, in which solitary John Harper unveils the story of his complex life, moving from The Netherlands, to the USA, and then to Indonesia, across several decades.

March: The Mirror World of Melody Black by Gavin Extence, the story of Abby, an aspiring journalist whose chaotic life unravels, hitting a zenith when she meets Melody Black.

February: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Down and Out In Paris and London by George Orwell. The long Christmas break allowed us time to read both of these classics, in order to compare and contrast fiction and non-fiction, featuring the same two cities, albeit in different centuries. This led to a really interesting discussion about poverty and class differences, as well as the relative complexity of Dickens’ writing, compared to Orwell.

Books Read Previously

December 2024	The Outsider We were immersed in the top echelons of the US Supreme Court	Anthony Franze
November 2024	How to Stop Time A very intriguing, multiple-century novel, narrated by a fascinating central character	Matt Haig
October 2024	The Other Side of the World The story of a family uprooted from the UK to Australia in the 1960’s	Stephanie Bishop
September 2024	The Storm Within A gritty crime story set in Ayr	Tony Black
August 2024	Waiting for Sunrise	William Boyd
Other Books	The Miniaturist	Jessie Burton
	The Young Team	Graeme Armstrong
	Island Beneath The Sea	Isabel Allende
	Whisky from Small Glasses	Denzyl Meyrick
	The Chaperone	Laura Moriarty
	The Sea Detective	Mark Douglas-Home
	Where my Heart Used to be	Sebastian Faulks
	May We be Forgiven	A. M. Homes

Paisley and District u3a Groups